Love is blind [Kiara]

[Jayson Kline]

Blind dates. Usually these were practical jokes, and while Jayson wasn't exactly fond of those he had grown accustomed to them. But this time it wasn't a joke, he knew that as he'd chosen to respond himself. It was something that had piqued his interest, it was not exactly high brow, but it wasn't some random bar either. It wasn't even a blind date in his eyes; it was just a way for him to be able to talk to someone one on one, without any chance for interference from the outside.

Sadly this was only his point of view for now.

For all he knew the one that showed up could be a creepy girl that asked him inappropriate questions about his personal life, or a popular one that had friends all over, likely to invite people to join them. Someone who talked too much and blew through a conversation in six seconds, wasn't serious and threw in jokes in the midst of a serious conversation, joked alot, he could handle joking, but that didn't have to be all a person was about, right?

He realized he might just turn out to be a bit too heavy on the requests, but all he really wanted was someone to really talk to. He was very broad in what he wanted, whatever he wanted could still be there if the right qualities presented themselves. He wanted someone with stories to tell, not someone who made you break your nose if you bumped into them.

So there was Jayson, sitting in what he found was a nice establishment. Something you would expect rich people to go to, yet it was affordable (and affordable meant no problem on a 4 students in one house budget affordable) and still nice to look at. With candles on every table as pretty much expected by the man. This was looking quite promising, he figured.

''Sir, excuse me.'' He hailed one of the waiters that happened to be floating around. ''Did anyone arrive for the Kline table?'' He'd texted the one who started the blind date which table to ask for, and had gotten a response that said that it'd be conveyed. So the one who started the ad wasn't the one dating.

Hopefully the way this establishment was decorated made clear what was expected.

[Deleted]

Kiara’s bucket list had only been shown to a couple of people. She tended to keep it to herself, unless a certain goal could be ticked off and she knew who to ask help from. Many items on that list were ones that the blonde liked to have control over herself. It actually might be weird if others took the lead. Like now. With the blind date.. which she had not excepted to ever accomplish since it was a tad bit out of character for her.

When friends informed her about this, Kiara first thought it was a joke. Why would they put time in that? But when they continued to reassure the girl that they were serious, she finally allowed herself to acknowledge their abrupt decision. Ki knew they only wanted to help her (and possibly offer a fun distraction), but not knowing who they had set her up with… That wasn’t exactly fun. It was why her initial plan was to simply not show up. Surely her friends would understand, right?

The closer she came to the time of meeting up, however, the more awful it made the blonde feel. She would feel too guilty standing the guy up, even when she didn’t have any clue who it might be. Upon receiving a text to inform her where the date took place, she felt even worse. It wasn’t the fanciest establishment around (which she was happy about), but it wasn’t a crappy one either. Not showing up at a bar could have been justified to a certain extent… A restaurant would just be pathetic for the other person.

What was even worse than feeling bad about having considered it in the first place, was the fact that Kiara was supposed to be there within an hour and she hadn’t even decided on what to wear! Eventually she settled for a dress (which wouldn’t have surprised anyone), medium-high high heels and a coat to keep her warm while heading over to the restaurant. Calling a cab might have taken too long, and she wasn’t that eager to take risks. Even if that meant being five minutes too late.

When she entered the establishment, Ki took off her coat and looked up the second a waiter stepped over to ask if a reservation had been made. It probably was one of busier days of the week, so she was relieved to confirm that a table had been reserved. While speaking Jayson’s last name, she quickly grew nervous. Hands fumbled with the fabric of her coat as she had it draped over her arm, too distracted to even check if someone wanted to put it on a coat hanger.

When they reached the table, the waiter motioned a hand at it to indicate this was her destination. It made the college student halt for a second, only to take a step or two forward to end up next to the table where Jayson was seated. And while the girl wasn’t one to base herself on appearances, she couldn’t help but feel relieved to get confirmation that her date looked, well, normal.

“Um, hi. You must be ..-“ As blue eyes settled on the young man, a hand offered to shake, it suddenly hit Kiara that she didn’t know his first name. Her friends probably did, but it wouldn’t surprise her had they forgotten to mention that tiny important detail. It made her feel very insecure while her hand ever so slowly (and subconsciously) retreated some.

“… Kline, right?” It was an attempt at saving herself some embarrassment, but it might not have been as successful as hoped given a blush had already settled on her cheeks.

