Chapter 53 - Uncomfortable

His tall frame pulled up in front of me forcing my head to look up to match his eyes. His brown eyes twinkled with mirth as he chuckled at my greeting. "Nice to meet you."

I mentally prayed that my face did not look dumb. Like having my mouth agape or something.

I shook the shock and greeted him normally. "Thank you. Seems very surreal where only a few months ago you and I just learned of one another. You have a very nice home by the way."

I took a step back to gesture to the wide open space that was his homes layout. "Ah I brought the food, it should still be nice and hot. Except the cannolis those are chilled."

I held up the food in the specialized bag my mom lent me to keep the food from spoiling. Dante smiled and helped me move the food to his table.

"Looks good. Are you thirsty? I have come water if you would like?" He pulled out a bottled water from his fridge. "Ahh no it's ok I am about to head out. Thank you for the offer though." I waved my hands to emphasize my reluctance.

He glanced at a wall clock and raised his eyebrows at the time. "Did you drive yourself here? I would ask you to stay longer but it is already pretty late."

His eyes shifted as he looked concerned. I looked at my watch when I also saw how late it was getting. "I should go before it gets darker. What time did you want to meet tomorrow? I know you wanted to tour a bit around the city?"

Prior to his arrival he mentioned wanting to tour around the city for our first date. 'I know it is a bit unusual but I was unsure of whether just hopping into dinner or drinks would be too much for a first date. Especially since we have never met prior.'

It was actually a neat idea. I was truthfully a bit nervous since this meeting more or less about a potential marriage alliance. So doing something very casual and light was much easier for me.

"Hmm I looked up a few spots that sounded interesting as well as some food places incase we want to stop for a bite. This is a rough itinerary I came up with let me know if it is doable."

He pulled out his phone and showed me a document which was organized with the different locations he wanted to go to as well as some pictures. It was very cute. I was a bit worried about coming up with some type of tour that someone not from here would enjoy. But looks like he did a bulk of the work for me.

"Hmm so far it seems alright. I might have to tweak some things depending on traffic but I will look over this tonight and let you know if I make any major changes. So you want to meet for breakfast at Dees Breakfast House at 9?"

Dante pulled out a big thumbs up as his face scrunched a bit from him winking and smiling. "Sounds good. I will meet you at your house then to pick you up."

Unlike his serious headshot that his grandparents sent me. Here he seemed very relaxed and smiley. 'Maybe he isn't as serious as I thought.' I grabbed the bag as he escorted me out. "Have a good night!" I called out from my car and waved him off to drive away.

Once I got home my mom immediately pounced on me. "How was it? Or rather how was he?" She smiled brightly and shook my shoulders from excitement.

When my mom was like this, it was hard to be annoyed. When she was so happy and excited she seemed much younger. Especially since she was in her loungewear and not in her usual professional wear.

"Haha mom wait one second lets talk upstairs." She hurried me to my room and begged for details while I got ready to sleep.

"So tell me, is he like his picture? Better? Does he have an accent?" I slipped on my pajamas as she fired away. "He is better than his picture, and he had an accent but nonetheless his english pretty good."

I walked over to my bathroom to wash up and my mom moved from my bed to the edge of my tub. "Ok what about his manners do you feel comfortable being around him? Or is he rude?"

I did not answer right away as I had a toothbrush in my mouth. I spit out the paste and rinsed with cold water. "Uhhh he was very polite. As for comfort I did not feel uncomfortable yet so we shall see tomorrow."

I splashed water on my face. It felt cool against my burning cheeks. " Ok last question before I leave you alone. Do you plan to spend all of Ferragosto with him?"

That was a good question. I thought deeply. Would I want to spend all that time with him? I did not initially plan for it because the date could easily sour but what would I do if it does not? "Hmmmmm. I am...unsure. I want to play this by ear because even though my first impression is good who knows how he will act the whole day."

"Though I anticipate spending a good portion just getting to know him and hosting a bit. He might want some alone time to hang around. We both are on vacation technically."

My mom nodded along. "Ok then keep me in the loop. Your dad wants to do something or go somewhere but he has not decided on what he wants to do. No pressure but just incase you want to tag along." She stuck out her tongue in jest as she teased me. Now being an adult my parents have started to joke about not paying for my vacations anymore but my dad always sneaks me into whatever he plans anyways.

"Will do." She kissed my head before leaving for the night. Before settleing in to sleep, I looked over the plan Dante created and it was pretty good and I only needed to switch one thing to account for rush hour. I felt pretty good about the date. If only I had foresight to see how uncomfortable tomorrow would become.