How come everybody else doesn’t have the problems I have in getting a girl? It shouldn’t be that hard. I mean really… I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with me.. Oh, I don ‘t know. Maybe that girl from the club will call.. What was her name… oh yeah… Charlie… Man, she was something. I hope I didn’t scare her away. She seemed a little uptight on the ride home. But maybe I’m just reading too much into it. I gotta stop thinking about it, before I go nuts. Just as he was going down the stairs, the phone rang. Turning around he silently hoped it was her.

“Hello, Brian here”

"Hi...it's umm, Charlie here....from the club"

“It’s nice to hear from you. How are you? “

Good... Just trying to enjoy the day..”

"well would you like to enjoy it by showing me around?"

"Sure.. It would be my honor.."

"ok name the place and I’ll be there"

“Nah, I’ll come and pick up . I will be there at like 11:30. So then we can grab some lunch and head off. Sound alright?”

"that sounds great. I’ll see you then" i hang up and i feel all tingly inside, there's something about him

“Yes!… Man my luck just turned”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I got in the car, I hope everything goes alright and I don’t screw it up. Thank you God, for giving me this chance. As I was drive down the interstate, I tried to plan how we would spend our day. I thought I might take her to lunch at the Antonio’s, and then maybe for a trolley ride down International Drive. Hmm, maybe we could go to the Universal and catch a movie and then maybe go out and along the pier or to the Leu Gardens… I , I know.. there are thousands of things to do here.. its just.. its not like a historical place or anything… I just hope she likes it. As I pulled into her driveway, my hands grew sweating and my stomach had butterflies in it. “This can’t be happening, my gosh, I am almost 30 years old. Alright.. shake it off. This is a piece of cake. Just be yourself… “ As I walked up to her door and rang the doorbell, I repeated to myself… Just be yourself…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My heart is thundering as the doorbell goes. I take a deep breath.

“Damn, I wish Natalie were here but she had to go to work”

My hand trembles as I open the door. Oh my god the sight of him makes my knees go weak

“Hi, there” with a smile on my face

"Hi Brian" I say a little shy

"You ready to go? I hope you're up to what I've got planned for us.."

"I'm sure I can handle it" with a smile

“Alright, then let’s go…” leading her to the car ‘I wonder what he's got in store’ as I get into the car and try to hide my nerves

As we drove back towards Orlando, the talking was intermittent. I knew that we were both nervous and trying to make it seem otherwise. As we pulled into Antonio’s, I spoke up.

“ Well, here we are. “ shutting off the engine and turning to her.

“ This place is great. I hope you like Italian. “

"Wow, you're psychic too...it's my favorite"

Giving a little chuckle, “ Well, I try…” and went out and to open her door ‘Oh geez i hope i'm not blushing too much, ‘

"Any other hidden qualities I should know about?" I ask in a playful tone

“hmm.. you never know.. “ with a mischievous smile.

As we walked in , there were pictures and paintings of Disney characters on some of the walls. In the back there was a whole glass panel window where you could see out to the ocean.. A waitress in Mickey Mouse ears came up and said “Do have a preference on seating?”

“Yes, a window seat please.”

“Follow me, please”

As we sat down, the waitress handed us the menus and said she’d be back in a few minutes. I sat there, not knowing what to say first. I didn’t know what she was thinking of the place. I hope she doesn’t think I’m a complete idiot. But instead of just sitting there in silence, I blurted out. “So.. what do you think of this place?”

"It's fantastic...It's so lively and of course the Disney paintings are incredibly cute"

"Brings out the kid in you, I guess", chuckling.

"I'm glad you like it. I was hoping you would. " At that time the waitress returned to for their orders

"Well seeing as you've been here before why don't you order, I trust you enough with food"

“Ok.. well.. why don’t we have the fettuccine with shrimp scampi, with some white wine. Is that ok with you? “ Looking to her

"That's ok with me" i reply smiling\ once the waiter has taken our order i look at him and smile "thanks for taking the time to show me around, it's really sweet of you"

"It's my pleasure. I was thinking that this would be a perfect way to get to know each other since we didn't get to talk much that night at the club. Plus, I thought that it might be a great way to start out your trip here"

"Yeah, it's fantastic here besides I've seen enough clubs for a while"

"Well then, what I have planned might just suit your fancy"

"Oh really? and what might that be?" shaking his head, asking " You'll just have to find out" with a smile

I laugh "Are you always this mysterious with women?"

"That depends... but if you get to know me, you might find that I'm not all that mysterious"

Cute, I think to myself...and he has a sense of humor . "Well, that does sound like an interesting challenge"

"Adventurous uh? Well, you just better hold on for the ride.." chuckling

"Maybe it's you who will need to hold on"

Hmm.. she is really intriguing... a little feisty too.. this should be interesting... Raising his eyebrow as he took in another fork full of pasta. Dabbing his mouth,

"Guess maybe we'll find out .."

