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I was going for the casual look:  A long, black maxi dress covered by a light cobalt blue sweater and white strappy sandals.

I felt so confident with my lengthy necklaces and long, wavy hair.  I actually spent time preening and primping myself.  For the first time in a long time I was truthfully pleased with my appearance.

              Pondering my thoughts Tory walked into my bathroom.  She hollered like a drunken frat boy, giving me the once-over.  “You look really cute.”

              “Thank you.”  I grinned.  It was always a good thing when Tory complimented my outfits.  She was a fashion junky.

              “I’ll probably be out past twelve so don’t wait up,” I assumed, applying blush to my slightly high cheekbones.  This date was giving me a chance to use the overabundance of cosmetics I had stocked up but generally didn’t use.

              “Don’t worry, Ava, I’m not gonna be one of those stalker parents staring out the living room window until you get home.  Since I’m your friend I’ll tone it down a little by looking out the kitchen window instead.  Better view,” she teased with a smirk.

I snickered at her remark.  “Oh joy.”

I put the finishing touches on my eye makeup then applied a shimmering coat of pink lip-gloss – the one Tory bought me.  I puckered my full lips and smiled at my reflection in the mirror.

              “Avalon, you really look amazing.  Jensen won’t be able to take his eyes off of you.”

              “That’s the idea,” I said hesitantly, sighing, thinking of how Tory was still dealing with Adam leaving her.  I felt guilty for wanting to go out.  I shouldn’t have been going out tonight.  I should’ve said I wanted to spend time with my best friend, making her feel better.  “I don’t have to go tonight, you know.”

“You’re going.”  Tory was stern, holding me by the shoulders and looking me straight in the eye.  “You are going on a date with Jensen Marx and you are going to like it!”

I laughed and gave her a quick hug.  “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” she assured me, smiling.  “Sam, Ryan and Lucy will be over in a bit.  Now go before I throw you out!”

I didn’t like the idea of the Drunken Trio coming over.  All they did was manipulate Tory into another drinking frenzy.  I looked at the clock; it was a quarter to ten.  “Okay, I guess I better get going then.”

“When you get back you need tell me all about it.  I want to know all the crazy, sexy,
amazing
details.”  She winked as she patted my back.  “My little Avalon’s growing up.”  She was such a drama queen but I appreciated her eagerness to get me to go on this date.

“Well I’m off,” I said about ready to keel over.

              “To see the wizard?” An intermittent light was seen in her eager milk chocolate eyes.

              “The wonderful wizard of oz.”

I walked out the door debating whether I should ride my bike or walk to Old Tily’s Convenience Store.  But once the thought popped into my head it was as if I already knew the answer: I was walking.

After about thirty seconds though I felt myself skipping down the lengthy road, a high sense of exertion flowing through me – igniting my every move.  In no time at all I would be in Jensen’s presence – something I’d been looking forward to since we’d departed last night.  I reminded myself I wouldn’t allow
his
presence to distract me from a nice evening. 
Everything seemed peaceful, serene.  And I was caught in the middle of its beauty.  I took a long, deep breath as I headed for the store on this considerably windy night.  It felt like it could have been the beginning of autumn.  All that was missing were the changing leaves.

              I rounded the corner to find Old Tily’s staring me in the face.  The lights were on but it seemed to be that no customers were inside.  The usually hustling and bustling area seemed almost deserted.  Only a few people passed by: A couple arm in arm, a small child with his mother and a man walking his miniature Dachshund.

              “Date number two I’m ready for you,” I whispered.  Just as I was about to turn the knob Jensen appeared out of nowhere, opening the door before I could.

              “Oh!  I didn’t see you there!”

             
Great.  Way to be sexy.

              “You’re so silly, Avalon,” Jensen smiled after making his ghostly appearance – his stance statue-like.  His blue eyes were glowing with anticipation and excitement.  He was wearing his purple work vest; his undeniable masculinity showed through the sculpture of the clothes he wore – muscles overwhelmingly too tempting not to want to touch.  “You look…
wow
… ”

              I blushed and entered the building.  “Thank you,” I replied.

Jensen chuckled.  “You don’t have to feel weird about blushing in front of me.  It’s adorable.”

              “Ugh, great.”  I had to change the subject before my embarrassment deepened.  “So what do we have planned for tonight?  A little floor sweeping perhaps?” I asked grabbing a broom from behind the counter.  “Or how about stocking the shelves?”

His laugh was hearty.  “Sorry to disappoint but that’s not on our agenda for tonight.”

“Oh no?”

“Definitely not.”  He took the broom out of my hand but not before his warm fingertips brushed across mine.  He gave me chills.  “I have a little surprise for you.”

              “A surprise?”  I hated surprises.

              “Come with me.”

He led the way to the back room where boxes lined the walls.  At the far end was a round table covered by a black tablecloth with a tall white candle in the center. Many sets of dazzling white lights surrounded the area.  It was absolutely breathtaking.

“This, Miss Montage is my surprise for you.”  He walked over to the side of the table where he uncovered three trays.  The first was a large crock-pot with steaming onion soup, freshly baked bread on the side.  The next had a plate full of baked rosemary chicken and mashed potatoes.  Finally, a colorful salad with almonds was under tray number three.  Chilled iced tea and two slices of apple pie were beside the table.

My jaw dropped.  Not because of how amazing the food looked and smelled but because he had put forth so much effort into making tonight special.  No other person had ever done this for me.  He was treating me like someone I didn’t feel I was – worthy of a decent man, or date for that matter.

I have to realize that not all men are like
him
.  And I
do
deserve someone better than that.

