A Warm Date At The Cafe
Another story. The one on Thursday was only the start, one of several. Originally started writing this for a writing competition between friends but didn’t get to finish it in time and then decided to expand on the story. Considerably later here is that story coincidentally on a snow day. The theme was escaping from the cold and I choose to have it be about Deabo going on a date in the middle of a blizzard and escaping that by heading into a cafe. I’ve been meaning to do a story for Deabo for a while now and demonstrating what a date with him is like just felt fitting. The first story of winter. Also this story has a few lines of dialogue in Spanish, not too many and they’re not hard to understand imo but just thought I’d give a heads up to not catch people off guard.
A Warm Date At The Cafe
There is a freezing wind clashing against my fluffy winter coat and the little bit of scales exposed on my face that aren't covered by my coat hood and tightly wrapped scarf. I stand outside as a snowstorm starts to howl through these Jersey streets waiting on a beautiful gecko girl to finish work so we can go somewhere nice together, this is gonna be a date after all. After about ten minutes that feel more like twenty (though I don't plan on mentioning that) she walks out in a sleek red and beige coat with two button flaps on the hood that cover half of her face and a dark blue sweater underneath. She starts walking quickly but carefully down the stairs, waves for a second before putting her paws in her pockets and trying to keep her tail on track behind her.
“Hi! Sorry if I left you waiting for a while out here. Just needed to take care of a few small work things before we head out. So where are we headed?" She asks me straight to the point.
“It's fine, I'm not that cold blooded. As for where we're going I'd like that to stay a bit of surprise. It'll make your sweet smile even more radiant when we get there." I joke and then flirt a bit as I clean the fog off my glasses and adjust them as best I can with these thick gloves on my hands.
“Alright then. I'll let you take the lead. What I've heard about you will get you that much. Hope you don't disappoint hehheh." She winks cheekily at me and I raise an intrigued eyebrow as we start moving.
“Oh-ho! Has my reputation already reached you? I'm hoping you've only heard the best of what I can offer… for those I really like." This time I'm doing my best to wiggle my eyebrows which have to be barely visible under all these clothes but it still gets a chuckle out of her.
“Ehehe. You could say that. Al makes sure to butt into the conversation plenty of times whenever your name happens to come up. Talking about how much of a gentleman you are, how much he misses the 'feel of those scaly lips on his and the running of your strong hands along his smooth fur.' Those are his words by the way." She says as if I couldn't have guessed knowing how Al gets.
“Aye, Al. That handsome mutt becomes too attached for his own good. We only went on a couple of dates but he keeps begging for more. I told him already but he can't seem to get that he's not my only option when it comes to a good time… but enough about him let's get a move on." We pick up the pace as I maintain the lead, walking with excitement towards our destination. Soon enough we arrive and I stretch out a gloved right hand towards the cozy spot I chose for this date.
“Tada! I give you the cafe where you're about to have the best hot chocolate this side of the Goethals Bridge!"
“Oooh! I love these little Colombian cafes. Did you know that already about me?" She asks me with a flirty curiosity. Truthfully I kind of knew but based my decision more on a strong feeling this would be the best spot.
“I had a suspicion but wasn't fully sure before. Now I can say I'm fully sure." I smile and grab the blue metal handle of the mostly glass door waving her in and she just smiles back and says a brief “thank you" as she goes inside first and I go in right after her.
We go to one of the tables for two which is adjacent to a window and take off our coats as we claim our seats. We don't sit down right away but instead head to the counter to get our menus and let the staff know we're here so we can get serviced. After that we sit down and as we settle in a human comes by and introduces himself as our server today, Trent before asking if we know what we'd like to eat. I give my date, Georgia, the chance to go first since I already knew what I wanted the moment I got in here.
“Jo quiero, como se dice carne asad- no that's not it… carne horneado con camp-champ . Jo neccesita un minuto." Georgia says while putting down her menu for a second clearly stuck by trying to pronounce her order.
“Está bien, Señora. Mira afuera. Con la nieve, tienes mucho tiempo. Aha." Our server assures us with this joke about the weather and we all laugh.
“Why don't you order first, Deabo? I'm
a little stuck with the Spanish here. And you probably know their menu enough to order by heart the way you talked this place up." She looks at me expectantly as does our waiter and an idea comes to me.
“I could do that or you can give me your order in English and I could translate it for you before giving my own. "
“That works. So I want…" She whispers what she wants to me and I smile before saying “okay, got it" and turning to our server again.
