One More Sunset Pt. 01

Chapter 1

"Say it again." The words were skipping stones across her tongue.

I laughed, and I could feel the crinkle in the corners of my eyes forming, the one that shows up with only my real smiles. Savannah was earning those crinkles.

"The ecliptic."

"I swear that's just a bike that white women in their 40s ride to act like they still go for walks."

I laughed again. "That is an elliptical, Savannah. I'm talking about space stuff."

"Okay Evan," Savannah said, "Let's make this interesting." Savannah pulled out her phone and set it on the table. "I'll look it up, but there's got to be something to win here."

"For a first date, this is pretty bold. You are putting me in a strange spot here, because I know that I'm right on this, because it's only been a hobby of mine for like a decade and a half now."

"Ugh, I can't believe I'm on a date going this well with a space nerd."

"First off, we go by 'astronomers', and I'm also glad it's going this well."

Savannah's eyes traced me up and down, and she reached out and grabbed her glass of wine, and sipped a gratuitous sip. I matched her as the ambient chatter of the restaurant reclaimed the noise around us. I hadn't realized it, but we had gotten loud with laughter and wine.

She bit her lip after setting down the wine, then said, "So if you're so right, tell me what happens to me after I look this up." Her smile matched her sight, and I almost lost my breath as she began to tease me. Savannah noticed the pause from me, so she took over, "How about this then: If you're right, I'll pick the place of our second date; and if I'm right, then you'll pay for it."

An hour later, we were walking on the sidewalk outside in the crisp autumn air. The wine was stronger in the air than the cold breeze that had come through, but Savannah and I trudged through the night. A city park was a block down from our restaurant. Swapping bad jokes for anecdotes about how our lives were in the city, the conversation never slowed down.

Tonight could not have been more fantastic. She had suggested the new Wachowski movie, and I had gotten lost in the meaning. From the cinema to the dinner, Savannah talked about shot composition, scripting, the sound and music... Every once in a while, she could see that I was getting lost in her words, but in an earnest eagerness to hear more, I would reassure her that I was following her, but that I had also never watched a movie and put much thought into it.

"I'm not an artsy movie snob," Savannah had said as we sat down at the table. "The way to tell if someone is a movie snob is simple. If they call it a film, turn and run."

Now, she sat alongside me on a bench in the park as we watched a group of people play glow-in-the-dark frisbee. Savannah was talking about her sister back home, somewhere out west, and how the distance was draining her. She stopped after a minute and said, "Sorry, I'm just unloading so much."

"No, not at all! I like hearing you talk."

"Do you now?" Savannah turned and looked up to me, and I turned and met her gaze.

"I do. You have this confidence with how you speak. It's hard to explain." She sat in silence as looked up to me. Her brown hair was somewhat hidden under a red wool beanie, and she seemed to drown in her overcoat, yet I wouldn't have pictured her any more beautiful than that if I had tried for the rest of my life. My body leaned in, and she didn't move back at first, but then I pushed forward, and she pulled her head back.

"Sorry," she said, "I don't kiss on the first date."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" I pulled back and chewed down on my lips as I felt humiliated. "I thought I was getting this vibe from you and -"

"I don't kiss on the first date," Savannah said again, "but that doesn't mean I don't want to."

Two days passed, and I was taking notes in my third-year astronomy 8 A.M. lecture. My professor droned on about the composition of supernovas, and I struggled to keep my attention on him. An hour and half into the lecture, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. My notes took a backseat for the rest of the lecture.

Savannah: "Friday was fun. Steakhouse was a good first date, but Mexican is a better second date. El Burro Loco on Cherry and 5^th this week? 7PM?

Evan: "Sounds great! Want me to pick you up, or are you going to Uber again?"

Savannah: "Uber one more time. Gotta make sure you aren't a psycho stalker killer lol."

Evan: "Shoot. My secret is out..."

Evan: "That was a joke. I swear that was a joke. Haha."

Evan: "Sarcasm never comes out well in text."

Savannah: "Sorry! Busy at work. I'll talk to you later today. I'll believe you on the whole 'not being a stalker' thing for now. Hope your space class is out of this world."

Savannah: "Oh God, that was a lame joke. Byeee (smile emoji)."

I put my phone back in my pocked, and I looked up to see my professor staring back at me.

