The Never-ending First Date

When Ayana woke up this morning she washed her face, got dressed, prayed, then checked her phone notifications as she does every day. To her surprise, she received a friend request from a young man she had gone to school with named Mufasa. Ayana had not heard from nor seen him in over twenty years. Ayana immediately accepted his friend request on Facebook and received a call from him through messenger. As they were catching up Mufasa mentioned that he was still living in Colorado, and he owned his own company making cameras. Mufasa had been called to serve in the military straight after graduation, it broke Ayana's heart to hear stories about what he experienced in the Gulf War. Ayana told him that ironically she was currently living in Texas and was planning to move back to Colorado in six months. When he asked her what type of career she chose for herself, she told him that she was an author of several spiritual books. Ayana also talked about how much she enjoyed taking pictures and wanted to buy a new camera as well as take some photography classes this year. Before they got off the phone he asked her if she was married? When she said that she was not, he shocked her by confessing that he had always wanted to go on an official date with her since the sixth grade. He was afraid to express his feelings because he did not want to destroy their friendship if the feeling were not mutual. Ayana honestly never thought about dating anyone during that time, she was too busy working and going to school. She could not believe that all the time she spent with him during her high school years she never knew how he really felt.

After getting off the phone with him, Ayana began to carefully look through all his posts on Facebook and Instagram. She started developing the desire to know more about Mufasa's previous relationships, his current circle of friends, what his future goals were, and if he was in touch with his spirituality. Reading posts that he shared from YouTube music videos, seeing what kinds of things he presses like for, which groups he joined, even reading his comments that he left for others on their pages revealed a lot about him. Looking at his pictures brought Ayana a lot of joy. Not only has he grown up to be a very spiritual person, who loves to travel as she does, not to mention likes landscape photos and playing with graphic designs, but he is extremely handsome now. No more braces, jerry curl, and long chicken legs. He has lots of muscles, waves in his hair with a clean lining, and beautiful teeth. She could see herself dating him, maybe even marrying him. So she texted him that weekend and told him that if he was willing to make all the arrangements, as well as pay for the date, she would love to get to know him on a personal level.

Mufasa had also checked out Ayana's Facebook page and took notice of all her dreams, desires, likes, and dislikes. He even noticed that she had recently got a passport to go out of the country. On the following Monday, she received an email ticket to Canada from Mufasa. Ayana felt so excited and nervous at the same time. Excited because no one ever bought her a plane ticket also she had never been to Canada. Nervous because this meant that they were going to see each other after being separated for over twenty years, and she did not know if he was still going to be attracted to her when he sees how much she has changed. The date on the ticket was marked approximately three months from today. That gave her plenty of time to prepare and even more, time to get to know Mufasa's personality. As they started texting each other every day they realized that they had so much in common. They were both born in December exactly a week apart. They both have only one sibling, neither one of them has any animals, children, grandparents alive, major debt, careers that prevent them from traveling whenever they want, medical problems, or addictions.

A package came for Ayana a few days before she had to leave Texas to go to Canada. It was a beautiful red pantsuit with a letter from Mufasa telling her to wear this outfit on the plane. The letter also explained in detail that she was only allowed to carry a purse which should have the passport, driver's license, birth certificate, social security card, medical records, make-up, and any personal items that she would normally carry in her purse.