“Está bien. Por ella, se quiere carne horneado con salsa champiñones. Con ensalada y arroz con habichuelas. Y beber ella quieres chocolate caliente.
“Y para usted, señor?"
“Yo quiero el chimichurri de res con ensalada. Y un chocolate caliente para mi también."
“Muy bien. Yo volví con las bebidas y usted comida pronto."
“Gracias."
“De nada primo." I watch Trent return to the kitchen and Georgia is looking at me with a smirk.
“You handled that well. I'm jealous."
“I mean I am Dominican and have lived a pretty long time. Spanish just comes naturally to me, I'd be ashamed of myself if it didn't."
“I wish it came as easily to me. I'm half Cuban and well… you saw how bad I was struggling."
“Oh. You weren't doing that… badly. I just wanted to speed things along a bit. I'm starving."
“Hah. Come on you don't have to lie to me. I'm old enough that I can handle hearing my weaknesses without freaking out."
“I'm not lying, honest. You tried at least, some people don't even bother. And I am seriously hungry ehehe." We both laugh and then I decide to ask an ungentlemanly question in as polite yet forward a manner as I can. “You know what you just said has me realizing we've still got a lot to learn about each other. If I may be so bold… ¿cuántos años tienes?" I ask in spanish in what I hope is a decent attempt to try to lighten a bit of the weight of the question.
“So forward to ask a lady her age."
"Well I just figured it's best to know now… in case y'know… uhhh" Jeez I'm stumbling over my words so bad right now, just give a clear explanation, dumb iguana.
“In case you need to make an emergency exit, huh?" Georgia gives me a smirk and raises not an eyebrow at me(since neither of us have any) but an eye.
“What!? No it's not like-" I'm cut off by the sound of Georgia laughing.
“Ahahaha! Relax man… I was kidding. So did you want to know my age in human years or beastman years?"
“Uhh, knowing both would be good… if that's fine with you."
“I guess the lifespans of other reptiles is something you're planning to learn at some point later then?"
“Well, it can be hard to keep track of so many-"
“That was another joke. Are you always this tense regarding humor? Heheh"
“Only when it comes to women who blow me away enough that I need to stay on my toes. Now were you about to answer my earlier question?" I lower my glasses at that, just a bit to show I mean business.
“Suave. To answer your question I'm 27 in beastman years and 169 in human years."
“Oh wow you're older than me… and Cuba's independence. Not that that's an issue or anything, it's kind of refreshing actually."
“Is it? How old are you then?"
“127 in human years and 25 in beastman years." It feels a bit strange giving my age so casually like that but I know I'm in good company.
“You know, it's kind of funny how there can be both a two and forty two year difference between us. I guess that's just how it is for the less mammalian of us."
“I know right? The reptilian life is just different like that."
“Yeah."
————————————
“So then this guy I work with, Shev hands me an extra coat for the fifth time while I've got my own coat hanging on a hook. At this point I've grown a bit irritated but I know he means well so I tell him as polite yet firmly as possible 'I appreciate the gesture Shev but we're inside and it's just that the heat turned off for a minute. I promise you that I'm not gonna freeze.' And he actually blushed as he said 'I'm sorry but it's just I've seen on the news how iguanas freeze up in places like Florida in the winter and…'-hang on a sec" I pour some water for myself out of the jug we got about 8 minutes ago into my glass before taking a sip and continuing my story.
“Back to my story, I cut him before he can embarrass himself more trying to rationalize it and point to this one small box we had on the table where we put the packages and another larger, heavier box that was on the floor of our mailroom." I point to the jug and my cup on the table to mimic what I did that random workday and keep going. “You see how those boxes are different, how they hold different things? Well the difference between some random wild iguana and me is like that. I promise you I'm built different than them. The heat in our building got fixed about 5 minutes after and we were there just sorting out the mail in essentially complete silence after that for about 20 minutes."
“Ahaha! Woww. That reminds me of how this one coworker of mine who used to bring me eyedrops every now and then till I had to explain to this lady that I don't need all this because even if I wasn't a beastman fat tailed geckos do have eyelids. She was so worried my eyes were in constant danger of drying but I'm not that kind of lizard. Speaking of, what kind of iguana did you say you were again?"
“I'm a Hispaniolan Ground Iguana darling! Or a rhinoceros iguana… if you want a species name that's shorter at two words instead of three."
