Stolen Smile – The Alley by Andrew W.

“Sorry Man, I don’t have any money” I lied. I was standing on one of Portland’s trendier neighborhood’s streets, waiting when a homeless person had approached me.

“Have a good day…” he mumbled, wandering off into the evening’s gathering darkness. These people were as integral to Portland’s urban fabric as roses, bikes or beer. In truth, my wallet was straining with cash. I had swung by work after class and picked up my weeks’ worth of tips for tonight. It was date night.

Checking my phone, I saw Alyssa’s message: “Be there in 5! My friend is lost lol”.

“No worries, do you need the address again?” I texted back.

It had been 2 weeks since I had last seen her, our date postponed by a surprise visit from my parents who insisted on dragging me to a family reunion in California. Now we were finally having our second date. A fancy one at that; she had suggested we get dressed up and make it fun, so in the spirit of the evening, I had dusted off my sport coat, collared shirt and cleaned up fairly well.

I smiled to myself as I waited near the restaurant, a bouquet of fall flowers in my hand.

Just as I was starting to feel the October chill, a Toyota Rav4 pulled up across the street and came to a stop. I saw the door open and a familiar flash of black and pink hair popped out. I caught the faint laugh from the driver who then looked at me, smiled and waved before pulling away revealing Alyssa. I instantly smiled; a grin brought on by her mutually electric expression as we made eye contact. She stood on the curb, waiting for a break in traffic to cross. Her hair was pulled up in a tight donut on the crown of her head, her glossy black hair streaked with pink highlights. She wore a black sweater over a silky, shimmery light pink dress that spoke in a simple elegance that balanced exhibition and imagination, it must have been expensive. Her outfit was drawn together with her shoes. Light pink wedge sandals with black trim. This girl certainly knew how to dress herself.

“Hi!” I smiled as she trotted across the road “You look wonderful!” Up close I noticed all the detailed effort she had put into her appearance. Her earrings and necklace complimented each other, glittering in the evening light.

“Thank you! I tried!”

“These are for you, lovely lady” I said with a flourish as I presented my bouquet to her.

“Wow!” her mouth dropped open in shock “These are amazing!” She looked at me with a dewy-eyed expression. “Nobody’s ever given me flowers before…”

I smiled back, proud of myself for thinking of the spontaneous romantic gesture at the last second. “I’m glad you like them”.

Stepping closer, she kissed me hard. Her lips pressing against mine while her hand grabbed the front of my jacket and pulled me in. It only lasted a second but made my heart jump feeling her against me. She stepped back and smiled, flashing her braces. I had been waiting for that moment all week with great anticipation.

Alyssa had driven with her friend to Roseburg to get tattoos, and conveniently been able to get her braces fixed after breaking them the week prior. I hadn’t thought much of it until I had gotten a snap chat from her from the orthodontist office, asking what color she should get while holding a large key ring of all the different colors they offered. I had assumed she’d go with clear again as her braces were ceramic and designed specifically to blend in with the enamel of her teeth. From a distance, one could barely notice them except for the thin steel wire spanning her smile. I had suggested baby blue, partly because I had heard it didn’t stain as easily, but mostly because I thought it would be cute and she wouldn’t be so bold as to choose a brighter color. An hour later she sent me another photo announcing she was “all tuned up” while puckering, blowing me a kiss. I had tried to seem nonchalant when asking what color she had chosen, and was teased with “find out on Friday ;)” which had driven me crazy, she was such a tease.

In her beaming smile I saw that she had picked a bright pink that shown almost iridescent in the low light of an October evening. My stomach flipped and I felt a twitch in my nether regions. I was turned on almost instantly. They matched her outfit and complimented her hair. This girl really knew how to accessorize.

“So, where are we going?” she asked, bringing me back to the moment. “I’m so hungry”

I swept my gaze around to the little Italian place on the corner. “Right this way” I gestured, and we set off down the block making conversation about the week.

***

“So, How was work today?” I asked as we sipped sparkling water in the dim light of the restaurant. Alyssa rolled her eyes as she sipped her drink.

“Uhhg” she scoffed “I’m pretty fed up with my manager.”

“Uh oh, what’d he do this time?” I asked as the waiter placed a basket of bread between us with a dish of oil and vinegar. I smiled at him with a nod of gratitude.

