Second Dates Are For Losers: Part 2

A month after the first and only date, I saw her again. I was standing in line at CVS with a bag of Bugles and a Red Bull. I was weary, having just attended a funeral. She was in the "ask a pharmacist" line. Looking straight ahead, I kept her in my field of vision. She wore sweatpants and open-toe sandals, Birkenstocks. After I checked out, I walked past her.

"Hi Ali, are you still waiting for the pharmacist?"

She turned around. Not smiling, she said, "Oh Ryan, hi."

"Are you wishing I didn't stop to say hi?" I said.

She shrugged. "No, I'm glad you did. Why would you think that?"

"The expression on your face seemed flat and annoyed."

"I get that a lot. My face doesn't smile all day. Know what I mean?"

"Hi, can I help you?" The pharmacist appeared at the counter. She asked me to wait. I took a seat, sat up straight and stared straight ahead, trying to think of something to say to her. Typed it into Claude for ideas.

She rattled a pill bottle next to my ear.

"Oh hey," I said. I came to my feet and we walked to the end of the vitamins aisle. "Are you sick?"

"No," she said. "I just needed to talk to the pharmacist about Halloween."

"What does that mean? I don't understand."

"The pharmacist is my brother-in-law. He and my sister are having a party."

"Sounds scary."

"What? A Halloween party?"

"Parties in general," I said. "Especially house parties. There's no place to blend in. Unless my costume was a wall."

Her expression seemed flat and annoyed.

"Did I say that out loud?" I said.

She checked her phone.

"What was that?"

"I said if my costume was a wall, I could blend in at a Halloween party."

"What are you doing right now?"

It was Saturday, 4:00 PM. I was looking forward to going home and alone time.

"Nothing in particular," I said. "I just got back from a funeral, so I'm a little off."

She looked me up and down.

"You went to a funeral in sweatpants?" she said.

"Yes."

"Anyway, I just got a text from the garage. My car is ready. I walked here, but if you don't mind..."

In the five minutes we were in my car, she filled the silences with immediate observations. What shoes her brother-in-law was wearing and how she didn't like his fashion taste, but she liked him. How the cashier at CVS kept blinking her eyes rapidly, and was it coincidental, accidental, or incidental that we saw one another again.

"Okay, slow down," she said. "The garage is on the right."

When I stopped and put the car in park, she touched my hand then said, "Thank you for the ride. Your comment about being a wall is funny. Not bent-over funny, but clever funny." She got out of the car and walked into the garage.

Think Mr. A 🫆