2019-11-20 - Getting Old

(TXT to Mariah) Lalo : Hey so this is a little awkward, but do you know your number's up on Al Gore's internet with a directive to ask you out? If not I'm gonna feel pretty silly.

(TXT to Lalo) Mariah : Oh man, I was hoping Hank had taken that down. I found out about it too late. My employee thought it was a cute joke.

(TXT to Mariah) Lalo : Got it. So I shouldn't ask whether you like Thai or Mexican better then, right? I knew I shouldn't have started planning it already.

(TXT to Lalo) Mariah : Hank is just worried that I don't have a boyfriend, so he was trying to be helpful. So I told him I would go on a date with at least two of the guys who replied. So if you wanted to meet, I don't think I'm that horrifying.

(TXT to Mariah) Lalo : Good, I usually like to be the only horrifying person in the room. You free tonight, or is that too soon? I'm new in town and trying to meet people.

(TXT to Lalo) Mariah : We can be hunchbacks together then! I can be free tonight, yeah. Just need a place to meet. 🙂

(TXT to Mariah) Lalo : Solidarity, sister. How about that Firehouse place downtown? 7:30? I'll even promise to pretend not to notice if you have to fake an emergency so you can cut out early.

(TXT to Lalo) Mariah : Firehouse sounds good. And I promise not to fake an emergency. Honest.

(TXT to Mariah) Lalo : See you then. I'll be the bald guy in the purple shirt. If that doesn't sound like someone you don't want to fake an emergency with, I don't know what will.

Lalo is, indeed, the bald guy wearing a purple shirt at 7:30 at the Firehouse Brewery. At least presumably, since he's the only one of that description here. Though it does seem to be bald by choice, and it suits him. And it's not a deep purple, but lavender, which also suits him quite well. He's sitting on one of the waiting area benches in the front, one ankle crossed over the other knee, looking down at his phone as he scrolls through while he waits.

Mariah had his description, but not a name! There's a platinum blonde woman that's probably no taller than 5'4'' looking around as she approaches the Firehouse. Those green eyes of hers spot the bald head and then the purple shirt and she heads that way. Her hair is down and she's dressed in a pair of snug fitting light washed jeans, a black off the shoulder sweater and ankle boots that give her another inch. "I think you're my blind date." Mariah states as she stops at a conversational distance. Those red lips quirking into a smile as she looks to him.

Lalo looks up from his phone when he hears someone approach, and the expression that had sort of a Resting Bitch Face vibe going on when set in neutral does a 180 when he smiles. "Hey," he says, sticking his phone into his pocket and standing up. "I think I must be. Lalo Martinez." He holds out a hand in an offer to shake, adding, "Thanks for meeting me. I figured I'd been eating alone in the bear diner since I got here."

Mariah was afraid she'd got the wrong guy until he smiles and there's a soft laugh, "Hey there." she gives a nod of her head. She reaches out to shake his hand, "It's nice to meet you, Lalo. I'm Mariah Bellerose." she introduces herself. "And hey, it's no problem. I love making friends and meeting new people. My MC at the bar just thinks I needed help with getting out more." she shakes her head. "So, I should be thanking you." she points out.

"Good to meet you, too, Mariah. They really did a good job on that hunchback removal. I should get the name of your surgeon." Lalo starts toward the host podium then, though he waits for a second to make sure she's coming. Hey, she could already be faking an emergency! Hopefully not, though. "Well, you're welcome," he adds. "He seems like a good guy." His smile tilts a little crookedly as he says it, so maybe he's joking. He turns to the host then, saying, "Two for dinner," and it's not long before they're being seated.

"So you own a bar, huh?" he says as they walk toward their table. "Maybe I should've gone more creative on the location."

"Oh yeah, the hump. Miraculous, right?" Mariah teases him a little. Good to start off the situation with a bit of levity. She follows along with him, she's not short enough to get lost behind any of the mall plants or anything. Then there's a smile at his question, "Yeah. I own the Pourhouse. It's my baby. Trying to keep it up and running." she admits. "And no, you're fine. I love the Firehouse." she admits.

"So what do you do, Lalo?" she asks him.

"It really is. Modern medicine is amazing." Lalo sidesteps another patron on the way to their table, glancing briefly toward Mariah as she speaks, though not long enough to accidentally bump into something or someone as they walk. "Oh, great. So I'm already doing pretty well."