"Is my lecture boring you today, Evan?" Professor Morgan wasn't too much older than me, but his demeanor seemed ten years older. He was always monotoned, but well composed. After three years with him, we had gotten to become friends outside of class on occasion, but at the end of the day, he was still my professor.

"Sorry, Professor!"

Morgan chuckled and said, "Honestly, today this isn't doing much for me either. Let's take a ten-minute break everyone." Morgan walked slowly back to his desk, pulled out a book, and began to chomp away at a bag of chips.

I felt a wad of paper hit the back of my head.

I turned to see Kate behind me, with an intense seriousness focused on her notes. After a moment, she turned to look up at me, "Oh, did you need something?"

Quickly, I bent over and hurled the paper ball back at her, and she swatted it away before saying, "So how'd the date go?"

"It went pretty great." I pulled out the phone and showed her the messages. "So good! I'm getting a part 2!"

Kate's eyes lit up and smiled and through out a high five, to which I returned it with a thoroughly solid air return.             

"She's kind of a movie geek," I continued, "And the date never stopped moving. She suggested a movie down at the Circle. The movie was pretty good, but a little to out-there for my style. But then she started explaining all of this stuff that I had never noticed in movies before. Like, I have never noticed editing in a movie before, but when she explained it, my mind was just doing cartwheels trying to keep up."

"You got the movie geek description right." Kate added with her classic snarky attitude.

"Then we went over to Westchester--"

"Good steak!" Kate interjected again.

"Great steak," I heard from behind me. I turned back around to see Morgan standing on the other side of my desk. "I saw the air high-five and wanted to join in on the fun." Morgan chomped down on another chip from his bag as he spoke. His voice never left its one-note station.

"So anyway," As I spoke, I spun back and forth between talking to Kate and talking to Morgan. I walked them through the rest of the night, and I could not have observed a more emotional whiplash than between Kate and Morgan. Kate would light up with a new detail on how Savannah had dressed, or how she had reacted, but Morgan would stare back through undead eyes that seemed to yawn back at you. Despite his stoicism, I could read Morgan, and he wasn't uninterested. Instead, Morgan was infatuated, and he seemed to live vicariously through my stories. Anytime we had gone out to get drinks or meet up at some event, Morgan would listen to me talk about anything, and he always asked the best questions afterward.

Morgan pointed out after my monologue was over, "The smile emoji never lies. So, are you gonna go all out at Burro Loco? The margs go hard there." It was hard to take him serious with that flat delivery. "Ladies don't like to go on dates that end too early because of a heavy drink."

"Professor Morgan," Kate said, "I would have never pictured you downing a glass of margaritas. You look like a brandy kind of guy."

"Right on the money," he replied like a tire out of air.

I said, "Thanks for the advice. I will not 'be going all out' over Mexican food." I turned to Kate and mouthed, "It bloats," to which she nodded and pursed her lips in agreement.

Morgan stood silent for a moment before saying, "Eh, I guess I should be teaching." Then he addressed the other six students in the room and said, "Alright folks. Supernovas have another stage in their life cycle, and this one is going to blow your minds."

---

"So, you moved out east," Savannah asked, "and its your third year in college. What's the next step?" By the end of this week, the weather had warmed back up once more. As it was probably the last truly hot weekend of the year, Savannah had come dressed in a red off-the-shoulder top that outlined her tan body for the world to enjoy, and she was poured into her black jeans. Her brown hair curled and bounced through the first round of drinks. Opposite her, I sat in a button-up and slacks. Maybe I was overdressed, but I could tell Savannah liked seeing me dress-up again to take her out.

Now, we were onto the second, and Savannah was holding her drinks pretty well. My skinny frame was struggling after the first. Morgan's voice of warning echoed somewhere within my memory. The food was gone now, and we were dancing down the rims of our glasses.

"Realistically, I've always wanted to live out here. Kansas can only offer so much, ya know?"

Savannah giggled back, "Sure, Evan."

"The ocean is nice, but all the cities on the coast start to pollute the night sky, and it makes stargazing harder. BUT, its been three years now, so I've found the spots along the coast that are less bustling. The best place, out of any spot on the coast. Its on a boat. Just far enough into the water that the lights don't fog up the sky, but not far enough out to lose sight in the middle of the night."

