checking the time every few seconds. Sean was due to arrive any minute now and she wants everything to be perfect for their first date, if it even was that. They hadn’t actually said the “D” word yet. All she knew was that Sean was coming round and she’d never felt more nervous in her life. She had spent hours cooking up a storm in the kitchen, trying out new recipes and perfecting old ones.
The smell of roasted chicken fills the air as Michelle checks on her dish one last time. She smooths down her dress and takes a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.
Just as she is about to check the clock again, there is a knock on the door. Michelle jumps, her heart in her throat. She quickly composed herself and walks to the door, taking one last glance at herself in the mirror.
When she opens the door, Sean stands there, looking handsome in a smart causal get up of jeans and a navy shirt, the sleeves rolled up with his forearms showing as well as a tie. Michelle‘s stomach starts fluttering with butterflies at the sight of Sean standing in front of her.
(Michelle): Hi Sean, thanks for coming! You like nice!
(Sean): Hey Michelle, wow, you look beautiful.
Michelle blushes, feeling her cheeks fill up and she steps aside to let him in, trying her best to downplay it. She leads him to the living room, where they sit down on the couch. Sean has a bag in his hand and he hoists it up.
(Sean): I brought my Nintendo Switch. I know you said about maybe learning to play it so thought we might be able to do after dinner?
(Michelle): Oh wow, yeah that sounds great. Are you nervous for Havoc then?
(Sean): No, I’m buzzing, excited. I was hoping Butch would book this match. After what he pulled at Havoc
(Michelle): Just don’t let him get in your head, he’ll know how emotional you’ll be.
(Sean): I’ll be fine! Don’t worry about me, I’ve got this. Anyway, enough about me, what’s for dinner, I’m starved!
As they continue to talk, Michelle's nerves begin to ease and she starts to relax. Sean was charming and funny, and she found herself laughing at his jokes and stories. When it was time for dinner, Michelle led Sean to the dining room where she had put all her best dishes on display. Over dinner, they talk about everything from music to their favorite books. Sean was a great conversationalist, and Michelle found herself opening up to him in a way she hadn't with anyone else aside from her parents.
(Michelle): I still can’t believe you were paralysed! That must’ve been horrific!
(Sean): Yeah, it was rough for a while, I mean I was still a minor at the time, so I didn’t have insurance but Butch paid for my medical bills and everything. Coming from the UK where our healthcare is free, it was a real culture shock having a doctor ask me if I had insurance.
(Michelle): So what happened then? How did you… you know?
Sean laughs.
(Sean): How did I go the bathroom?!
(Michelle): No! Eww!
(Sean): It was actually quite easy, I just-
(Michelle): No! I don’t want to know!
Sean laughs again, throwing his hands up in amusement. As he brings his hands down, one of them almost lands on Michelle’s. He pulls it away at the last second, afraid of being too forward. “Come on, Sean!” he tells himself inside his head. “Get a grip.” He composes himself before he continues.
(Sean): I’m only teasing you. You mean how did I walk again? It was an experimental procedure I got selected for. When I first got injured, they took some stem cells for some weird research project and a couple of years after I got hurt, i guess they must’ve tested whatever therapy they’d worked on with my genes and they responded without any negative reaction. There was lots of trials though, it wasn’t like I got the call and the next day I was on the table. And then after the operation, I had like six months of rehab to essentially learn how to walk again but after that, it was like what I was before. I was running after two weeks of taking my second first steps…
Sean screws his face up, wondering if he got the syntax on that right.
(Sean): And then the only thing I could think of was getting back into the ring.
(Michelle): Aren’t you ever worried you could get hurt again?
(Sean): Well, the vertebrae that snapped has been fused with a mixture of tungsten and self-replicating tissue. Even if the tungsten was to break, the doctors said it would take some insane amount of pounds of pressure to do that much damage.
(Michelle): My goodness! You’re so brave! I don’t think I could bounce back from something like that!
Sean dismisses the notion with a wave of his hand.
(Sean): Are you kidding me? You’re tougher than you give yourself credit for. It’s one of the things I lov-like! I meant like!
Sean starts to feel flustered, scratching the back of his head. “You idiot!” he yells in his head.
(Sean): I know I said almost said the “L” word but I didn’t mean that-not that I wouldn’t, I mean. Shit! Sorry! I cursed! Damnit! Ugh!
Sean stands up from the table, his face beetroot-red. Michelle stands and pulls his hands down and holds them in front of her.
(Michelle): Sean, it’s ok!
She guides him back down to his seat and they begin to eat again as Sean fervently apologises.
(Sean): Sorry! I’m just really nervous. Truth be told, this is the first proper date I’ve ever been on.
(Michelle): Really? You never dated other girls back in Scotland?
(Sean): Well, I was quite shy when I was a teenager. I only ever kissed one girl in high school when I was fourteen after school one day. That’s it.
(Michelle): Oh?
Michelle realised she sounded more surprised than she meant to.
(Sean): What?
(Michelle): Sorry! I didn’t mean anything by that. I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to so assumptive!
This time it’s Sean’s job to calm things down.
(Sean): Hey it’s fine, don’t worry. If you really want to know, I’ve never been with a girl… like that. I was sixteen when I left Scotland to come looking for Butch and I got injured not long after that. Spent three years in a wheelchair before I got my surgery, then it was rehab and then it was all about pouring every ounce of energy I had into getting back into the ring and honing my craft. I just didn’t have time for girls or dating and as time went on, it didn’t seem to bother me so I thought why rush.
Michelle discreetly turns and smiles lightly, tucking her hair behind her ears.
Michelle starts to clear up the plates seeing that Sean has finished. Sean stands up and reaches over.
(Sean): Here, let me help you with those.
(Michelle): No, it’s fine honestly!
