The rain had stopped when five o’clock rolled around. It was down to a light drizzle that was slowly beginning to turn into a mix of soft rain and small flakes of melting snow.
It came muffled at first as he struggled to reach the surface. He could see the sun reflecting off the water just inches up ahead but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t breath. He felt himself beginning to get dizzy as he heard a continuous ringing. It stopped for a moment and then it started again. He suddenly felt arms pulling him up from the water as he twisted and turned and he dropped with hard thud against concrete that seemed fabricated. He sat up and looked around. The ringing of the phone was now clear in his ear and he cleared his throat snatching it from its perch.
“Hello.” He answered.
“It’s five o’clock sleepy head.” A cheery voice from the other end stated. He glared at the red glowing letters that were blurred from the thick cobwebs of sleep. Blinking brought into focus that it was six minutes after six o’clock.
“I see now.” He said with a small smile. He heard her giggle.
“Good thing you do. So how are we going to do this?” she asked and he rubbed his face.
“Are you at work?”
“Yeah, but I can go home.” She said and he nodded.
“No, no.” stated rubbing his face, “You like Italian?”
“Yes.” He could hear her smile over the phone.
“Give me thirty minutes.”
It took him five minutes to muster courage to walk in and get the date started. He had ridden up in a black Cadillac in front of Starbucks on the corner of 29th and Emerson. He stepped out and sucked in air. Opening the door he walked in. He could see her back. She had taken her blue hair out of her ponytail. She was wearing a loose v-neck cream colored sweater with flared jeans and Chucks. He tapped her gently on the shoulder and she looked at him through a mirror. Her grin appeared and she stood up. She was holding some type of coffee-based drink in one hand and she hugged him with the other arm.
“Sasha.” He smiled and extended his arm. She linked hers in and tossed the empty styrofoam cup into the trash can as they exited. She had a blue purse matching the exact blue of her hair. She leaned her head against his shoulder as she tried to get heat from him as the cool wind swirled around them.
“Hey Howard.” She said with a smile, “Good to see you.” He opened the door for her.
“Did you think I wasn’t going to come?”
“Dude, it felt like high school.” She laughed and he smiled. He shut her door and got in on the driver’s side.
“Why what happened in high school?”
“That’s a surprise for either inside the restaurant or the second date. I haven’t decided yet.” She giggled and he smiled as they pulled off. It was going well so far and he was proud that he kept a steady conversation. He sterred the vehicle into a parking space into a resturant and her smile gre big and her eyes twinkled as she raised an curious eyebrow.
"Can you afford this?" she asked with a smirk, "A salad is like ten dollars here." she said and he winked at her.
"You'd be surprised at what I can afford."
