Despite telling herself that this was just a one-time thing and it didn’t really matter, Harper was staring out her front window waiting for Jason to arrive. The perks of an apartment on the first floor. She didn’t know what to expect in any regard. Jason hadn’t disclosed what he did for work, so she didn’t have a clue what sort of car he’d be driving, what he’d be wearing, or where they were going. So she hoped a business casual look wasn’t too dressed up or too dressed down.

Harper checked her phone. Seven o’clock. The moment she looked up and out the window again, a car had pulled up and parked. It didn’t surprise her that he was so prompt. He was eager to take her out in the first place, that she knew he wouldn’t risk being even one minute late. She was surprised by his car, an average looking black Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. And when he got out of it and began walking up to the door, she was more shocked to see him in a faint purple button down shirt and a pair of gray slacks. It was a stark contrast to the t-shirt and shorts she’d seen him in previously, and Harper had to admit that he cleaned up extremely well.

Pulling away from the window, Harper waited a few moments after Jason knocked before she actually opened the door. She didn’t want to seem too eager. With the door open and standing face to face, Jason looked even more attractive. They took in the sight of each other; Jason admiring the black knee length dress, and Harper doing the same to the dress shirt that stretched over Jason’s chest and shoulders.

“You look very nice,” Jason mentioned coolly.

He seemed to be better adapted to this sort of situation. It had been awhile since Harper had last gone on a date, let alone with someone so much older than her. She felt like a girl standing in front of a man. “Thanks, I wasn’t sure where we were going so I didn’t know what to put on…” she rambled off.

Jason grinned, “No it’s great.” He pointed back to his car, “we should head out… we’ve got a reservation.” He waited as Harper stepped out and locked her door before leading her down to his car. He pulled open the passenger side door for her and held out his hand to help her in, “I hope you don’t mind steak. I probably should’ve asked beforehand.”

“I love meat,” she said offhand.

Jason giggled and when he shut the door and walked around the car, Harper cursed herself. She loved meat? Could she really not think of literally anything else to say? Sometimes she really hated herself. Jason slid into the car and started the engine, carefully pulling out and began on his way. Harper admired him for trying to create small talk with her on the way there. But she was so wrapped up thinking about her previous comment, so she mostly remained silent to keep from saying anything else embarrassing. Still Jason persisted.

After leaving the car with the valet, Jason opened up the door to the restaurant for Harper and followed her in. He gave his name to the hostess, who appeared to know him personally. And without much waiting, she led both of them to a table for two in a fairly private room. A bottle of wine was already waiting for them on the table, and the waitress came over to pour the glasses. All of this caught Harper off guard, and for the life of her, she tried to figure out the man sitting across from her.

Once they were alone, Harper looked around nervously and put her hands in her lap. “Do you do this a lot?”

Jason smiled boyishly and leaned in, “do what?”

“Wine and dine girls here?”

He shook his head and picked up his wine glass, “you got me all wrong.”

“Where was the last place you took a date?” Harper asked doing the same. She looked down at the red liquid and took a quick sip.

“Sorry this is…” Jason stopped and took a moment to think. He took a long sip of his wine and looked back at Harper after he set the glass back down. “We’re really gonna have to go back far here.”

Harper rolled her eyes and smiled, “you’re such a liar.”

Jason laughed and shook her head, “no that’s serious. It’s been… seven or eight months since I’ve been on an actual date.”

“I don’t buy that at all. A good-looking guy like you? Charming, smart, witty… There’s no way it’s been that long.”

He smiled, “thank you. I appreciate that. But that’s true. I moved here for work not too long ago, and like I told you, I haven’t cared too much to get to know anyone lately.”

“What do you do for work?” Harper pressed again on this topic. She wanted to know. People were never secretive about what they did for work unless they were a federal detective or did something illegal. So the fact that Jason was so adamant about keeping it a secret was mildly concerning. Now when she asked the question, the eye contact that Jason had been maintaining, vanished. He looked down at his silverware setup and played with the cloth napkin. He was trying to buy some time for himself, and the concern Harper felt started to grow.

She was asking a simple question, one that could be answered in a couple words, but he still kept quiet like she was asking him to solve a complex math equation. And just to prove that two could play that game, Harper stared at him silently, waiting for his answer. Eventually he looked up and realized she wasn’t going to let it go. Little did he know, she already had the answer. With his last name in her phone, she took the small extra step to Google him. She had her answer, but wanted to see if Jason would tell her the truth.

