A normal date...

It was cold. Winter truly came for this city, it feels like. I was standing there in my mittens, thick coat with multiple layers of clothes underneath, and a warm hat, when I finally saw her. I waved at her and she quickly came over.

"H-Hi J-James, l-let's enter, I-I'm freezing."

"G-Good i-idea..."

We entered the cafe and the waiter placed us at a table.

"It's good to warm up a bit. I hope your trip here was okay."

"I'm feeling a lot better James, thanks. I hope you didn't need to wait for too long. Keeping still in cold just makes it worse."

"No, don't worry, I'm fine."

The waiter brought us the menu.

"James, I'm gonna go for a hot chocolate to warm up. After that, I don't yet know."

"A hot chocolate sounds great, yeah. Not really a lot of options for us though, besides coffee."

"You're right. Every time I go to a cafe I realize why they're called that."

I chuckled a bit. "Don't worry Christine, it's okay. I need a hot beverage anyway and if I was in the mood for tea, I would have ordered one. Now what could we eat?"

"Hm, maybe pancakes? I'd like to eat some pancakes."

I, understandably, went a different direction. "I'll try the waffles I think."

Then, we ordered and waited for our food to arrive.

"I don't think we got to talk much yet, James. What's your life like, outside of the office?"

"Well, sadly quite busy. The GRC stuff took a lot of time to get through and well... I've made a lot of friends around the office now, too. I'm glad I get to spend time with people like you or Amber. My console is collecting dust right now, but that's okay."

"I'm not taking up your time, am I?"

"No no, Christine, this is way better than playing video games at home alone. I hope the GRC stuff cools off soon. I like it the least."

"Oh, you don't like the company? Why?"

"It's... how do I put this? The thing is, I like my work as a journalist. And I want to spend more time with the people in my life that I love, like I'm doing right now. But then there's the GRC stuff. At least the investigation is over, so I should have more time now." Christine was blushing. Oh, I said 'love' and related it to this, didn't I?

"You're... very passionate about being a journalist?"

"Yeah, I like it a lot. I mean, you don't become a journalist because you want the money, right?"

"Hah, if only we got paid enough for that to be a motivation."

"Yea,h the only good thing the company provides is a decent paycheck for little work in comparison. But then again, a lot of that goes to my mom."

"Huh why?"

"Well, she was a housewife until my father... Well now she's in her late forties, so if she does some training or education, she won't have a good retirement fund. And quite frankly, it's been a huge help having her in my house in the past few weeks. I could cheer her up after finding out about my dad and could do company work while she did chores. I should buy something big next mothers' day."

"Does she live with you?"

"Yeah, for now at least. She moved in with me when the police started investigating my father's company files that were all in my parents' home. My house is big, so I let her stay with me for now. The investigation is over, but truth is, I'm so overworked with GRC right now. As long as she doesn't ask to go home again, I... let her stay."

"And uhm... did you never invite Donna or Amber over to your home?"

"Well, after the investigation I just used my parents' former home. It's nearer to our office anyway, so I kinda used it. But what about you? What are you up to outside of work?"

"Nothing much, honestly. Well, right now it's actually therapy of course. But before that, there just wasn't a lot. I met with my friends often. Workplace friends, friends from high school and college. And I guess now I'm meeting even more people, although it's different. It feels like..."

"It feels like what, Christine?"

"A-A date." Christine +1SP (+88SP) So she did see it as a date. Interesting.

"Are you sure about this? I don't want to put any pressure on you. If you want, we can stay friends, you know?"

"No James, it's fine. After all that happened between us, I... trust you. I'm fine if things head further in this direction."

The waiter brought us our hot chocolates and food. We both quickly grabbed the cups and held them in our hands to warm ourselves up a bit.

"Ahhh, so warm. I really needed this."

"Same. I think we'll stick to my original plan of sitting here until we want to go home or eat dinner elsewhere?"

"Absolutely, I'm not gonna go out in the cold again any time soon."

"Agreed. But now for some pancakes."

We dug in. Our meals were fabulous. The waffles were really tasty, and they both gave us a variety of condiments to put onto our waffles and pancakes, cream, maple syrup, vanilla cream, various fruits, sprinkles, and so much more. I could tell that it was a restaurant experience designed to allow customers to create their food themselves and post pictures online. But the two of us just ate. I was nearly eating the last piece of my waffles, when I decided to offer it to Christine.

"Do you want to try?" I held the fork close to her, but she seemed to just eat the piece off the fork anyway. "Did you like it?"

"Yeah, the waffles are good. Maybe I should have gone for them as well. Wanna try the pancakes?"

I didn't really, but still, I obliged. "Sure, I'm curious." Christine simply fed me the second to last piece of her pancakes. Christine +1SP (+89SP) "Do you like it?" she asks before eating her last piece.

