FIRST TIME IN A WHILE (A SHORT STORY)

(A Short Story)

As Mike drives home, he cannot help but chuckle every few minutes. It had been a whirlwind of an evening, one he didn’t anticipate but was proud to have experienced. He rolls the window of his emerald green 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider Veloce and turns up the music. Lovers Rock by Sade is playing. He puts his hand out the window and moves it in a wormlike motion to the strings of the song. He took the longer, more scenic route home this time. He wanted to feel the wind hit his face and soak up this sense of newness like he just walked through a freshly trimmed maze. He couldn’t help but smile. 

Mike pulls on his apartment block and sees a parking spot magically right across the street from his building. He thinks to himself, “Damn, I can’t lose today,” which boosts his already chipper mood. He walks up to the gray door of his apartment with the dimly lit lamp hovering above his right shoulder. He puts his keys into the lock and enters, walking up the stairs with a skip-like hop. As he turns the corner to his living room, he hears a voice behind him, “Duuuuude, I forgot how spiffy you get for these things, you look fucking great.” That was John, saying that as he finished inhaling a spoonful of cookies and cream ice cream and apple pie. John and Mike have been friends since their freshman year of college. John was the kind of man who read every book by bell hooks, went to therapy, spent a shit load of money on records, and dressed like Marvin Gaye. He was a real man’s man but quite the lady’s man too. 

“How did it go?” John asked. 

“Pretty well actually,” Mike said with a smile. “I just —”, he said with a sigh.

“Oh boy, here we go,” John quickly cuts Mike off. “Not again man, come on.”

“No no…seriously though,” Mike interjects.

“Seriously what?” John says with a smile and takes another bite. 

Mike pauses and starts to fidget with his keys anxiously. He’s still wearing his pleated trousers, Kenneth Cole loafers, a white cotton t-shirt, and a tweed blazer with a vintage brown, white and green Italian silk neckerchief rolled and tied around his neck.

“Let me just tell you how the night went?” Mike suggests with a shrug.

John walks out of the kitchen and past Mike, who’s leaning on the entryway, into the living room. He sits on the baby blue left-side chaise couch placed along the wall with a huge Jugo piece hanging above it in his red Bayern Munich jersey and casual shorts. 

“Hit me with it,” he replies excitedly. 

“Alright, so I got there first, right?” Mike, still leaning against the wall in the entryway, starts to recount the night. 

Mike is sitting in the Italian restaurant he had longed to be in for a while. He always drives by it on his way back from work. He would see the valet take keys to cars he could only dream of driving let alone owning, and would say to himself, “Man, I gotta come see what this is all about someday.” The light fixtures hang high above his head and spacing in the restaurant is more than adequate. The room is filled with overlapping chatter, but he can’t seem to make out any specific thing being said no matter how hard he tries. He has a glass of water sitting in front of him, but he can’t bring himself to take a sip even though his mouth is as dry as the Sahara desert. This happens a lot with Mike, especially when he’s nervous, and he is. He keeps moving in his chair and checking his watch. He had told his date to meet him there at 8 p.m. It’s 7:55 p.m., five minutes since he last checked his watch. It feels like an eternity as he waits. He finally picks up the glass of water and takes a sip. He scans the room and sees someone is walking to the grand piano in a clean-cut double-breasted black tuxedo. The man sits at the piano and starts playing Ludwig van Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor. Mike chuckles to himself and says quietly, “This is cliche as fuck.” He turns back to look at the door and there she is! 

Wearing a pair of black Mango sandals and a beautiful red dress that hugs her body as if it was hand-sewn by Ceres herself, is Ama. She has a tiny Cartier tank on her left wrist and two bracelets on her right. She’s wearing a ring on her right middle finger with a clutch in hand. She walks up to the table and Mike gets up, he walks around and hugs her. He pulls her chair and she sits as he goes back to his side of the table.

“You look fucking amazing!” He says. 

“Well thank you, fucking amazing is exactly what I was going for,” she replies. She places the clutch on the table. 

Mike chuckles and replies, “You should have let me come get you” as he scoots up in his chair, closing the distance between them. 

“Nah, it's okay,” she replies with a smile and pulls her chair forward. She quickly scans the room and leans in to whisper “Besides, I can’t let you know where I live…yet.”