They arrive at their table, and he sits down, taking the menu with a nod of thanks, but he doesn't open it just yet. Instead, he says, "I'm a nurse over at Addington. Just started last week. So I can probably get you an employee discount if you have any other unfortunate deformities. They'll probably do a buy one get one one of these days, right?"

Mariah gives a chuckle as he talks on the hump. She was going to giggle, but didn't want to interrupt people. "I'd say you are, yes." she admits to that. Then she settles in on the other side of the table and looks to him as he speaks to her, "A nurse? That's neat. Do you work in the ER or another ward?" she asks him. Then she does giggle, "I don't think I have any deformities that need to be chopped off." she muses. "So you just recently moved to town I take it?" she asks him.

"Yeah, in the ER for now," Lalo says a bit more seriously, though still with the smile that sits easily on his face, enough so that it may be clear it's his natural disposition, unlike the slightly angry look he has in repose. "It's a lot busier than I expected for a small town, but hey. At least it's not boring." He rests his forearms on the table, lacing his fingers together as he regards her. "Yeah," he continues, "that's right. From LA originally, but I been kind of making my way up for a little while. You from here originally?" One might assume, since she owns a place, but maybe she just bought it!

"So you're a good person to have on speed-dial should anyone crack my head open. Got it." Mariah chuckles to that. "And oh boy, you have no idea how busy it can get. It was bad a few weeks back really. So you messed that whole big debacle thankfully." she states. "Los Angeles. I've wanted to go, but never really can find the time." she frowns. "Yep, I'm a local. Born and raised. Left for college and came back after I graduated." she admits.

"Pretty much. I do make house calls." Lalo's eyebrows raise when she mentions the shitshow it was only a few weeks ago. "Oh yeah?" he replies. "The other nurses were saying that too but I thought they might've been exaggerating. Guess not." He looks around, as though he could decipher exactly what it is about this town that makes everything go so crazy.

Haha.

A moment or two later he turns back to her. "It's nice," he admits, "but there's something to the Pacific Northwest. Maybe it's the almost drowning every time you go outside." He grins, before he asks, "Where'd you go to school?"

"This town goes crazy and no one never knows when the next psychotic breakdown is going to happen." Mariah shakes her head at that. Though she gives a look around as well, maybe she thought she was going to see a Dark Man. That would ruin a date.

None there!

"I like Washington and it's not like I've got much call to move given I own my house and my bar. So roots and all." she admits. "I just went to Seattle University. They had a pretty good program, that didn't bankrupt me and I could pay it off before I was eighty." she tells him. "Where did you go to school?" she asks him.

Thank goodness they will not have to be fending off Dark Men while they're trying to eat. Of course, it would certainly be memorable! Probably not in the way they might wish, though. "Always good not to go into massive debt," Lalo says. "I looked at a Masters program there for a minute. Still might do it, maybe. But I'm getting old enough that I should probably fish or cut bait on that."

He flips open his menu to glance at it, though more of his attention is on Mariah for the moment. "Cal State LA," he replies as he looks back to her. "They had an accelerated nursing program, and I knew what I wanted to do when I was in high school, so I banged it out pretty quick."

"Right? So I can afford to spoil my dog and pay regular bills now." Mariah chuckles to that. "If you are thinking of maybe going into the higher nursing ranks I'd try to shoot for it. If not then I'd say no one is going to be upset with you. The job you do is pretty great now." she points out. "So what do you like to do when you aren't being a nurse? Just read the weird posts that random strangers toss out on the Friendzone?" she asks him with a grin.

"Yeah. I do like what I do, and the good thing about it is I can always find some place hiring." Lalo gestures a little vaguely around to encompass Grey Harbor. case in point. "But we'll see. I wouldn't hate being a nurse practitioner." Apparently having decided what he wants, he shuts the menu again and focuses his full attention on Mariah. "That is one of my favorite hobbies," he replies in kind, his smile widening in response to hers. "I like to go running in the mornings. I was thinking about getting a dog, too, maybe getting it certified as a therapy dog so I can take it to hang out with the patients. One of the other people at the hospital and I were talking about maybe getting a group together to do that."