              “Jensen,” I gasped, “this is unbelievable.  When did you have time to do all this?  And your boss doesn’t mind?”

              “I prepared the food last night after our date.  I simply transported it here.”  He poured us some cold tea, the ice clinging against the Mason Jars.  “My manager thought it was a nice idea.  He told me he’d let us have the whole store to ourselves as long as I cleaned and locked up afterwards.”

              “I can’t believe how remarkable this is.”  I took a seat, still in awe.

              “Oh!  I almost forgot!”  Jensen ran out of the room.  He was back in a split second –
literally
a split second - with his purple work vest off.  “I wanted to look presentable for you without my uniform on.”

              “You did that so fast.”

              “Rushing back here to see you is important to me,” he said matter-of-factly and sat down across from me.  “So how was your day?”  Such a simple, ordinary question; yet so remarkably sweet coming from him.

              “Enjoyable.”  I grinned.  I couldn’t stop smiling while looking at him.  His nose, mouth, chin, eyes – everything about his appearance was enticing.  “How was yours?”

              “Long.  I was impatient.”  His face was a tad flustered.

              “Why?”

Jensen sat very still, very straight.  He looked abnormally comfortable.  I sat up straighter.  “I couldn’t wait to see
you
.”  He said the last word with uncontrollable happiness in his eyes.

An overwhelming feeling of acceptance and glee filled my soul.  I couldn’t help but grin.  It was the only thing I could think of doing other than crying for joy.  It felt so nice to have someone say they couldn’t wait to see
me
.  I didn’t know if I should truthfully believe it but I honestly wanted to.

“Avalon…you are by far the
smartest
…most
beautiful
…
astounding
woman I have ever met.”   With each word he spoke a flicker of heat filled me up to the brim.  Tears filled my eyes.

“Do you really mean that?”  I sounded hoarse.

              “Yes, absolutely,” he said without a beat.  His cheerful smile melted my heart.

Within a single moment I shook my head in disbelief and stood up.  I began pacing back and forth in the tiny space running my hands through my hair.  What he had said to me,
about me
, didn’t seem logical – or realistic.  I was now unfortunately unhappy.

              “Avalon?  Did I say something wrong?”

              “I can’t do this.  Not again.”  The sting of tears burned my eyes.

              “Do what?  You don’t have to do anything.”

              I ran out of the room and onto the street outside of Old Tily’s embarrassed beyond belief.  I started walking and within moments heard pounding footsteps coming toward me.

              “Avalon.”  It was Jensen.  He ran in front of me now cupping my tear-stained face between his large hands.  I couldn’t help but look at him – into his eyes that showed no signs of my rapist; the only pair of male eyes I could willingly gaze into without seeing
his
.  Jensen was something short of a miracle.  Then it hit me:  Had I been with Jensen because I truly liked him?  Or was it because I couldn’t see
him
anywhere when I was around him?  Sorry to say I was now trying to figure that out.  “I don’t understand how I could have upset you,” Jensen remarked, dark eyebrows pulling together in concern.

              “You didn’t,” I blubbered.  “I’m making myself upset.”

For some ridiculous reason.

I had a great guy that I could, in time, claim as mine.  So why was I trying to mess this up?  And why did I feel obligated to further embarrass myself?

              “Why?” he laughed.  It was obvious he thought I was a bit bizarre.

              “It’s a long story…” I thought back to the night of the party eleven months ago.  Subconsciously I winced and my eyes clouded over.  I tried pretending like nothing was wrong but I couldn’t hide it.  Whenever I thought of what happened my inner fears took over.  I hated it and wished it would subside but it always took a while for the depressing thoughts to cool down.

              “We have all night.”  He smiled warmly, releasing his hands from my face.  Left behind was a soothing, tingling sensation.  “And I love long stories.”

              “You won’t love this one.”  I shuddered.  He sat us both down on a bench nearby.  He stroked at my thick hair gently.

              I was trying to calm myself down.  Or rather, Jensen was doing that part.  I just had to convince myself to stop being such a crybaby.  I usually wasn’t this emotional.  A while back I was just a body but my mind seemed detached.  I didn’t want to feel anything anymore.  I thought if I did I would burst and let every emotion back into my life – including love.

I wanted, more than anything, for this agonizing fear to dissolve into nothingness, along with the man I once loved more than life itself; the boy I would have died for, would have sacrificed anything and everything – without question – for.  But
he
was only interested in getting one thing in the end.  Jensen wasn’t like that surprisingly.  He didn’t overly ogle at with me lust in his blue eyes.  He didn’t stare at me like I was something to play with, rather than a human being.  I could tell he cared about me.  Why?  I had no clue whatsoever.  But he did.  And that was all that mattered . . . for the moment.

              “So,” he said, “are you going to tell me about this story of yours?  Or should I change the subject?”

              “I’m not even sure how to begin,” I admitted.  I shook my head twice and breathed in.  “I haven’t dated in almost a year.  H-he,” I stuttered, “and I ended on bad terms.  Since then I’ve been…different.”

“How so?”  Jensen’s voice was soft, soothing.

“I don’t think now’s such a good time to talk about this.  We’re on a date, remember?”  I felt guilty this was happening.

              “On dates,
most
people like to get to know their partner a little better,” he chuckled.  “I won’t judge you in a negative light.  So please don’t feel frightened to tell me.”

              “It’s not that,” I said.  “I’m scared to even…
think
about it.”  He saw the pain on my face and a look of sympathy filled his sapphire-like eyes.  He waited for me to compose myself before I spoke again.  “I just need some time…if that’s alright with you.”