When Temi arrived home, Thom was sitting at the dining table wearing her pink and blue plaid robe and sipping a cup of coffee. He was so sleepily cute in the morning that it warmed her heart. She walked over to a counter, setting down her buckets and pushing them back from the edge. Then she rubbed Thom’s dark hair about his head and kissed him on the cheek. He groaned softly and she left to grab the pumpkins from her car. When she returned, she noticed Thom had placed a full coffee mug before the seat next to his. She put the pumpkins on the counter and took her seat.

Thom didn’t look up to talking when she sat down, but she wasn’t offended. She knew him well enough to know he wasn’t awake enough for conversation. All he could manage were sips of coffee and a blank stare into his cup. Hell, she was surprised he had enough energy to pour her a cup.

It didn’t take her long to finish her coffee and seeing as Mr. Sleepy-Head was still a bit comatose, she decided to shower. Temi rinsed her mug and set it near the coffee maker; she’d possibly want another cup when she returned. Then, before hittin’ the shower, she walked over to Thom, and without a word, gently massaged his shoulders for a minute or two and kissed him on the head.

Temi’s father had been a stickler about water. He hated how people took it for granted. Therefore, when she was young, he trained her to be quick in the shower… five minutes, and she was done. In her father’s house, if she dared more than that, he would shut the hot water off without notice. Going from a warm, delightful, shower to icicles was his idea of the Pavlovian way to train teenagers. Temi hated it growing up, but she had to admit that it worked. And not only with showering. Her training made her quick at just about everything.

            After a shower, she would moisturize her body, clean her face, moisturize it, and put on sun block. Then she would turn to her teeth, brushing and flossing before glossing her lips. Her makeup was also, quick, easy, and habitual: foundation, eyeshadow, eyeliner, blush, brow sculpting, and mascara. She rarely wore lipstick… reapplication, in her opinion, was a bitch.

            Temi turned to grab her robe and remembered Thom had it. She bit her lip and decided she would have to make a mad dash to her room, which was across the hall. Slowly, she cracked the bathroom door open, looked both ways, and ran for it. Slamming the door behind her, she smiled and sighed. She made it.

            Finally, she threw on a long dress she liked to wear on “comfy days,” and looked at the time. Thirty-eight minutes. She was able to shower and get pretty in thirty-eight minutes! Her father would be proud.

            When Temi returned to the kitchen, she wasn’t surprised by Thom’s disappearance; the shower in the other bathroom turned on minutes after hers turned off. It was eleven in the morning, almost lunchtime, but she still wanted breakfast. Looking at the fruit on the counter, she smiled and decided to make raspberry pancakes.

            Pancakes were something of a specialty with Temi. She always made them from scratch and since she was on her diet, she’d created a new recipe using almond flour to cut back on the carbs and sweetened xylitol to cut the sugar. Therefore, the only sugar in these pancakes were from the berries and the maple syrup on top. Temi began with two bowls, one for wet ingredients and one for dry. Once mixed separately, she would pour the wet into the dry and combine. While the griddle was warming, she folded in the raspberries and a few stevia sweetened chocolate chips. When the griddle was hot enough, she spooned her batter onto its ghee washed cast iron face. She only had four pancakes left to cook when Thom reemerged from the back of the apartment, looking as dapper as ever.

            “Ooo, pancakes,” he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and pressed his cheek to hers as she flipped the final four. “Are these your new recipe?”

            “Yep,” she smiled.

            “Mmm…mmm…mmm… I love the way you spoil me.” Thom poured another round of coffee for both of them and then cleaned the remaining dishes in the sink.

            “Thanks, babe,” Temi winked at him.

            “You’re welcome, sugar.”

            When they sat to eat their pancakes with warmed maple syrup, Temi couldn’t help thinking about what her mother said. She looked over to the empty sink and thought about Jordan. He would have never thought to clean the prep dishes while she finished cooking a meal. Then she looked down at her coffee. Thom had poured her a cup twice, without asking, because he knew she would like some. She understood what her mother was saying, but how could she give up someone who knew her as well as Thom did for someone who might turn out to be just another Jordan?