“Nifty! You know I think you're the first hispaniolan ground iguan-"
Georgia is interrupted by our human server Trent setting down several plates of food and two mugs. My beef chimichurri, essentially a Dominican style burger along with the salad and hot chocolate I asked for go on my side of the table. On Georgia's side she gets the baked meat(chicken) with mushroom sauce, the rice and beans on a side plate as well as the salad. She looks to her hot chocolate and puts it to the other side of her plate than the one Trent plopped it down on. We're about ready to dig in.
“Todo caliente por un frío día. Buen provecho." And with that our server leaves us to our meals.
As we dig into our meals Georgia finishes telling me that I'm “probably the first hispaniolan ground iguana she's ever even met which is crazy" given how long she's lived and where. In between bites of sandwich I explain that we are pretty rare, originating from that one place and adding how rare beastmen are on top of that but some of us are out here and there like me. She smiles at that as she munches on chicken, rice and beans before telling me she gets it. Some species of beastman are out there just too but are just too scattered to find that often but she's glad to have found me. I can't help but blush a bit at that and take a few sips of my cocoa to try and have the heat somewhere besides just my cheeks. I ask her if she's tried it yet and she says no but she's about to.
The teal and dark orange spotted top of her fingers reach for her mug. Sip “Oh my god! Sippp Gulp “That's so so good! Reminds me of home. Sipp Creamy, a little nutty and not too sweet. American hot chocolate feels too sweet more often than not but this… this is perfect. This Latin style hot chocolate.
Gulp “What'd I tell you? Best hot chocolate this side of the Goethals bridge. A lot of it is in the spices and the organic kind of cacao they use. One of the ladies here told me that they use cacao straight from the Dominican Republic, that they travel there for it because of how pure it is."
“While you were out on a date I'd imagine? Or did you just so happen to flirt that secret out of her? "
“We did go on a couple of dates but believe it or not I actually found all this out like a month after we Munch… stopped dating. I just happened to overhear her, Irina was her name by the way, discussing travel plans with one of the chefs and she said all of this while talking to him. I was one of about three customers currently there if I remember right so I can see why she didn't bother with being discreet about their plans and secrets."
“Wow. So you just learned their trade secrets by total coincidence?"
“Yep. I usually wait until the second date to tell people them but I figured why not today. Plus it's not like I'm short on secrets when you get around as much as I do, on the job and otherwise.“ I give a sly wink.
“I see… so have you ever cheated on anybody you've dated before? You tell them when things are over right? If they don't decide to tell you first?"
“GA-! Choke… Ahem those are some very sudden questions and to answer them, no I've never cheated and yes I almost always tell the person I'm seeing when the relationship is over before moving on." I take a second to pound my chest and to breathe after almosting choking on a bite of cucumber from my salad after the surprise of those questions before continuing. “Almost because there have been times where I never even made it through the whole first date with a couple of people and there have been times someone ended the relationship earlier than I was planning. Those kinds of things do happen but me cheating does not."
“And you truly mean that? You're being totally honest with me?" She looks at me sincerely to see if I'm lying or not and I don't hesitate to meet her eyes with mine.
“Absolutely. I value communication and trust. I value the people I date, who love me and allow me to love them right back, openly. When things do come to an end I want it to be because we've become different, hopefully better people and not because hands were forced due to one of us screwing up something that should have ended better or just been better overall. Most importantly I want that ending to be made clear, concise and as painless as possible, speaking generally about all of this by the way."
“That's all a serious relief. I just wanted to be sure that I'd know where things are going. Sometimes guys suck at communicating, no offense of course."
“None taken. Like I said there's been times I've never made it through a whole first date with someone. A lack of communication was part of why in more than a few of those cases. I've got stories as I'm sure you do too."
“Boy do I. Let me tell you…"
We start exchanging stories of dates gone either hilariously or frustratingly wrong, swapping between the two kinds of outcome that we feel like sharing. In between we finish off our respective plates and most of our hot chocolates too. I'm down to two sips by the time Georgia reaches the end of her last story.
“So then this guy, the grizzly bear actually looks to me as I'm waiting for him to get off my apartment steps having admitted that I just want to go inside cause I know he was expecting our date to continue despite all the ways he screwed up like getting my eyes almost swollen shut from my soy allergy. He then leans over and licks a dollop of honey off my forehead and at that point I scream for him to leave and who should hear me but the man who lives in the room a floor below me. He may be human but he's built like a lumberjack and this bear was definitely not the strongest so when I say I've never seen a bear run so fast… from a human prepared to beat him with his bare fists ahaha! It was something to see."
