10 years ago…

Enzo

I was pretty nervous for our first date. We’d only really texted one another before then. What I knew at the time was she had a great smile and a sense of humor. I planned the first date. I was going to pick her up from Irene’s, take her to the Philbrook to show her how “cultured” I was, and then go out for some Vietnamese food at “Pho Nhi”.

The day before I detailed my 2002 Camry. The upholstery on the inside was already starting to droop from some combination of time, heat, and water damage; the interior was generally dirty; and there were several mystery stains everywhere. Typical boy’s car. I took some caulk and pressed the drooping upholstery into the ceiling of the car—everything was gray so it looked brand new; and bought some upholstery cleaning materials for the stains. I don’t think the car had ever been cleaner.

Lauren had sent me Irene’s address the day before, so that night I practiced driving from the general neighborhood to the Philbrook to make it seem like I knew exactly where everything was without the help of Google Maps. If you can’t tell, I really wanted to impress her.

Come the day of and I’m out front. Lauren had told me not to ring the doorbell and to just text when I arrived. I stood outside the front door and waited.