Brogue 2007 - Belhaven College

A Perfect Date
C H R I S T I N A M I L E S
t h e b r o g u e
Alice Harrison gazed dully out the window. Each passing streetlight was
like a marker of the silence that enveloped the car. Neither Karl nor Alice had
spoken a word since they left the restaurant, both under a trance. Memories
from the evening replayed in Alice’s mind, a continuous stream of humiliation
to enhance her bad mood. The fact that Karl wouldn’t wipe that stupid
grin off his face just made it all the worse. He can’t get it out of his mind either.
I’ll bet he can’t wait to get rid of me so he can start laughing his heart out.
Their date had started out so well; their conversation flowed easily
and they were having a great time. Karl had taken them to a nice Italian
restaurant across town, which happened to be one of Alice’s favorites. Their
waitress, Annette, was new on the job but that wasn’t too much of a problem.
It gave them more time to talk to each other. As they waited for their salads
to arrive, the conversation lagged. Alice examined the restaurant and shredded
her roll to bits on her plate. When she looked down, she was somewhat
startled to see the mess she had made. She reached for her napkin, so that
she could circumspectly clean off her skirt, but her drink was precariously
balanced on the corner of her napkin. It tipped over and flowed across the
table and into Karl’s lap. Oh shoot, oh shoot…she fumbled for her napkins and
threw them at him… Why did I do that? Why? Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Klutz!
Why do you have to be such a klutz?
“It’s ok, Alice; it’s ok. Don’t cry over spilled milk, or Dr. Pepper. It’s not
worth it.” She smiled up at him. Karl just drummed his fingers on the table
and chuckled. Thankfully, their dinner came quickly, and they were momentarily
spared from conversation. The mussels were delicious, and Alice soon
relaxed.
“So, what types of books do you like?”
“Oh, you know just…” The one especially strong mussel that she had
wrestling with for the past three minutes, slipped out of her grasp, flew behind
her, and landed on the lap of a rather stout cowboy. “…. Westerns?” He
laughed, and she glanced sheepishly behind her. The cowboy just smiled and
waved. Alice crossed her eyes in frustration, which made Karl laugh harder
and inhale the water he had been sipping. He started choking and sputtered
that he wasn’t about to die, so don’t worry. Alice giggled. Her infectious
laughter drew eyes from around the room. This wouldn’t have been so bad,
except that Alice snorted amidst the laughter. I have never been so embarrassed
in all my life. Her face burned as the blood rose to her cheeks. Look at
him, he’s just sitting there laughing at me. Oh, of course, he is being a gentleman
about it. I’ll bet everyone here thinks he’s laughing with me. Argh! I can’t
believe this! I haven’t done anything right tonight.
Alice couldn’t have been more relieved when Karl asked for the check.
Sure, they had had fun, but there was only so much humiliation she could
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