Chapter 17: Date Night

Rachel could not believe that she let Henry guilt her into a dinner date. She wished she had a friend who would call her on her cell phone with a fake emergency fifteen minutes into the date so that she could get out of it. Then she would permanently block his number and avoid him in town, like the plague whenever she was at the pub. No such luck. Her only two “friends” were Beatrice and Faye. She felt like this was not a favor she could request of a septuagenarian landlady or a manager, even though she had neither before.

Henry came to pick Rachel up by the end of the day so that he would have time to park and walk up the stairs to her private entrance. Oh how she wished it was someone else, anyone else, especially even Arthur.

Three knocks at the door and there he was in his full glory: a light gray polyester suit and a Kelly green tie with a handful of carnations, oddly resembling those that grew in Beatrice’s flower garden. He could have brought her some radishes from the vegetable garden, too, if produce was the way to a woman’s heart. She guessed this was the best he could do in an effort to impress her with something women were supposed to respond positively to when going on a date.

“Hello Henry.” She greeted him in a quasi-monotone with a flat affect.

She was not even looking forward to however long this date would last before the meal was over and they would have a reason to depart. She made sure she had taxi fare so she would not have to bear the awkwardness of him dropping her off.

He smiled a yellow-toothed grin and presented her with the familiar, pilfered bouquet.

“Er...Thanks. I’ll put these in water.”

She had a glass of water on her desk and stuffed the entirety of them in it. She forced a smile of appreciation, grabbed her purse and descended the stairs with her date.

“It’s spaghetti night at the restaurant,” he said, in an effort to start a conversation.

She guessed in person social occasions had different requirements than the telemarketing he did to earn a living. His nervous laughter and begging she remembered from the pub were absent as they rode along in silence. He seemed so proud to have a date that he did not seem to mind the lack of conversation.

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Finally they reached the restaurant. He opened her door for her not out of chivalry, but because it was an old car and without his help she could not get out. She noted this in case in the future she wanted to get out before he was ready to release her while dropping her off.

Once seated, she was sure he would start to talk.

“Order whatever you like,” he said, “...anything that is a dinner special for Thursday would be fine.”

There was only one item listed on the daily dinner specials and it was spaghetti served with a salad of plain iceberg lettuce and two pieces of garlic bread. Meatballs, grated cheese, and salad dressing were extra.

“Okay...thanks,” she replied dismally.

She looked around the restaurant noting the exits, wondering how easy it would be to get a cab. Had this been the level she had sunken to: a bargain dinner date with a man she had no interest in?

While looking around she saw Arthur seated with Jane. Seeing the two of them together caught her by surprise and even made her feel a little jealous. She looked like she was on a date, he did not. She had taken off her jacket, intensified her makeup for night, and let down her long black hair. He looked like his mind was still in his law books studying for the bar. He wore jeans and a hoodie and an expensive pair of sneakers. Rachel felt hurt; thinking of Arthur and Jane as a couple made her want to leave the restaurant even more.

Trying to escape from that situation at least for a bit and get some fresh air, Rachel excused herself from Henry in order to freshen up in the ladies’ room.

But midway away from the table, she met Arthur headed for the bar.

“Hello Rachel. What are you doing here?”

“I’m with Henry.” Her pride did not dare allow her to admit that it was a date. “You?”

“I’m hanging out with Jane. Just a study break, really. She talks so much about herself, I just needed a break from the original break.” He chuckled.

“Believe me, I understand,” she confided. “I was kind of coerced into this date with Henry from the pub.”

“Yeah, I should have warned you about him if I had known your plans. He can be a real leech off of a person’s kindness. His m.o. is to guilt you into a social situation then say nothing and go Dutch on the bill. Not exactly a ladies’ man. You can do better. I’ll introduce you to some of my public school and university mates some time.”

“Really?”

She was relieved for so many reasons. Most of all to know that he was not interested in Jane. This represented a total change in how Arthur had acted towards her before. Maybe this was how the two of them would interact as friends. Despite the transition from rude to friendly, she wished she was the one out with Arthur and not Jane.

“Really,” he affirmed. “Oh great, I’ve been away from the table for a while and never made it to the bar.”

“And I never made it to the ladies room.”

“Oh well, I doubt my time away would matter much with Jane’s self-absorption, anyway.”

They both smiled at being on bad dates and wanting to leave. If Arthur had asked Rachel to leave with him that very moment, she would have. As it was, this was probably her best opportunity to escape but she thought better of it, engaged as she was in this opportunity to be with Arthur.

She looked over at Henry at their table. “Henry looks relieved not to have to talk. He and Jane should pair up. She could do all the talking and he could sit in silence except for the occasional nervous giggle. And...she could pay if they ordered non-dinner specials!”

Both of them erupted into laughter.

“Shall we have a drink or two to bad dates before we return to them?” Arthur flashed a devilish grin at Rachel.

“Absolutely.”