We Never Told Anyone

                                       We Never Told Anyone

   “We never told anyone about the night we met,” Cierra said to Mark and Robin,” as Jeffrey took a sip of wine.

    “It was a blind date,” he said smiling. “Something I said I would never do. Cierra’s sister set us up.”

    “No, Jeffrey. It was my brother, Mike, who set us up.” 

    “I thought it was your sister.”

    “Nope, it was my brother,” Cierra snapped. Then turning to Robin, Cierra said, “And, Jeffrey didn’t pick me up for our date. I had to meet him at Copper Kettle restaurant downtown. Since I didn’t have any plans and Mike had set it up before asking me, and Jeffrey was a good friend of Mike’s, I said I would go but I’d meet him at the restaurant.”

    Mike told me Jeffrey was a tall guy who would be standing outside in front of the restaurant holding a red rose. When I arrived, there he was standing outside in the freezing cold without a coat. I called his name. He walked over to me smiling and saying, Cierra. I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been standing here waiting and freezing.”

   “I felt like a kid being reprimanded but when he offered me the one red rose, I took it gracefully.”

     “Wait a minute. I remember waiting inside for you. I was sitting at the first table near the door watching for you to come in. I knew what you looked like because your brother showed me a picture of you. I remember you came directly to the table and introduced yourself.”

    “No. Jeffrey. I wanted a table but you requested a booth. The waiter sat us at a booth near the back of the restaurant. Mike was working in the bar that night. He came over to our booth and offered to get us a table but you told him we were fine where we were sitting.”

    “Why would Mike ask me that?”

    “Because my brother knows I like sitting at a table when I’m on a date. He promised me that he told you that.”

      “Well, I sure don’t remember that.” Jeffrey said, a bit annoyed. “It doesn’t really matter. We had a good dinner.”

    “Don’t you remember? I didn’t stay for dinner.”

    “Of course, you did. I had steak and you had coconut chicken.”

   “No. I left before we had dinner. And I would never order coconut chicken. I don’t like coconut.”

    Robin interrupted, “Mark and I met at a baseball game. His nephew was playing little league and Becky, my friend and Mark’s sister asked me to go with her.”

    Interrupting, Jeffery demanded, “Wait a minute. I remember that now. You left before we even ordered. What was that all about?”

    Cierra answered, “I can’t remember.”

    “You can’t remember? Why didn’t we ever talk about that?”

    “Well, six weeks later when we met at the lawyer’s convention, everything felt different.”

    “Different. How?” Jeffrey demanded.

     “You didn’t even remember meeting me before and when you invited me out to have dinner with you. I said, “Yes, and we had a great time. Everything was different.”

    “And, we dated for a year and got married because everything was different?”

    “Pretty, much.”

    “How is this all possible?” Jeffrey shouted just as Mike came up to the table.

    “Hi, guys. Sounds like it’s getting loud over here. What’s happening?” Mike asked as he stretched out his hand to shake Jeffrey’s and Mark’s. “Good to see you, guys.

    Cierra introduced her brother to Robin and Mark before saying, “Hey, Mike. We’re having trouble remembering our first date here. Do you remember setting Jeffrey and me up for our first date or was two years ago too long for you to remember?”

    “Sure. I remember that. Your first date was here at Cutters. I was working that night. I told you, Cierra, to meet Jeffery here. He would be waiting out front holding a red rose.”

    “I thought you worked at Copper Kettle across town and why for heaven’s sake did you tell Jeffery to wait outside? It was freezing cold that night. And holding a red rose. That was your idea? I thought Jeffery was a bit off center standing there holding one red rose on a winter night. That was not a good first impression,” Cierra declared.

    “I thought it was a nice touch. It could have made the news. Young man stands for hours waiting for his date outside Cutters as one red rose becomes frozen to his hand,” Mike laughed.

    “Okay, so big brother. What did we order for dinner?

    “How am I suppose to remember that? Oh, wait a minute. I do remember. You left the table as soon as the wine was served and you never came back. There was no dinner. Jeff and I drank beers all night at the bar. Jeff started mixing beers with gin and tonics. He got so drunk I had to drive him home and tuck him into bed.” Mike laughed.

    “Oh, so you got drunk. That’s why you never called me any day that week.”

    “Why, would I call someone who deserted me before we even had dinner? Sounds like you were off center too.” Jeffrey whined.

    Cierra looked around the restaurant for the first time during their conversation and noticed Robin and Mark were now sitting at the bar. “When did Mark and Robin move to the bar?” she asked.

    “I don’t know. I guess you were ignoring them so they decided to leave just like you left me on that first date. Well, they say history repeats itself.”

    “That’s not fair,” Cierra argued. “I’m still here with you and I had dinner too.”

    “Let’s forget about that first date. It’s not important that we remember every detail,” Jeffrey said as he reached for Cierra’s hand.

    “Yeah. You’re right.  Let’s go tell Robin and Mark good-night and leave them to enjoy the evening together.”

    “Sure. And on the way home you can tell me why you went out with me a second time and what was “different” about me.”

    “I can tell you now. You were self-confident, polite, charming. In other words, you were a real gentleman. Someone I wanted to be with and share my life with.”

    Together they kissed before walking out of the restaurant. Once outside, Jeffrey was still asking Cierra, “So, really. What was so different about me?”

Cierra looked away and said. “I don’t really know what made you seem different. You were just different.”

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