“I worked this weekend, but I’ll have the next couple days off, this’ll be my

second work week done and I’m nailing it! I get to start driving forklifts next week! I’m

really starting to fall in-love with this town. It reminds me of how my old one used to be. I

can’t wait to just spend the next couple of days at home relaxing, maybe some grocery

shopping.”

Alice got up and stretched before placing her journal and pen back into their home

in her desk. Then she got her things went off to work. It was finally starting to get chilly

out, Alice could see her breath as she made her way into her car. The grass now crunched

beneath her boots due to the frost. She even brought an extra jacket today in case it was

snowing when she got off work.

On her way to work, she passed the same guy hiking alongside of the road. Only

this time he was wearing a black neck gaiter covering the lower half of his face, with no

beanie. Revealing that the guy had messy and spiked blonde hair. Alice checked the time

and saw that it was a bit early, so she honked and caused her mysterious coworker to

almost trip over a branch as she gave him a quick little jump-scare. She then pulled over

next to him and rolled down her window, then shouted to him. “Hey, don’t I know you?”

He shouted back and said “... Yeah. You’re not here to shoot me, right?”

She laughed and said “Nope, not this time. I was actually going to see if you

needed a ride?”

“Don’t you have to be in for work pretty soon?” The masked man replied to her.

“I’m pretty early, so I could at least bring you closer to town. Think of it as a

thank you for brining me my check the other day.” Alice was brought up with the

principal of if someone helps you once, you help them twice. But if someone wrongs you,

don’t give them the opportunity to do it again.

“I appreciate the offer but trust me I’m fine. I walk this path to and from work

every day.”

“Don’t you have a car and do you ever take those glasses off or are you set on

dressing all incognito every time you’re out?” Alice jokingly asked him.

The man laughed and said to her “No and yes. But I think you’ve got somewhere

better to be instead of asking me these questions.”

Alice smiled at him, this weird guy had a kind voice and she could tell underneath

that mask he was smiling back at her. “You’re right about that, one of these days you’ll

have to let me give you that ride into town though.”

“Sounds like a date.” The masked man said as he resumed walking back towards

town.

Alice rolled up her window and started to drive into work, then it hit her. She

didn’t even know his name. Next time she catches him on her way into work, she’ll have

to ask and she knew that she’d catch him again because she always passed him on her

way into work.

Alice pulled in to work and it was business as usual. The topics of conversation

today with all of her co-workers was about what they’d be doing on their time off the

next couple of days. Eventually Alex asked Alice what she’d be doing with her time off

and she told him that she was probably just going to be taking it easy at home. The 2

were silent for a moment as they stacked the pallet together, but Alex was slowly

working up the courage to ask Alice out.

Alice could sense what was about to happen and she honestly didn’t know how to

feel about the situation. She knew that she could say no, but Alex was nice and had begun

to grow on her these past couple weeks. She even considered Alex to be a bit on the

handsome side, even though he was a bit older it didn’t bother her too much.

“Have you been to Fish in a Barrel since you’ve moved here?” Alex asked her.

“No, what is it?” Alice kept working as they talked.

“It’s a seafood restaurant and compared to other places in Heart, it’s a little fancy.

Maybe since you’re free and I’m free we could go get dinner there?” Alex asked, looking

uncharacteristically on the shy side.

“You know what? I’d love to.” Alice said and smiled at Alex, who looked a bit

shocked that she agreed to go with him.

“What about tomorrow at 7pm?” Alex had a spark in his eye that matched the

glee in his tone.

“Sounds good to me.” Alice matched his tone; she hadn’t gone out on a date in

what felt like forever and the time to start again was as good as ever. They returned to

their work; both were silently excited at what gifts the future may hold for them.

Another workday came to a close and Alex somewhat jokingly asked to walk

Alice to her car which was parked right next to his. After Alice confirmed their date, the

day had been filled with more laughter than usual and made leaving work a tad more

sorrowful instead of relieving.

After getting home, Alice prepared dinner for herself. Tonight, she had decided to

make spaghetti for herself and instead of watching TV while she ate, she decided to take

a seat at her desk and write about her thoughts on today.

“I got asked out on a date, I’m just as excited as much as I am nervous. I almost

said no, but I would’ve said no because of my past and I can’t let it have hold of me

forever. I refuse to spend my days living in fear, I owe it to myself to live my life to the

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

fullest and I intend on doing just that. His name is Alex, he’s been mentoring me since I

started my job. He’s been super nice and charismatic which helps the days go by faster.

He’s also pretty cute. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

After Alice finished writing, she returned to the living room and finished her food

while watching TV. Then she retired to the bedroom, ensuring she got a proper night's

rest, so she wasn’t exhausted tomorrow.

The better part of Alice’s day was spent cleaning her house until it was time for

her to get ready for her date tonight. Alice put on each of her 3 dresses, looking at herself

in the mirror and thinking to herself ‘Alex said that this restaurant was going to be a little

fancy, but will I be overdressed?’ She kept on her shimmering black dress and decided

that she didn’t care if she was overdressed. She liked the way she looked and felt in this

dress, so it was what she was going to wear.