Savannah nodded. "That sounds like a nice date."

I felt the margaritas blurring my mind, so I tried to down my glass of water to compensate.

She added, "Promise me. Promise that you'll take me out on the water sometime. I want to see the sky like you're talking about. Is it that much brighter? The stars, I mean."

I tried to compose myself, but the drinks were in control. "Close your eyes." Savannah laughed, but I said it again. "Close your eyes and I'll describe it!" She closed her eyes, and sucked through her straw as I continued. "On the water, the waves will jostle you around, so its harder to focus, but you'll usually see Jupiter first. Its so big and bright. When you lay down on the boat, and your eyes start to find Jupiter, they'll jump and find the next brightest dot. Its probably Saturn or Mercury. But then, the bright stars don't seem as bright, because every other start shows up. You start to notice the constellations of Orion's Belt, and maybe if you are really paying attention, you'll see the red-shifts and blue-shifts of the bodies above. Then the best part of the night kicks in." Savannah smiled, and I wondered if I sounded as drunk as I felt.

"What's the best part of the night?"

I said, "You see the moon for the first time, but for real. It becomes more alive than normal, and you notice craters and cracks that you never have before."

"So, my eyes aren't that good."

I waved her away, but of course she couldn't see me with her eyes closed. "You'll see these cracks and stuff because you start to make them yourself. You want to see them, and our brains will just fill in the details that we can't really see. That's why there was a face on mars and the face on the moon."

Savannah's eyes were still closed.

"One last thing then you can open them. We're still on the boat, right? Its rocking you a little bit, and you start to lose track of which star you were watching, but then one sticks out, and you never lose track of that one again. Then you look out at the horizon. You can't convince yourself you can tell where the water stops, and the stars start. But you know that bright one is still shining down on you from somewhere above."

She opened her eyes, and I saw her lips twist for just a second before she moved her eyes away from mine, and she threw a hand up at the waitress passing by, "We'll take the check now. Put it on one tab." The waitress walked away, and Savannah said to me, "That'll help us get out of here faster."

---

I gave her my keys, and she adjusted her seat and mirror, but only slightly. Savannah looked over at me, "Are we almost the same height?"

I wasn't drunk, but the second drink had really kicked into gear. "So does that mean you're really tall, or am I just short?"

She laughed and turned on the car. "Okay maestro. The heat is on. What was the last song you were listening to. Bring up Spotify."

"Okay you can't make fun of me right now. I was just going on a kick of nostalgia. Tony Hawk Pro Skater revival and all."

"So, I don't have a clue what any of that means Evan, but you better play the music."

I hit the play button, and I closed my eyes as the trumpets kicked in. Savannah read the info that appeared on the console.

"Reel Big Fish? I'm sorry, but this is a total deal-breaker."

I cringed and tried to pull my collar up over my eyes, but to no avail.

"I did not imagine getting humiliated like this on the second date." RBF seemed to sober me up, as it would for any sane person.

Savannah responded, "Going back to my place isn't how you pictured it?"

I was lost for words. I could feel my dick pulse with her confidence in how sexy she knew she was. Okay, maybe the margarita was still there, and maybe I wasn't as sober as I had imagined.

"Reverse Uno card, Kate. What was yours?"

"Oh, about that. I make the rules Evan, and you don't need to learn about that just yet. Third date material stuff."

"Please! You caught me listening to ska. Yours couldn't be worse."

"Believe me. Its not worse. I will tell this story to as many people as I can find. But that doesn't mean you get to judge me on my Tik Tok songs."

I laughed and said, "The double standards of the modern age. Men just have it so hard,"

Savannah laughed and turned up the radio as obnoxious trumpets and checkered shorts blared out as we drove into the night.

It was a twenty-minute drive, but it felt like a lifetime. Ska ended pretty quickly, and then it became some dad rock. Then Post Malone showed up for a moment, and Savannah surprised me with fairly faithful solo. By then, the alcohol had lost some of its grasp on me, and I sang along with her as we pulled up to her apartments.

We both got out after she parked alongside the curb. I stood up and leaned against my car door. Savannah walked past and went to the door. She turned and dangled the keys in her fingers. "These get returned in the morning," then Savannah opened the door and walked inside.