“Oh really? I promise I’m not a serial killer,” he says jokingly but with a tint of seriousness. 

“Ah dammit, I only date serial killers. Looks like this is over before it even starts,” she replies with a serious tone. 

They both laugh. This has started well. Mike shifts in his chair and tries to lay back. He’s still nervous but not as much as he was before. The confidence is slowly building. 

“We should do all the first date stuff, right? The tell-me-about-yourself, the what-do-you-do, the whole nine...right?” Mike says. His tone seems to be one of asking permission. He takes another sip of water as he tries to self-soothe.  

“I mean…do we have to? What did Abby tell you about me?” She replies as she places her elbow up on the table and holds her head in her palm. 

“I can’t tell you that…top secret, you don’t have clearance yet.” 

Ama leans forward and locks her fingers on the table. She looks like she’s about to interrogate Mike. ”Oh is that so? Cuz I always have clearance. Some might even say I’m in charge of clearances.”

“Oh, you’re the clearance chief?” Mike says. He immediately thinks to himself, “That was so corny”. He chuckles and subtly flicks his right index finger with the help of his thumb. “Clearance-Chief Officer? CCO! Well if you’re doing a background check, don’t ask my third-grade teacher cuz I definitely stole those pencils. And I’m sure she doesn’t have a lot of fun things to say about me. You know how it goes with third-grade teachers.”

“You got away with it, I will completely ignore that that happened. Besides, I mean look at me, do I not look like I command the room and have all the clearance?” as she playfully pushes her hair behind her right ear.

“Oh, I don’t doubt that at all! I can see it...shit, I can feel it!”

“Feel it? Oh -”

The waiter interrupts the date. Mike smiles and puts his hand to his mouth. The waiter pulls out a notepad and asks, “Hello, how are you doing tonight?”

“Good!” Ama and Mike reply in unison. They look at each other and smile. 

“So, what can I get started for you? Maybe some drinks?” the waiter says politely. 

“Can you please tell us about your wine offerings for tonight?” Ama asks with confidence.

The waiter starts rambling off the wine options. Mike seems out of it for a quick second. Ama and the waiter’s voices sound muffled and distant like he’s slowly drifting at sea.

John interjects “Bro, wait, you did that thing again!” with a playfully concerned tone.

“What thing?”

“When you blank out mid convo? Why did you blank out in the restaurant? Are you okay?”

“Fam, I’m good. I just...I had a moment when she asked about the wine, which is usually my thing and I was just taken aback by it…”

“Reminded you of her huh?” John says snarkily.

Mike takes off his jacket and throws it at John in response. 

“Can I finish the damn story?”

Ama looks at Mike and then back at the waiter. “I’ll take a glass of the Cabernet Sauvignon for now. Want anything, Mike?”

“Umm...water is good for now. I wanna pick a wine that would go with the entree. Can we have some calamari as well, please?”

“Sure. Coming right up”

“Thank you,” Mike said with a smile. 

“Are you okay?” Ama said with slight concern. 

“Yeah. Sorry. I kinda blanked out for a second there, had a long day before the date you know?” Mike smiles softly and looks away. “I’m fine, truly.”

“Are you sure?” Ama says with insistence. She nervously chuckles “We can talk about it if you want.”

“No no! Seriously it’s fine” He says reassuringly. “But back to the conversation, no, I can’t tell you what Abby told me about you, however, you can tell me about yourself!” Mike enthusiastically replies. 

“Well, I work in finance. I’m a business lawyer for a firm downtown. I broker deals for them and make sure they aren’t exposed on any negotiations. It can be tiring at times”

The waiter shows up with a bottle of Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon and starts to pour a glass. 

Mike interrupts “Actually, can you please leave the bottle? Thank you! And can I get another glass as well?” Mike picks up the bottle and starts pouring for Ama. Ama smiles slightly. “Thank you,” she says softly. She’s impressed with Mike so far-this rarely happens on her dates. Ama is a very well-traveled woman who enjoys her wines and the finer things. One summer, she even spent a month working on a vineyard in Bordeaux, France as she backpacked across Europe. 

“Sorry to have interrupted you. Go on, please,” Mike says.  

