Varying the Plan

”OK, I have a question,” April said. You had both finished your main courses about twenty minutes earlier and were picking away at the almost-too-sweet creme brulee that had been given to you as desserts.

“You’ve had a lot of questions,” you teased lightly, smiling across the table at her.

She rolled her eyes a little and shook her head. “You know what I mean.”

“Go for it,” you said.

“Do you actually want to see this movie?” April asked. “Because I’m pretty sure they want a few more pictures of us leaving, but there aren’t any photo-op things at the theatre so we could maybe blow it off and go check out that store you were talking about?”

You blinked and raised your eyebrows. “I don’t really care about the movie at all if that’s what you want to do.”

She grinned broadly. “God, yes. I don’t need to see another RomCom - I tried to get them to make the movie that new Objective Improbable movie but apparently that was a no-go.”

“I saw that with Hannah,” you said. “It was pretty good.”

“No spoilers!” April said. “I still haven’t seen it.”

The two of you finished your desserts and as you got up to leave you pulled out your wallet to leave a tip on the table. The App company was paying for the whole date but you still felt like you should leave something for the decent service you’d gotten. The event manager bustled over and practically shoved your wallet back in your pocket though, insisting that you not, and you caught April trying to suppress a grin as she watched you get fussed over.

You were brought back outside and took a few more photos in front of the photo-op screen, and then the event manager asked you both how the date had been going so far and some other questions while they recorded some video. You couldn’t hear April’s answers at the other end of the red carpet, but you were honest about how lovely she was, and how lucky you felt to have had dinner and a great conversation with her.

Then the photographers were packing up, and a couple of workers were rolling up the red carpet and taking down the photo-op wall.

“Ollie!” April called to you. You looked over and she was near the walled tent, half inside. “I’m going to change quickly, OK?”

You nodded and she winked at you and disappeared into the tent. She only took about five minutes and came back out wearing a completely different outfit. The dress was gone and she was wearing a T-shirt under a zip-up hoodie, along with tight black jeans and bright red Converse shoes. She was still all done up with her makeup, but she was wearing a pair of black and red-rimmed glasses that suited her face and a rough woven beanie.

“Sorry I put the girls away,” she laughed as she walked up to you. “I figured if we’re going to a game store I should probably dress down.”

“Well, I like this look,” you said with a smile. “It suits you. I’m feeling overdressed now, though.”

“Oh, you’re fine,” April assured you, then reached up and gestured for you to take off your suit jacket. “Here, I’ll give your jacket to my assistant and she’ll drop it off with you tomorrow. Hannah and Hikaru have good taste, this shirt looked good under the jacket and without it.”

You pulled off the jacket and she carefully folded it and brought it back over to the tent. Then you gulped a little as you felt more exposed. It was a warm evening so it wasn’t the chill - the suit jacket had been like a little suit of armour helping cover you up. Your new shirt, which was collarless but had buttons like a golf shirt, fit you well enough but at your size it still showed your bulging gut. You quickly untucked your shirt to try and make it a little less obvious and then chewed on your upper lip for a moment.

“There, all set,” April said as she came back to you and slipped her arm through yours again. “I checked and that shop is only a few blocks away. We could get a ride but I thought it would be nice to walk?”

“Sure,” you said and took a breath.

The two of you set off. It would be a fifteen-minute walk, and you and April slipped back into the conversation from the dinner table. She really was the happy, preppy nerd that she came across as in her interviews, and she really was a fan of all the shows she’d gotten to work on. She played video games, she loved movies, and she had even just started reading one of the big fantasy series that you loved and owned all the books for in hardcover.

You were about a block and a half from the game shop when you saw the homeless couple bundled up on the stoop of another closed store. “Just one second,” you said to April and slowed as you approached them. You spoke up. “Hey, folks. Can I offer you some help for food tonight?”

In the dim lighting from the nearby streetlights, you could tell that the man was zonked out on some sort of a ****, but the woman looked up at you a little glassy-eyed. “I could eat,” she said.

You pulled out your wallet and grabbed a couple of the cards that you kept there and slipped the wallet back into your pocket before stepping forward and handing her two of them. “The grocery store is closed now, but you should be able to get something tomorrow morning.”

The woman held up the cards and realized they were gift cards to the local supermarket. She frowned for a moment, obviously annoyed that you weren’t handing her cash, but then shifted uncomfortably and looked up at you. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Stay safe,” you said.

April slipped her arm through yours again as you started walking.

“That was really nice,” she said quietly. “You just keep gift cards in your wallet like that?”

“I’m lucky to have what I do,” you said. “And to not have made some simple mistakes back in high school. It doesn’t take much to feel life has turned against you and just ride it to the bottom. I just carry the gift cards because I was always taught not to just hand over cash because that gets wasted too easily on smokes or ****.”

“Ollie, has anyone ever told you that you are an absolute gem?” April asked. “I do some volunteer work with a Homeless Shelter, and I know what you mean. The stories I’ve heard from folks…” she sighed. “The gift cards are definitely better than cash.”

April hugged your arm for a moment and shot you a lopsided grin, and you shrugged and smiled back before you continued walking.

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