“Ehehehe Sounds like it. I guess I know now to never take you to a sushi restaurant. Sushi is off the menu but is all seafood?"
“I do actually like seafood. I just like it cooked and not dripping in soy sauce or the like."
“Noted. I know this good seafood spot back in New York. Reasonably priced too, though the family discount helps there."
“So you do have family still in this country!"
“Yeah, I do. My cousin, he's a polar bear beastman. He works there as a line cook but gets along well enough with his bosses that he can get away with a few things. It's that Amable charm." I flash a smile.
“Oh he's an Amable too? You must be really close then. Is he older than you or younger?"
“Close but not too close, considering name he's got a different last name than mine. He's
younger also, much younger. Though technically he's older uhh biologically speaking not chronologically."
“How's that?"
“He's a magic born beastman and not a natural born one. Told me he changed more than a few years ago at 25. Not sure why he chose to all of a sudden but it's his life and his lifespan not mine."
“He's magic born. Does he know any magic? Oooh do you?!"
“He does. I don't. Asked him to teach me once or twice and he said I lacked the magical potential but offered to teach me alchemy instead. Can you believe that? Something I could start learning from YouTube if I really felt like it. Instead I decided I don't need any fancy potions or powerful magic when I've already got enough power in these muscles." I flex my brown scaled arms and then flex my gold spiked tail. “And enough charm all on my own." I already flashed a smile a minute ago so I let that statement speak for itself.
“You certainly are enchanting. Maybe we should get back to focusing on you." Her big tail brushed against mine making me shudder but in a good way, very good.
I start to slip my tail around hers but before
our tails can get wrapped up in each other our server stops by. “Todo bien?"
“Si. Muy bien."
“Bueno. Yo regreso pronto con el cheque."
“Muchas gracias"
Me and Georgia skip letting our tails intertwine with each other to clean up after ourselves, mostly. Neither one of us wanting to leave it all disorganized for our server or to look like we lack manners, we're both too old for that. Soon enough Trent stops by, drops off the check for us to pay and takes our plates in one trip and then the cups in another. I take it on myself to pay for the whole thing but Georgia insists on paying at least the tip so she does by leaving the right amount of cash on the table and I pay the main bill with my debit card. We start getting up from the table and each getting on our winterwear and by the time Trent comes back for his tip and drops the two versions of the receipt off in one of those empty restaurant menu books we're ready. I sign one of the receipts, the restaurant's copy and Trent takes that menu book with everything in it and thanks us for eating here.
I take my version of the receipt so Georgia and me can head out the door. We walk back the same route we came to get here but in reverse and a little further since we're walking back to her house. While we walk in the snow without any concern for how soon we'll get back home we talk some more. We talk about family, about our jobs, about our hobbies. Before l know it she's pointing out her apartment building to me.
“Alright. That's my building there."
“Great! Now I'll know where to come next time to see those hand crafted chairs. I can't believe wood working is just a hobby for you. That's an amazing skill."
“You're gonna make me blush. You only saw what I felt confident enough to take pictures of, not all my little projects go so smooth. Not sure if you'll even get to see them next time."
“Why's that?"
“Well I thought I heard a certain iguana tell me that he was taking me to his cousin's seafood restaurant. I don't know if I want to miss out on some quality salmon by waiting too many dates to try it."
“So I'll see you again soon?"
“Absolutely. First though, let me give you something to thank you for a fine lunch and making me feel like I'm not ancient in my 20s. Come closer."
I do as Georgia asks and she pleasantly surprises me with a farewell kiss. I close my eyes as her lips plant themselves on mine, they're soft and taste like raspberry and cinnamon. It's not a combination you think would work but tasting it on her lips it does. It's a kiss that feels wonderful but is also fairly brief and it takes me a few seconds to realize Georgia broke it when I stop feeling the warmth of her lips on mine. I open my eyes to see the door to her apartment building open and her looking at me while standing in the doorframe.
“Thanks for a wonderful time, Deabo. Hope to do this again soon. Get home safe."
“Thanks. We definitely will do this again soon. I'll call you later."
I wave goodbye as Georgia walks through her apartment door and turns around quick to wave goodbye back to me. After the door is closed I wait half a minute before I unlock my phone to look at the number added to my contacts, Georgia's number that she gave me as we walked to her house. I will for sure use it to call her later but for now as I walk to the train station to take the train back to my own home I think about two things. One is how I wish I had a car and the second is how I'm gonna savor the warm fuzzy feelings from this successful first date all the way till the next one. Whenever that may be.