Un Encuentro Casual

[My POV.]

I pulled up to his shop and was about to get down when I saw him walk out. I opened my door as he came around to say hi.

Me: ”Someones excited. ”

Stranger: ”Don tease me. I told you I wanted to see you again. ”

I smiled and stepped back as I spread my arms.

Me: ”Here I am. ”

He smiled back as he stared at me intently.

Stranger: ”You look really beautiful. ”

Me: ”You clean up well. ”

He chuckled softly as he looked down.

Stranger: ”I guess thats a compliment. ”

Me: ”What if I say you look incredibly handsome? ”

Stranger: ”Is that really what you think? ”

Me: ”I wouldn say it if I didn mean it. ”

He smiled widely as he nodded.

Stranger: ”Fair enough. Are you ready to go? ”

I nodded and was about to open my door again when he reached for my hand.

Stranger: ”Mind if I drive? ”

Me: ”Huh? ”

Stranger: ”I want it to be a surprise. ”

I thought for a moment but agreed.

Stranger: ”Well go in my truck. ”

Me: ”Are you sure? ”

Stranger: ”Yeah. ”

Me: ”I don mind going in my car. ”

Stranger: ”I just feel bad that you came to pick me up. I shouldve insisted on picking you up. ”

Me: ”This isn the 1950s. I said I could wine and dine you. ”

He smiled again as he looked down.

Stranger: ”Sorry, its just how we were raised. Let me take you today and you can plan the next date, is that alright with you? ”

Me: ”Alright deal. Let me grab my keys and purse. ”

He walked me over to his truck and opened the passenger door for me. ~His truck does seem more comfortable since hes tall.~ He got in and turned on the truck before driving off. We talked a little on the way over and finally arrived at a nice restaurant that I hadn been to before. He got down first and opened my door before helping me down. We went inside and were escorted to a secluded table in a quiet corner of the dining area. The staff seemed to know him well as they greeted him.

Staff: ”Mr. Jimenez, will you be having the usual? ”

Stranger: ”Ill let my date decide, can we have more time? ”

Staff: ”Of course. Excuse me. ”

I tried to hold back a smile as I looked over the menu.

Me: ”You must come here often. ”

Stranger: ”This is my parents favorite restaurant. ”

Me: ”What do they do? ”

Stranger: ”They own it. ”

I looked up at him surprised.

Me: ”They do? ”

He smiled and nodded.

Stranger: ”Yeah… It started out as a small stand and gradually it grew. ”

I stared at him in disbelief as I wasn sure if he was actually being serious.

Stranger: ”¿No me crees? ”

Me: ”I don know. ”

He smiled again and looked at the menu without saying anything else. I smirked and decided on what I wanted to order. The staff came over and took our order. They offered wine but I declined, surprising him. The staff didn know how to respond and just looked over at the stranger, waiting for instructions.

Stranger: ”You don drink? ”

Me: ”Not really, but you can order wine if youd like. ”

Stranger: ”If you
e not drinking - ”

I looked over at the staff to give them the order.

Me: ”Bring him his usual drink order. Ill be paying anyway. ”

They both turned to look at me surprised yet again as I just sat back in my chair.

Me: ”I won accept any objections. ”

The staff peeked over at the stranger who was smirking at me. He looked at the staff and nodded before facing me again.

Stranger: ”I think I like you taking charge. ”

Me: ”This is nothing. ”

I quickly took a sip of my water as he smirked while leaning back in his chair. He continued to stare at me intently. I put down my glass and stared back.

Me: ”What is it? ”

Stranger: ”You really are beautiful. ”

I tried to play it off but I felt myself blush as I turned away. The staff came over with his wine and an appetizer which he was on the house. As the staff was leaving, I felt like someone was staring at us. So, I casually looked around. I didn recognize anyone so I turned back to the stranger.

Me: ”So, are you ever going to tell me your name? ”

He smiled but before he could say anything, the staff came with our food. We thanked him and started eating quietly.