Mariah nods to his words, "Bettering yourself isn't bad. Just have to decide which you want to do." she tells him with a soft smile. She figures out what she wants in little to no time and settles her menu down as well. Then she laughs, "Well, I'm glad that the post was getting peoples attention." she laughs. "I made Hank tank it down though after your text." she admits. "Running is good." she agrees. But mention of a dog makes her smile, "Any idea of what kind you'd like?" she asks him.

"I can show you a picture of mine if you like. Just didn't want to be rude and drag my phone out during dinner." she admits.

"Oh, so I slid in right under the gun, huh? I should meet Hank and give him a high five." Lalo's tone is a little bit teasing, but not completely so. After all, he did benefit from the ad, obviously. As for what type of dog he might want, he replies, "I'm thinking maybe a beagle. They're supposed to make good therapy dogs. But I might want something bigger 'cause I need to cement my rep as tough and cool." That is a joke. At least, probably, considering the grin. "I'd like to see a picture. It's not rude if I ask, right?"

"Yeah, you slid right in. Had one date, but I think it's going to be friends instead of anything romantic. Which is fine." Mariah states. "He was a nice guy and all." she adds. There's a smile when he mentions wanting a beagle, "Beagles are adorable." she tells him. "So are basset hounds." she states. "I don't think you need anything huge to asset your rep as being tough and cool." she winks at him. She takes her phone out of her pocket and brings up the gallery, scrolling to a picture of her dog, "This is Bruce. Got him from a rescue a few years ago." she tells him.

Picture: https://tinyurl.com/y2t5oj37

"Oh, I don't? Well, good. Then my plan's working real well so far." Lalo reaches for the phone when she hands it to him, turning it so that he can see it. He squints, pulling it a little bit closer and then holding it further away, until he finds the spot where he can see it. Maybe he's a little bit vain, or maybe he just forgot his glasses. "Aw," he says, the smile softening a little bit before he hands it back to her. "He's cute. Love the costume. He looks so annoyed that he's wearing that. Does he have sweaters, too?"

"What was the plan exactly?" Mariah asks him with a bit of a smile and a curious look. She was at least wanting to know if it was just Hank's fabulous ad that made him call. "He's not too mad about that when we go swimming for the last time. And the kids on the beach love it." she muses as she takes the phone back. "I don't put sweaters on him. The fin was just so I could keep track of him since he was prone to sneaking off." she laughs.

"Oh, move here, make a ton of friends, get that cool mysterious vibe going, and leave a ton of broken hearts when I move away," Lalo replies, though he lets out a little chuckle at this, shaking his head. "Nah. But it seemed like any boss who'd get an add like that put up for them must be pretty cool, so I figured, what the hell. And look, you are pretty cool."

He pauses then the server comes, ordering a cheeseburger with fries, with bacon. Since bacon is delicious. He also gets a beer, and so ordered, he turns back to Mariah with another laugh. "Smart," he says. "I used to take my brother to the park and put him in a bright orange shirt so I could keep an eye on him like that. He might've liked a shark fin better."

Mariah gives a laugh, "Oh, I'm going to be striking out with both dates it feels like." she teases. "I mean, you've got the mysterious vibe. So that's a check in your book. Just don't break too many hearts, yeah?" she muses. Mariah orders a grilled chicken sandwich with bacon and fries. Then she looks back to Lalo, "Well, you were also protecting him from hunters that might have been way off the path as well." she chuckles.

"I'll try to keep it to no more than I can count on one hand," Lalo promises with a wink, though it's slightly exaggerated, so that it comes off more goofy than suave, which might be what he was going for. He nods, though, becoming just a little bit more serious at her last words. Not too serious, though. Never too serious. "That's true," he concedes. "And hey, he always came home safe, so I call that a win. You got any brothers or sisters?"

"Oh just one hand, huh? All these Romeos in town." Mariah teases him gently. She does appreciate a bit of silliness and it shows. She shakes her head, "No, I'm sadly an only child and I don't think my parents were really fit to raise anyone else but me and not even me really." she shrugs a touch. "I would have liked to have had siblings though." she tells him. "How many do you have? Just the one brother?" she asks.

"Yeah. Mostly 'cause things get a little sketchy when I try to count higher than that." Lalo taps his temple, as though indicating that he's dumb, though the self-deprecating humor is light enough to be endearing. Hopefully, anyway. That's probably what he's going for, in any case. "Just me and him," he confirms. "He was a lot younger, though. Almost more like a nephew. So I don't know what it would've been like to have a closer sibling. But it was nice to have someone worship me growing up." He grins, before he adds, "You seem to have turned out pretty good."

