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I didn't even get to tell her that I was going on a hot date tonight, too. Never mind. Who knows what we were really doing? Was it a date? Was it just to see whether we still liked each other?
One thing was for sure. He was still solidly in my "hunkalicious" category and I couldn't wait until six.
I quickly got out of my work clothes and put on a cute light green top with a dark grey skort. If we were going to do something active, I wanted to be ready. I tied my hair up in a high ponytail and washed my face. Scrubbing all the makeup off my face felt good. I wanted to go natural tonight. Just a quick swipe of my mascara and a light lip gloss, and I was ready to go.
My phone beeped.
Dom
Hey, sorry. I'm had to circle around again. Can't find parking. Hope you don't mind coming out to meet me.
No problem. I'll come out right away.
Perfect. Black car.
I locked the door and headed out the main door of our apartment. As I stood on the steps waiting for Dom, Mr. Kruger came out of the building. He lived beside us. He was a gruff, older, German man, and he would shuffle around in his leather house slippers, green vest, and a cane. He was gruff to everyone but Cassie and I. He was almost like a grandfather to us.
"Callie." He tipped his messenger hat to me and gave me the faintest of smiles. But to me, it was huge, because he usually never smiled at all.
"Hello Mr. Kruger. How has your day been?"
He huffed, perhaps indicating that it was the same as all the other days. He was on his way to get his Friday delivery of homemade German sausage from the specialty German store two blocks away. He had befriended the widow there and they would spend Friday dinner together; a custom that started a few years ago. When he came home, he always had a package carefully wrapped in brown paper from her, filled with her homemade sausage, enough for the week. I knew that it was the highlight of his week. Being able to speak your native language with someone and bond over food was a beautiful thing. He had a twinkle in his eye whenever he spoke of Gerda.
"And where do you think you're going?" he asked, with a raised fuzzy eyebrow.
"I actually have a hot date tonight, Mr. Kruger."
"Oh? It's about time."
What the hell. Even he noticed.
I dramatically rolled my eyes.
"Not you too?" I jokingly said.
"Me too. You're too young and beautiful to sit in your apartment doing whatever you're doing." He waved his arms around.
Another eye roll.
"Okay. Message received."
"If I was younger… and believe me, I was quite a looker when I was younger. You maybe can't tell, but,…" he puffed out his chest and raised his arms to make him look bigger.
"Oh, I believe it, Mr. Kruger. You're still handsome after all these years." I winked at him.
"I'm sure that's why I'm able to – how do you young people say it? Pull Gerda." He actually started laughing a bit.
I laughed. He was so hilarious. "Yes, I'm sure that's the reason why."
He scrunched up his face and waved his hand. "I'm just kidding. I'm not pulling anything except my crippled body around. Gerda is a lovely woman and I'm lucky to have her company one evening a week. There isn't any of this funny business going on. Not at my age. The closest we get is if our hands touch while we are reaching for the sausage fork. I don't take my pants off for any occasion except when I've had too much to drink. Pure necessity only."
Oh, my god. I can't believe I'm having this conversation.
He patted my hand. "Have fun, Liebling. I'd better start pulling this body in Gerda's direction or I'll never get there."
"Have a wonderful time, Mr. Kruger."
Just then, I saw a sleek black car come around the corner and join the bustling street, full of cars. After work was the worst when it came to trying to leave the center of Boston. I peeked in and saw Dom do a little wave. My heart skipped a beat as I walked between the parked cars to get to him.
