First Date

The next day I told Sophia about the cafe and she seemed to really like the idea. I was relived, because I really had a hard time coming up with anything. Not that I was thinking that what we were doing would matter to Sophia that much, but I still wanted to get it right, whatever that meant.

In the past I never spent too much time on where I would meet a girl or what we would be doing. I was thinking a lot about my dating in the past since I was trying to win Sophia over and in retrospect I was wondering why I never before fell for a girl like I did for her. The girls that I dated were pretty and there were some even prettier ones I didn't date, so why did I never develop strong feelings for any of them? Probably pointless to think too much about it, but it still sat in the back of my mind.

When Saturday finally came we met at the train station that was closest to both our places and when she arrived she wore a beautiful blue dress and her hair was styled like the day I saw her at the dance practice and she was stunning and when I told her that she was blushing and it was very adorable. When we went on the train we sat next to each other and apparently she was sleepy, because she started to lean more and more against me, seemingly not aware that she was even doing it. I was fighting myself whether I should tell her, but the warmth of the cute girl leaning against me was trying my resolve. We weren't talking about anything, but I felt so at ease at that moment that I really didn't want to say anything or even do anything else than just sit there with her. At last she seemed to be fully asleep and leaning against my shoulder. I was sleepy myself since the week was quite exhausting and of course I awoke really early due to being nervous about the date and so I couldn't help it and leaned against her myself a little bit and drifted off into sleep.

When I woke up she wasn't leaning against me anymore, in fact she was sitting next to me looking embarassed.

„Oh, we fell asleep, didn't we.“ I wanted to make her feel at ease about it, but it didn't really seem to work too well.

„O-oh yes. I didn't want to, but it felt so comfortable... sorry.“ She seemed to be really nervous about it.

„I don't mind. I'm happy that you feel comfortable with me around.

„I am, very much so.“

„I'm glad. Oh, I think our stop is coming up.“

Luckily we didn't sleep past our stop and we exited the train and made our way to the caf, which was only a couple minuted away from the station. When we entered Sophias face lit up immediately, because not only was the cafe named the Flower Garden, it was decorated over and over with all sorts of flowers. In fact it looked not too disimilar from the flower shop she was working at.

„Oh Sato, this is so beautiful.“

„Not as beautiful as you are though.“ I tried to pay her a compliment and at first she didn't seem to notice it as she was so engrossed by the flowers around her and when she finally did, she started to blush and that was beyond adorable.

„Thank you, noone ever said something like that to me.“

„Hard to believe. I'm sure a lot of people were thinking it though.“

„That might be. Should we sit down?“

„Yes, of course.“

We sat down at a table by a window and looked at the menu. All the items were indeed either formed like flowers or were decorated with them. We both had a hard time choosing what to get, but we finally did and when our orders came they looked beautiful and intricate, almost too beautiful too eat. Suddenly she started talking.

„You still like me Sato, don't you?“

„W-why would you ask that? Of course I do. Did I give you any reason to doubt that.“

„No, of course not. I'm just wondering. Because you are such a good looking guy with a great job, why would you fall for a girl like me.“

„Because you are beautiful and I like talking to you. I also saw you taking care of the flowers in the shop when I was watching you and the care and attention you paid to the plants and flowers made me really adore you even more. I don't know too much else about you yet, but I hope I can change that soon.“

„O-oh, thank you Sato. You are so nice.“ She still seemed somewhat reserved and I was not feeling to great about it to be honest.

„I like you so much Sato. I know I sound weird now asking you about it, but I'm just insecure I guess. It's so important to me that I have to make sure.“

That made me breath a little easier, if she had not much experience dating of course she would wonder how I really felt and I remembered all too well how I was dating in the past without really feeling anything for the girl in question.

„Don't worry Sophia. I don't think I could ever not like you.“ That made her smile finally and now my heart felt really at ease and made it race at the same time. But I still felt that there was something she was holding back. Maybe it was related to that secret she told me she would tell me about some day.

„Should we go Sato? I would like to go to some place I saw that is close by, I think it will be really nice.“

„Of course, let's go.“

After we paid the bill we left the cafe and walked down the road next to each other. Suddenly I felt an urge to hold her hand and I wondered if it would be to brazen to ask for it. I felt like a teenager doing all this for the first time and in a certain sense I was. It never felt there was so much on the line when I dated a girl. It never felt like I was negotiating something that potentially could be with me for the rest of my life.