Well, D-Day was finally here Ayana got dressed in the red pantsuit, with some gold heels, and gold jewelry. She grabbed her gold purse with everything Mufasa requested. Her best friend was nice enough to drop her off at the George Bush Intercontinental airport with plenty of time before the plane left at 6:15 am. It was Ayana's first time flying Delta airlines alone for three hours and forty-one minutes to Los Angeles, which the plane did not land until around eight in the morning. Once Ayana walked into the Los Angeles airport she was greeted by a young lady who explained that she would be boarding another plane from a different gate which did not leave until 12:45 pm. Ayana decided to go to the restroom and freshen up, then walk to the food court and get some breakfast. She enjoyed the strawberry cream cheese-filled crapes with whipped cream on top and a glass of ice-cold chocolate milk it was delicious. As she was waiting to board her flight she took lots of pictures using her cell phone and posted them on her Facebook page. Time seemed to go by so fast when Ayana was doing activities on her phone. An announcement made over a loud intercom that Delta flight 7179 was now boarding passengers and was scheduled to arrive in Calgary Canada at 4:45 pm startled Ayana. Her final destination was Yellowknife so she still had quite a way to go before she could see Mufasa. Two hours later Ayana arrived at Calgary International Airport and was told that there would be only one more layover before reaching Yellowknife. This time the flight was 7206 and was leaving Calgary at 6:50 pm. Ayana checked in at the gate and let the attendant know that she was going to take a nap in the seats facing him. Although she remembered how loud the intercom was the last time and she felt that there was no way she would not hear it she was not taking any chances. Ayana was out cold for over an hour when she felt someone picking her up and putting her on someone else's back. This person was tall, strong, warm, and smelt so good. In a soft voice, she told the gentleman thank you for helping her but to put her down now that she was awake she could walk by herself. When the man spoke and said, we are almost to your seat ma'am just wait a minute more. Ayana recognized his voice and just allowed him to continue carrying her. To her surprise, the gentleman carried her to first-class and placed her in a window seat that stretched out into a bed. So when he leaned over to cover her with a blanket their eyes met and it was Mufasa. Ayana quickly grabbed him and squeezed him as tight as she could, she was so happy to see him. He had upgraded her ticket and purchased himself one next to her, then he ordered some Merlot. They drank a glass of wine and talked for two hours, then they arrived in Yellowknife Canada at 9:23 pm.

Mufasa had a limo waiting for them, inside the limo was a set of warm ski suits, and a pretty box with a big pink bow on top, Ayana opened it and placed it on her neck then she gave Mufasa a kiss on his cheek she was so happy to finally have a professional camera. The limo dropped them off at a private Aurora cabin where they ate fish chowder, drank Merlot, watched the Northern Lights cover the sky, and shared their first french kiss. Which would have tasted like fish if it weren't for the fruity flavor of the Merlot wine.

As Ayana lifted up her head she noticed that while she was kissing Mufasa passionately he had slipped a ring on her finger. She smiled and put her head on his shoulder, he asked her if she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him traveling around the world and going on adventures that they could take pictures of and write about. She looked at him with tears of joy in her eyes as he leaned over and kissed her forehead. He then picked her up as if they had just got married and carried her into the cabin where they made passionate love all night long. The next morning Mufasa and Ayana had a pancake breakfast in bed with lots of bacon and orange juice. Then they went snow skiing, attended a snow festival where they watched contestants build castles large enough that they could walk through for prizes, took a dog sled ride, and ate fish cooked in so many different ways that they were embarrassed to kiss each other.

That evening they checked out of the cabin and took a cab to the train station. Mustafa had booked them a private room on the train, inside the room was a bathroom with a shower, a recliner, and a bed by a window. On the second level of the train, there was a nice restaurant with a bar where they ordered baked potatoes, a juicy steak, and a bottle of Merlot which was Mufasa's favorite thing to drink when he is relaxing. The train ride was awesome they were able to take a lot of beautiful pictures because the seats in the front of the train had large glass windows that made it easy to see the mountains. Mufasa and Ayana traveled on the train for three days. Mufasa had packed a bag for the both of them filled with robes, warm clothes, and all the necessities. Ayana felt like the luckiest woman in the world, she was so grateful that Mufasa chose her and made her feel so special. Mufasa was amazed that Ayana was still single and never had any children. He felt as though it was fate for them to be together after twenty years of being away from each other. Mufasa and Ayana took the next plane to Colorado and continued their never-ending first date.