Stranger: ”¿Qué tal? ”

Me: ”Its delicious. ”

Stranger: ”Thats a relief. ”

Me: ”Did you cook it? ”

He chuckled softly and nodded.

Stranger: ”Casi. My uncle is the chef. ”

I nodded then took another sip of my water.

Me: ”Family business. Then, why don you work here? ”

Stranger: ”I like being a mechanic. Maybe one of my cousins will want to take over. We haven really discussed it yet. ”

Me: ”Its nice you all have that trust and communication. ”

Stranger: ”Yeah, we
e all really close. What about you and your family? Are you all close? ”

Me: ”Its just me and my mom now… So naturally, we
e close. ”

Stranger: ”Oh… I guess something happened. I won ask about it. ”

Me: ”Thanks. ”

Stranger: ”Do you want dessert? ”

Me: ”What? Do you have that prepared too? You must bring a lot of women here. ”

He smiled as he adjusted his sleeves. He looked me right in the eyes before speaking.

Stranger: ”Truthfully, you
e the second woman I have ever brought here. This place is too special to me to bring just anyone here. ”

Me: ”Oh really? Then why would you bring me here on the first date? ”

Stranger: ”I already told you. I have a good feeling about you. ”

The way he had said it made my heart jump but I brushed it off as casually as I could. ~Maybe I should set a boundary.~ But the words that came out of my mouth betrayed me.

Me: ”Im willing to see where this goes. ”

He couldn hold back his smile.

Stranger: ”Are you ready to go? ”

I looked at the table and nodded. I had eaten just enough to get satisfied and left just enough to not seem rude or wasteful. I grabbed my purse and looked for the staff.

Stranger: ”Whats wrong? ”

Me: ”The bill. ”

He smiled and was about to say something when I stopped him.

Me: ”Im serious about paying. Full price. ”

He chuckled before nodding.

Stranger: ”Alright, lets go to the register. ”

I nodded and followed his lead. He greeted the staff as they were about to speak, I took out my card and held it out to them. The staff looked surprised and turned to face the stranger who nodded. They took my card and charged it. I took a look at the receipt and made sure they had charged me everything with no discounts. I left them a nice tip and signed the receipt as I thanked them for their service and sent compliments to the chef. They smiled and thanked us for our visit and we turned to leave. We got back into his truck and he drove off but after a while, I noticed we weren headed back to the shop.

Me: ”Is this part of the surprise? ”

Stranger: ”Yes… This is another place special to me. ”

Me: ”Its not your parents house is it? ”

He laughed softly.

Stranger: ”No, maybe after a few more dates. ”

I scoffed playfully and looked out the window. I saw we were leaving the downtown area. Certain memories tried to resurge as it was becoming clear what neighborhood we were entering. I cleared my head and turned to face him.

Stranger: ”We
e almost there. ”

Me: ”Where exactly are you taking me? ”

Stranger: ”Youll see. ”

We both smiled but his focus was still on the road. After a few more minutes of driving, he finally parked the car in front of an older building.

Me: ”Either this is where you kill me or you think we
e going to have a quickie. ”

He burst out laughing, turning a little red before turning to face me.

Stranger: ”Neither. This was my first shop. I want to fix it up and give it to my brother. This is the expansion I mentioned. ”

I nodded as I looked back towards the building. I opened my door and he rushed over to help me down. We walked towards the building and took a look around.

Me: ”It has great potential. Im sure it will look beautiful and do great once you reopen. ”

Stranger: ”Thanks. I really hope so. ”

I turned to face him.

Me: ”My boss wants a meeting with you. If we decide to take your account, I won be able to be your accountant. It could be a conflict of interest. ”

He turned to face me with a pure gaze.

Stranger: ”Understandable. But then… Does that mean youll accept me as your boyfriend later? ”

I smiled and looked away. ~Geez why does he have to look at me like that?~ I took a deep breath and faced him again.

Me: ”I do find you interesting and charming. If I come to like you as much as you seem to like me, then sure. ”

He smiled sweetly and nodded before extending his hand.