[Jayson Kline]

He saw woman after woman walk by his table, all of them eyeing him briefly as if asking him why he was sitting alone, that a guy like him didn't have to be sitting alone. Somehow this didn't really phaze him as he knew how he looked to most women, he had been hit on multiple times in the past but his personality was what drove most away. He wanted them to stay and talk, but not at the price of changing who he was.

Jay was getting a little bit nervous. The truth was that while he didn't have all that much invested in this blind date he did take kindly to people arriving on time, or even before they were supposed to be there like he had. So obviously he was growing a little bit nervous when the time for the date approached there was more than no sign of whoever he was waiting for. He did realize he wouldn't know who to wait for, but the lack of women entering the restaurant was apparent.

He held his hand over the glass of water in front of him and suddenly realized that nothing had said it'd be a woman he was going to be dating, for all he knew he could be expected to date a man. He didn't quite care if that even was the case as it did not move him in the least; his best friend was gay, but he could have seen his date passing several times if that did turn out to be the case. The biggest problem would be telling his date he wasn't gay though.

Why was he thinking about gay dates? Surely he'd be able to think more about it when it actually happened. And his thoughts about gay dating were cut short as the door opened and a woman entered in a dress with medium-high heels and a coat, probably to keep her warm, which she forgot to hand in as she asked for a table. The waiter complied, probably internally sighing at yet another customer who kept wearing a coat, and led her to what he assumed would be an empty table.

When the waiter motioned for the table he was sitting at he realized this was supposed to be his date; blue eyes, blonde.. No Rayne, but it'd do. Besides, he was there to make a friend first, the other stuff could come later. He briefly eyed the clock behind her as he shoved himself from his seat and got up to take her hand as he looked into her eyes.

Were it not a date he would have commented on the fact she was late, but he chose to shoot her a smile instead as he nodded slightly. ''Kline, yes.'' He replied, being slightly confused at why she used his last name. It was efficient, but odd. ''But you can call me Jayson.''

He shook her hand. ''Am I keeping you?'' He motioned at her coat. ''I would ask your name, but if you have places to be I'd hate to keep you.''

[Deleted]

The fact that Jayson got up from his seat to shake her head was a pleasant surprise. Good looks usually were not combined with great manners. Therefore Kiara had expected him to simply remain seated while they took care of introductions. She was the kind of girl who cherished little things like that, but also one who worried quite easily. So when the guy motioned at her coat, she mouthed a quick ‘oh…’ for realization finally appeared to hit her. “Yes, sorry. I don’t have places to be.” Her hand slipped from his while she spoke, letting blue eyes drifted to the waiter who had still been standing there during the couple seconds of interaction. “Can you..?” He received a sheepish smile as the blonde held it forward for him to take – a motion that seemed to be joined by a weak sigh of annoyance.

Kiara exhaled deeply, getting rid of the stress that had been stirred during that moment, before fully facing the young man again with a gentle smile curling her lips. She then realized, however, that all his question and statement had been replied to, except for the words – which were actually fairly important – giving away that he had no clue about her name either.

“I’ll… try this again.” The blonde mused as her hand once more hovered, almost at the exact same spot as before, regaining eye contact. “Hi, I’m Kiara. You must be Jayson.” Given he had not questioned her only knowing his last name, she figured her blind date had linked it to friends not fully updating her, just like his seemed to have forgotten as well.

Once her hand was retrieved, both smoothed over the back of the dress to avoid a too many folds upon seating down. “I am sorry about arriving later than intended…” She shuffled closer to the table, gazing over at Jayson. Her friends could be blamed, or she could explain to him how it had initially been her intention to simply bail on him… Not exactly a great way to start a decent conversation.

[Jayson Kline]

He looked at her, his eyes trained on hers. He wasn't the most intelligent person ever, but he did know what to think about the one who introduced herself as Kiara. His mind began running through things that had happened and the first thing he could address was the fact that she held her coat in her hand. She said it wasn't because she had places to be, so she was either mentally in a bad place or wasn't sure he would be worth the effort of getting everything done properly. That or she hadd been running late and didn't want to keep him waiting. Out of all the options the last one was his favorite.