She huffed, grabbed a slice of bread a tore it half with an exaggerated motion that conveyed her emotion. She looked cute when she was fired up. Her lower lip stuck out in just the slightest pout and her dark eyes were energized.

“So you know how last week I texted you about what he said to Meghan? Well, she reported him to the owner, and then he came back to us all with this total bullshit apology, saying something like ‘I’m sorry if anyone felt uncomfortable…’ which, one, is not a real apology, and two! She wasn’t even at work when he said it!” her voice was somewhere between a stage whisper and a hiss. “Then literally today, on the day he was supposed to take lead on cleaning after close, he decided ‘he didn’t feel well’” she wagged her fingers in mocking air quotes “and so Jessie and I had to clean out the ovens again! I’m just so over him.” She slumped back in her seat and took a large bite of bread, looking dejected.

“Wow, I’m surprised he tried to apologize without her” Did you tell Meghan that he pulled this stunt on her day off?”

“Yeah, she was pissed. I told her to mention to Marissa next time she’s in that he hadn’t apologized yet.”

“Did Marissa tell Meghan that she’d make him apologize?”

“I don’t know…” she frowned. “I’ll ask on Tuesday. Sorry for the total rant.”

“Don’t worry about it, besides, my work is so boring, I need some drama” I smiled at her, raising my bread in a salutation. “To your manager, may he be fired before the month is out!”

“Lets hope so!” Her smile returned to her face, dimpling her cheeks as she in kind raised a piece of bread and we laughed.

Dinner passed with a laid-back ease that we both could feel; comfortable in each other’s company, our barriers slowly lowering and intimacy growing. I found Alyssa very attractive, physically, but also intellectually. Perhaps this was the beginning of feelings, of emotional intimacy. Something that had conspicuously been absent from my last relationship. Could I dare think that word around her? This was only our second-ish…(third?) date. Though we texted frequently, almost every day, talking about whatever annoyed us at work, fun things we did throughout the week or drama in our friend groups, this was really only the third time we’d seen each other face to face.

I pondered these thoughts and more as we chatted over the seasonal pumpkin pasta with pork sausage, red peppers and a squash-based sauce that somehow blended the flavors of all ingredients perfectly. Alyssa was easy to talk to, fun to be around, made me laugh. I was curious how she felt about me, yet it felt too soon to be asking these questions. For the moment, I was happy, and that’s what mattered.

“Thank you so much for dinner, it was incredible” Alyssa said as we walked down the bustling Friday night sidewalk. “That’s so much better than anything from the dining hall.”

“I sure hope so” I replied, wrapping my arm around her waist, eliciting a giggle “That cook looks like he spent at least ten percent less time in jail”

“Stop!” She gasped in feigned outrage “That’s so mean!” I gave her a look and we both laughed.

“Where are we going next?”

“Well, I had two choices for us picked out. Ice cream or cake?”

“Oooh! Ice cream for sure!” she tugged on my coat.

“Perfect! I hear the October flavors are something exciting!”

The walk to the ice cream parlor wasn’t far, we took our time in the cool fall evening. The sun had set and lights were beginning to flicker on, casting large orange pools of light along the street. Feeling bold in the moment, I reached down and took Alyssa’s hand in mine; her hand flinched at the unexpected touch before softening and interlacing her fingers with mine.

“That was cute” she said with a soft smile, “Very romantic”

“Thanks, I try” I winked and squeezed her hand. She squeezed back.

We walked hand in hand past the closed store fronts, our reflections undulating in their dark windows. A glass shop, a pizza place whose workers were mopping in the dim light from the kitchen, a pet store that filled their windows with posters of smiling dogs eating the newest dog food brands. It was very quaint.

“What kind of dog do you want when you get your own place?” I asked

“Ooooh, that’s tricky… all the dogs?” she laughed “I can’t decide, they’re all pretty cute.”

“Even chihuahuas?” I teased with a raised eyebrow

“Okay… you know what,” she brandished a finger accusatorily in my direction while smiling devilishly.

“What? You said your uncle had several!”

“Yeah, and I hate them! They’re so small and annoying and yappy”

Shaking my head while egging her on I depended my gentle antagonism “I just can’t believe you’d turn on your family like that… tsk tsk…”

“Are you saying that because I’m Mexican?!” she gasped in false outrage “Because I’ll have you know, I’m only half!”