“Umm yeah. So that’s what I do.” 

“Where you from?” Mike asks

“Upstate New York actually, specifically Rochester. But I moved to this area for college and never left. I kinda like the quiet, you know? It excites me. And I’m just driving distance from the nearest ski resort, which is convenient. Yeah, I love outdoor shit.” Ama says as she takes a sip of her wine. 

Mike’s taken aback by Ama. “Oh wow. That’s amazing. You're definitely ten times cooler than I am. Don’t worry though, I’ll catch up,” he says in awe.

“Well, I hope you do quickly. Cuz the cool train waits for no one.“ she says as she snakily moves her head.

“How about you? Tell me about yourself, Elusive Mike!”

“Elusive? That’s my title? How’d I earn that?” 

“I mean it took you a month to text me after you got my number...soooooo I mean wha—”

Mike interrupts “There’s an explanation for that but I don’t wanna turn into ‘Explaining Mike’ now”. Mike laughs. “But, let’s see. I work in tech. I’m a UX designer. I’m not a huge outdoors person. I don't even know how to ski. Maybe you could teach me since you’re clearly a pro? Umm, I love music. Jazz especially. Huge hip-hop guy as well. I watch a lot of movies and TV..and...yeah...that’s a little bit about me.” Mike smiles shyly and confesses, “Can you tell I haven’t done this in a while?” 

“You haven’t? Couldn’t tell.” Ama says sarcastically and then smiles.  

“I’m having a great time. You don’t have to worry.” Ama assures Mike and then takes another sip of wine. 

Mike smiles as well. He looks over and the waiter, in a buttoned-up white Mark & Spencer shirt with black pants and two pens in his breast pocket, walks toward their table with an eggshell ceramic plate filled with crispy golden brown fried calamari. He sets it on the table and says, “Please let me know if you need anything else”. Mike nods. The waiter walks away and Mike looks back at Ama. This time he makes eye contact that provides a blanket of warmth to her.

“Tell me about your family. Any siblings?” Mike asks

“I have an older sister. She’s about 3 years older. She’s married, lives down in South Carolina with her husband. My mom lives in Utah...of all places. She bought a cabin with my step dad and they just moved there after retiring. My dad passed away when I was three. My stepdad, who is also named Mike by the way, married my mom when I was about six. He’s been in my life ever since. It truly feels like he’s always been my dad. My second dad if you will.”

“Wow. I’m sorry about your dad. I ca-” Mike says sympathetically. 

“No. Please. It’s okay. I was so young. It sucked but you know, I’m good now,” Ama interrupts. Mike shifts uncomfortably. He didn’t mean to make her uncomfortable or get her to tell a story about her dead dad. Mike’s always been bad at this part of life, the ‘talking about loss’ part. 

“Death is so hard but you know, gotta do my best,” Ama says with warmth. She could tell Mike felt a bit bad about asking. “Tell me about your family!” she said with a bright and forgiving tone. 

“I am the first of 5. Well...4 now. Lost my younger brother to an accident about 5 years ago. I have an adopted sister. She is 2 years younger. My pa-”

Ama interrupts Mike and says shockingly, “Wow Mike. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“It’s totally fine. Worked and still am working on it in therapy. Tough road but I gotta work through it yo-”

The waiter shows up and asks “How are things here? Do you know what you would like to get for dinner tonight?”

“Uh...I’ll have the steak, medium,” replies Ama. 

“Funny enough, I’ll have the steak as well, medium rare for me”

“Sounds great. Anything else?” the waiter asks. Both of them shake their heads.

“Thank you,” replies Mike. 

“Of course. I’ll have that right up.“

Mike and Ama reply in unison “Thank you.” 

The waiter walks away.

“Back to the whole grief thing, yeah I’m doing much better now. There are bad days of course but that’s just life. Do you ever feel like that?”

“Not really...I was so young it feels more like something I was told about than something that happened to me. If that makes any sense? Or maybe, I just blocked it out because it was so painful, who knows?”Ama says. She smiles and tries to create some pockets of joy. “But let’s get off the morbid shit!”

“I was just about to say that. So, how long have you and Abby known each other?”

“Quite a while. We met in college, she was in one of my classes, we got paired for a project, became friends and then we later became roommates. Good Lord, she’s an angel. I love that woman. How do you know her?”

