date night

A Friday night. To be released from the week-long anticipation for the weekend. A night of no consequences, where mere moments and meetings can turn into magical memories to be gossiped about for weeks. Yet I can only stare into the bedroom mirror and tie my hair up with my ribbon for the fortieth time. Tied up or let down? Which does he like better? I rustle my hair in frustration.

The lo-fi hip-hop coming out of the speakers that I played to calm me down begins to irritate me, and I shut it off. I turn to my right to see the dresses I picked out for tonight. It's a giant stack, and I have not tackled it at all yet. I sigh and forget my hair difficulties to go through this more pressing issue.

I start setting aside the dresses that I won't wear to a pile by the side. No, no, nope, no, Jesus, what was I thinking?! The next dress is nice, a sparkling beige cocktail dress that he bought me a month ago. I look good in it, but the skirt's length is too short for a fancy place like the one we're going to tonight. I set it aside. I go through the stack and none of the dresses seem to have a satisfying skirt length. Jeez, how low does it have to go for me to feel classy? The length of a victorian maid dress? I groan and launch myself into the bed, crushing the dresses I have no love for. I rub my face, thinking about what I'm going to wear on my ears when I hear the front door opening.

Oh crap. It's already 6 o'clock!?

"I'm home! Monika, you here? Are you ready?"

"Uh, yeah! Just give me a few minutes!" I can hear his footsteps coming closer.

"Okay, I gotta get changed anyways." Anon goes to try and open the door to our bedroom but I slam it shut before he can see the mess.

"What's the deal? I need to get my clothes."

I poke my head out of the door and offer him a shy smile "Can you just give me a few minutes alone so I can put on the finishing touches? I don't want you to see me as I am right now."

"Well, judging by your makeup job it can't be that bad. Let me in," Anon begins to put his hand on the doorknob

"Nope!" I slam it shut again and lock the door.

A little frustration appears in Anon's voice as he says "Be ready in 5 minutes or we'll be late!". I hear him walk away.

Okay. He likes the makeup. With that, I resolve my determination to look like the perfect woman for him tonight!

Time is of the essence, and I still can't decide on my hair. I flip a coin while hastily grabbing some small studs to place on my ears. The coin came up....standing right in the middle! What are the chances of that happening?! I blow on it to make it fall on tails! Wait, does tails mean hair tied up or let down? I never decided that before flipping the coin! Arrrgh!

And then I hear someone bolting towards the room and unlocks the door. Anon busts the door open and I can't help but yelp. He wanders in, taking in the mess (which includes the state of me right now, only wearing panties and a bra), one hand in his pocket, the other swinging his master set of keys.
"Let me guess, you want to look really good for tonight, that's why you're taking long, right?" I pause before nodding, not wanting to admit it. "Well I know how you can look like the image of perfection, so just ask me anything you want." He pushes aside the dresses and lies down on the bed, waiting for the first question.

Taken to his whims since I think it could be a little fun, I ask "Okay, hair tied up with the ribbon, or hair down?"

Anon frowns and gestures his hands at such a sorry use of his expertise, "Oh tied up, easy. It's not you without it."

Satisfaction fills my smile. "I'm glad you think that, but don't you think you'd be embarrassed walking into into a fancy restaurant with a girl with a big poufy ribbon in her hair?" I say as I begin to prepare my hair.

"Funny, I always thought you would be the one embarrassed, walking in with a dope like me." He says with a snicker.

I turn away from the mirror "Anon, now's not the time for self-deprecation! You're beautiful and you should have some confidence blah-blah-blah. Now what do you think I should wear?"

"Wait," Anon says, getting up from the bed, "Take off the makeup first."

My jaw drops, "What!? I thought it looked nice, and I spent so much time on it!"

He then suddenly grabs me by the waist, and gets so close to me he fills up my entire vision. "Makeup is just a way to hide the imperfections on someone, right? So for you, it's pointless. You're perfect. The face you use to get up in the morning is the same face you should be using for this dinner. It requires no changes or fixes or touch-ups, nothing. While I'm on the subject, there's nothing about you that needs to change, at all. You're the perfect woman, Monika."

I feel a bit red in the cheeks and look away. I didn't know he felt so strongly about makeup. "F-fine, if that's what you want. It might take a few minutes to get it all off though, want to find me a dress to wear while you wait? I haven't decided that at all either."

After some time I get back from the washroom and he immediately tosses me some lingerie. He says "First, put those on. Those are the last things I want to see you wear before I see you naked tonight."

I snort and change my undergarments with an amused grin. His idea of 'flirting' wasn't sexy at all. I can feel his eyes drill into my more private areas. "Hey, don't stare so much, you're making me feel a little self-conscious here."

"I've seen you do stuff way more embarrassing than this. Like that one night at the hotel when y-"

"Oh god, don't remind me!" I push him, and he lands onto the bed. He ends up rolling around in laughter.

With the lingerie in place I ask him what dress he picked out. He tosses it to me. Is he serious right now? "Anon, these are my pajamas."

"Yup."

"Aren't we going to a really fancy place? Didn't you have to make the reservation a month ago?"

"Yeah, but look at the time," I glance at the clock that has hit thirty past. "We're not making it. But don't worry, I got another fancy restaurant we can go to, and the staff won't care what you wear."

My eyebrows raise, a sly grin sliding onto my face, "Oh yeah? That sounds amazing. I'll put this one in a minute. Wait for me."

---

I walk into a dark, candlelit kitchen, with Anon waiting patiently by the doorway. He's wearing that stupid tuxedo t-shirt that I'm always trying to throw away, with a clip-on bow tie and black dress pants.

"Ahh, miss, you 'ave finally arrived! Ja'll I take you to ze seat eeyore date 'as picked out?" The accent is so bad I can't place the country it's from. I'm guessing France.

"If you'd please," With a giggle I allow the monsieur to take my hand and lead me to where we'll be eating. Anon offers me a seat at the dining table and I take it.

"Dis is our menu tsuday, it is prix fixe, no substitu she uns, I 'ope you undarestand." He hands me a post-it note that reads
"Menu: Whatever is in the fridge!" and I nod approvingly, giving it back to him. He bows and says "Very good miss. Something will be ready...whenever." He dashes into the kitchen and opens the fridge, giving it a once over to find a romantic meal.

He comes back 10 minutes later with a metal mixing bowl with the microwave cover on top and presents it to me. He sets the bowl down and removes the cover, "Miss, fig salad. With 'oney dressing, nuts, sunflower seeds and some mystery cheese, probably goat."

"Wow, this actually looks tasty! Good job, Anon, you're really resourceful. But what are you gonna eat?"

"I got some lasagna from yesterday heating up." He sits down, selecting Getz/Gilberto for the music. "Hey, did you lose your other earring?"

"Sorry?"

"Because you're only wearing one. The other one is missing on the other side." I rub both my ears with each of my hands, and I start to crack up.

"Oh, I was hastily putting them on before you walked in, and I forgot to put the other one on. Let me just take this off.."

"You don't need to, it's not bad. It looks cute." I smile while looking away, fondling the lone earring, delighted at another compliment. He then asks "So what do you want for dessert?"

"What do you got?" I lean in closer.

"Marshmallow bits and milk, foraged from a box of Lucky Charms, or I could go and grab some ice cream from the store."

"The first option, I don't want you to leave right now." I take his hand resting by the dinner table.

"Lucky Charms it is." He says while looking into my eyes, rubbing my hand with his thumb.

Anon pours some wine into the glasses and we toast, both of us smiling, excited for the infinite possibilities of tonight. The candle's light dances across our faces as we talk about our day.