---

I sat on her couch, waiting for Savannah to come back from her bedroom. She had shut the door and shouted, "I'm going to change. Give me five!" Movie posters draped the walls. Some were framed - ones I had never heard of - and a lot were just slapped against the walls - the more common movies. Potted plants lined her windowsills, and a plush pillow sat on an armchair that read, "Hug me like I'm your only pillow" Her apartment opened up to her living room on the right half of the flat, with the kitchen being the left. Directly opposite her front door, her bedroom door remained closed. I said, "How do you get all of these posters? Do you just buy them?"

Her voice came back, "I go down to the theaters around the city once a month and see what they are giving away. They aren't supposed to do it, but sometimes they'll just give me dozens. My closet is full of extra ones!"

"Wait, you have more posters? There's gotta be fifty or more on these walls!"

The bedroom door opened up to Savannah dressed down. She had thrown on sweatpants and a large t-shirt. In her hands, Savannah had a pile of clothes folded up. "Actually, there's only 24 in here. I've got about 90 rolled up in tubes back in there." Savannah sat down and sat the clothes on my lap. "Here are some comfier clothes. If you want to change into something not so formal, feel free."

"Oh, so these are your husband's clothes then? I knew there was something too good about you."

Savannah said, "Not likely. They're mine, but you can wear them. It's just sweatpants and a shirt. Like I said in the car, I think we're the same size."

"Flattering," I said. I hadn't meant it to come out so curt, but I could hear it in the words.

"Guys are so weird about that. I get it. I'm slightly tall, I guess. But then the second a girl brings that up... And its weird because I don't mind it at all. Size is something I never had on my list for dream guy material."

"Sorry, I meant to sound sarcastic, but... thanks for the clothes, Savannah. Honestly, I didn't think I'd be wearing them. I mean, I still haven't gotten to make a proper move on you, and I have dozens of quality moves ready to fire."

She smiled, and said, "Then I'll make it easier for you." Savannah sat up and began to seductively crawl across the sofa toward me. She moved on top of me, and sat on me as she said, "I wanted to make the first move anyway." Savannah moved her head around and kissed my neck, and it sent tingles down my spine. She went to my ear, softly nibbling it along the way. Then she came face-to-face with me. It was a slow first kiss, but she ran her finger through my hair and pulled me in closer. I moved my hands to her waist, and then I traced her hips as I kissed her back. Then she pulled away again. "I'll go make a round of drinks. Red or white wine? You go change, and I'll let you pick the movie that we stop half-way through and make-out for the rest."

"I'll take red wine."

Savannah hopped off of my lap and said, "Good choice." She pointed toward her bedroom and said, "The bathroom is in there too if you need it. Try not to get lost." She turned to her kitchen and began opening cabinets, so I went to her room and closed the door behind me with the clothes in my hands.

Her room smelled like she loved living here. Sweet, and flowery, but it smelled like Savannah had smelt when she had been that close a moment ago. Shockingly, there were only more posters on the walls. I took off my shirt and hung it over her bed post, and I kicked off my slacks. I reached to the pile and pulled out the shirt. It was a soft light grey large shirt that had some sorority event plastered over it. I threw it on, and to my surprise, it fit perfectly. Maybe a little loose, but it fit, nonetheless. As I reached for the pants, something fell to the floor as the legs unrolled. I set the pants back on the bed and reached down to find a pair of her panties. They were a soft silk pair of purple panties, and I ran my fingers across them as I picked them up. The thought of Savannah in these drove me wild. Shit. She must have grabbed these on accident. I looked to the side and saw her dresser. I opened the drawers until I saw the rest of her underwear, then I tossed it inside. I closed it without stealing a glance at what else she could be wearing. Soon! She's waiting in there for you! I grabbed the plaid sweatpants, and as I pulled them up, I happened to notice the tag. "Victoria's Secret." I chuckled to myself as I pulled them up and went back out to the main room.

"So, I know I told you that you could pick, but I have a movie I've been dying to see on Netflix, so you'll pick the next one." Savannah was placing wine glasses on the table as she saw me. "Oh you look so great! How does it fit?"

"Surprisingly well! Also, I can say confidently that this is the first time I've ever worn Victoria's Secret. I can understand the hype." I pulled at the waistband with some dramatic display as I made my way into the room.