“She dated one of my closest friends and we became friends because of that. Relationship didn’t work out but they stayed friends and so did-”

“Wait?!!! You’re friends with Johnny?” Ama says with surprise. She grabs a calamari and starts giggling. 

“I am. One of my best friends actually. He’s my roommate. The tone of the question makes me think you don’t like John?” Mike laughs and takes a sip of his wine. 

“Now that I know he’s your best friend, I gotta shut up!” Ama laughs and also takes a sip of her wine.

“No no, please go ahead” Mike laughs again and grabs a calamari. 

“I actually love John, he was really good to Abby, it’s a shame that it ended that way, you know?”

“Yeah. That’s life though, you live and you learn.”

“Yeah but still. I have a feeling they might end up back together, who knows?”

“I really hope so. That would get him out the damn house!” They both laugh. 

Another waitress shows up with their steaks. Seared to perfection. Sliced with precision. With a side of chimichurri. Mike grabs his glass out of the way and places it next to his glass of water. He looks up and smiles at Ama as she watches the waitress put the steaks on the table. 

“Well if the date was y’all talking about me, no wonder you have no idea if it was good or not. Y’all both suck at this!” John says as he gets up to go to the kitchen. He walks past Mike who’s still standing in the entryway of the living room. John laughs as he gets into the kitchen. Mike then walks to sit down on the couch. 

“That’s the thing, the best part of the date was after dinner. We took a walk before getting to our cars and it was so good”. 

Outside on the sidewalk, Mike walks closer to the curb and Ama on the inside, close to the buildings. They are conversing and smiling the whole time. Ama’s shocked at Mike’s last comment. 

“So you hate scary movies but have seen all the Saw movies?” 

“Well...yes! But that’s because I like psychological shit. That movie just gives me something to think about but now saying that out loud, I realize I sound ridiculous.”

Ama laughs. “Oh, you sound ridiculous for sure but keep going. I had a bad take earlier so I can’t even say shit!”

“Yeah, what’s up with that? Who doesn’t like Beyonce?”

“That’s not what I said. I like Bey...I just don’t listen to her when I’m alone and want something playing” Ama said with a faux stern tone. 

“Yeah, yeah...I’m calling Jay Z and telling him you don’t like his wife.”

“Oh, you just got Hov on speed dial? I see you!” Ama nudges Mike playfully.

Mike laughs “I wish!”. They both chuckle followed by a long pause. It’s an unexpectedly warm evening with a lot of cars driving by. They both didn’t particularly expect to walk after their date but this is an exciting experience. They take their time with their steps since they both don’t want to rush an ending to this night already. Mike sees an ice cream shop open down the street. 

“Can I interest you in some ice cream to finish up our night?”

“Lactose intolerant,” she says with such sadness, disappointment, and an upside-down smile. “I know. It's a shame. Truly is. But I’m gonna ask you anyway, favorite flavor?”

“Damn…so no ice cream for you? I guess I’m gonna have to get this cookies and cream for me, myself and I. And yes, that was a Beyonce reference since you hate her”.

Ama bursts out laughing. “This narrative is sticking, huh?”

“Oh for sure, and I’m telling everyone I meet “Ama doesn’t like Beyonce!” I’m actually gonna make a t-shirt with your face on it saying that.”

“What did I get myself into?” Ama rolls her eyes playfully and smiles.

“Hopefully something good,” Mike says with a smile. Ama stops walking and looks at Mike, smiles, and keeps walking. Mike shrugs his shoulders up with his hands in his pockets followed by a smile. “Never gonna let you live this down.” 

Ama smiles and tucks her hair behind her ear. Her beautiful Bernard James earrings shine bright under the street lights.  

“So let’s switch it back to careers for a minute, do you want to be a designer forever? What’s the plan?” She says inquisitively. 

“Well actually no. I mean I love designing, it gives me a lot of joy. My coworkers and bosses are great but I’ve always wanted to be a filmmaker. That’s what I pictured myself doing at a very young age but never pursued it.”

Ama curiously looks at Mike with furrowed brows. “Wow. Why not pursue it now?”

