A First Date

"I'm so glad you made it." Todd said as he smiled politely.

"I almost didn't!" Emily replied, out of breath. "I couldn't find a parking spot for the longest time, I ended up having to walk here all the way from the park."

With great relief she took off her jacket and fitted it to the back of her chair before sitting down.

"Hello!" Declared the waiter, right on queue. "My name is Richard and I'll be serving you today. Can I start you off with something to drink?"

"Just water for me, please." Said Emily.

"Same for me, without ice." Said Todd.

"No ice, huh?" Emily thought to herself. "I hope this guy doesn't turn out to be high maintenance."

Todd studied the menu intensely. He didn’t eat out much as he was quite content with his simple (and inexpensive) meals at home; but it had been some time since he had been on a date so he figured the potential payoff of a relationship would be worth a few extra bucks.

“See anything you like?” Emily asked, slightly uncomfortable with the silence.

“The honey garlic chicken sounds really good. What about you?”

“Oh, I always take forever with these things!” Emily laughed. “I’ll need a few minutes.”

In fact, she knew exactly what she wanted. The shrimp parmigiana looked amazing, but it was a bit on the pricey side. She didn’t want to assume he would pay for dinner, she’d be happy to split the bill, but what if he insisted? She would feel horrible about making him pay for one of the more costly items on the menu.

The waiter returned much sooner than expected with the glasses of water and set them in their appropriate places while proudly informing the guests exactly what they had requested.

“One water for you, miss, and one water without ice for you! Are we ready to order?”

Todd looked at Emily as if to repeat the question. Instinctively, she nodded and smiled.

“You go first.” She said, hoping it would give her one extra moment to decide.

“I’ll take the honey garlic chicken.”

“Very good, sir. And you, ma’am?”

“Me too, please!” She blurted out, feeling slightly inadequate in the decisiveness department.

The waiter, having taken the menus, walked briskly away, leaving the pair to their own devices. Todd was happy to see him go, the tedious part of dining out was over, now he could focus on the conversation. Emily, however, lamented his absence. He provided a comfortable amount of energy, something that seemed lacking in her counterpart.

“So,” she said right away, “how long have you known Clint?”

“Oh, it’s been years!” Todd answered. “We were roommates in college and then found jobs and moved to New York around the same time. We’ve kind of always been in each other’s lives since then.”

“Oh, I only just met him a few months ago when he joined the volleyball club. He’s a really nice guy though. I was a bit surprised when he told me he wanted to set me up with one of his friends.”

“Yep. That’s Clint. If you don’t give him a hard ‘no’ he will get carried away with making plans for your life.” Todd chuckled. “So, what do you do for fun?”

“Well there it is.” Emily thought. The inevitable cliché question. Despite having been asked that very thing so many times, she didn’t know the right answer. Plants. That was the truth. She liked botany. But she couldn’t just SAY that!

“I stay pretty busy with work.” She answered. “But I do like to work out and travel when I get the chance.”

“Oh, nice.”

“What about you?”

“I’m actually fascinated by nature! I can spend hours in parks and on trails just walking, listening to the birds, studying the tracks of deer and squirrels. I love learning about the trees and bushes and little weeds that grow along the path and what they can tell you about the environment. Did you know that the root of a sassafras tree has the flavor of root beer? It makes such an amazing tea!”

That’s what Todd wanted to say at least. But he knew that’s not the kind of thing you say on a first date. What else was there though? He worked and spent time in the woods. Not exactly great first date material.

“I’m pretty busy with work too.”

“Living the dream!” Emily proclaimed.

“Yeah! Totally!” Todd laughed.

Emily could sense the conversation sputtering out. Did Clint really think they would get along? Trying to think of where to go from there, she looked around for inspiration. Music was playing, people were talking, the staff was rushing about trying their best to earn tips. Nothing in particular stood out to her. Fortunately, Todd had employed a similar technique with greater success.

“Do you like to cook?” He asked.

Emily slapped herself mentally. A restaurant! Cooking! Duh! She felt like she should have thought of that.

“I do! I actually cook all the time. Most recently, I’ve been learning some recipes for...”

Wait! She couldn’t say she was cooking with her obscure, unconventional plants from her garden! Who would be impressed by a stinging nettle salad?

“… for the plants I grow in my garden.” She finished, feeling satisfied that she had saved herself.

Surprisingly, Todd perked up.

“You garden? What kind of things do you grow?”

Foiled! Emily didn’t expect to be further questioned about this of all topics.

“Mostly salad-type things.” This was true. Despite the fact that her garden consisted of many unusual plants, they were technically salad once mixed together in a bowl. “Do you cook?”

“Every day!” Todd said excitedly, but he caught himself when he realized his position. Cooking wasn’t a passion of his, cooking with wild foraged plants was. “Mostly simple meals, the kind of thing that you can make a lot of and eat throughout the week.”

Emily noticed the change in character from the first and second parts of his answer. “He’s hiding something.” She decided. “I wonder why cooking would be a weird topic for him.”

The food finally arrived, the chipper waiter happily dispensed the plates around the table before gallivanting off into the sea of other guests.

“What a guy, he’s definitely earning his tip.” Todd mused.

They each began enjoying their honey garlic chicken which came with an assortment of vegetables, complimenting the meal in turn as they went. Eventually, the clumsy efforts to get to know the stranger across the table returned with only small amounts of efficiency.

The evening progressed, the meals were consumed, the offer of dessert was refuted. When dinner was finally over (Todd having insisted on paying) they both stood up and exited the restaurant.

“Didn’t you say that you had to walk all the way from the park?” Todd asked.

“Yeah, I parked my car in the parking lot there.”

“I’ll walk with you then.” Todd offered with a smile.

He didn’t sense the date went very well, nothing had gone wrong exactly, but there were no fireworks either, none of that magical chemistry. Still, walking her to her car seemed like the proper thing to do.

“Sure!” Emily’s tone didn’t quite match her true lack of enthusiasm. Todd seemed like a nice enough guy, but she didn’t expect she would see him for a second date. They just had nothing in common.

The pair walked together for several minutes, the conversation was just about as entertaining as it had been at dinner. Once they neared the parking lot they started to see the various trees that populated the park, among them were beeches. Their yellowed leaves, in their unwillingness to release their hold on the stems, were fluttering in the wind, being blown about in such a way that seems unique to this species.

“I’ve always loved beech trees in the Fall.” Emily said. “The way the leaves shake and move almost looks like they are waving to you, welcoming you into the forest.”

She had mostly given up on trying to appear normal, the date hadn’t been that great anyway so what was the point in pretending? Todd smiled. He could feel that her guard was down a little, and he noticed that his own had fallen as well.

“Beeches are the perfect tree for young lovers.” He said.

“What?” Emily asked.

“Come here.” He took her hand and guided her to a nearby trunk. “Look at the scars. This one here is probably claw marks from a raccoon that climbed this tree years ago. Beeches have very sensitive bark, and when the scars heal they last forever. So it’s easy for a couple to carve their initials into the bark, and as long as the tree lives...”

“So does the symbol of their love.” Emily interrupted, a smile having appeared on her face as well. “I’m surprised you know about random tree facts.”

Todd chuckled in a kind of hesitant way. He had already revealed that much, should he just let go and tell her all about his passion? What did he have to lose? But still…

Out of the corner of his eye, along the edge of where the scattered trees became a dense forest, he noticed a small patch of sassafras trees. He decided then and there.

“Do you like root beer?” He asked.

“It’s my favorite soda.”

“Then have I got the tree for you.”