            She reached to her left and slid her hand into Thom’s. He let go of his fork and smiled, gave her hand a little squeeze, and then gently released it to go back to his pancakes. It was in that moment that Temi knew any man she ended up with, would have to accept Thom just as much as her mother.

            Their breakfast was quiet but not uncomfortably so. There seem to be an unspoken rule about speaking this morning… not quite yet. However, once the food was cleared away, extra pancakes were stored, and dishes cleaned; that time was over.

            “Soooo, are you seeing him today or do you and I need to make plans?”

            Temi smiled as she left the kitchen. Then, midway up the hall, she turned to face Thom, gave him a seductive come hither with her right index finger, and disappeared into her room. She was standing in her closet with her back to the door when he peeped his head inside, so she missed the slightly concerned glint in his eyes.

            “Ummm… what exactly will we be doing in your room?”

            Temi turned around with four dresses in hand. “Picking clothes for my date tonight.”

            Thom released a big sigh of relief. “Girl, don’t scare me like that!”

            Temi laughed, “What? Did you think I had something a little more aerobic in mind?” When his mouth fell open, she couldn’t help but laugh harder. “Thom, come on!”

            “Well, how am I supposed to know what’s going on in that head of yours? I mean…” he gave her a knowing lift of his brow and tilt of his head, “it’s been a while. Then there were the raspberry pancakes, and the hand holding at the table… Hell, I know I look good today, so maybe all this hotness has made you lose your mind.” He watched as she laid the dresses on the bed before placing a hand on her hip. “Baby, I love you, but I don’t think I can,” he waved a finger at the bed and made a face, “do all that.”

            Temi was finding it difficult to keep her composure. She really wanted to fall to the floor laughing hard enough for her sides to ached, but she was sure Thom wouldn’t know exactly how to take that. “Okay, queen. As beautiful as you are, no matter how long it’s been; I think I’ll wait for someone who doesn’t make that face when he looks at my bed.” She turned back to her options. “Okay, so, what do you think?”

            Not knowing where they were going, Temi didn’t want to be too dressy but then again, didn’t want to be under dressed. All the dresses she chose were dressy but not in an evening sort of way… more like classy work attire. One by one she tried on each dress; the simple black standby, a long sleeve shimmery number, one with a draped neckline, and a kinda boho chic number. None of them worked.

            “Well, damn, Artie! How much weight have you lost?”

            Temi looked at herself through the standalone full-length mirror, “Ten, I think. But maybe it’s more. I started my diet before I caught Jordan.” She cocked her head to the side.

            Thom walked over to her and grabbed the side of the dress, pinching the excess and folding it over. Then he checked the size on the tag. “Hmm… well, it looks like we’re going shopping again.”

            “No, Thom. Maybe I should rent. I mean, if I continue to go to the gym, I’m sure to lose more.” She hated the thought of buying something new only to give it to Goodwill a month later.

            “When you lose the weight, we’ll have the dress taken in.” He didn’t wait for a response as he rehung the dresses because, in his mind, the matter was closed.

            Looking at herself again in the mirror, she too guessed the matter was closed. She cocked her head to the side, there was no way she could make this dress work.

            “Wow, you look amazing,” Facundo’s hazel eyes were wide with astonishment.

            Temi smiled bashfully. She and Thom had spent two hours running through no less than ten stores, in search of the perfect dress.  Then finally, they came across a shimmery blue-green goddess dress. The fabric was light and shimmered between blue and green as she moved. Convertible, she could wear it as a halter, use the ties as straps, or, as she did tonight, run both ties over her left shoulder and affixed them together at her right hip. The skirt of the dress was high in the front and low in the back. On her feet were a pair of sparkly, strappy, sandals with a two-inch heel, and her hair was up in sweeping cornrows that came together at the base of the left side of her head where she had flat ironed the ends and curled them; allowing it to cascade over her shoulder. “Thank you. You look great too.”

And he did. Gone was the Hawaiian shirt, replaced with a crisp white dress shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbow and topped with a pinstriped vest. His dark pants were cleanly pressed, and she could tell they were tailored to fit perfectly.

Temi mused at how quickly vests had come back into fashion. Thom wore them often, and before they were popular, feeling that vests gave his look an extra je ne s’ai quoi. Facundo’s vest; however, was very tame, no bright colors or fun prints like Thom’s. No, Facundo was attractive in a rather conservative way.

