Flying Dragon Tulips

Her piercing blue eyes stared intensely as she let out a resigned sigh. A flash of stinging pain, she winces, her eyes glistening as they fill with tears. "I hate plucking my eyebrows." she says, "Almost as much as I hate first dates." The big black cat who was curled up on the bed next to her meowed in response. She turned away from the vanity to scratch him on the head. "No Taco, I don't know how I got talked into this." she told him. She sighed again, because that wasn't entirely true. She had worked with Ian for a few years at the coffee shop already. They shared a love of books, movies, animals, and snacks. They had a similar sense of humor, sharing a lot of inside jokes at work. That's what lead to her coworker and best friend Erin to suggest them going on a date. She was content with how things were, she considered Ian a really good friend and after her last troublesome relationship ended life was finally calm. Erin persisted however dropping hints to Ian who eventually picked them up leading to this kind of awkward first date. Erin meant well but sometimes she should learn to mind her own business. Ian was sweet, he wouldn't have called this off no matter how awkward and uncomfortable it was so neither would she. Awkward that's the best way to describe a first date. You can have great chemistry with someone, joke and chat all day but as soon as you slap it with the date label it becomes difficult to find anything to talk about. She just hoped the awkwardness would disappear when the date was over so work could still be fun. The sound of the door bell ringing pulled her from her thoughts. She sighed, that would be Ian. She grabbed her purse and gave Taco a loving scratch before heading into the hallway to answer the door. One last look in the hall mirror to make sure she was presentable. Rule one of a first date, your outfit needs to be flawlessly attractive, comfortable and have the ability to function in any situation. For this purpose she chose a dark blue knit tank top, black high waisted shorts and a pair of black TOMs kala wedge booties. Some sapphire earrings and silver bangles polish off the look. Her makeup was simple and natural some concealer, mascara, and rose pink lip gloss. She checked her teeth and grimaced, she should not have had a glass of merlot while getting a pep talk form Erin last night. Three brushing sessions and a whitening strip later she could still see a slight stain on her teeth. She usually didn’t drink but Erin had convinced her that it would help settle her nerves about the date. Oh well, nothing to be done about it now, she moved to the door. She took one last deep breath. Turned the handle and pulled the door open. “Hey Grace!” Ian smiled warmly. His demeanor immediately put her at ease. “Hey” she replied “you look nice”. She realized she hadn’t actually looked at what he was wearing so she took a quick glance. He was in jeans, an army green button down shirt and Vans. He did look nice. “Thanks” he said “you look really nice to!”. “Thank you” she replied. “Oh! I brought you some flowers.” Ian held up a little basket with potted tulips in it. She was surprised. “That’s really sweet of you.” she said as she took the basket. “Yeah, I remembered you said you liked potted plants cuz they don’t die and tulips are your favorites.” He said “ I also brought a little toy for your cat”. He handed her a little cat toy fish taco. “Aww cute, he’ll like that. Thanks!” She giggled “ His name is taco so it’s a perfect toy for him”. “I know” Ian remarked “ you talk a lot about your cat at work”. There was an awkward silence. “Anyway” he continued “ you’re supposed to fill it with cat nip”. “Ok, I’ll give it to him later.” she placed the basket and toy on the table under the hallway mirror, “are you ready to go?”. “Definitely!” He replied. She locked the door and pulled it shut behind her. They walked down the pathway towards Ian’s car. Grace could feel her hands become sweaty, her anxiety was returning. Ian opened the passenger door for her. She got in and he shut it for her. He got into the driver’s seat and smiled at her. She smiled back. They started driving to the movie theater. The drive was filled with silence just like how she’d dreaded. Every time she thought of something to say it got caught in her throat. At least at the movies you don’t need worry about holding a conversation. She hoped the cool theater would help relieve her sweaty palms as well. They got to the cinema, after reviewing the list of movies they decided on a comedy. As Ian got the tickets, Grace bought a large popcorn, two sodas and some candy. The movie was a welcome distraction from the nervousness of the date. After the movie Ian asked if she wanted to go back to his place to play video games and order pizza. Now that she was more at ease it sounded like fun so she agreed. Ian’s place was a quaint little home, fairly clean. They played a few games of Super Smash bros before the pizza arrived. They were on a second slice each when Ian started acting anxious. “Do you want to see my dragon?” He asked excitedly. Grace was so surprised by the question, with her mouth still full of pizza she answered “sure.” Immediately she rethought her answer, considering it could be a euphemism for something else. She grimaced, oh well if things took a creepy turn she was prepared with pepper spray in her purse. Besides as far fetched as the possibility of a real dragon was there was still a slim chance and for her that was good enough. She cautiously followed him into the back garden. There in all it’s mighty glory stood a ten foot silver dragon. She was absolutely gobsmacked. Ian offered to take her for a fly. They climbed onto the dragons back and off it flew into the sky. The dragon flew higher and higher into the clouds. The clouds felt like cool mist against her face. The sun was setting which gave the clouds and sky a beautiful purple glow. They flew around until the sky turned dark and the stars came out. Then Ian took her home and the surprisingly magical date was over. She gave him a peck on the cheek and hurried into the house. She rushed up the stairs and jumped on her bed. Taco had moved to a more comfortable position on a pillow. She reached over to scratch his head. “You aren’t going to believe this” she said. She didn’t quite believe it herself.