“I don’t usually disclose that right away,” he mentioned, clearing his throat. “It usually gives off the wrong impression.”

“Well I’m asking you, Jason.” She folded her arms on the table and leaned in closer. She desperately wanted him to tell her the truth. “You said you wanted me to get to know you, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

“I’m an athlete,” he said almost immediately. And Harper let out a deep breath. The truth. “I know it doesn’t look like I would be one,” he tried to make light of it.

“Yes it does,” she argued. The more she examined his build, the more she realized it. “You’re built like one. I’ve noticed.” Harper cursed herself again. Why couldn’t she say something normal? Why did she have to make it obvious that she was frequently checking him out? As her face got hotter, Jason giggled harder. She managed to mutter, “sport?”

He contained his laughter just long enough to say, “hockey.”

Harper was more than pleased. Jason had told her the truth, which was actually more than she had expected if she was being honest. She truly believed he would try to hide it for as long as possible, as was the trend she’d experienced with other boys. And then it hit her. Maybe that was the difference; the others had been boys, and potentially this was a man.

She rejoiced in the fact that from there the conversation was easy. She no longer feared that a lie would come out of Jason’s mouth. If he was willing to be honest about a huge part of his life, he could be honest about the rest. Even when the waitress came back to take their order, her presence seemed more like a hindrance than anything. They appreciated her service, but desperately wished to get back into their conversation; which now took a much more intimate turn.

“What do your parents do?” Jason asked, moving his hands out further on the table. With the way they both sat, their fingers were only a couple inches apart and Harper hoped he’d take the small extra step to initiate a touch.

Harper bit her lip, “I don’t know if I should say. It might scare you away.”

“They’re not hockey refs, are they?” He grinned and Harper shook her head gently. Now Jason moved his fingers to brush against hers softly. “Try me,”

“They’re lawyers.” Harper watched as Jason’s face did partially drain of color. That was always intimidating to people. The idea of having lawyers for parents was frightening. “They met in court. Mom was working for the DA, dad was the defense attorney; they quit their jobs, started a firm, and the rest is history.”

Jason pulled his hand away just to pour them more wine. When he finished, he placed his hand back, now touching Harper’s even more. “You must play by the rules then,”

“If by rules, you mean the law, then yes. I’m a bona fide goody-two-shoes.” She picked up her wine glass, with the hand not being touched by Jason’s, and took a slow sip. “I have a confession,” she waited, knowing she had his full attention. “I knew what you did for work,”

“You watch hockey?”

Harper shook her head, “I Googled you.”

Jason flashed his teeth, “who’s the creepy one now?”

“I object,” she played. “Statistically men are the most dangerous force against women. You left your last name in my phone, so I did research for self-preservation.”

He smiled and squeezed her hand quickly, “that’s not fair because I don’t have your last name. How am I supposed to Google you?”

“Malone. Go ahead and Google me; you won’t find anything. My sister and I are record-less, but you can find stuff on my parents… them being ‘super-lawyers’ and such.”

“We’re bragging now?” Jason joked and cocked his head to the side. “Is your sister older?”

Harper nodded, “Sasha. She’s twenty-six. We’re nothing alike,”

“Oh?”

She licked her lips quickly and looked at Jason, “yeah.” Harper opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped short. Jason picked up on it, and finally she dared to say what she’d been thinking. “She’s the pretty one, and I’m the smart one.”

Jason’s smile fell slightly, “what?”

Harper tried to smile wider in the effort of making his return. “She was never very good in school so my parents would say that I’m the smart one, and she’s the pretty one.”

He let that linger, taking in the reality of that mindset. Eventually he sucked in a deep breath, “for the record, I find you very pretty.”

---

Harper couldn’t help but notice that after that segment of the conversation, Jason tried to steer away from topics concerning family. At that point, he did his best to talk about anything else, even if that meant disclosing more information about his career. She had gotten the debriefing about how he started his professional career in San Jose before being relocated to Dallas, and then to Florida earlier this year. He spoke fondly of all his previous and current teammates, mentioning that he’d always have a special soft spot for Antti Niemi, whom he’d played with during his time with the Sharks and Stars.