“Oh, sorry for staring,” he shook his head as he brought flowers from behind his back. “These are for you.”

Temi accepted the bouquet and lowered her head to smell them. “Thank you. Please, come in while I place them in water?” When he nodded, she stepped aside to let him in.

They only stayed long enough for her to place the flowers in a vase and move them to the dining table. Then, they were off on their date; Facundo guiding her with a light but ushering with a firm hand at the small of her back to his car, where he opened the door.

His car was a sleek pearl-gray Audi S6. It had leather, finely stitched, seats and a sleek dash. Temi was sure it had to be the fanciest car she had ever been in. She even noticed it had heated seats, but since the temperature had gone up to the upper seventies in the past few days, no one in their right mind would turn them on today.

After pulling out of the parking lot, Facundo reached for hand as they sped north up Battlefield Boulevard toward the Greenbrier area of Chesapeake. When she asked where they were going, he only smiled in her direction and returned his attention to the road ahead. For a split moment, Temi assessed the situation for danger, something every young woman, in her opinion, should do. After all, it’s always the charming ones and the quiet ones who turn out to be serial killers. Though, he wouldn’t tell her where they were going, he kept to streets she knew, and there was a happiness radiating from him which didn’t feel sinister. However, dress or no, if something shady were to go down, she was not opposed to rollin’ out of the car when he slowed down at a light. Feeling prepared for anything that might happen, Temi began to relax and enjoy the ride.

Continuing in the direction of Greenbrier, they took a right on Volvo Parkway. Both of Facundo’s hands were now on the wheel as he guided the car with ease to their destination. Shortly after crossing over Greenbrier Parkway, they turned left into The Shoppers at Greenbrier; a shopping center Temi had never ventured to discover. She tended to leave discovery to her mother and Thom; if anything were of real interest, they would let her know. Finally, the car pulled up to Passion, a rather upscale restaurant.

“Have you been here before?” After being silent for so long, Facundo’s voice surprised her, and it took Temi a moment to respond.

“Um… no. In fact, I didn’t even know this shopping area existed.” Funny, she thought, Greenbrier seem to be nothing more than the shopping center of Chesapeake. The mall was here, there was a shopping center with Barnes and Noble, another with a movie theatre, and yet another with a Christian bookstore. Each shopping center had its own restaurants and at least one anchor store to draw people in, but Temi couldn’t see how all of them remained so busy.

“Good,” he kissed her on the cheek, “I’m glad I’m the one to introduce you. Stay here.”

Temi’s brows came together in question until she realized he wanted her to wait for him to get the door. She accepted his offered hand as he helped her out of the car and wondered how long it would take for him to stop opening doors. He’d probably stop the moment he knew she was his… that’s when wooing tends to die out. But, until then, she’d enjoy it.

The name Passion seemed fitting for a guy like Facundo, who never seemed to hold anything back and was openly expressive with her whether people were around or not. And his kisses… yes… the perfect restaurant name for such a passionate man.

The interior of the restaurant was elegant, cozy with white clothed tables and lights which were dim and romantic. Facundo had a reservation, so they were immediately guided to a table at the back of the room. Once seated, they were given menus and informed of the specials. Before their waiter left to give them a moment with the menus, Facundo ordered a calamari appetizer. “I hope you like seafood.”

“Yes, I do. Thank you.” Temi smiled at him and then turned to the cocktails’ menu. She needed a drink. Despite this being their second date, she was nervous. It was silly really; especially when you think of their behavior at Waterside the day before.

“Are you okay?” He asked the question but was still looking at his menu.

Temi thought for a moment. Honesty was usually the best policy, so why not? “Actually,” she folded her menu and placed it on the table, “I’m a bit nervous. I know it sounds silly, but this feels more like a real date than yesterday’s.”

He reached out and took her hand. “I’d come over and remind you of our chemistry, but somehow, I don’t think this is the time… or place.” The deep sensuous nature of his voice made Temi blush. “Perhaps we should stick with Champagne for now. Do you mind if I order a bottle?” When Temi smiled, he called the waiter over.