By the time that Alice decided on her outfit for the night, it was time for her to get

going. Alex offered to give her a ride to the restaurant, but she politely declined. Just in

case the date didn’t go as planned. She didn’t want to risk putting herself in an awkward

and uncomfortable situation of wanting to leave but not being able to because he was her

ride.

Alice grabbed her small black handbag that matched her dress and began driving

to the restaurant. Service was spotty at best around this small mountain town, so Alice

pulled up the directions on her phone before leaving her home. With her work schedule,

the days had become a bit odd to her because she was off this Monday and Tuesday

which made it feel like the weekend to her. This new schedule had the potential to make

her days off feel that much more breathable because while everyone with a normal

Monday through Friday work schedule was working, she would be off and free to explore

the world that would seem a bit emptier of people.

Alice pulled up to the 2-story brown wood panel building that had a rustic but

classical look to it. In big red lit letters that read ‘Fish in a Barrel’ on the front of the

building. The front of the building was lined with big windows that had gold ornamental

letters encircling the windows that also read the restaurant’s name. Upon glancing past

the text on the windows, Alice could see a large custom bluish silver chandelier that hung

in the middle of the restaurant. She could also see how sparse its customers were tonight.

Just another perk of going out on a Monday night, that meant no wait time for a table.

Alice spotted Alex’s truck in the parking lot on the side of the building, she

parked next to it. After parking she looked inside Alex’s truck, but he wasn’t inside.

Maybe he already got their table, she thought as she began to make her way to the front

of the building. It was starting to get cold and Alice regretted not bringing a jacket with

her because this dress wasn’t exactly made for the purpose of keeping its owner warm.

She stepped up the few wood stairs that led up to the entrance of the restaurant and that’s

when Alex caught her eye. He was wearing a white button up, with a navy-blue suit

jacket and pants. It looks like the dress was the right call, relieving some anxiety from her

mind.

Alex saw her and his face immediately lit up. Half the reason this happened was

because part of him was expecting Alice to cancel and not show up to the date at all; the

other half of the reason was because he thought she looked jaw-droppingly beautiful.

“Wow, you look just.... wow.” he said to her.

Alice blushed and replied, “Thank you, I was worried this was a bit too much.

You look quite good yourself.”

You could start to see Alex’s cheeks grow rosy beneath his beard “Thank you!

Well let’s head inside, shall we?” He held out his hand for her to take and she did. The

couple made their way through the front door where their waiter greeted them, Alex had

made the reservation under his name and by the way the waiter greeted the 2 he seemed

to know Alex. The waiter gave them a booth with a view of the whole restaurant.

Alice was awe struck by how much fancier the place looked compared to the

outside, when she heard the name ‘Fish in a Barrel’ she thought it would be some

gimmicky fishing themed restaurant. But inside the building were red velvet and black

leather booths, some tables scattered throughout with maroon and black floral tablecloths.

The bar was located in the middle of the restaurant like a kind of crown jewel and looked

reminiscent to one that you might see in a James Bond film. The dazzling chandelier was

the bow that tied the whole place together.

“How are we doing this evening?” the waiter asked as the couple took their seats

and he pulled out his notebook where he would be writing their orders.

“I’m good, Tim. What about yourself.” Alex answered and picked up a menu off

the table to start looking through.

Tim said he was also doing well and then looked to Alice and asked, “What about

you miss...?”

“My name’s Alice and I’m doing good too, thanks for asking.” She began to

glance over the menu.

“That’s good to hear and nice to meet you Alice, my name’s Tim and I’ll be your

waiter tonight. Can I get you guys anything to drink before you order, house wine or a

local brew?”

“No thank you, I don’t drink. Water will be good for me.” Alice said as she

continued looking over the menu. She was leaning towards getting the lemon zest

salmon.

“Got it and what about you, Alex?”

“A coke would be great, thank you.” Alex said and then sat down his menu.

Tim wrote that down, then put his notebook away and said, “Alright you guys,

I’m going to go get those drinks for you and just let me know whenever you’re ready to

order.” Tim made his way back over to the kitchen. Alice sat down her menu and decided

on getting salmon, before Tim came back with the drinks, the 2 talked about their days

and then ordered their food when Tim dropped off the drinks.

While the couple waited for their food, they began to get to know each other

beyond the basics that they had already learned from their talks at work. Alice talked a bit

about her old town and how it was similar to Heart, when asked why she decided on

moving here she decided best to just say it was because she wanted to start somewhere on

her own and experience life on her own for a while. She talked about how at some point

she was planning on going to college to get a degree so she could get a job in the field of

criminal law, for now she was just experiencing life though.

Alex talked about how he wanted to work his way up more towards the

management side in the warehouse they worked at and how he actually invested his own

money into the business himself. He talked about how he was originally from San

Francisco, but his parents moved here when he was 10 and this is where they lived ever

since. His dad used to be one of the sheriffs in Heart before he passed and his mom ran a

small bakery in town. It was going well and the only time there was a silence between the

2 was after their food arrived and they started to eat. Alice was starting to get stars in her

eyes when she looked at Alex. Meanwhile every time she talked Alex was getting

butterflies in his stomach.