Living Life to the Fullest

Another two days passed when I decided to call Zack on my lunch break.

"Hey." he answered.

"Hey." I said, sitting in my car.

"How are you?"

"Good. You?"

"Pretty good."

"I was wondering if you'd wanna go out for a second date?"

"Absolutely. When were ya thinking?"

It didn't take him long at all to answer which made me feel amazing.

"Friday night. I heard there's a band playing..."

I went on to describe them; they were a band I had been following for the past three years.

"Sounds awesome."

"How about I get you those details and I'll talk to you later?"

"Ok. See ya, soon."

"See ya."

I let out a small giggle before smiling big. He's going to see such a different side of me because up until a couple of years ago, I was the epitome of carefree and I cannot wait for that part to come out.

“Here goes nothing.”

I looked totally different than I did on my first date with Zack; first date, I wore a cute dress, while tonight, I will be wearing a band tee, a pair of skinny jeans and Converse. The show would start at eight with a couple of opening acts before my favorite local band played. I might be home late and work tomorrow, but lack of sleep is nothing new for me seeing as Everly liked to keep me up at night for close to a year.

He’s due to pick me up at my house come a quarter after seven which is only five minutes from now. Everly was already tucked in her crib and I’m still checking myself out in my bathroom mirror. Just as I left my bathroom, I grabbed my purse and walked downstairs and into my living room where Vera sitting, engrossed in a horror flick.

“How do I look?” I asked, stepping in front of her.

“Gorgeous.”

“Totally different look. Huh?”

“Yeah. Reminds me of when we were younger as adults before you were engaged, just going out and going out every weekend.”

I smiled at all the memories. When the doorbell rang, I took a deep breath then sighed before putting on that smile again; I swear I coulda melted when I saw him smiling back at me.

“Hey.” I said.

“Hey. You look amazing.”

I blushed.

“Thank you. It took me forever to decide on what to wear.”

“I love it.”

I was getting butterflies as he continued to look at me.

“So, you’re Zack. I’m Vera. Zoey’s best friend.” she said, getting off the couch.

She shook his hand.

“Pleasure to meet you.”

“Pleasure to meet you, too.”

"Anyway, you two have fun. Call if you need anything..."

She then whispered to me something that made me shake my head.

"... including if you need me to stay overnight."

"I'll see you and Evie, later."

Zack shut the door behind us and we walked out to his car.

"Your friend seems nice." he said after he opened my door.

"She's the nicest one I've got. She loves Everly and vice versa. She immediately offered to babysit before I even decided to go out on a date with you."

"Is that so?" he said, starting his car.

"Yeah. I couldn't get you off my mind for the rest of the day, actually."

Did I actually just say all of that?

I looked out the window since I could feel my cheeks reddening.

"Why are you looking away?"

"I don't know. It's been so goddamn long since I've been on a date and I'm a mess, I guess."

This was so embarrassing; I've felt emotional on two dates... well, the second hasn't really started and I don't want to scare him away because of this.

"You're fine. Don't worry about it."

"You wanna know why I haven't dated in this long?"

Ok. I'm gonna do this.

“I do, but if you’re not ready to tell me, that’s alright.”

I faintly smiled as we inched closer to the bar.

"I'm a widow. My husband passed away in a car accident two years ago.”

It was only three seconds till he spoke again.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you. It’s just taken me a long time to get to this point and it’s definitely worth the wait.”

I gradually began to smile... fully smile, that is.

“I’m glad you told me.”

Fuck. I really like this guy.

After getting carded at the door and paying a cover, we headed straight for the bar.

“Drinks are on me, by the way.” he said from beside me.

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to.”

“Alright, then.”

Just as I was taking a sip of my whiskey and coke, I heard a familiar voice.

“Zoey Gerber?"

I turned around to see someone from my past: Ricky's best friend, Nolan. I hadn't spoken to him in nearly a year; at first, I enjoyed having him around for a year, but then, he moved back to his hometown in Colorado as a job opportunity came up and he couldn't turn it down. So, seeing him now was a huge question mark.

"Nolan Tussleman? How are you?" I asked as I went in for a hug.

"Good. You? Everly?" he said, pulling away from our hug.

"She's great and so am I. The greenhouse is doing well."

"That's so wonderful to hear. Anyway, who's your friend?"

"This is Zack. We're out on a date. Zack, this is Nolan; he was my husband's best friend."

"Pleasure to meet you, Zack. It's great to hear Zoey's moving on."

"You, too. Zoey is amazing." he said, smiling from ear-to-ear.

