Dream Date (46 page)

“You guys are so sweet. The way you have so much faith in each other. It’s so
The Notebook
.”

Amanda broke out laughing.

“Emmy. You were always the most romantic of us,” she said, referring to both of them as well as Judith.

“What? Love’s the best thing in the world.”

Amanda thought she didn’t disagree. Yet, love could sometimes be a torture, too. She hoped that Hayden and the NYPD would be able to stop Hilbert once and for all.

Over the following days, Nathan continued being unable to find Amanda. Thanksgiving was only a few days away. Nathan had figured out how to make her believe in him again, but it wouldn’t work if she kept hiding. Nathan’s frustration grew, but every time he started losing faith, he remembered that wonderful night that Amanda had shared with him. No one could possibly sweep that away as if it’d meant nothing.

The following weekend, Rachel Edwards flew to Ithaca for Amanda’s latest photography session. The latter had already done photo shoots in Manhattan. Rachel thought that something different would be great. Amanda had never done a photo shoot there.

Rachel knocked on Amanda’s apartment door. Kellan answered it.

“Hi, I’m Rachel Edwards, photographer,” she said, looking up at him. He nodded in salute, looking down at the two bags she was carrying.

“Ms. Tilley’s expecting you. Come in.”

Rachel waited in the living room. A few seconds later, Amanda walked in.

“Good afternoon,” she greeted.

“You must be Amanda,” Rachel said, her eyes lighting up in recognition. “Gosh, you look a lot more gorgeous in person.”

Thanks,” Amanda replied, offering her hand. Rachel shook it. “You must be Rachel Edwards.”

“The one and only.”

“Marissa’s told me quite a bit about you. She says you’re a very promising photographer.”

“I’m flattered.”

“Sit down. Do you want anything?”

“I’m okay,” said Rachel, sitting on the sofa and setting her bags next to her. Amanda sat down too.

“I’m glad to be indoors,” Rachel added. “In the short time I was outside, I felt really cold.”

“Tell me about it. It’s the middle of November. How’s New York?”

“It’s a little colder. I was freezing at the airport.”

“You sure you don’t want something? Coffee?”

“I’m fine. But if you have a bottle of water, it would be great.”

Amanda stood up.

“Room temperature or cold?”

“Definitely room. I don’t want to freeze any further.”

With a laugh, Amanda went to the kitchen. She opened a cabinet and grabbed a bottle of water. Then she went back to the living room and handed it to Rachel.

“What do you have there?”

“These bags? It’s my photographic equipment. I also brought clothes for you to wear. Don’t worry,” Rachel added after she saw Amanda’s expression. “You won’t be cold when we shoot outdoors. Not
too
cold.”

The clarification made Amanda laugh.

“You can start putting them on. I’ll set up my stuff and then we’ll go outside to see where to shoot.”

Amanda went to the bedroom with the smaller bag Rachel had brought. There, the former took off her jacket, sweater, and pants, leaving only her undershirt. She then put on a pair of new charcoal pants, a turquoise turtleneck blouse, and a chocolate brown jacket. Amanda kept her Ugg boots on.

“That looks great on you,” said Rachel, entering the bedroom. “I can see I selected the right size.”

“Marissa gave you an estimate, right?”

“Yes. And I’m thankful. No offense, but you don’t look as tall as you do in photos.”

Amanda did the facial equivalent of a shrug. She knew she was just tall enough to be a model. An inch less and she wouldn’t qualify.

After Amanda dressed, Rachel spent a good time fixing her hair and makeup.

“Let’s go outside first. That shoot will be shorter.”

The weather outside was pretty cold, but Amanda’s clothes kept her well protected. She and Rachel spent over half an hour taking photos. Despite the chilly weather and slightly gray clouds, it didn’t look bad outside. The trees, thankfully, had barely lost their leaves. Amanda knew they would go balder soon.

The two women then went back to the apartment to shoot a few photos inside. ‘A few’ turned out to take almost a half hour. Rachel struck Amanda as a talented photographer. She definitely knew her trade.

After the photograph session was over, Amanda thanked Rachel. She assured the former that the photos would be e-mailed in a few days to be posted on the Tumblr blog. Rachel would also post some of the photos to her personal Web site.

Ashton pulled up in a parking lot outside the Frontier Field in Rochester. Grecia looked up at the stadium once he opened the door for her and she stepped out.

“Wow. You brought me to watch a game?”

“Yeah. I thought you’d like it.”

“Understatement. I love it,” Grecia said, beaming.

“Jeez,” Ashton said once they were walking towards the stadium hand in hand. “If I’d known you like going to games so much, I’d have brought you sooner.”

Grecia chuckled. Ashton walked over to the trunk of his car and opened it. Inside were a couple of Redwings hoodies, a red one and a gray one.

