Graham waited a few days before texting Audrey to ask for a date. He didn't want to seem too eager, but by Tuesday afternoon he'd decided he had waited long enough.
GRAHAM: Hey Aubrey, this is Graham. Do you want to get dinner with me on Friday?
AUBREY: Sure, what time and where?
GRAHAM: Does 6 or 7 work better for you? where would you like to eat?
AUBREY: 7 would be great and I'm really craving Chipotle.
GRAHAM: Chipotle it is.
AUBREY: I can meet you there. The one on State Street?
GRAHAM: Sounds great. See you there.
Graham smiled as he went to meet with his career coach. He knew time had started ticking on finding the place he'd be after graduating. His internship last summer had been carefully picked to help him. Now he needed to start actually looking into openings, most positions were usually filled in a month. While graduation was just over two months away, the openings that were coming available now and into the next month were the best bets. He knew some were opening to find the new graduates, and he was taking advantage of that.
The next night they were back at Der Rathskeller for dinner. Since it was also John's birthday, after they finished eating they went to the Daily Scoop and got The Freshman 15 - a fifteen scoop sundae. It was their housemate birthday tradition, started the first year they'd lived in The Ark.
The next day Gina texted Graham.
GINA: Hey it's Gina, the kits came. Does Saturday afternoon around 2 work for you?
GRAHAM: Sure. Where?
Gina texted her address.
GRAHAM: I'll be there. Also John wants to get your number, care if I give it to him?
GINA: That's fine. Just tell him no pics.
GRAHAM: Great. See you Saturday.
Later when Graham got home he found John. "Gina texted me."
John looked expectantly, "and..."
"Do you want her number?" Graham asked, figuring on dragging it out of him.
"I already asked Dude!"
"You sure she's not out of your league?" Graham teased.
"Probably, but never hurts to try." John responded.
Graham picked up his phone and sent John the info. "There you go man. Good luck. Oh and I did get her permission so she won't be blindsided."
"Thanks man."
"No problem. So are you planning on asking her out?"
"Maybe after some ice breaking texting." John said.
"Just in case you were thinking of it - she specifically said to tell you no pics."
"Good to know." John said.
Graham nodded and went to go work out. He usually did that only in the mornings, but had some nervous energy in anticipation of his date with Audrey the next day. He couldn't help but wonder why he was so nervous, after all he wasn't in high school. He'd been shy and unsure of himself for most of high school. There were only about 250 people in his high school with 60 being in his graduating class. Even though they all knew each other he still felt awkward. It really wasn't until he moved into The Ark that his confidence had grown. He was grateful for all his housemates making him feel like he belonged.
After 30 minutes on the treadmill and 15 more doing weights he went to shower. Then he crawled into bed, exhaustion overtaking him. That night he dreamed he was a child playing in a park he knew wasn't in his home town. He woke up confused, but he soon forgot the dream and went through the day.
At 6:30 he finished with the work he was doing and packed up to go meet Audrey. As he sling the laptop case over his shoulder, he reminded himself to calm down. It was just a date, not a lifetime commitment. He arrived early, as usual. Graham walked in and looked around. Aubrey wasn't here yet, not that he'd expected her to be earlier than he was. Graham pulled out his phone and was checking job openings when Aubrey arrived. His breath caught for a second. She looked amazing.
"Hi." He greeted her with a smile and gazing into the depths of her blue eyes.
"Hey." She replied, looking away shyly.
"Shall we?" He asked gesturing to the short line. She walked in front of him as he'd guided her to do. "How has your day been?"
"Good, Friday's are a lighter day for me. I was able to catch up on some of my midterm assignments, which is always nice!" Aubrey said.
"Always nicer to be caught up than behind." Graham agreed.
They ordered their food and sat down to eat. "So where did you grow up?" Graham asked.
"In Milwaukee, North side." Aubrey answered.
"Oliver and Noah are both from Milwaukee. I think Noah was on the North side but Oliver grew up more central."
"I graduated with Noah's brother and Emma. I wasn't close to them, Emma and I really became friends last year, we were on the same floor in the dorms. Where did you grow up?"
"A small town called Park Falls." Graham answered. "I'd be surprised if you've even heard of it."
"North woods?"
"Yes. Good guess."
"Not really there's a lot of small towns up there that no one really hears about but as someone who likes to look at and make maps, I probably have seen it before." Aubrey said.
"I guess that makes sense. I use to love looking at maps and plan trips to places that I knew I'd never get to until I was older."
"Did you not travel much?" Aubrey asked.
"Hardly ever. It wasn't until I came here that I ever even traveled outside Wisconsin or Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We had a farm so summers were out and then my Aunt didn't want me to miss school. When we did go places it was remote and only for a weekend. My Aunt doesn't like being around a lot of people, or just people in general. They make her nervous, which is probably why we lived just outside a small town." Graham explained. "We're you able to travel much?"
"My family went on a two week vacation every summer. We went to a different destination each time. Every other year was a more educational trip, like one year we went to DC and saw the founding documents and the Smithsonian museums. The off years we went someplace more fun, and every Christmas we go to Hawaii for a week. My mom said she needed the sunshine in the winter or she'd go crazy."
"Isn't it weird having Christmas without snow?" Graham asked.
"Since we don't go until the the day before Christmas Eve, most of the festive activities happen in the cold and snow so it's not weird, but I guess I find it normal since we did it every year."
"That makes sense. We judge normal on what is normal for us." Graham said.
"Right. Like not traveling for Christmas is weird for me, actually thinking of not traveling much at all is weird to think about. But for you it was normal."