9781618853158SpecialKindofWomanBergman (5 page)

“I was wondering if you
would like to go out on a date with me tonight.”

Regina stopped in
complete shock and Collin looked at her. She was trying to say something but
the words seems to be choking her and she couldn’t get them out.

“Are you all right
Regina?”

Walking over toward a
swinging bench, she sat down and he took a seat beside her. “I’m sorry. I just
had to sit down for a moment, I was getting lightheaded. Did you just ask me
out on a date?”

“Yes, I wanted to know
if you want to go out with me tonight,” Collin repeated. As she looked into his
concerned eyes, knowing she had to calm down.

“I don’t know what to
say. I never expected anyone to ask me out, especially someone like you,”
Regina said trying to hold in a smile.

“Well, I have to say
that I do like you, I mean you’re the nicest girl I’ve met and I consider you a
friend. I would like to go out with you and show you a real good time tonight,
so what do you say?”

Girl
if you don’t take him up on his offer and go out with him, you’ll regret it for
the rest of your life. Go for it!

“All right, what time
will you be picking me up?” She smiled as he grinned back at her. He took a hold
of her hand, which was the first time he had done that, and she found herself gripping
it while they continued their walk that afternoon.

* * * *

“You got a date!”
Maxine giggled with delight at her friend’s luck while they were driving out of
the parking garage.

“I know, I can’t
believe it either, I almost had a heart attack when he asked me out. And I
don’t have any night clothes to wear, what am I going to do Max?” Regina asked
anxiously.

“First off, we are
going to the mall right now to pick you out a killer outfit and some shoes too.
Pull over there and we’ll go find you an outfit.”

After work, they went
to several boutiques before she and Maxine found the perfect date night clothes
as well as shoes. Regina never thought that she would be able to pull off such
a look because she had never worn anything so pretty. Maxine decided they would
go over to her hairdresser and get Regina’s hair done, something Regina
honestly never gave a second thought to because she normally put it in a bun.

“Now when you get home,
just wash yourself up and get your clothes on and watch the fireworks go into
motion because when he sees you in that outfit, I swear you’re going to get
laid.” Maxine laughed as she got out of the car when they made it to her
apartment. “I want details you know.”

Regina drove off with a
smile on her face. She quickly got to her apartment, parked, and went inside.
He told her that he would pick her up around seven. Looking at the clock, she
noticed that it was only six-fifteen and knew she had to start getting ready so
she didn’t have to rush. Tonight would be Regina’s first official date with
Collin Noonan.

* * * *

Collin had gotten out
of the shower, and dried himself off before wrapping the towel around his
waist. Humming to himself in the mirror, he ran a comb through his wet darkened
red hair before blow drying it out. In a way, he was kind of excited about
tonight, but didn’t understand why though because it was just another date.
After he dried his hair, he started brushing his teeth and gargled with some
mouth wash.

Going into his bedroom,
he had already laid out his clothes for the evening. He wanted to take Regina
out to a nice restaurant, some place different than the other places they’d
been in town. So he decided to wear a pair of khaki pants and a white shirt
without a tie, he brought a blazer just in case it got too chilly later on that
night. Checking himself in the mirror, he made sure everything was straight.
“Looking good son, now all we have to do is just put on the shoes, get my watch,
and coat. Plus I have to get that flower out of the fridge and I’ll be off on
my date,” Collin said to himself as he buttoned the last button on his shirt
and did exactly what he had planned on doing.

The ride to her
apartment was a long one but at least he remembered how to get there from last
time when he delivered her flowers. When he arrived to the apartment, he got
out with flower in hand and made sure that by the time he got to the door, that
his breath still smelled fresh and he looked good. Ringing the doorbell, he
waited for a moment before soon he heard her voice on the other side asking,
“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Collin.” He heard
the door unlock and whatever else being opened. When Collin looked up and saw
her, he was in a complete transformational shock as she stood there in the
doorway.

“Hi. I was trying to
find something real quick, come on and sit down while I get it. Make yourself
at home.” And with that, she walked into one of the rooms, leaving Collin in a daze.
When she came back into the living room with her shawl, he was standing in the
same spot she left him. “Are you all right?”

Collin was still taken
aback about how she looked, gone were the long skirts and jeans, gone were the
sweaters and the oversized shirts and gone were those black sneakers she wore.
Before him stood a curvaceous ebony goddess wearing a lovely sleeveless
turquoise dress with jewels outlining an empire waistline. Her legs were long
and brown and she wore a pair of black shoes with a little heel to it, giving
her just enough height. Her hair wasn’t in a bun like it normally was. Tonight her
dark tresses swung freely along her shoulders with just a little bit of curl.

Who was this beauty
before him, he wondered, this couldn’t be Regina.

“Oh I see you noticed
the outfit.” She giggled as she wrapped a shawl over her shoulders and got her
purse from off the counter in the kitchen. “I thought since this was our first
date and all, I should probably wear something nice.”

Collin came out of his
dreamlike state. “Well, I have to say that you look incredibly beautiful. This
is for you.” As he handed her a single rose, she smiled and put it in a vase
with water. She locked the door behind them as they walked out of her
apartment.

“So where are we headed
off to?” He led her to his car and opened up the door for her.

Collin smiled. “It’s a
surprise.”

* * * *

Regina looked out of
the window during their ride, wondering where they were headed off to. The
entire time she found herself smiling, thinking about Collin seeing her dressed
up for the first time. His reaction was like nothing she had ever seen from a
man, she rather enjoyed how he looked at her. It made her feel like he honestly
saw her as a woman and not some kind of weirdo.

