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Last Chance

Unexpected date night

By Jade BehnsenPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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Maxine wiped her hands along the back of her dress. When she was nervous, she would get sweaty palms. When she brought them up to look at them, they were shaking.

“Hey Max, are you sticking around after?” Her coworker Jess interrupted her, entering the break room. Jess and Maxine were pretty close as work friends, being the only young women in the environment. Jess was one of those ladies who got along with everyone, Maxine thought she radiated strong, positive feminine energy.

“Yes I’m planning to,” Maxine replied as she quickly stood up, knocking her chair over. Maxine was more of an introvert, but exhibited a dry sense of humour and kindness to those who knew her well.

“You alright?” asked Jess.

“Yep, yeah. Just clumsy, sorry,” Maxine sputtered as she got the chair up straight and tucked it in slowly.

Jess looked skeptical but dismissed it. She opened a cupboard and started shifting the contents around. She pulled something out from near the back.

“Hmm, someone is looking to make this party extra fun,” Jess said as she pulled out a bottle of red wine and waved it around.

“Are people gonna be drinking at this thing? I thought Bob was totally against that now for company parties here,” Maxine weighed in.

“Yeah I thought the same, but maybe because it’s Brandon’s going away and everyone loves him they’ll let it slide,” Jess reasoned. She placed the bottle back where she found it.

“Everyone loves him hey?” Maxine asked, trying to sound casual.

Jess had a puzzled look at first, which melted into understanding as she noticed all the extra effort Maxine had put into her appearance that day. She had obviously flat ironed her unruly dark wavy hair and put on makeup, although not that much as she was never skilled at that art. She was wearing heels and a form fitting, sleek black dress.

Maxine entered the warehouse after the party had been on for an hour. She was hoping Brandon would have made the rounds with everyone and would be free to chat with her. Instead she found him in the middle of apparently deep and interesting conversations, as he would be for several hours. She managed to get a few words in a couple of times, but spent most of the evening watching him conspicuously from afar. Maxine anxiously glanced at the clock, but over time lost hope of getting him alone. Defeated, she slinked away from the party and made her way to the roof.

Maxine stood alone, shivering in the cold night air, looking up at the stars. She rubbed her hands against each other, trying to save them from getting cold.

“I can give you my work gloves, I don’t need them anymore,” said Brandon, who had made his way up to the roof with the bottle of Merlot from the break room and a plate of appetizers. Maxine smiled and room for him in the small sliver of space that the railing was low enough to have a view.

“Taking a break from the party?” Maxine asked.

“I actually noticed you walking out and I thought you might be up here,” explained Brandon. He held up the bottle of wine, as if asking her if she wanted some. She nodded yes. “Sorry I didn’t have enough hands for proper glasses.”

“No, it’s all good, thank you. I actually did want to talk to you,” Maxine said timidly.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Brandon responded with a smile as he poured her a glass of merlot. He looked as if he was about to go on, but something came over Maxine. She felt an electrical impulse jolt through her arm, commanding her to put her index finger up and ask him to hold on for a second.

“I’m sorry, I’ve just been wanting to ask you something for a long time and I really have to just get it out, it’s making me queasy. Would you be interested in going on a date with me?” she blabbed.

Brandon beamed and held up the plated of food. “Come on,” he said as he walked over to a table and chairs setup nearby and pulled out a seat for her.

“Right now?” she asked.

“Why not?” he replied.

Maxine scurried over in her high heels she could barely walk in. They sat down and both started eating, both unsure what to say to each other.

“I really wasn’t sure you were interested in me, thought it might be a bit of a gamble to follow a lady up to the roof,” he laughed.

“Well it paid off. Yeah it’s embarrassing but I noticed you a long time ago and just hadn’t said anything…” she trailed off.

“So I only know work you, what do you do in your spare time?” he asked.

“Umm, I do a lot of cooking,” she replied.

“My favourite meal is pasta carbonara,” he interjected.

“I’ll cook for you if you bring the wine again,” she offered, smiling.

“Deal,” Brandon replied.

“If you could have dinner with any one person living or dead who would it be?” asked Maxine with a smirk.

“Han Solo!” he exclaimed.

“That’s not a person it’s a fictional character,” Maxine said as she laughed.

“Oh I thought you were counting those too,” he explained.

“So you’re one of those? I think I may have to rethink this date…” Maxine started to jokingly get up from her chair. Brandon reached out his hand but stopped short of grabbing hers. Maxine put her hand in his, both of which became ignited by a tingling sensation upon contact.

“I can’t believe we didn’t do this sooner actually,” Brandon admitted.

“You’re right, that was really… not smart. But we’re doing it now,” Maxine said as she finished off her glass of Merlot and poured another. They both enjoyed this first date more than any other they had ever experienced. It soon lead to another, and another.

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