The First Date

Cap stared in the mirror. He was horrified.

"Did I shave close enough? Are my teeth clean enough? ARRRGG! My hair is sticking out in all directions! Oh, lordy, what about nose hair!"

Cap was nervously getting ready for a date with what he considered his best lady friend on campus. She had actually said that she would go out with him last night at the wall. At first he was delighted, then the terror set in. Absolute screaming terror. What if he botched it. It could ruin everything forever and he'd not have her to talk to anymore. And worse, she would think him some sort of geek or something.

He was wearing regular street clothes, and he hoped it would be okay. He thought he looked like hell.

A few houses down, Ginny calmly went about getting ready for the date. A little touchup with the eyeliner here and there, some lip gloss, and so on. She had lots of experience going out. Some men were clumsy, wooden and idotic, others like a bear in the rut. She couldn't understand their reactions. She looked closer in the mirror; she wasn't THAT pretty! Oh well. She heard a knock at her door and looked at her watch. Exactly on time.

Ginny opened the door and Cap presented her with a bouquet of flowers.

"You didn't have to do that," she said, smiling. He was obviously nervous and he had put on a tad too much cologne. She shook her head and let him in. Men....

Ginny was wearing a nice light color blouse and dark blue skirt that discreetly showed off her figure, and flat white shoes. The days of calve length high heel boots were done when she started teaching. Too much wear and tear on the feet. She discovered she really liked the more comfortable shoes. Because of her past she didn't like to really stand out all that much anymore and get noticed, so her clothing was more conservative and comfortable. Things sure had changed in the last few years! She put that thought away before it opened too many doors she had locked for now.

She put the flowers in a vase and Cap stood there looking around Ginny's bungalo. He'd never seen the inside of her house before and the feminine touches were impressive. Everything was arranged in such a way that he'd never thought to do it like that. Women seemed to have a knack for making the inside of a house look better than it would. Potted plants, pictures of people he didn't recognize, nice furniture, all of it seemed to be just right. And the place was clean as a whistle.

"Ready to go?" she said, smiling at him again, and mildly amused at his nervousness.

"Yeah..."

They went outside and he opened the door on the passenger side of the red Mustang. Cap had two vehicles, his pickup and this Mustang. This was not a sporty Mustang like one of Chuck Midnight's custom British Racing Green Saleens, but the economy model, complete with 4 cylinder engine. Chuck Midnight was, after all, a professional race car driver and tester when he wasn't teaching here, and he had a special deal with Ford that let him get unbelievably powerful cars a lot cheaper than most. And when he got through tinkering with them, they were even more formidable. One of the many he owned was parked in the street in front of his rather large house along with a couple of Porches he owned. Cap looked it them with envy. Ginny would be so thrilled if he had one of those.

Ginny got in the car and buckled in as Cap climbed in on his side. Soon they were off to Pace and the nice eatery that Cap liked and hoped Ginny did too.

A few miles and some small talk later they were there and inside the restaurant. They were seated at a nice table, given lemon water and menus. Cap was reading his with interest when suddenly six guys in Air Force class B officer's uniforms saw Ginny. The men called to her and waved, then in mass came over to their table, bringing their glasses of beer as they did so.

Cap read their uniforms with a practiced eye. Each and every one of these guys were heavily experienced pilots, with rows of ribbons on their chests, and not a single one was below Major. One was a bird colonel. They completely ignored Cap and swarmed on Ginny. They grabbed chairs, sat, engaged her in conversation, and edged Cap out. Ginny basked in all the attention. These guys were to a man as handsome as could be. She smiled at them and happily talked to them all.

Disgusted, Cap got up and stared for a second. Then he spun on his heel and went into the bar.

"I should of known better," he mumbled, "girl like that would have a hundred beaus just eating out of her hand."

The bartender saw him as he sat on a bar stool.

"The usual, Captain?"

"Yeah, Hal."

A bottle of Killigans Red beer was soon in the Captain's hand and he sat there dejectedly watching a basketball game on the T.V.

"It figures," he thought, "Come to a place like this with a beautiful woman and sure enough, I end up drinking alone at the bar and she's talking to them stud duck Jet Jockeys. So much for that. "

He took a couple of pulls of the beer and watched the game for a while.

He could smell her perfume before she even made a sound that she was there. He looked over his shoulder and there stood Ginny, not looking too happy.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked.

"I didn't want to get between you and your friends."

"They all left and I was sitting there wondering where on earth you went. And I find you in here drinking and watching T.V. Whats the deal?"

"Oh, it was them pilots. I just thought... Well...They all seemed to know you."

"The pilots? Oh!"

Ginny couldn't help but smile to herself. Good grief! He's jealous! And hurt. That bothered her a little. The smile dissappeared.

"The pilots! They recognized me from when I was a Dallas Cheerleader and I met them overseas. They just wanted to say hi, was all, and how much they appreciated us all being over there for them. That was all."

Cap studied the counter top for a bit, fidgiting with his beer bottle. She touched his shoulder and spoke again, with a soft and understanding tone to her voice.

"Come on, its nothing. You ready to order our dinner now?"

"Yeah."

Ginny liked the place, but she was careful not to ignore Cap again like that. They happily chatted and ate their dinner. It wasn't like being at the wall, but it was a lot more comfortable. Cap was an okay guy, but sometimes he was a little too sensitive and emotional to suit her. But he was too good of a friend to lose. Or ignore and hurt, and that made her feel bad about meeting those pilots.

But it worked out, in the end, and when they left the restaurant they were even closer than they were when they went in.

The relationship continued to grow. Both had now found something they did not want to give up.