“What are you smiling
about over there?”

“I was thinking about
something that’s all.”

“Want to tell me about
it?” Collin chuckled as she shook her head no. “All right, you don’t have to
tell me about it unless you want to.”

It seemed like it was
taking forever for them to get to their destination but soon they arrived in
Westburg, which was a small quaint town about ten miles away. Mainly made up
restaurants, boutiques and thrift stores, it was a place that Regina and Maxine
had been to once or twice when they had the means to do some shopping. They
pulled up to the Greenland’s, a place Regina had never heard of but knew it was
going to be fancy. The valet opened her door and helped her out. She walked
around the front to Collin’s side and he took her by the hand. Walking inside,
Regina saw that the place was just a quaint little restaurant that wasn’t all
that big, probably seated about fifty people or so but that night it wasn’t so
crowded. There were only a handful of people inside eating dinner that evening.

“Hello there, how may I
help you two this evening?” asked the maître de with a smile as he grabbed two
menus.

“I have reservations
for two, Noonan,” Collin told him with a wink.

“Ah yes, Mr. Noonan,
please follow me.”

Walking down the aisle
of tables, they turned toward a door that had a small gold plaque next to it
that said,
The Couple’s Room
in
cursive writing. When the man opened the door, Regina saw a table with two
chairs on either side that was made just for them. Candles illuminated the room
while orchids, roses and lilies fragranced the air with their beautiful aromas.
Walking inside, the maître de pulled out the chair for Regina. She joyfully sat
while still marveling at the room as Collin took the seat opposite her. “Your
waiter for this evening will be Michael and he’ll be in here shortly Enjoy,” he
told them with a smile as he walked out of the room, closing the door behind
him.

“I can’t believe this,
this place is amazing. You did this all for me tonight?” Regina asked as he grabbed
a bottle of champagne from an ice bucket.

“Of course, I told you
I wanted to make our first date a special one and I meant that. You deserve to
be treated nicely,” Collin said as he popped the cork and quickly grabbed a
glass while some champagne spilled out. Once he poured hers, he handed it to
her and poured himself a glass as well. “All right, I like to propose a toast,
to new friendships and hopefully new beginnings for us both.” Clinking glasses
together, they took a sip as the waiter came inside the room to get their order
for the evening.

Once they finished
eating their dinner and dessert, they decided to leave the car at the
restaurant and walk along the square into the middle of town. Regina held onto
his arm while they walked and thought how wonderful being together felt. It was
a feeling that she had always wanted to have with a man and now she was
experiencing it with Collin Noonan of all men.

They heard music playing
from at a club called The Hole in the Wall. When they got closer the front
door, Regina realized it was a blues bar. They were listening to rhythm and
blues music, some of her favorite. “Let’s go inside!” Regina exclaimed as she
pulled his arm to go inside.

The place was dark
except for a few lights here and there and a bunch of people were talking over
at the bar as they walked more into the depth of the club. The music was
blaring from speakers towering on either side of the stage where a band was
playing while the crowd in front of them were either shouting or dancing.

“I haven’t heard a live
blues band in ages. Do you like the blues?” Regina asked while she tried to
find them a seat somewhere.

“I don’t listen to much
blues, more into a little bit of everything else.”

She smiled back at him before
spotting a table in a dark corner of the room. Squeezing through some people,
they made their way over to the table and sat down. “I love the blues. My dad
used to play it all the time when he worked at his shop, he was a carpenter. He
always had his little radio playing some blues music and sometimes we would
dance around. It was so much fun.” They continued sitting there while the band
played on and once they had finished their song, the club erupted with
applause.

“Thank you everybody
for coming out tonight. Right now we want to bring out our soulful siren on the
microphone to slow it down for us this evening and get everybody in the mood,
so welcome to the stage, Ms. Lona Hill,” said the man who had finished his set.
Again the crowd started to shout and applaud while an older looking lady in a
sequined red dress came over and gave the man a hug and peck on the cheek, then
smiled at the crowd as she grabbed the microphone.

“Thank you ladies and
gentleman, I want to thank you for having me here tonight at the Hole in the
Wall. Now, I want everybody to get on the dance floor with your special someone
and let me take you on a romantic trip that will set your spirits free.” And
with that she started to sing as some of the patrons grabbed someone and
started to sway.

Collin got up and took
her hand to her surprise and led her toward the floor. He quickly pulled her in
his arms and at that moment, Regina knew that she was in love with this man.
There was no denying it whatsoever, she thought while his hand rested on the
curve of her back. His fingers entwined with hers and she found herself gulping
when she looked up into those green eyes of his that stared down at her,
searching her face. Regina wondered what he might have been thinking as he
looked at her. Honestly she didn’t want to know, all that mattered to her was
the fact that she was out with an amazingly handsome man.

He nuzzled against her
ever so softly. God, he felt so good holding her, so strong yet warm and
inviting as Regina inhaled his cologne. Never in a million years did she think
she would have feelings like this for a man, especially a man like Collin
Noonan. He was basically every woman’s dream, attractive, successful and yet
here she was being held by such a man. Regina didn’t want to know why she was
so lucky, she was just going to close her eyes and enjoy the moment as the
songstress sang her song. They swayed softly together on that old wooden floor
until closing time.

When they got outside, the
midnight air was chilly and the shawl Regina had along her shoulders wasn’t much
help. “Here, take my jacket,” Collin told her as he took it off and wrapped it
around her shoulders.