He nodded as he shook her hand once more while she said he had to be Jayson. Another odd thing shot through his mind, if she wanted to start over she'd still not know his name, right? Even if this was meant to fix a slight hiccup he disliked it not being perfected. Those little details made those things enjoyable for him, even if only a little bit.

When he sat down his lips curled up in a slight smile as she confirmed his thoughts about her being late. So it wasn't anything to be worried about, not that he'd let her know anyway.

Who was he to blame anyway? He was the one with the stick up his no-no place until he got to know someone better. With Rayne and such he could joke a bit more, but not with complete strangers. Though she'd kind of wriggled herself out of that corner by telling him her name.

''So Kiara.'' He began as he put his arms on the table and took a sip from his drink. This was the time people initiated smalltalk, right? ''Did you have trouble finding the place?'' He smiled, though mentally he was scolding himself. Of course she could find the place without trouble, she was there, right?

[Deleted]

Or Kiara might have just forgotten to hand in the coat because no one asked her about it upon entering. Of course Jayson could assume what he wanted. It wasn’t as if either one of them was going to bring it up out loud. Perhaps that was a good thing, just like the fact that most of his thoughts weren’t worded for her to hear. The blonde was rather self-conscious. If the guy were to express critique on her attempt to fix the first impression, she quite possibly would shut down for the rest of the evening. This being a blind date made her feel a tad bit tense to begin with, simply because the person in front of her was a stranger. All she knew so far was his name.

So when Jayson initiated small talk, it felt like a small burden fell off her shoulders. Avoiding and/or breaking silence wasn’t always easy. The fact that Jayson came across as confident definitely helped. “I quite honestly might have walked past it at first,” the college student replied with a chuckle. Her hand smoothed a blond strand behind her ear before falling down into her lap again. “I mean, it wasn’t hard to find. It just would have been easier if I had called a cab. I probably would have arrived even later then though...”

Pursing lips lightly, Ki shut herself up, aware that more rambling would occur if she didn’t. Her smile somewhat sheepish while her mind mulled on what to ask him next. “So, um, my friend told me you study at the university of Vermont: what do you study?” Perhaps it was a cliché question to maintain the conversation, but of course it was also normal to ask something that would give her a better grip on who Jayson was.

With both of them present now, a waiter stepped over to hand each of them a menu - Kiara first. The second both were holding onto the item, he asked if they wished to order something to drink. Of course Jayson had a glass of water, but that didn't appear to count.

Kiara knew what she might order, and perhaps the man wanted the same. "If you drink wine, maybe we could order a bottle?"

[Jayson Kline]

Now that the required people had arrived the date, albeit blind, could start. He put on a big smile while still wondering why he exactly asked that question that he did, and the way she responded to it didn't help either. He did listen carefully as he had known to do when people responded to him, and he held the fact it was small talk and wasn't to be seen as serious in the back of his mind. When she got the words out he began to nod every now and then to convey to her he was listening, but, having the mind that he head Jay came up with even more questions to figure out what she did and why she chose to or chose not to.

But as he was about to grant these questions a voice in the small pause she had he got another question and this time one from Kiara directed at him. He did expect a question, but not quite this soon. He swallowed and looked the girl in the eyes as suddenly a waiter stepped over and handed them a menu. Jayson took his and began scanning it over when he asked if he wanted to get something to drink. If they wanted to get something to drink.

He was about to scold the waiter about the glass of water in front of him being a drink, but that was nipped in the butt as the girl fired a question at him, the second one this evening. He needed to catch up and soon. She suggested them getting a bottle of wine if he drank wine. So all of a sudden getting a bottle of wine was conditional to him drinking it now? Did she care how ordering one without Jayson drinking out of it would make her look?

He nodded and only barely contained a slip of the tongue as he spoke. ''I quite like that idea, let's do that.'' He called them slipps of the tongue, but other people would call it being extremely annoying. He was thinking of commenting with things like, yes, they could order a bottle. Or, a bottle of what? And, if he didn't drink, what would they order instead of a bottle?

As the waiter had taken the order for a bottle of wine he took off after having collected the menus from them, allowing him to look at Kiara as he did before the waiter came by. ''Your friend would be right.'' He replied with a nod as he was now slightly curious as to who this friend was. ''I study at the university of Vermont. I study Phsychology.'' He answered.

''And by your words I am going to assume that you do not.'' He said. ''So, if you do not mind me asking, where do you study, and what do you study?''