"She definitely is. How long have you two been seeing each other?"

"This is only our second date." he said.

Only.

Fuck. This guy must really like me. That's perfectly fine with me; I feel the same way about him.

"I hope you get more dates with her. She's one-of-a-kind."

"I hope so, too."

These two are seriously too much. We spoke for about five more minutes and he walked back to whoever he was with; we agreed to stay in touch this time.

“He was cool.” Zack said.

“Yeah. He stayed around for about a year when a job opportunity came along and he moved back home in Colorado. I really missed him.”

We soon moved to an area where we could see the stage, but not too close as we wanted to be able to hear each other.

"How excited are you?" he asked me before the band we came to see walked on stage.

"Extremely. I haven't been to a show in I don't know... six months?" I said with my heels bouncing off the ground.

“Clearly.” he said, laughing.

I laughed too; I was having so much fun already and they haven’t even begun playing yet. The first two bands were pretty good, but I was all too eager for the main band.

“Want another drink?” he asked.

“Please.”

He came back just in time for the band to start.

“Thank you.” I said, sipping my drink.

“My pleasure.”

The way he said it gave chills up and down my spine.

They started out with one of my favorite songs causing me to squeal, and, of course, that amused Zack. I began singing, not even caring what he thought; I was just enjoying myself to the utmost degree as I used to when Ricky was still alive.

“You look like you’re enjoying yourself.” he said in between songs.

“I’m having so much fun. How about you?”

“It’s impossible not to have fun being with you.”

He needed to stop.

“You’re funny.”

“Well, it’s definitely true.”

The next song they played was one of my favorites and also a cover.

Tell me what you thought about
When you were gone and so alone
The worst is over
You can have the best of me
We got older but we're still young
We never grew out of this feeling that we won't give up

Here we lay again
On two separate beds
Riding phone lines
To meet a familiar voice
And pictures drawn from memory
We reflect on miscommunication
And misunderstandings
And missing each other too
Much to have had to let go

We turn our music down
And we whisper
Say what you're thinking right now
Tell me what you thought about
When you were gone and so alone
The worst is over
You can have the best of me
We got older but we're still young
We never grew out of this feeling that we won't give up

Jumping to conclusions
Made me fall away from you
I'm so glad that the truth
Has brought back together me and you

We're sitting on the ground
And, we whisper
Say what you're thinking out loud

Tell me what you thought about
When you were gone and so alone
The worst is over
You can have the best of me
We got older but we're still young
We never grew out of this feeling that we won't give up

We turn our music down
And, we whisper
We're sitting on the ground
And, we whisper
We turn our music down
We're sitting on the ground
And next time I'm in town
We will kiss, girl
We will kiss, girl

Tell me what you thought about
When you were gone and so alone
The worst is over
You can have the best of me
We got older, but we're still young
We never grew out of this feeling that we won't
Feeling that we can't
We're not ready to give up

We got older, but we're still young
We never grew out of this feeling that we won't give up

I caught a few glances from Zack out of the corner of my eye, but I knew if I looked at him face-to-face, I wouldn't be able to sing anymore. When I finished singing and clapping, I turned to him and did something I wasn't expecting to do tonight; I lifted my heels off the ground and kissed him. Seeing that he didn't respond in a reasonable amount of time, I stood normally and blushed, clearly embarrassed.

"I apologize. I was so caught up in the moment. I know that kissing before the end of a second date is risky, but..."

I wasn't able to finish my apology because he took my head in his hands and kissed me, and boy was it a great kiss. I responded by wrapping my arms around his neck and standing on my toes and continued with the kiss.

"No need to apologize. You just took me by surprise is all. That was a great kiss by the way.” he said, pulling away.

I was speechless and unbelievably happy.

“How are we supposed to watch this now?” I said, running a hand through my hair.

"I think we'll manage." he said, laughing.

"I'll take your word for it."

We did manage and had an amazing time, but I was exhausted and ready to head home and sleep; I did have work in the morning after all.

“It sucks that I have work in the morning.”

“Maybe I can come visit you tomorrow.” he said, taking my hands in his.

This was a first at the end of the second date with the hand-holding, but I loved it; I could feel sparks between us.

"I'd love that."

I stood on my toes and kissed him while he wrapped his arms around me.

“Goodnight, Zoey.”

“Goodnight, Zack.”

I opened the door to find my best friend asleep on the couch; I locked the door and placed a blanket on top of her before heading to my bedroom. However, I left her a note that I was home before going to bed. Compared to my last date, I went to bed without any type of sadness which I was thankful for.

Notes