#Spillthebeansonlove - Chapter 21 My legs may be wobbly, my heart may be racing, but I’m steady in my thinking that this man is something special. At this point, I’m sure we’re heading back to the hotel for some R&R, but as we joke in my TV job, ‘but wait, there’s more!’ I’m realizing now that when you’re on a date or a vacay with Superman, you don’t stop for rest and relaxation. There really was more on the itinerary, and he was determined to stick to the plan. We stop off at the hotel and he tells me to take my time freshening up but please know that we have one more activity that involves us being high in the air. I truly do not have a poker face, so I’m sure some sort of OMG facial expression was plastered to my face. Before I leave to shower and change he says, I forgot to give you something. I’m baffled. What does he want to give me? ‘Here,’ he says. ‘I brought you a few things from Miami.’ He hands me a white ball cap that says Miami on it. ‘You can wear this when we go on the boat in Miami or when you’re running in Philly, because I know you always wear a hat when you run. And, here, if you like this, please wear it tonight.’ He hands me a beautiful bottle of perfume. Well this is a first for me, and as someone who works in beauty, I was taken back for several reasons. For starters, what a gutsy move to hand me a bottle of perfume, something that is so personal and so individualized. Shocking as it may seem (insert sarcasm here), I’m quite particular about most things in life, so the chances of me liking and wanting to wear this perfume was basically slim to none. I open the box. I read it out loud, ‘Creed, Royal Princess Oud.’ Oh, Wow. OK. I gingerly spray it in the air, away from my body, curious as to what this is going to smell like. A few seconds go by, I smile a closed lip smile at him, and I start to think of my gracious response and how I will gently decline wearing such an - OMG, absolutely beautiful, sensual, undeniably, delightful perfume. I AM IMPRESSED. Pour it all over me…just kidding. He smiles and tells me that it’s his favorite perfume of all time. I tell him that I would be delighted to wear it tonight, but that I will wait to wear the hat another day. He laughs - whew, he gets me. We finish getting ready and we jump in a taxi. He holds my hand while sitting in the backseat and leans over, nuzzles my neck, and takes a deep breath in. ‘You smell so beautiful,’ he says. ‘I know,’ I say jokingly. We arrive at our destination. He has arranged for us to go to the top floor of The Hancock building and grab a bite and some drinks as we enjoy the view of Chicago from above. Now, this is a bit more my speed as far as being up in the clouds is concerned. I don’t necessarily have a fear of heights but my palms sweat when I look down from something that high. I kept my hands to myself and peeked over the edge of our window seat. It was unbelievable. I hadn’t been that high up in a building in so long. The last time I remember being this high up and looking down like that was when my Grandmother took me to the top of the Twin Towers in NYC. I was about 8 years old and I remember she and I talking about how the taxis looked like yellow ants. Had Grandma had a hand in this experience as well? It was an oddly familiar deja vu type of feeling. We ordered some drinks, talked, and laughed. We had the best time telling stories and learning about each other. We stayed so long, we saw the weather change and shift from cloud level. We watched a rainstorm appear in the distance, slowly come our way, and pass overhead as raindrops battered the windows in front of us. We waited out the storm with another round and watched as the sun's rays reemerged from behind the clouds with a majestic presence, and eventually we said goodbye to this epic day by watching the sun gently set. This was a day for the record books and although after this day I thought - I never want to have another first date, if life were to turn out that way, he was right, there would never be one as special as this.
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