Waiting and Waiting for--Our First Date

Part eight-

It's one thing for a woman to keep a man waiting, but a man keeping a woman waiting.  What's up with that? After the fateful "run back and give him a kiss on the cheek because he looked so forlorn" happened, nothing happened for weeks.  I was getting to the point that my "enchanted evening" was just a dream after all.  It had been weeks since I was at the dance with Alan.  I was beginning to wonder if maybe I shouldn't have ran and kissed his cheek, had I scared him off, I thought, or worse, turned him away of being interested in me?  The month of June finished out then July came.  It wasn't until the third week of July that I finally heard from Alan, and of course the old heart did the rapid beating again when the phone call came.  I was really nervous to talk on the phone.  I had never talked with a boy on the phone before.  Never!  So when it came to knowing what to say, I was really in a panic.  I could carry on a conversation face to face, but not on the phone.  Then to make matters worse, the phone was in the kitchen for all to hear your conversation.  Dad was in the living room with the phone in plain view, and the family was milling about the living room and kitchen, so any privacy was just not going to happen.  I tried to act real casual and not bring any attention to myself when I was on the phone, because I didn't want anyone trying to listen to what I was saying.  Our conversation was brief and to the point, "would you like to go out sometime?" he'd asked.   Dah!  What kind of question is that to a girl who has been patiently waiting by the phone for weeks, hoping that each time the phone would ring the call would be for her! Of course I wanted to go out!  I wanted to go out weeks ago!  I answered with a joyful "yes" hoping that I didn't sound too eager, or I should say, desperate.   Our first date would be at the "Regal Lanes" bowling alley.  I had only been bowling once before on a youth activity and I wasn't any good.  I had hoped that he wasn't a good bowler either.  I fussed and fussed with how I looked for the evening, I wanted to look perfect for my first date.  My Dad had informed me that I could go on the date providing there was going to be another couple going, you know, the double dating rule.  I didn't know if Alan had asked someone else to go with us or not, at that point I really didn't care.  All I knew was, I wanted to go with Alan and that was that. When Alan showed up at the door I could tell that he was pretty nervous, because technically this was his first date too.  He had gone to dances with Marsha, but he had never picked her up in a car and did the "come to the door, meet the dad" kind of stuff. (He hadn't gotten his license until the beginning of the summer because he had his arm in a cast from dislocating his elbow in wrestling class.) Having to come to my door and meet my parents was, I'm sure, a very fearful thing for him. Dad treated the meeting pretty well and made Alan feel at ease.  Alan passed the "meeting the strict Dad" routine with flying colors and quickly we were on our way.  I kept stealing glances at him as he was driving down the road.  He was eye candy to me. He was strikingly handsome, with a tan body, sun-bleached hair, and "muscles".  I could tell that he had been working out, he looked strong. From our conversation on the phone, he had said that he worked everyday in laying foundation forms for a construction company and that he had started football practice. So that's why he looked so tan and strong! Our time at the bowling alley was so much fun. It didn't matter that I was a terrible bowler, he was terrible too.  Thank goodness.   He flirted, I flirted, and we were alone, no double-date.  I was worrying about how I was going to tell my Dad that we didn't have another couple with us.  I couldn't, I would just have to tell Dad that the other couple fell through and I didn't want to have to cancel on Alan.  The evening flew by so quickly and I didn't want our date to end, I loved being with him.  We decided to leave the bowling alley and Alan suggested that we stop somewhere and get a bite to eat.  We elected to go the the A&W next door.  We ordered halibut fish and chips, my favorite I decided from that point on.  While we were parked in the stall waiting for our food, we were laughing and tickling each other and having such a great time. Then I looked forward out the front window of the car and gasped!  There, straight across from me in another car, was my aunt and uncle.  "Oh no," I thought, "that's just great"! Now my relatives were going to tell my Dad that they saw us at A&W and that we were alone. What was I going to do?