“Anything for you?” Shae askedAidan.
“Are these all for you?!” Aidan askedMatt.
“Uh, yeah. I told you. This is my spot. These should last me through the weekend. And I didn’t get all this on the house. I paid forthem.”
“I told you. He’sthatMatt,” Shae insisted. “Would you like anything, Aidan? It will be on the house since Matt just paid myrent.”
“Actually, I was hoping you would have that layered cake crunch thing you made for theoffice.”
“Oh, the caramel brown trifle! Yeah, I don’t make that here, for sale. I can make that...later.” There was a little bit of hopeful suggestion They were talking about desserts and Aidan was definitely getting a hardon.
“We can dothat.”
“Okay. Well I'll see you tonight. Matt, share at least one cupcake withhim.”
“Yeah, sure.Okay.”
“I'll talk to you later,” Aidan said as he held the door open for Matt. Their first date was still hours away, but Aidan was determined not to blow it. He wanted to get closer toShae.
?
Aidan was late picking up Shae. He had a real excuse. A call with one of their investors had run late. He thought he had enough time to go back to his place, shower and change, but construction on the way to Shae’s sent him on a nice detour that put him in the center of a shitload of rush hour traffic. Luckily she wasn’t finished getting dressed when he got to her place. Shae opened the door in a robe with her hair up in this silk shower cap. After she let him in, she tasked Aidan with finding a new place for them to grab takeout when they came back from their Christmas treemission.
Shae’s apartment was small, but he was impressed by how put together it was. Her place looked like a showroom, fully furnished with real adult furniture. Pieces that Aidan had never really considered owning, like a wall clock. She had real plants that she managed to keep alive and pictures of her family hanging on the walls along with other pieces of real art. Aidan’s sister had helped him get his place somewhat in order, but Shae’s place felt like ahome.
When Shae finally emerged from her bedroom Aidan was tempted to ask her if they could kick off their date in her bedroom. She was wearing a simple button down striped shirt that fell to her thighs, a pair of tight black pants and some boots, and it made her body look amazing. He managed to keep his sexual propositions to himself though and they headed out to HomeDepot.
Shae was right. Aidan had been to some shitty Christmas tree lots, but Home Depot had some prime cuts of Douglas fir. Aidan got to show off a bit, hoisting a large tree up and strapping it to the roof of his car on his own. When he finished his exhibition of full body strength, they headed over to Target, which was oddlypacked.
He followed Shae as she weaved through the aisles with the cart. She apologized for grabbing more than Christmasdecorations.
“I’ve been so busy, I figured I should grab a few things while we’re here. You don’t mind, doyou?”
“Don’t mind at all. Here.” Aidan grabbed the closest item as they made their way toward the back of the store and tossed it into the cart. “I was running low on CentrumSilver.”
“That two pack should last you at least a fewdays.”
“Two max,” Aidan joked. “I like myvitamins.
They were in Target for over an hour, and Aidan realized as they finally reached the Christmas section that he was having a great time. In the back of his mind, he knew there was a chance his memories of Shae had been clouded by his intense physical attraction to her and her bakingskills.
Shae was still as sweet as he remembered, but he hadn’t seen this funny as fuck or flirty side of her before. Probably because they’d only known each other at work. And she’d been married. As she schooled him in cheat codes for finding her way around any Target, no matter the lay out, he realized he definitely wanted this date to goon.
They bought a small fortune’s worth of ornaments and decorations, including two different holiday wreaths. “I just like to have options,” Shae said with this cute smile. “I like to switch it up.” Before they headed back to her place, stopping to pick up Indian food on the way. After they secured the tree in its brand new stand, Shae led Aidan over to hercouch.
“We’ll eat and then we can decorate, if you want to.” Shae said as she passed the naan over to him. “You’ve already put in a lot of manual labortonight.”
“Nah, I can help. Especially with getting the lights up to the top. That’s always a two-person job. Also I don’t think tapping out this early in the night will bode well for my chances at a date numbertwo.”
“Oh, are the kids fucking after two dates now?” she said, laughing. Aidan choked more than laughed, but managed to clear the rice he’d just swallowed from his wind pipe before he really startedcoughing.
“You know us Millennials. Always coming up with their own rules. You’re a Millennial too right?” Aidan had heard the phrase “Black Don’t Crack” and he suddenly realized he had no clue how old Shae was. She didn’t look much older than twenty-four, but she carried herself with a certain maturity. He had noclue.
“Yeah, we’re the same age. I’m thirty-two.”
“How’dyou—”
“I had to process your payroll, remember? Not in a creepy way, but I just noticed that we were the same age. Once. A long timeago.”