"Yeah, it's very good." These were definitely better. Sure, Klara's were sweeter, but the lack of sweetness in the pancakes made the sauces and fruits stand out more.

"About what I said before... I do mean it. I know you have stuff going on with Amber and Donna, but still..."

"It's okay. No need to justify yourself, Christine. I know you might be hesitant, but if you want things to go further like this, I'll try to be the best man I can be. For you." I held her hand on the table and she was blushing again.

"J-James... This means a lot to me, you know that?"

"You mean a lot to me too, Christine. I know it sounds weird after everything, but... When Donna told me why you were rather reserved to me, and even when you got mad at me... I could see the pain that this stems from. You're absolutely right in thinking that this could have been the end of me being nice and caring, but no. To me, it showed how much you had suffered."

She looked down on her empty plate, in sadness. But not about the lack of her meal, I think. "Th-Thanks, James. I'm... glad you are the way you are."

"Don't give me all the credit. I didn't come into this thinking I could fix you and I still don't think so. Sure, I can be a helpful start, but ultimately it was you who realized the error of your ways, who kept going back to therapy and opened up to the advice you got. And for that I'm thankful. It... can be demanding for a person to change, even when they know they need to. I'm glad you did, though. Not just for me but every other person that's more like me and less like many of the other men you've met in your life."

"You know, I'm grateful you kept me going, James. Maybe you just panicked and couldn't think straight, but... the fact that you didn't defend yourself, physically or verbally, it made me realize that I overreacted massively. I know it's stupid, but if you had hit back, I don't think my old self would have had this kind of a wake up moment."

"Christine, you know what I like most about your new self? You're happier. You smile a lot more, not just around me, but in general, I think."

"It... has to do with how I processed my past experiences before. I was always afraid, always suspicious. I feel a bit more confident now, yeah, but also simply dealing with my past in healthier ways helped me lift this weight off my shoulders."

"I'm glad that you're happier, Christine. Even if today doesn't lead anywhere... I'm glad I could have a positive impact on your life."

"Awww... But I do hope today goes somewhere, you know?"

The waiter picked up our plates, and Christine asked for the check.

"Do we split or should I pay?"

"I pay, I invited you."

"Come on, I earn a lot more than you now. And it's a date isn't it?"

"A date I invited you to, James. Take the free meal. Maybe you can invite me somewhere next time?" She winked at me.

"Sounds like a good deal. What do you plan to do after this?"

"I don't know yet. We could go somewhere when we're hungry, but honestly... you're free to come home with me tonight after that."

"That sounds great, except for the train travel. You know what I said about my parents' former home? There's a grocery store across the street and it's a five minute walk from there to their house. I'll cook us something once we're hungry and then we can see where we want to go."

"Sure, let's go." Christine +2SP (+91SP) Still a bit hesitant to go to my home huh?

We went to the grocery store and picked up some items. I thought a pizza seemed like a good idea. I can just shove it in the oven and keep talking with her, so it should be fine. We walked through the aisles picking out some good toppings and a tomato sauce, when we finally found ready-made pizza dough.

"Uhm James, could you buy the gluten-free version?"

"Huh? Sure, are you allergic?"

"Y-Yeah... I can eat a little bit every day without causing too many issues, but that little bit was the pancakes..."

"It's okay, Christine, don't worry. I wouldn't want you to suffer like that just to save 80 cents."

"Thanks. You'd be surprised, but not everyone is like this..." She began to tear up a bit.

I hugged her. "It's okay. I told you I'd make you happy and I'm not going to break my word."

On our way to my second home, we held hands all the way through. I know I like to trash on romance sometimes, but today was great. I loved spending time with Christine. When I opened the door, I could tell mom hasn't been here in a few days. It wasn't awful by any means, but Christine could see the house wasn't used regularly anymore. We quickly prepared the pizza and sat on the couch and talked some more.

"Oh, one thing I forgot to mention earlier, I guess I go to the fitness studio every weekend. We work in an office, so it's kind of important for us to stay in shape."

I looked down on my stomach. I wasn't overweight, but honestly, I could see myself heading there. Mom is cooking well and I barely do any exercise. "Mind if I tag along next week?"

"Do you need that?"

"I am a bit out of shape. And honestly, I don't think some muscles would hurt me. Don't think anyone would complain."

"Haha, I certainly wouldn't." Christine came closer to me, perhaps a bit awkwardly. And she gave me a kiss. I could feel her tongue trying to make its way into my mouth and I let it happen. Honestly, if I was told a week ago that we would end up this way and that I'd like it... I wouldn't have believed it. But here I am, getting kissed by Christine.

"Wanna go upstairs, Christine?"