Beer and balls

I didn’t have much time to dwell on my pre-teen girl jitters or even work on the rest of my to-do list because lunch rolled upon us and we got slammed – and it caught us off guard. We had usually had a steady stream, and it always picked up a little – kids sneaking away from school, mom’s stopping to give their kids a treat, a few business people. But apparently one of the businesses had a business lunch and decided to bring everyone here. We were going through pizza’s like crazy, and so while normally I also used the lull between lunch and dinner to get caught up, I was busy helping prep more to get us caught up for lunch. By the end of it, I was exhausted and slumped down at my desk to try to muddle through making the rest of the schedule.

Sunny followed right behind me.

“I called Matt and he says he can meet tomorrow night to discuss plans.”

I swiveled slowly in my chair to face her. “A, when did you get time to call him, and b, didn’t I say I’d do it?”

“It takes what, five seconds to make a phone call? And I know you said you’d call him. But you didn’t so I did.”

“I didn’t because we got slammed. You would know that if you were in helping instead of making phone calls.” I cracked.

“Hey, I was helping too – but I had to pee. A girl can multitask, you know.”

“Oh gross.” I said, turning back to my desk.

“So tomorrow – can you do it?”

“Yes.” I answered, then remembered. “Oh, shit. Maybe. What time?”

“Wait, why does the time matter? Do you actually have plans?”

“Yes, I actually do.” I knew what question was coming next, and I wasn’t quite sure how to handle it.

“Who are you going out with?” She asked, pushing her chair off her desk so she shot over to me.

“I’d tell you it’s none of your business – because it’s not – but I know that won’t deter you from pestering the crap out of me. John.”

“John?” She squealed, her eyebrows shooting up. “Like, Noah’s John? John-his-dimple-make-you-stupid John?”

I just nodded.

“How did THAT come about?” “Sunny, some of us actually have work to do…”

She shot me a look.

“I bumped into him on Sunday. He left me a message today saying he heard about the tickets Noah won and wanted to know if I wanted to hang out before we went.”

“So he asked you out on a date?” Sunny clapped her hands together.

“I don’t know if it’s a date, Sun. I’m just meeting him for a drink. He and I have been sorta-friends for such a long time he probably just want to try to become real friends.”

“Whatever.” She said waving her hands. “What are you going to wear? Oooh, let’s go shopping tonight!”

“I’m dead tired Sunny, and I still have work to do.”

“Then I’ll go shopping for you. I’ll reschedule Matt. See you at home, toots!”

Letting Sunny go shopping for me was a bad decision, though I did realize that I didn’t really have a say in the matter. I only became more worried when she said she wouldn’t let me see what she had gotten until it was time to get dressed, and that night when I opened the bad after my shower, my worries were confirmed.

“SUNSHINE!” I yelled. “I am not wearing this!” I yelled, storming out into the living room. I hadn’t realized Noah was also there, and they were both cuddled on the couch.

“What’s wrong with it?” She asked.

“You can see my ass in this skirt.” I said, turning around to show her.

“You cannot.” She said. Even without looking at her, I knew she was rolling her eyes.

“Oh yeah, you can’t. Until I move.” I said sarcastically. I turned back around. “Noah, tell her this is to short.” I whined.

“It is a little short Sunny.” He said, but his voice was neutral.

“I own that skirt! You never said it was too short on me.”

“Lanie is taller than you…” He said, trying to recover.

“Sunny, I know you’re just trying to help. But this isn’t a date, and it also isn’t me. We’re just hanging out and I’m going to come all tarted up and John’s going to get the wrong impression.” I said, tugging on the bottom of the skirt as if I could make it longer.

“Again, I own this skirt, so let’s refrain from using words like ‘tarted up.’ Skip the skirt, wear jeans, but keep the top. Then you’re half you and half hot.” She said, winking at me.

“Hot is not a word I’d use to describe myself.” I said as I walked back to my room to change.

“Wear your hair down!” She called in reply.

I know Sunny’s and my relationship might seem a little weird – we nagged and bickered with each other all the time, and from the outside looking in at times it may seem as if one of us were bossing the other around. I viewed it more as a sister type relationship. We did bicker, we teased each other, insulted each other, and argued. However, when it came down to it, I knew Sunny just wanted the best for me and I wanted the best for her. We seemed to divide areas of expertise. I let Sunny boss me around in fashion and I tended to boss her around when it came to business. Even though Sunny had only one real relationship in her life, she had more experience than me in that area, so I also tended to let her boss me around there – which is why I listened to her when I went back to my room to change.

“Do I look alright?” I asked, coming back out into the living room. Sunny had picked out a teal halter top that looked great against my tan skin. I paired it with a pair of denim capris that were ripped in the thighs. Because I knew it would make Sunny happy, I also slipped on a pair of wedges instead of my normal tennis shoes.

“I approve. Go get ‘em tiger.” She said winking at me.

“Oh whatever.” I said, scooping up my keys.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Noah laughed as I shut the door.

I tried not to let myself be nervous. I believed what I told Sunny – that this was not a date. Still, not knowing exactly what it was made me nervous. How was I supposed to act? And what if we didn’t have anything to say to each other? I hated meeting new people, which is why I had the same friends I had known pretty much my whole life, and why Sunny was the person I sent out if we needed to make new business contacts.

I pulled up to Barley’s – a local bar and grill, and wished I knew what kind of car John drove so I would know if he was there or not. I waited a minute, then shut off the car and walked in.

I spotted him right away – sitting at the bar. He was wearing a short sleeved button up – opened at the top to reveal a white shirt peeking out from underneath, and khaki shorts. He saw me, smiled, and got up to walk over to me.

“Hey, you look nice.” He said, leaning in for a hug.

“Thanks. You too.”

“Are you hungry? I know it’s late.”

“I am, actually, a little. Want to grab a table?”

“Sure.” He answered, waving down a waitress who grabbed us some menus and took us to a table in the back corner.

We were quiet for a moment, studying the menu, even though I already knew what I wanted – sour kraut balls. Barley’s had amazing sour kraut balls. Then another waitress came over, and I noticed her eyes lingered on John. He didn’t seem to notice though, and gave his order and then handed the menu back. I ordered a drink and the sour kraut balls and leaned back to glance around.

“Have you been here before?” He asked.

“Yeah, I used to come all the time, when I was younger.” I left out the fact that it was one of my Uncle’s favorite places. I didn’t want to go in to that tonight.

And then what I had worried about happened… We stalled. I just couldn’t think of a damn thing to say to him, and he was drumming his fingers on the table, looking around, and probably regretting asking me to come out at all. I glanced around as well, hoping to find anything to spark conversation. Then I saw our waitress, at the bar, staring at John still.

“I think our waitress has the hots for you.” I blurted out, and then wanted to kick myself. Who says that sort of thing on a maybe sort of date?