Stranger: ”Deal. ”

I smiled back and shook his hand.

Me: ”So… Your name? ”

Stranger: ”Let me properly introduce myself then. Hello, my name is Yadiel Jimenez. Nice to meet you. ”

We laughed and finally let go of each others hand.

Me: ”Well, you already know my name. But its nice to finally know yours. ”

He nodded and suddenly remembered something.

Yadiel: ”Don you owe me something? ”

I stared at him for a few moments before remembering one of our bets.

Me: ”Is this the end of our date? ”

Yadiel: ”Do you want it to be the end of our date? ”

Me: ”I said youd find out at the end of our date, so its really up to you. ”

He chuckled softly.

Yadiel: ”I don want it to be the end but the curiosity is killing me. ”

Me: ”Hm… Fine… ”

I walked closer to him and looked up at him. I felt my heart start to beat faster as he stared back at me with those pure eyes.

Me: ”Can I kiss you? ”

He stared at me shocked for a split second before taking a step forward and leaning in slowly. I met him halfway and kissed him softly. Suddenly, he placed one hand on my waist and the other around the base of my neck and I pulled him closer to me by his waist. I felt so attracted to him from that kiss. He pulled away slowly and looked at me before smiling softly.

Yadiel: ”That was a nice surprise. ”

Me: ”It was. I didn expect you to pull away so quickly though. ”

Yadiel: ”I want you to know that I see you more than that. I want you to like me back before anything happens. ”

Me: ”Fair enough. ”

I felt a little disappointed but we had already made the deal and I liked to keep my word.

Me: ”Was there something else you had planned for tonight? ”

Yadiel: ”Up for some ice cream? ”

Me: ”Sure. ”

We smiled at each other again before getting back into his truck. We bought some ice cream cones and we sat outside on a bench as we ate and continued to talk, getting to know each other a bit better. Talking to him felt so natural and he was able to keep the conversation going and made me feel even more comfortable around him. After finishing our ice cream and talking a bit more, we finally headed back to the shop so I could get my car. He helped me off his truck and walked me to my car.

Me: ”Thanks for the date. ”

Yadiel: ”Thanks for paying. ”

He laughed playfully and I smiled.

Me: ”So then I plan the next date? ”

Yadiel: ”Ill pay. ”

Me: ”When are you free? ”

Yadiel: ”Whenever you are. ”

I scoffed as I looked away. I was suddenly feeling shy.

Yadiel: ”I told you thered be another date. ”

I looked back up at him.

Me: ”I don know if thats arrogance or confidence. ”

Yadiel: ”Confidence. Because I respect you and Im sincere about you. ”

I couldn hide my smile and nodded.

Me: ”Alright, then Ill call you when I have the date planned to give you the details. ”

Yadiel: ”Sounds great. Then Ill let you get home. ”

I nodded again and he stepped closer to me.

Yadiel: ”Is it okay - ”

I nodded and leaned in. The kiss wasn as soft this time and I felt one of his hands rest on my waist while the other made a soft thud when he placed it on my car to hold himself up. I wrapped my arms around his neck. His grip tightened on my waist but before we could go any further, his phone rang. He pulled away as he tried to control his breathing and looked down at the ground. He quickly took out his phone and sent the call to voicemail. He looked up at me shyly and smiled.

Me: ”I guess its close to your bedtime. ”

He laughed and nodded.

Yadiel: ”Text me when you get home. Drive safely. ”

Me: ”Thanks, you too. ”

He nodded and I grabbed my keys then got into my car. He waved goodbye as I drove off.

[Yadiels POV.]

