Ultimately it was his repeated almost continuous glancing down to his lap that clued her in. At first she had thought he was nervous like her. After all, who wouldn’t be nervous about a first date set up by friends who swore that they were perfect for each other. That is a lot of pressure for a first date.
She couldn’t stand it anymore. “Are you getting texts from friends too? Mine are apparently dying to know if we have fallen in love yet.”
“No.” He didn’t even look up from whatever it was he was looking at on his phone.
“Is work bugging you after hours?”
“No, Heather. Work is not bugging me. Why are you so curious about my phone all of the sudden?” As he was talking he slid his phone back into his pocket.
“Because, Parker. You’ve paid more attention to your phone than you have to me in the past few minutes. So I was wondering what could possibly be taking you away from our date.”
He folded his arms onto the table, eyes locked on hers. “Do you need every second of my attention in order for this date to turn into a relationship?”
“No.” She huffed. “Yes. If you ask me on a date I expect the majority of your attention to be on our date and not on your phone. I didn’t say yes to a date with the top of your head, yet I’ve seen more of it than your face.”
“What are you saying Heather? Do you want this date to be done?” He glanced around. “Has this lasted long enough that our friends will believe us now that we aren’t meant to be?”
Heather put her hand up. “Have you been counting minutes until you can end this without getting grief from our friends?”
“No.” Parker sat up straighter. “I wouldn’t do that.”
She leaned back in her chair, arms crossed. “I’m not convinced. And if you are done with the date then so am I. I don’t care how long it’s been or if I get grief from friends. Spending more time with someone who likes their phone more than me is someone I am not interested in.”
Parker pulled his phone back out. “Here.”
“I don’t want your phone.” She pushed it back across the table at him.
He wouldn’t take it back, leaving it on the table between them. “It’s my promise to not look at it again until you decide our date is done.”
“Why should I not just leave?”
“I’ve given you every reason.” He shrugged. “And now that I think of it from your perspective I realize how horrible I have been behaving. One more chance?”
Silence reigned between them as she weighed her options.
“Fine.” She took his phone and put it in her purse. “Now will you tell me what you kept looking at?”
He shook his head. “I’ll make you a deal. If I can get you to laugh, a real genuine laugh, before I drop you off tonight then I will tell you what I was doing.”
“I could just laugh right now and you’d have to tell me.”
“I would be the one that decides if it’s a real laugh.” He chuckled.
“How would you know what my real laugh is like then?” She leaned in. “I might have a horse laugh.”
His smile grew and a glint of ‘challenge accepted’ appeared in his eyes. “I plan on hearing you laugh so much tonight that by the end of the night I will know if I’ve managed to get a real laugh out of you.”
“Game on.” Heather laughed.
Immediately he shook his head. “Nope. That’s not it. Try again.”
That brought on more laughter from both of them.
“You know, based on our date so far, you aren’t going to hear a real laugh.” Heather started eating again.
His smile faded. “I am sorry.”
“If we do another date, I think I’ll start off by confiscating your phone right away. You are much more fun without it.”
“Hey!” His mock outrage had her giggling.
“The last minute with you actually engaged in conversation is so completely different. I’m actually enjoying myself now.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Maybe you should have blown up at me sooner. Because I like this version of you better too.”
“I haven’t changed.”
Parker cringed just a little. “I’m aware of that. It is more of a chastisement for myself. I didn’t take the time to talk to you. My opinion of you was marred by my phone.”
Heather smiled. “So what you are saying is you want to start our date over and try talking to each other to decide if we want to call this date a success…or failure.”
“Sounds good when you put it like that.” Parker looked down at his bread plate. “Maybe we can try a different place to eat.”
“Why?” Heather looked around. “This seems like a really nice place.”
He nodded, looked around and nodded again. “I don’t think that this is something that can really show you why I am a good person to date. And I am finding that I want you to say yes when I ask you on a date at the end of the night.”
“All because I called you out?” She laughed.
“No. Because you didn’t just sit there and take it.” He pointed at her purse. “And you gave me a second chance at proving to you that I’m a good guy.”
“Where to?” Heather stood with a smile.
Parker rose and held out his arm. “Well, my fine lady. Allow me to show you my favorite Italian place in the city…Tuscan Valley.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
As they were walking out he peeked over at her as he spoke. “Not surprising. It’s a teeny little shop near my apartment. But we shall feast like kings… queens…king and queen.”
Heather burst out laughing.