“Let’s put them on. Which one do you want?”

Grecia grabbed the red one. Ashton smiled and took the gray one. As he closed the trunk, Grecia took off her purple jacket and replaced it with the Redwings hoodie. Ashton wasn’t wearing any jacket, so he just put the hoodie on. He then opened the backseat of his car for Grecia to leave her jacket.

“Let’s go watch the Redwings win.”

Grecia looked curiously up at Ashton. He gave her a quizzical look.

“Their name reminds me of buffalo hot wings.”

Ashton guffawed.

“Are you hungry? If you are, I can buy you food.”

“That’s okay, I’m not hungry now.”

After buying their way in, Ashton and Grecia entered the stadium. There were already a lot of people walking around, waiting for the game to start. Close by, Grecia saw a couple of hot-dog stands, a Budweiser stand, and an ice cream stand.

“Look,” said Ashton. He pointed to a spot where there was a faceless, wooden guy in the Redwings uniform, brandishing a baseball bat. In place of the face, there was a hole where anyone could stand behind and see through. “Let’s take some photos there.”

“Okay,” said Grecia, ready for some fun. “You first.”

Ashton walked behind Mr. Flat Guy and poked his face through the hole. Grecia had to admit, he looked good in baseball garb and a helmet. She used her smartphone to snap photos of him, laughing when he made faces. Ashton then put on a face of concentration so funny that Grecia was having a hard time containing her laugh.

“It’s your turn, girl. Give me that,” he said, reaching for the phone in her hands. Grecia pulled her hand away, still laughing.

“You have your own!”

“Oh, right,” said Ashton, pulling his phone out of his jeans pocket. Grecia walked over behind the baseball guy. It was Ashton’s turn to have fun snapping photos. She poked out her tongue. Ashton didn’t miss it.

“I’m so going to put that one in Instagram,” he said, smiling a wicked grin. Grecia narrowed her eyes playfully. Ashton snapped that photo. “And that one too.”

Grecia rolled her eyes.

“No, you won’t.”

“Yeah. Even better…I’ll put it on my wall,” Ashton said, meaning the post wall on his social profile page.

After they had enough fun there, Ashton and Grecia walked in the direction of the stadium.

“Let’s go find our seats now. The game’s starting in less than ten minutes.”

Ashton led Grecia towards the bleachers. They found a spot halfway down, behind a safety net.

“Can I see the photos you took?” she asked.

“No, can do. You’re just going to delete them.”

“I’m not. It was fun.”

“You want to see them, I’ll email them to you.”

Grecia laughed.

The game started. Someone made announcements, and then the players took their positions.

“I think it would be fun to be a pitcher,” Grecia said. “Look at the way they throw the ball.”

“You’d like to be a pitcher?”

“Not seriously. I’m not sure I’d make a good one.”

“I think you would. You do throw some curveballs.”

Grecia laughed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Hey, I’m just sayin’.”

The pitcher threw the first ball. The player with the bat missed it, but the one with the glove managed to catch it. He threw it back to the pitcher.

Ashton and Grecia were silent as the game progressed. Five minutes into the game, the player with the bat struck the ball at an odd angle. It was sent flying into the sky and out of the stadium boundaries. Grecia watched it disappear with her mouth open.

“The guy’s got a mighty swing.”

“Yeah,” said Ashton, who was watching the pitcher receive a new ball from someone a few feet to his left.

“When I was little, dad would take me to baseball games. I always marveled at how the players would never run out of balls when they flew out of sight,” Grecia said, her gaze reminiscent.

“Ha.”

“I wonder if they track the balls down after the game ends. Hey, they got to cost something.”

“I’m not arguing with you. They have to track the balls down, or eventually we’d run into them every corner. A few people do take some of the balls.”

“Have you ever taken one?”

“No. What would I want with one? I mean, they’re not even autographed or anything.”

The two continued watching. Some moments after, a player from the Redwings team managed a homerun.

“Go Redwings!” Grecia yelled along with Ashton and the rest of the spectators.

“We’re winning,” he said, looking at the scoreboard.

An hour into the game, Ashton asked Grecia if she wanted something to eat. She nodded, and he suggested they go to the hot dog stand. Grecia told him how she wanted her food, and stayed behind to continue watching the game. She looked up when Ashton returned.

“Here,” he said to Grecia, handing her a paper plate with her hot dog. “Just the way you like it.”

“Thank you,” said Grecia, turning back to watch the game. She took a bite of her hot dog. When she noticed Ashton looking at her, she blushed.

“What?”

“Nothing. I—I’ll just remind myself not to starve you too much.”

Grecia laughed, continuing to eat her food. When she finished, Grecia handed Ashton her plate. He put it on top of his empty one.