I called my friend Bella to come over and help me pick out an outfit. A lot of my clothes were leggings and sweat pants that went well with random t-shirts I had collected through out life. I had shopped for very few cute pieces of clothing. Looking through all of my clothes, I had realized that I own way to much black. Some pink was nice, and a few pieces of other colors. “I’m here.” I heard Bella say in the living room.
“I’m in the bedroom.” I was laying out three options that I thought would work.
The first outfit that was white skinny jeans with a pink lace blouse that showed my shoulders. The second outfit was a dark grey pencil skirt with a white tank top that would look excellent with a pink blazer. And the third outfit was light blue skinny jeans with a plain light cotton, black v-neck. That shirt went with a lot of things I own.
“I have three options picked out so far, but this is a hard decision.”
“Where is he taking you?” Bella brought into two champagne glasses followed by a bottle of champagne. Our ritual before a date was to drink a little bit of booze so we weren’t so nervous or uptight with our dates.
“He said he knew this really good mexican joint.” I took a big swig of my champagne. It was crispy going down my throat. I took another swig to relax myself faster before this date. “I want to look nice but I don’t want to be over dressed.”
“So wear this one.” She pointed at outfit number three, “This says you obviously but it also says that you are not trying to hard. How did you even meet this guy anyways.”
“Balboa park.” I told Bella every detail of how we met and the what had happened the next day. How he was adorable struggling to get mustard onto his hot dog and how he waddled like the ducks that had walked by us.
“You really like this guy don’t you?” She chugged the rest of her champagne and poured another glass.
“I think I do. I don’t know, i’m hoping I find out more about how I feel on this date.” I chugged one more glass of champagne and got ready for my date with Coyote.
It was five minuted before it was time for him to pick me up. Even after drinking that champagne, I still felt really nervous and thought I was sweating. I casually lifted my arm to smell my arm pit but there was no smell. Coyote pulled up in a black for escape. He got out of the car, and opened the door for me. “Hi.” he said with a big smile on his face, “You look wonderful.”
When I had put my outfit on, I had put on a little make up and curled my hair to make the look come together. I was always told that I looked beautiful natural but I had always thought a little bit of make up made me look better.
“Thank you. So do you.” He did look good. He was wearing fresh blue jeans with a light blue, plaid, pearl snap.
I got in the car with butterflies fluttering inside me. I was so nervous, I wanted to get out of the car and run back inside. I don’t know if it was because I hadn’t been on a date since my ex boyfriend, or if it was because I am starting to like somebody again. I tried to take deep breaths without Coyote noticing. “Are you okay?” He asked. Oh crap! He noticed my breathing.
“Yeah i’m fine.” I said still taking deep breaths.
“Are you sure? I can hear your breathing.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just really nervous. I haven’t been out on a date in a long time. I feel new to this field all over again.”
“Oh.” He fell silent. Oh god, I hope I didn’t just make him change his mind. “Well don’t worry Annie, I promise to do my best into making this the besy first date ever.” and we took off the mexican joint. When we pulled up, I was almost impressed with the scene. It was a mexican food truck that sat outside the city. Lights were strung all around the tree’s and above the tables, and to make the scene better, the weather was warm with a slight breeze. We sat down at a table after we had gotten our food. I ordered pork roast taco’s and he had ordered a fiesta burrito.
“I know this isn’t a fancy restaurant or anything but since I saw you order from the food truck at the park, I thought, why not introduce you to another food truck with a more beautiful scene.”
“Coyote, I love it. I didn’t even know was out here.” I took a bite of my taco, “I honestly, this food is way better!”
“Good! I come out here sometimes when I need to clear my head. There’s actually a trail back there that I walk when its nice out.”
“We should totally walk the trails when we are done eating.”
As we ate our delicious food, we sat and talked about how much La Jolla was an okay place to live. When we were done, we got up and threw away our trash. Then we headed for the trails. “So you never really went into detail about your ex earlier in the car.” He said.
“Oh, i’m not sure you want to hear about that boring story.” Within these trails, green leaves hung from branches for miles. The ocean laid steady in the background with a light pink sunset just barely peaking over the water creating a beautiful painting.
“Of course I do. Tell you what, I will tell you about my boring break up if you tell me about yours.”
I couldn’t help but giggle. Since out date started Coyote has proved to be nothing but a little comforting.
“Okay fine. His name was Jared. We were together for four years. We lived in a little apartment in LA. I thought things were going amazingly well, until I mentioned how I wanted to get married at some point. When he heard that word marriage, he avoided me for a few days and told me that it wasn’t going to work.”
“But you had only mentioned it, its not like you were forcing the commitment right now.”
“Exactly. But he thought otherwise. I thought he was that type of guy but after the break up I had found out that he was cheating on me with some girl he met in one of his classes.”
“Oh Annie, i’m so sorry.”Coyote gave me a reassuring look.
“Its okay. I am slowly learning that life is truly so much better without him. I am not bending to his will, and I feel like I can breath again.”
There was a trail that led down to a small shore. We walked down there and sat on the concrete bench that was dedicated to a woman named “Babe” written in gold, on a black plaque.
“This was my moms friend.” Coyote said pointing at the plaque.
“Really?” I looked at the picture they had put beside the plaque. “She looks pretty.”
“My mom worshipped her, and still does now.”
“So you never told me about your break up.”
Coyote shifted in his spot looking at the sparkling water that echoed with small waves.
“Her name was Jessica. She was actually my brother Bud’s ex first way back in college. But we kind of reunited when my mom painted her portrait. I guess she just wasn’t happy. She said my lifestyle was dragging her down because I don’t have everything in order yet. She was ready to take off, and i’m still ten steps behind everybody. So she left me a note in my tiny house saying how she needed more and we just never talked again.”
“Awh Coyote, i’m so sorry!” I slid a little closer to him. I restrained myself from wrapping my arm around his.
“Honestly, it was probably for the best. Its hard for people to understand why i’m so behind in finances and living situation.” I exhaled a sad breath. The kind of breath that I used to exhale when I would think about Jared or evern talk about him. “But there is always a new horizon, and I plan on running towards it.”
He looked at me with a smile. A smile that didn’t make you feel bad for him, but a smile that made you want to go in for a kiss. The butterflies had come back and every fiber of my being wanted to kiss him. I scooted away from him and looked out onto the water. We sat and watched as the sun had fully went down. We hiked back up onto the trails and back to his car. When we got to my apartment, he walked me up to my door.
“I had a really fun time with you Annie.” He said. His hands were in his pocket like he was a little boy again.
“I did to. We should really do it again soon.” I was still fighting back the urge to kiss him on his lips that just were inviting me to do so.
“I’ll tell you what. Next weekend, there is this movie thing that they host every year at the park. I would really love it if you joined me.”
“Okay, I will.” I smiled trying not to blush, “Goodnight Coyote.”
“Goodnight Annie.” What happened next took me by such surprise that I lost my breath. He kissed me on the cheek and then left.
I rushed into my apartment and shut the door behind me. My cheek was tingling from the kiss as I held my hand over it. the butterflies had over whelmed me so much that I squealed like a middle school girl and danced to my room. I don’t care that the date wasn’t anywhere fancy. This first date with Coyote was just right.
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