“I kind of am? I’m collaborating on a short film with some friends which will feature my directorial debut. I’m lowkey worried and scared but if I hate it, I just won’t put it out.” Mike says nervously as he takes his hands out of his pockets. 

“Well from all the movie knowledge you’ve dropped on me tonight, I have absolutely no doubt you will kill that shit!” Ama says with delight. She turns around and looks him in the eye, “You got this!”

He smiles and replies “Thank you. I truly appreciate it.”

“I’m on a date with the next Barry Jenkins and no one told me?” She turns around and skips away, stealing a glance at him in between every skip. She turns around and starts skipping backward. She mockingly bites her lower lip ever so slightly. 

“Wow. NOW THAT is high praise!”

“You’re very insightful and perceptive so I don’t doubt you’d make a great filmmaker.”

“Seriously, thank you! How about you? Wanna be a lawyer forever? Or do you have any hobbies or interests that consume you enough to take you away from business law?”

Ama’s eyes spark with joy. She’s still skipping backward “I love being a lawyer, it’s something I can’t see myself stopping. I wanna be a lawyer till retirement and then pick up a hobby like sailing or knitting or whatever, I don’t really know.” Ama laughs softly and stops skipping.

“So work is all you do? Nothing outside work?” a slightly confused look on his face, Mike tilts his head.

“Well, outdoorsy shit. Especially during the winter, I go snowboarding and skiing but otherwise, nope. I work anywhere from 50 to 60 hours a week so free time is mostly for reading and sleeping”

“I feel that! Good thing is, retirement is only 35ish years away”

Ama chuckles and brushes her hair from her face. “Sooner hopefully.”

“Definitely sooner,” Mike says as he nods his head in agreement. He takes a look at his watch.  “I should walk you to your car, I feel like I kept you out late.”

“I liked tonight a lot, kinda lost track of time in the process…Well I parked over there, we can walk to my car”

“Perfect!”

Their fingers brush against each other as they wait to cross the street. Ama tucks her hair behind her ears as she smiles. Mike smirks. They cross the street and walk to Ama’s car. She drives a steel blue Honda Civic which was parallel parked in front of the leather boots and bags shop. She leans against the car and looks Mike directly in the eyes. 

“I had a lot of fun tonight. We should do this again. Just don’t take months to reach out this time”

“That won’t happen” Mike blinks and smiles. “May I kiss you? I’ve been wanting to do that since you said you hate Beyonce”. Ama bursts into laughter. 

“Only if you don’t snitch on me to Hov” 

“Oh fuck that guy. I’m deleting his contact right now”. They both laugh. Mike reaches in for a kiss. Ama meets him halfway. They share a kiss that leaves them both wanting more. Ama pulls away and smiles. 

John walks from the entrance of the living room where he was standing. There’s a print of Terence Maluleke’s Embrace in Preparation hanging above his right shoulder. He walks in and sits next to Mike. He looks at Mike as Mike speaks. 

“And then yeah, she said goodnight and drove away. I got in my car and drove home”

“Okay, so what’s the problem?” John annoyingly asks.

“Bro, I don’t know.”

“Well, this was your first date since you-know-who. You’re scared and that’s fine. But this sounded like a great first date. You should call her.” 

John gets up and starts walking towards the record player sitting in front of a shelf of records. He scans through looking for a jazz record he got as a gift from Abby a while ago. It’s Oscar Peterson’s Con Alma. Mike takes his phone out and starts scrolling. John looks over and smirks. 

“Besides this would get your ass out the damn house. You won’t move on if you don’t move on man.“

“You know what, you’re right. I’ll text her. Either way, I need to make sure she made it home safe.” Mike looks up Ama’s contact. He starts a message and deletes it. He then types “I just got home. I hope you got home safe too.” 

John grabs the record and takes it out the sleeve. He looks over at Mike. 

“Mhm. Mhm. Oh by the way, Abby and I are good and are getting dinner on Saturday so jokes on y’all.”

Mike laughs uncontrollably. “About damn time! Jesus, y’all took too damn long!” Mike’s phone dings. Ama has texted “You finally texted! Maybe you’re not Elusive Mike. I’m home. Dinner on Saturday?” Mike looks up and smiles. 

John looks over and sees Mike smiling. He says with a joking tone and some sense of pride “What?”