Back on her front porch, she asked if he wanted to come in for a little while. This question was followed up by the confession that she’d have to get up early in the morning to finish cleaning out her classroom. To Jason, that was a condition. He could come in, but he couldn’t stay the night. Knowing the boundaries for tonight, Jason followed Harper in, smiling at what he found. She’d given up on bookshelves. Either she had too many books, or the totality of them would be too much for a shelf to hold. So instead her books were organized and stacked against the walls, columned around her entertainment center, or thrown across her coffee table. Even with the onslaught of books, the apartment was supremely clean, and Jason noted the way Harper carefully picked up Les Miserables from where she’d strategically placed it before leaving for the date. She noted the page, and then placed it on the coffee table, taking a seat on the couch and waiting for Jason to do the same.

“Have you made any progress on it?” Jason mentioned as he sat on the couch, pointing at the thick novel.

Harper’s face lit up at his inquisitiveness of her favorite subject. “I found a new favorite passage!” She picked up the book and flipped to a dog-eared page, found the line and recited, “The brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are over we realize this: that the human race has been roughly handled, but that it has advanced.”

Jason smiled and leaned back against the couch cushions, setting his arm on the back of it, and effectively around Harper’s shoulders. “That’s quite dark and sadistic,”

“I think it’s hopeful,” she responded, looking up into his eyes, and ever so slightly, scooted in closer to his side. “Bad stuff happens, but out of the bad things progress is made, people can grow, and maybe most importantly, people can be better.”

He grinned and slowly brought his head in closer to hers. Their lips only touched for a moment before Harper pulled back. Her face was flushed and she smiled nervously, which Jason returned with a smile of his own. She noticed her pink lipstick had now tinted his lips and so she gently dragged the pad of her thumb across his lips to wipe it away. He stared at her as she did so, and when her hand returned to her lap, he curled his arm around her shoulders to bring her closer and he pressed his lips to her forehead.

“I enjoy hanging out with you,” Jason whispered.

Even now, Harper found it strange how much bigger he was than her. With his arm encompassing her shoulders, his shirt stretched against his chest, pulling tightly. She reached up and touched his chest, trying to smooth out a ripple in the fabric. “I think I can safely say I don’t see this to be a mistake,”

“That’s a relief,” he chuckled, leaning in once again. He kissed her again, and this time, he lasted only a second longer before Harper pressed against his chest to back away. Jason half-smiled as she blushed again, and then lifted his hand to glance at his watch. “I should get going,”

He stood up and stretched, being followed by Harper as he made his way to the door. After he pulled it open, he stood in the doorway and looked back at her. By taking the step down onto the porch, he was now more at eye height with her, although he was still a couple inches taller. They stood there awkwardly for just a moment before Harper lifted her arms and wrapped them around Jason’s neck to hug him.

“Thank you for dinner,” she whispered in his ear. As he wrapped his arms around her waist, she smiled and buried her face into the crook of his neck.

“You’re very welcome,” he turned his head and kissed her temple softly. Soon she backed away and watched him go back to his car and drive off.

Back inside, Harper leaned against her closed door and let out a deep sigh. A successful first date, she thought. The first, first date she had had in over two years and it seemed to have gone well enough to potentially promise a second. Jason’s job and age still gave her cause to worry. She’d always known she wanted something stable, and the idea of partaking in a relationship with a professional athlete didn’t necessarily warrant that. And with him being closer to thirty while she was still in her early twenties, worried her about what they’d each expect out of a relationship. If he were thinking about ever getting married, that’d be on his mind now. While Harper was still so focused on her career; she wanted that to be set before she even contemplated marriage.

It was obviously too soon for her to think about these “what ifs” at great length. For now, it had to be enough that Jason had even told her the truth. She had put him through a test tonight, and had he failed, it would’ve been the last he ever heard of her. He hadn’t failed, but rather, surpassed every expectation she had. She appreciated his candor and hoped that trend would continue, even if all that came of this was a friendship.

Harper awoke the next morning on the couch, with a crick in her neck. The wine from the night before had done her dirty, and even though she had work to finish in her classroom, she couldn’t will herself up and out of her apartment. She stripped out of the black dress from the night before and shuffled into the bathroom to draw a bath. Once she was able to sink into the water and relax her head against the white porcelain, she allowed her mind to drift back to Jason. He seemed like a dream Harper had thought up, and while she enjoyed the daydream, it frightened her to no end that she was already this infatuated with the idea of someone. It was unlike her to be so brash. She was used to being pragmatic and logical in all aspects of her life, that this sudden burst of emotion and spontaneity was terrifying.

Notes