Dinner At 8

Willy's Bar and Grill, 80th and 2nd.

I giggle every time I look at the name. I know it's childish. Willy's. I wonder if he's trying to send a message.

I look in the window to see if he's there yet. Instead, I catch my reflection in the glass and fix my hair, which I've worn up tonight despite the admonition from both of my sisters, who seem to think my forehead is so big that bangs are the only cure. Thanks for boosting my confidence, girls. I absentmindedly fix my hair with my fingertips, while my eyes scan the restaurant. Oh, there he is. Right on time and at the bar.

I walk into the front door and my heart jumps for a second, so I stand and let it settle. The hostess approaches me and asks if she can help me. I point toward the bar and say that I'm here to meet him. That one at the bar. The one with the blonde hair. I'm here to meet him. He hasn't seen me yet. He's just sitting there over his drink, contemplating the bottles at the back of the bar. I ask the hostess if I can just stand here and watch for a second and she says sure and flits off to take care of something else.

Well, Lis? What are you waiting for? Go over there. Say hello and let the date commence. I can't. Not yet. I need a second. Because I'm still reeling from the perfection of the other night. Part of me wants to go over there, say hello, and have a nice meal with a nice boy who'll probably pay. Part of me just wants to turn around and hightail it out of here and keep the memory of one of the most spontaneously perfect evenings in the history of my life frozen in time. I can still see the dark sky framing his face while I looked up at him. Come on, Lisa. What'll it be? The lady or the tiger?

"Lisa."

I guess it'll be the lady. I smile at him and put my hand up to wave. He stands. As he stands, I can see it happen in slow motion. The drink that he was nursing starts to tip and then spills. All over. All over the bar. All over the floor. All over him. He stands there with his arms out off his sides and soaking wet pants. I put my hand to my mouth to cover my laughter and walk over there. He looks at me, blushing a little bit, and he smiles.

"I guess you found out how clumsy I am."

I look at him.

"I guess we have something else in common. Let's go sit down."

Tonight, Tonight, Tonight

I'm still swamped at work and, as it turns out, have a totally incompetent moron working alongside me. What does this mean for me? Well, for one it means that I'm doing the work of two people and it means that I'm doing it with someone in the way. She's a very sweet girl, but if she wasn't sleeping with the Manager of the Division, she would have been out on her ass weeks ago. With any luck, she'll get promoted to his "assistant." You know what though? Not even this nonsense at work can get to me today.

Do you know why?

Because tonight, I have a date!

That's right. I, Lisa Grover, have a date. And I'm actually excited about it. I wish I had more time to talk about it but rest assured, there will be an account of it tomorrow. To all of you out there who threw yourself at me via e-mail, you are all sweet and I thank you.

BUT I HAVE A DATE!!!