"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed while shaking me. "Tell me everything!"
I looked down at her pretty little face. She has the same strong but elegant features as her mother that pairs beautifully with the dark chocolate skin she inherited from her dad. Even though she was wearing heels I still had to look down and she had the right curves in all the right places.
Her shaking snapped me out of my daze and I looked down at the bouncing girl, my brows furrowed.
"So," I began and she stopped jumping when she noticed my accusing gaze, "What were you planning?"
"Hehe," she smiled mischievously. "Well you know I hate reading so when I heard he's an English professor I thought of you. I figured if you come you can help me carry the conversation at the very least and if sparks just happened to fly with you two well..." she widened her smile. "Who knew my car would break down on the way back! That wasn't planned at all!"
I sighed. "Is it normal to bring a third wheel on a blind date? Especially when I'm dressed like this." I got to my main point prompting Ariel to looked me up and down.
"You look fine. Though you could have done without the neon flip flops. Also I did prepare! I bought a dress for you," Ariel pointed at the bag she had placed on the entry way table when she walked in.
"Besides," she continued, "since it was our first meeting mom and dad were both originally going to come too but dad had an emergency at work. So I figured I could use the excuse of forgetting I made plans with you to invite you to take dad's place. But it worked out even better since my car broke down. Now you have a real date tomorrow!"
I quietly listened to the explanation she provided so confidently and noticed a problem I could not help but mention. "Ok... So you bought me a dress but what about shoes?" Her smile became stiff.
"Aaaaaa... we could have stopped by your place?" she finally came up with a solution.
I smirked and raised an eyebrow. "If we were going to stop by my place anyways what's the point of having a dress prepared? Or was I supposed to wear these to a fancy restaurant?" I pointed at my neon pink flip flops.
"Okay fine! I didn't think about the shoes but it's not important anyways!" Ariel complained. "Tell me what happened!"
Just then my stomach growled. "So I take it you didn't pick up any food."
"No, we were going to go out to eat."
"Fine, I'll order Chinese and you go change. Then we can talk. You're paying."
With that I went to the kitchen and found the menu in the drawer as she left to change.
_______
8:55 am. Ariel's Apartment.
Once again I opened the door to Ariel's apartment and found an unexpected person waiting. The pretty young woman is about my height. Her blonde hair was cut short to be only a little longer than a boy's cut but was very stylish. Her eyes are a unique pale green with a light golden hue and has a naturally slim figure that gives her that model vibe.
"Ester, what are you doing here?" I asked her. Ester beamed at me.
"I texted Ariel last night and she told me what happened! Of course I'm coming shopping too! You haven't been on a date since high school so you've never been on a real date before. There is no way I'm missing this."
"So where is David?" I asked her about her husband trying to change the subject. Ester is a couple years younger than me but she had already been married for almost 4 years at that time. Which is not uncommon for the south.
"He has a wedding gig today so I'm all yours!" David played the saxophone in a band on the side so it was not unusual for Ester to have free time on the weekends. "Anyways what's he like?"
It was at that moment Ariel came out from her bedroom. Ariel beamed as she heard Ester's question but said nothing. It was quite obvious she too was waiting for my answer.
I sighed having failed at changing the subject. I am not one who likes to talk about my feelings, especially the romantic type. However given the situation at that moment I surrendered to the fact that avoiding it completely would be impossible.
"What do you mean what's he like? That's to broad of a question."
"What's he look like? What's his personality like? You're so picky you turned down everyone in college. What makes this guy so different that you would actually agree to go on a date? Ariel wouldn't tell me anything saying I should hear it from you so tell me, what's he like?"
I looked over at Ariel who wordlessly smiled back.
'No wonder she's so eager,' I thought.
"Well he's a few inches taller than me and has really dark chocolate skin. Darker than Ariel's. With straight black hair and dark brown eyes." I started to answer.
"Is he handsome?" Ester probed causing me to blush slightly.
"Do you think I'd go on a date if he wasn't?" Both of my friends beamed at my answer making me even more uncomfortable.
"What about his personality?"
I thought for a moment before I answered. "I only met him yesterday so it's not like I know much, but he's easy to talk to."
"What does he do for a living? How old is he?"
"Aaa, well he said he just graduated with a PHD in English Literature but that's all I know. How old is he?" I directed my question at Ariel.
Ariel shrugged, "I don't know the specifics. All I was told was he's an English professor and the son of a family friend. Mom said they would explain everything at dinner."
"Is that normal?" Ester asked. Ariel just shrugged again. Just then the front door opened again and Ariel's mom came in saving me from having to answer more questions.
After some discussion we decided to take the time to drive 40 minutes to the new outdoor shopping center in the next town over. There would be more options that way.
We took our time going store to store and of course Ariel and Ester had to try stuff on too. After a few hours we had a few options in mind for my dress but decided to have a late lunch before checking the last store on our list.
As soon as we walked into the slightly upscale boutique our eyes landed on the dress that was on the mannequin in front of the entrance. Ariel instantly found where they were hung and found my size. We did not even bother looking around more before heading to the dressing room.
The second I put it on I knew it was the one I wanted. Everyone else agreed and Ariel's mom even offered to pay for it because it was a bit out of my price range. I graciously excepted her offer.
After buying the dress we spent a couple more hours going around buying shoes, jewelry, and a clutch to match it. When we were satisfied we went back to Ariel's apartment to retrieve our cars and drop Ariel's mom off.
Ester was very determined to see Kishan for herself. So Ariel and Ester both decided to drive over to my place to hang out until it was time to help me get ready for my date.