As Sean and Michelle both reach for the same dinner plate at the same time, their hands touch. Their fingers almost instinctively lock. They stroke each other’s hands with their free thumbs and their eyes meet. Michelle’s heart is beating a mile a minute and her eyes are widened. She looks at Sean’s Parker-emerald eyes. Although he was only 5ft10 himself, he towered over Michelle. Both of them lean in, not knowing what in God’s name is going to happen next. Sean’s face is mere centimetres from Michelle’s. He reaches down with his hand and delicately cups Michelle’s face with one of his hands, as if she were a porcelain doll that would break if he weren’t careful. Their lips meet gently, like a feather falling on a pillow. The world around them fades away, and all they can feel is the warmth of each other's breath. Sean releases the kiss but retains his tender touch on Michelle’s cheek.
(Sean): I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable…
(Michelle): No… it was… nice…I liked it.
Michelle smiles and Sean reciprocates.
(Sean): Maybe we should get these dishes away. I brought my Switch by the way…
(Michelle): Oh yeah! Zelda! I’ve always wanted to play!
After the dishes are cleared, they make their way back into the living room. Michelle sits down, flattening out her dress again. Sean settles onto the couch next to Michelle, carefully placing his Nintendo Switch onto the coffee table in front of them. He turns to her with a smile.
(Sean): Are you ready to learn how to play?
Michelle smiles back, a little nervously.
(Michelle): I've never really been into video games. I mean I’ve played some but I’ve never played a Zelda game before.
(Sean): Great!
Sean leans over to pick up the controller.
(Sean): I promise it's not too complicated. And in case you’re not feeling, I brought a personal favourite. Well, it’s David’s favourite.
Sean goes to his bag and pulls out a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Michelle smiles warmly. She watches him get the game set up and he hands her the controller.
(Sean): So what you wanna is just get a feel for the feel for the controls. Luckily the Switch controller is small and you have cute little hands so it’ll fit perfectly.
Michelle smiles again at Sean’s comment about the size of her hands. Sean reaches over and nestles the controller in Michelle’s dainty grip.
(Sean): So just get used to the controls, play about with the buttons. I’m pretty much at the end of the game, so I’ve got lots of health, great armour and I have the Master Sword so you’re pretty much unbeatable.
(Michelle): The Master Sword?
(Sean): It’s the best weapon in the game, you can get it every Zelda game. It’s been known as the Blade of Evil’s Bane, the Legendary Sword, the Sword of Legend, the Master Sword of Resurrection, the Sword that Seals the Darkness and the Sacred Sword. was originally crafted by the goddess Hylia as the Goddess Sword, and was later forged into the Master Sword by the Goddess’s chosen hero and its spirit, Fi, who bathed it in the three Sacred Flames located across the land that would become the Kingdom of Hyrule. Din's Flame in particular imbued the sword with the Power to Repel Evil, a power augmented after the Sword received the blessing of Zelda, which transformed the blade into the true Master Sword. Although not always, it is the only weapon that can defeat Ganon in the games.
Michelle can’t help but smile at Sean’s geekiness. He was quirky, shy, reserved and into video games but he was also handsome and so confident in the ring. They continue to play Zelda of about half an hour, Michelle actually quickly getting quite adept at the controls and she looks like she’s quite enjoying herself. Eventually they moved on to Mario Kart just to change things up. As they played, Michelle felt herself continuing to loosen up and having fun. She laughed as Sean playfully bumped her car off the track, and cheered as she crossed the finish line in first place.
(Michelle): That was actually really fun!
She sets down the controller.
(Michelle): Thanks for teaching me.
Sean smiled.
(Sean): Anytime.
Sean checks his phone and sees the time.
(Sean): I should probably get going. I’ve got get a training session tomorrow morning with Sensei and he wants to go through some new high intensity drills that I’m probably going to be feeling for days.
Both of them get up from the couch, they stand in front of each other. Again their fingers reflexively lock together and Michelle stares up at Sean.
(Sean): Listen, I don’t want to put any pressure on you, Michelle. But I really like you and I really liked that kiss…
Michelle stays quiet for a moment, biting on her bottom lip.
(Michelle): I really like you too, Sean…
(Sean): But…
Michelle smiles and reaches up and kisses Sean softly on the lips…
(Michelle): No buts…I really like you too.
(Sean): So… is this…
Sean brings his hand which is still held in Michelle’s and gestures it between the two of them.
(Sean): … a thing now? Are we dating?
(Michelle): I guess we are.
She smiles, involuntarily shrugging her shoulders at hearing the words that she and Sean are now officially dating.
(Sean): Look, I still don’t want there to be any pressure. This is new for both of us and the last thing I want to happen is for either or both of us to be freaked out. So we’ll just go as slow as we need to. Dinners, walks, training sessions, I’ll even go to bible study with you.
(Michelle): Really? You’d do that?
(Sean): I may not be overly religious but I respect your beliefs and I want to learn more about it and about you… your family.
Michelle didn’t think her smile could get any bigger. She reaches up and gently strokes Sean’s cheek with the back of her hand.
(Michelle): Goodnight, Sean Parker.
She reaches up and kisses him on the cheek.
(Sean): Goodnight, Michelle.
Sean brings Michelle’s hand up and gives it a gentle kiss as he backs up out the front door. Michelle starts to look a little panicked as she turns around.
(Michelle): Wait, your Nintendo!
Sean smirks and waves his hand in a dismissive manner.
(Sean): Keep it, give you a chance to practice for next time.
Sean winks at Michelle as he backs up out the door blows a kiss to her before turning round and heading to his car. Michelle watches him drive away before closing the door behind her, the smile not leaving her face as she looks up and mouths the sleds “thank you” as the scene fades to black.
Message Thread
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