Cynthia Koester

LOVE BY ARRANGEMENT

Harper was staring at me as I put on my hose and shoes. Her chin on her paws, her eyes pleading. I felt annoyed. I wanted to sit down, take off my dress and shoes and climb into bed. I despised dating especially first dates. I took a final gulp of my glass of merlot. I’d agreed to meet Ogden down the road at the winery and I was going to meet him. I put on my denim jacket over my black dress as I glanced at the mirror. My red hair looked wild and my eyes, green like a leopard’s according to my dad, flashed back at me defiantly. I walked out into the cool clear night; the stars were shining like tiny diamonds on black bark. The roar of the ocean made me want to drive down to the beach and skip my date. The sand would feel so good between my toes, but Ogden had been asking me out for weeks. Even though I had enjoyed our phone conversations and text messages, I wanted to be done with him. I was certain he did not look like his pictures and even more convinced that he wasn’t employed. I felt that I needed to look him in the eyes and tell him that I didn’t feel we had enough in common. After all, if I didn’t, he’d ghost me after he realized I wasn’t going to jump into bed with him.