After thanking her, we continued on.
“This is beautiful.” London gushed as we walked through rows and rows of flowers.
“It is. It’s such a nice day, so I figured outdoors would be good. I don’t like to always go to dinner on dates. I like to think outside of the box.”
“And how often do you go on dates?” London asked, then stopped to look at some peach-colored roses. She picked a couple and dropped them in the basket we were given when we arrived.
On the opposite side were some pink ones, so I picked a few and tossed them in my basket.
“Not nearly as much as you expect,” I told her.
“What makes you think I expect anything?”
“I could tell by the small inflection in your voice.”
We continued to walk, as we both picked out different colored roses. When we made it to the sunflowers, we both picked a bunch of those. I wasn’t sure if London picked them for me, or if she wanted to take some home for herself.
“I don’t know what you heard.”
“I can’t tell you my secrets, but I heard it. What about you?”
“It’s been forever. Hence the reason why Hannah set us up on that date.”
I’d been too busy and focused to go on any dates. Plus, some of the women I came across hadn’t been worth the time. Women always talked about how bad the dating pool was, but honestly, it was just as bad for men. There were women who just worried about if I was paying for dinner or not. I didn’t have a problem with paying, but don’t make me feel like that’s your only concern. I went on a date once, and this chick ordered steak and lobster, knowing she wasn’t going to eat it. The whole time, she asked questions about my finances but didn’t come straight out and ask how much money I made. It was more so subliminal, but I knew what she tried to do.
“I’m not going to lie; I was skeptical about it at first. Hannah assured me she wouldn’t hook me up with somebody not worth my time, and she didn’t disappoint.” I looked down at London, and her cheeks reddened.
“I tried to fight her about it too. We read a book about a chick that went on numerous dates, and I didn’t want that to be my experience.”
She went on to tell me about the book and then mentioned some other books she’d read.
“Do y’all read together like a book club or something?”
“It’s just three of us, so I wouldn’t call it a club, but we do read the same book together sometimes.”
“That’s what’s up. I’d like to read with you one day.”
She stopped walking and stared at me.
“You for real?”
“Very much so.”
Her glossy lips spread into a pretty ass smile, showing all her perfect teeth.
“Cool.”
We walked some more, both picking out different flowers as we discussed different things. She informed me what she did at work and how she was living in her dream career. I talked to her about being a principal and what made me get into it in the first place. Our hands stayed connected the whole time, unless one of us was picking a flower. As soon as it was placed in the basket, we were right back touching. It didn’t feel forced at all.
We had multiple things in common. We were both only children, and our parents had been married pretty much our whole lives.
“You want to get some tea? Or something to eat?” I asked after we’d walked for a while.
“Tea is fine.”
We walked a little further until we reached the tea shop. It was a quaint little spot with a couple of small round tables with chairs. It smelled like lavender, but I figured that it was due to the lavender flowers. There were some other purple flowers placed around the shop, but I wasn’t sure of the names.
“Hello. Welcome to Lavender’s. Can I help you guys with something?”
