On Wednesday evening, Amber picks up Kelly at the airport. Kelly is glad to be home, and Amber is glad she is back. They make small talk about Kelly’s trip in the east and work. Amber fills her in on the last house they listed and what is left to be done. Amber is anxious to tell Kelly about Matt. “I met an interesting guy on the airplane flying home.”
“You did! Tell me about him.”
“Well, he’s handsome, and is in shape. He’s a captain in the fire department.”
“Sounds fantastic Amber, what kind of lover is he?”
“We have not gotten that far. We had coffee yesterday.” Amber conveniently leaves off the miniature golf date coming up. “He did ask me out again.”
“Sounds good Amber. Fire fighters are hot.”
“I’m not too sure about that part. I always figured I would never hook up with a fire fighter.”
“This does not need to be a lifelong commitment Amber; enjoy the time now and see where it goes. You never know what path life will lead you.”
As usual, Kelly has given her solid advice. Enjoy the time now sounds perfect. Amber is happy she has Kelly to keep her on track.
The rest of the week Amber is busy with her real estate duties and catching up on the school she missed. She and Kelly have listed three more homes. They are busy helping the owners get them in shape for sale. College has been going well too. Amber is more enthusiastic about studying than her first time at college, over ten years ago. She wants to do well and has found, as she progresses, it becomes easier and easier. Doing well in one class, sets her up to do well in subsequent classes. She has had coffee a few times with Mike, the guy she sucked off in his truck, but they have not repeated their naughty parking lot behavior.
***
Matt shows up for their miniature golf date a few minutes early. Amber asks him in to meet Kelly.
Kelly smiles and extends her hand. “Hi Matt.”
“Hello Kelly. Amber tells me you two are real estate experts.”
“Not sure about the expert part, but we try.” They all smile.
Matt and Amber head to his truck, and he drives to a place called Green Acres. It is a large, beautiful, miniature golf and recreation place. Not only does it have miniature golf, but it also has video games, baseball-batting cages, and a snack bar. There are smiling kids and happy families all over the place. They get their clubs and balls, and they are off to the first hole.
It is totally fun, and Amber has a super time. She does not get the ball in the hole often, and her skill at golf is not impressive. The object of the game was not to get the lowest score, as you might think, but rather to have a good time…which they did. The course has the usual multi-level holes, windmills, and caricatures. They are smiling and laughing throughout the 18 holes. Amber laughs and giggles more than on any date in memory. Amber only lost three balls. Each time she lost one, Matt pulled another ball out of his pocket for her. Amber tells him, “You must not think I’m much of a golfer, if you brought extra balls.”
“Not at all Amber, you did better than I expected. In fact I still have two balls you didn’t need,” he says with his little smile.
Amber is sure he is talking about golf balls, and she does not let him know she might be thinking of his testicles. He originally planned to get a bite to eat right there at the snack bar, but he changes his mind. “There’s an ice cream shop down the street, let’s get dessert there.”
“I’m supposed to be on a diet, do they have diet ice cream?”
“We can get a small one and eat it slowly, so the calories will be spread out over a longer period of time.” Somehow, Matt’s logic seems to make sense, and they drive to the ice cream shop. While they slowly eat their ice cream, Matt asks her if she would like to go to dinner and a movie sometime. Turns out they both enjoy romantic comedies. He suggests a restaurant with a big salad bar. He tells her, he would make a plan and call her. Amber is flattered he wants to go out again, and she finds herself actually looking forward to another evening with him.
On the way out of the ice cream shop, Matt picks up the check from a table with four military guys. “Thanks guy, this is on me.” Matt then proceeds to the cashier to pay their bill and his own.
Amber asks, “Do you do that kind of thing often?”
“These guys put their lives on the line to keep us all secure. Every once in a while I get a chance to pay them back a little.”
It is still early when he drops her off at home. He walks her to the door and does not attempt to kiss her. “Thanks Amber, I had a terrific time.”
“I did too, it was great.” She gives him a small kiss on the cheek. It was a comfortable evening for both of them.
The next day, she gets an email from him telling her what a nice time he had.
***
A couple days later, Matt calls to ask Amber out to a dinner and movie night. He suggests a healthy restaurant with a big salad bar. It also has soup, bread, pasta, and Mexican food to round out the meal. He does make a point that he wants to take her to a fancy restaurant sometime. The movie he suggests is a light romantic comedy, with a happy ever after ending. It all sounds like a pleasant evening to Amber. She likes the salad bar idea; she is still working on losing the couple pounds she gained in Jamaica.
The restaurant gives them a chance to chat more about themselves and get to know one another better. They had talked some at the coffee date and at the ice cream shop, but this gives them the opportunity to go into more details. Matt is a gentleman. He gets her anything she needs, listens attentively to her, and laughs at her humor.
“Amber, I still want to take you to a nice restaurant, you know, one of those where someone actually brings the food to you.” He has his silly little grin.
“That sounds fine Matt, but this place works for today.”
They have a little time to kill before the movie starts; Matt drives her around his part of town. He shows her the neighborhood where he grew up and where his fire station is located. Before long, they are at the movie theater. They skip the popcorn and settled on a diet cola to share.
The movie is a perfect story of a couple who find each other, then lose each other, only to again find true love in the end. The typical boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back again plot. It has enough silly humor to make it not only touching, but also enjoyable.
Matt has not made any advances in the dark theater. Amber is not sure if he is interested in more than a platonic friendship. She would be open to more. Then about a third of the way into the movie when the main characters, on the screen, are kissing, Matt reaches over and grasps her hand. Her pulse quickens a little…she is sure he can tell. They hold hands the rest of the movie. She does feel his fingers softly rubbing her hand a little, but there is no other intimacy between them.
It is a good movie and a good time. Matt takes her home and walks her to the front door. When she turns toward him, he moves a little closer…she does the same. They share a small kiss.
“Another super time Amber, I really like your company.”
“It was fun Matt. You’re a very nice guy to be around.”
Matt heads home, and later, they both fall asleep thinking of the other.
***