As I saw her step out of her car, I couldn help but doubt if this was all real. Sometimes I wondered if I had mistaken her for another woman but it really was her. She hadn really changed much since high school in terms of looks. I convinced her to let me drive her to dinner so I could also take her to my old shop. I hadn told anyone where I was going except for my uncle so he could be the one in charge of our order. I was planning to pay but she insisted and I wanted her to feel comfortable. I figured maybe she would feel burdened or disrespected if I insisted. But during dinner, I had a feeling we were being watched and I supposed she noticed too because she casually looked around. I just figured it was my uncle sneaking a peek at her as everyone was naturally curious about any person they didn know. The rest of the date went well and I was a bit surprised by her bluntness when asking to kiss me. Of course I was physically attracted to her but I wanted to be more than just a potential one night stand or friend with benefits. She was definitely more confident and straight forward compared to what she seemed to be like back then. We went out for some ice cream and the mood turned playful as we talked about ourselves. Finally, the date ended and I took her back to her car. As she stared at me and seemed to linger, I lost control and asked to kiss her. I was trying to control myself from going any further but it was proving difficult until my phone rang. I checked it and saw it was Sebastián. ~What does he want?~ I ignored the call and Marisol and I ended up saying goodnight. As I was walking towards my truck, I heard someone call out to me. I turned to see Yahir, Miguel, and Sebastián walking towards me. Yahir and Miguel were giving me teasing looks while Sebastián had his usual blank expression.

Yahir: ”I knew it was her. The way you had been looking at her when she was here. How did you manage to get her to go on a date? ”

Me: ”What do you mean? ”

Miguel: ”She looks way out of your league. But she really seemed to be into you by that goodbye kiss. Howd you do it? ”

I laughed as I crossed my arms.

Me: ”A gentleman doesn kiss and tell. Did you all seriously wait around here until we came back? Yall are crazy. ”

They laughed except for Sebastián.

Sebastián: ”Why did you ignore my call? ”

Me: ”Why did you interrupt? ”

Sebastián: ”How far were you going to go on a first date? ”

Me: ”Why do you care? ”

Something about his tone annoyed me and I recalled how weird he had been acting lately plus the conversation with Héctor.

Sebastián: ”You
e right, I don . ”

Yahir: ”Alright alright. Sorry we were spying. ”

Miguel: ”I was just curious. But seriously, teach me how to impress women. ”

Yahir: ”Youd never get a woman like her. ”

Miguel: ”What? Why not? Im handsome enough. ”

Yahir: ”Yeah but the problem is when you open your mouth. ”

They kept going back and forth and I turned my attention back to Sebastián.

Me: ”Did you need something? ”

He looked at me and scoffed unamused.

Sebastián: ”Not from you. ”

He walked away before I could respond. Yahir and Miguel looked at him walking away then at me.

Miguel: ”¿Pasó algo? ”

Me: ”I don know but hes hiding something. ”

Yahir: ”How can you tell? Isn he usually like that? ”

Me: ”Not exactly. Theres been something off about him these past few days… I don know…

Maybe Im becoming too sensitive. ”

Yahir: ”Well you know him better than us. If we hear anything though, well let you know. ”

I nodded and said goodbye to them before finally heading home. When I got there, William and Santiago were waiting up for me so they could hear about how the date went. I smirked and sat down on the recliner while they scooted closer to me.

Me: ”I thought you guys would have already heard from someone else. ”

William: ”From who? ”

Me: ”When I got back to the shop Sebastián, Yahir, and Miguel were there. ”

Santiago: ”Seriously? ¡Esos traidores! How come they didn tell us they were going to stay?! ”

William: ”Nombre, its better to hear it from the direct source. Hermano, start from the beginning. Wait, anyone want beer? ”

I nodded and Santiago raised his hand. William ran into the kitchen and came back with 3 beers. I opened mine and took a big gulp before telling them how the date went. Of course I didn go into too many details but they were acting so silly and I couldn help but laugh.

Santiago: ”Wow, sounds like a romantic date. ”

William: ”Im glad it went well. When do you think the next date will be? ”

I checked my phone and saw that she had texted that she had already arrived home. I replied quickly and stood up as I drank the rest of my beer.

Me: ”Well have to wait and see. ”

I went into my room to take a quick shower. I checked my phone but she hadn replied. I sent her another goodnight text and went to bed happily recalling the date.