Ok. Damn, I was not expecting that. I mean, yeah I can flirt with guys and it's all harmless fun but this was different; he was unnerving me. I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks, so I tried to hide behind my wine glass

"I guess we will" not knowing what else to say

After finishing our lunch and paying the tab, I ushered her to walk with me across the parking lot.

"It's such a nice day, who needs a car?" as I stretched my arms towards the sunny skies. Turning back and giving her a smile. "Plus, we don't have too far to walk anyways.

"You'll see.. come, on"

As we walked down the streets towards downtown, the scenery changed drastically. Traffic was heavier, both vehicular and pedestrian. The buildings were becoming more abundant and closer together. People were walking and shopping, just enjoying the day, not really paying attention to anything else. I steered her over towards to the right where the road is separated by RR tracks. I knew that the trolley would be coming soon. So, not to let her onto what was coming.. I took her down the street and showed her some of the simple little shops that outlined the street.

Just as we came out of the antique shop, the trolley was coming towards us.

“Here’s our ride” grabbing her hand and helping her up.

“This the best way to see the city… you avoid having to driver and possibly getting lost… you get to see and learn about a lot of the things that Orlando offers. I can tell you about pretty much most of it.. but he’ll tell a lot of the history stuff, which in my opinion, tends to be a bit boring”

"So" I begin "If history isn't your thing then what is?" I ask in a teasing tone

"Well...much to your surprise, I know, I'm pretty much just your regular guy.. I love sports, the outdoors and of course hanging out with my friends. They're one of a kind" giving a little chuckle

"Yeah...AJ said the same thing actually"

"Well.. we're all pretty close.. we've known each other for quite a few years"

"It's great to have friendship like that. Natalie and I have known each other since we were toddlers. We used to live next door to each other"

"Wow, that's a long time.. must be like sisters uh?"

“You could say that"

Giving her a smile, I turned and showed her some of the buildings and places that were passing by. At first, I had to try and block out the tour guide as he spoke, but as time went on I became more and more concentrated on the scenery and on her. As I talked, she seemed to be very interested on what I was saying and what we were looking at. We even joked with each other about some of the people that we saw cruising the streets.

I can't believe how much fun I'm having, Brian is such a lovely guy. He seems so sweet and genuine. Almost too good to be true, I was still trying to figure out what he was hiding.

"When do I get to hear about you?" I ask "I mean you could give the boring tour guide a run for his money. In fact, I know you'd be better than him but tell me about yourself"

Laughing, "Thanks... well.. what do you want to know?"

"What would you like me to know?"

" You know already know I'm in a band. So I love signing and performing. Even though it can be hard work. I'm from KY, but live here in Orlando for now. I'm 28 and single. I have both my parents and one older brother, which live back home in KY. And I love shootin' hoops on the court….. " Now its your turn m'lady" with a smile

I'm a little taken aback by the knowledge that he's 28. He might not approve of such an age gap. Still, I had to tell him the truth. I just hope that he'll be ok with it

"Well, I grew up in Florida until a few years when my dad transferred to CA with his job and we went with him. I have an older brother, Eli and you know that I go to university where I'm studying English lit. I'm 21 and I've got a reputation as a wild child"

" You, a wild child? no way.." chuckling, with a little sarcasm

"Well, that's why I split up with my last boyfriend. told me he couldn't handle my partying and the fact that most of my friends were guys" I shrug

From what she told me, she's a little younger than I expected. But if I end up falling for this girl, age won't matter right? But on the other side, I didn't know how wild she really was. Could I handle it? Well, I guess it won't hurt for the time being..

"Well, I'm not much of the jealous type anyways, so you don't have to worry."

I touch him gently on the arm and lean into him and whisper "If I was yours then you'd be allowed to be jealous"

Blushing, turning from her for a second. I couldn't believe that I said that.. God... I'm such an idiot! Now she's going to think that I'm overconfident, if not a bit arrogant. Turning back, now more nervous than before.

"Sorry... anyways.. are you up for some adventure?"

"Sure"

It's all I can say as I'm distracted by my thoughts. maybe we are too different which is a shame because I really liked him but I didn't know if he liked me, whether I'd scared him off with the truth about myself or maybe he wasn't prepared to get involved with someone a lot younger than him. oh god i think to myself! What if he thinks I'm just a kid? I didn't think that I said anything wrong but hopefully I didn't turn her off. She seemed to be a bit distracted in her own thoughts. I wondered what she could be thinking.

"Is something wrong? Would you rather do soemthing else?"

“No no..it's...it's fine"

"I'm not really all that convinced... what's on your mind? "

I shrug "just thinking..that's all"

Well, let's go off here and we'll go grab my car and head over to funland."

"Wow, you seemed to have put a lot of thought into this"

"Yeah, you could say that. I just wanted you to experience most of the city while you had a chance.But, I am sure that your friend will also want to show you around too" with a smile

"oh yeah she will...probably take me on a tour of all the malls"

"That's what most of the girls do here... but we on the other hand are going for more of a uh.. thrill ride.. You like roller coasters and scary rides?”

"As long as I've got somebody to hold my hand then I'm ok"

"Well then, off to Universal we go"