„Is something bothering you Sato? You look absent.“ I didn't want to admit that I was thinking about spending the rest of my life with her after only meeting her a couple of times, but I wanted to ask her about holding hands.

„Well, I was thinking about holding your hand just now.“ I said, trying to sound as timid as I could.

Sophias face was turning red upon hearing this, but it seemed I triggered her resolve once again and she grabbed my hand and squeezed it. Now I was blushing, too and so we were walking down the street, holding hands and feeling slightly embarassed, but very happy at the same time.

„Oh Sato, there it is. That is the place I wanted to show you.“

We had arrived at a little park that was placed in the middle of some houses and the street and in the middle of that was a fountain and that again was surrounded by a patch of lovely flowers. Sadly the fountain wasn't running, otherwise it would be an even lovelier scene. Sophia also seemed to be disappointed about the fountain not running and I was about to say something to cheer her up when I saw her make an ever so slight gesture with her free hand and suddenly the fountain started running and when the water caught the sunlight a rainbow appeared that matched the colours of the flowers perfectly. I was stunned for a second and was about to ask Sophia what that was but then she squeezed my hand even more and I realised that I shouldn't ask about it now. If she was ready to tell me at some point, she would tell me. It was her decision to make.

„It looks lovely, I'm glad we came her Sophia.“

„Oh yes, it looked great in photos, but in this light it looks almost magical.“ She seemed to stiffen a little bit after saying that, like she gave something away she shouldn't have.

„If it's magic I'm glad I got so see it.“ I didn't know what exactly I meant by this myself, but I felt like I had to show her that it didn't matter to me what really happened just now.

„Shall we head back? It's getting late.“ It was indeed getting late and since it was still only early may, it got cold pretty quickly and we both only wore thin jackets.

„Yes, let's do that.“ And so we went back the way we came, still holding hand, which reassured me greatly. But it also seemed that Sophia was thinking about something and she seemed conflicted. Maybe she was thinking about telling me her secret just now, but I didn't want to press her and kept quite. But I wanted to show her that I meant it and wanted to be with her for a long time.

„How about we meet again next weekend? We can do something fun and then I will cook something for us at my place, how does that sound?“ It was a bit daring, but I felt I would get away with it.

„T-That sounds lovely. Can you actually cook Sato?“ She seemed a bit hesitant, but at least she wasn't shooting it down and seemed to be okay with it for now.

„I would say so. I do it a lot anyway. What do you like to eat Sophia?“ I didn't know anything about her in that regard, so knowing at least one dish she liked would be a huge upgrade. She seemed to think about it quite hard actually and her face looked adorable whilst doing so.

„I like curry. That's all I can think of now.“ She looked somewhat defeated, like she tried hard to come up with something else and it made me laugh and she pouted a bit after I did that.

„Am I so funny Sato?“ she still pouted, but didn't let go of my hand.

„Ah, no, but it was adorable how hard you were thinking about what to say. But I will make curry if that is what you like, I like it myself anyway.“

„Okay, that sounds great. I'm looking forward to it then.“ After she said that her face turned red as if she only now realised that she agreed to come to my place alone next week.

„I won't force you to come to my place so soon Sophia, so if you don...“ she interrupted me.

„No, please, I really do want to come. It's just I never went to a guys place like this, so I'm nervous.“

„That's alright, I'm not used to it either to be honest. So we will both have to learn what that entails I guess.“

„Okay Sato, that sounds good.“

„Then it's settled.“

After that we walked back to the train station and got into a train soon after. We sat down, still holding hands and even though I was uite sleepy, this time I couldn't fall alseep, since the reality that she would be coming to my place alone was now also hitting me. All sort of things could happen in that situation and my mind of course ran wild with it. After we got back to our station I offered to walk her home, but she said that she had somewhere else to go first and so we said our goodbyes at the sation. I was really considering going for a kiss just then and there, but then we settled on a hug and even that felt amazing, so I was quite satisfied for the day and I watched her walk away until she was around the corner and I couldn't stop smiling the whole time. Although in the back of my mind I was still aware that the secret that existed between us would have to be revelaed before we could truly become lovers, otherwise I felt like Sophia was always holding herself back.