Chapter 8

ANNA

Breakfast with John had turned into a minefield. Beyond a serious case of horniness, I don't know what had come over me. I felt like my emotions were all over the map. Relief at the lack of another woman, followed by manic curiosity about his night at the club, and genuine surprise mixed with something else at the thought that he found a non-amazon girl attractive. Then when he glowered at me over his scone, I tried to look innocent, but felt like a tiny bird at the feet of a tomcat, and just as suddenly it was gone. He brushed the crumbs off my face like it was the most natural thing in the world, and I had a flash of being an old married couple, where that kind of casual intimacy had been based on decades of love. It was dizzying. And in a flash I realized, that if John was ever going to find that kind of partner, he had to get his dating game up to speed. In truth, it didn't sound like he'd done too badly with the russian-dj-elf, language barrier not withstanding, but I'd never seen him try to make a move on a girl, and I was curious. What is John like when he's on the prowl?

And that is how I came up with the gambit of being his dating coach. Of course he surprised me again when he came up with the second date idea, and it was clear that I hadn't really thought through my idea. He was right of course, a bar is one thing, but a proper date was just as, if not more, important to get right. So why did I feel like I was suddenly swimming in the deep ocean?

I got home, and then showered again, making sure to shave all over. I keep myself shaved because I like the way it feels, but I didn't stop to think about why I was shaving for tonight. I mean it's a practice date. John was not going to get a glimpse at the goods. It's not like he'd want to anyway, I'm like a sister to him. Then I started trying to think about what to wear. I must've emptied my closet trying things on, and I still didn't find what I wanted. So that meant shopping, which meant I needed to call my friend Kay and have her help me out. She's got a better sense for clothes, and I wanted to look perfect.

Kay is always down for shopping, so we hit the Promenade and had lunch. Shopping on an empty stomach is bad luck according to her. During lunch she grilled me. Ok, ok, she merely wanted to know what I was looking for. It felt like a grilling though.

"Are we shopping for a special occasion? Or, even better, a special someone?" she asked over the rim of her wineglass.

"No, just need something new, I'm planning on going out tonight, and wanted to update my wardrobe." I replied, feigning indifference. My emotional turmoil from this morning had carried over into lunch, and I felt like I had bees in my belly. Maybe I drank too much coffee.

"Oh? Where are you going? We could go together. Maybe I should call a couple of the other ladies?" She asked.

"No ... well, I mean thats fine. But tonight isn't the usual." I wondered why I was so reluctant to tell her what was going on. It was no big deal. And of course I realized too late, that by saying 'not usual' Kay couldn't help but take notice.

"Really, and what is so unusual about tonight?" She said as she set her wine glass down, leaning forward, clearly on the hunt.

"It's no big deal. You know how John and Jenny broke up?"

She nodded and said "She was always wrong for him. He's too sweet."

I nodded my agreement and continued "Well, he's never really been on the dating scene, so I'm going to be his practice dummy. He's going to try and pick me up in a bar, and then next week he'll take me out on a standard dinner-and-something kind of date." As I was saying this, Kay's eyebrows kept climbing towards her hairline.