Mariah gives a smile, "Do you need help counting past five? It is a problem that lots of people have these days, so you don't need to be shy about it." she teases him in a soft tone. Then she realizes that he's using past tense a lot for his brother, "Is your brother not with us anymore, Lalo?" she asks in a sober tone. Then she gives a nod, "Yeah, I basically raised myself so it could have been much, much worse." she chuckles.

"Oh, good. I didn't know if it was a first date sort of thing to say but I'm glad to know I'm not the only one." Lalo schools his face into a more serious expression, though the amusement still threatens to poke through. It turns into a surprised look when she asks the question, before he lets out a laugh and reaches up to run a hand over his face. "No," he says, again a little sheepishly, shaking his head, "no. He's fine. I just meant, back when we were kids he felt really young. Now that we're older it's different. But when you're fifteen and your brother's seven, you know. It's a different relationship."

Mariah tries not to laugh, but she raises her hand to try to hide it, but she can't, "We can absolutely get you help with that." she tells him. Then she breathes out a sigh of relief, "There was just a lot of past tense there and I didn't want to say something really dumb...but managed to anyway." she tells him. "He's half your age, so might have been like raising him a bit." she states. "But it's nice to have family." she smiles.

"Nah, don't worry about it," Lalo says with a shake of his head, "that dumb was all me. He's gonna laugh at my dumb ass when I tell him about it." He nods, however, when she says that it was more like raising him. "Our parents worked a lot so I did a lot of that. But yeah, family's good. King of nice to have someone who remembers you when you were a kid."

He pauses then, because their food arrives, and he leans back, looking up to the server with murmured thanks before his gaze moves back to his plat. "Damn, this looks great."

"Sounds pretty great to be honest." Mariah tells him. Then she's distracted by food and there's almost a little dance in the booth, but she is reserved this evening. "Thank you." she tells the server with a big smile. Then she picks up a fry and munches it. But she remembers her manners and gives a few quiet words before she does it again. "I know girls are supposed to eat like rabbits on the first few dates, but, I love food and I won't hide it." she chuckles.

Lalo doesn't seem to be about to say anything before he eats, but he does notice when she does, and he stops, refraining from beginning until she's through. "I'm glad you didn't" he admits, "because then I'd feel like an asshole being the only one eating while you just have a piece of lettuce and ice cubes with salt or something." He picks up his burger, taking a bite, and there's a little sigh of appreciation as he chews. "You know," he says once he's swallowed, "for a little town the food here's really good."

Mariah gives a soft smile, "Right? Just some salad and water. I can't live like that." she chuckles. "Most guys don't really like a girl who pigs out, but I work it all off anyways." she shrugs. "So you like running and you want a dog. You should definitely get some friends to do this with. I'd be happy to go sometime." she grins to that.

"Well, I hope you eat whatever you want here, 'cause I sure do. In fact, someone just told me to watch it yesterday," Lalo admits with a laugh, though he certainly doesn't seem to care. Probably whoever that was was joking, anyway, since he doesn't actually look like he's in danger of being overweight. "That sounds great," he says. "I got someone showing me a good trail tomorrow morning. Maybe we can get a group together or something. Keep me from getting too chunky in my old age." Again, it's a joke, though he is older than her, certainly.

"Psh, you don't need to watch anything. You're a handsome guy. You'll just run all the extra calories off from the ladies chasing you." Mariah tells him with a wink. Then she gives a smile, "Sure, I'd love to have more running partners and I'm not really going to be upset over meeting new people." she nods. "And you aren't that old. Come on." she tells him.

Lalo can't pretend that he isn't pleased by the compliment -- and anyway, why should he try? So he does not, and instead lets out a little chuckle. "Yeah, some of those broken hearts'll probably help me with that," he replies, before another laugh escapes him at her last words. It's an easy laugh, and it suits him as well. "I'm gonna be 41 in a minute," he admits, "but at least I'm young at heart, right? That's what's important."

Mariah gives a laugh, "That'll be the crunching you hear underneath your heels as you run. The shattering of so many hearts." she muses. There's a blink when he says that he's about to be 41, "I wouldn't not have pegged you for over 40, but there isn't anything wrong with older guys. I tend to prefer them. Far more mature and well, they can still have a good time." she smiles. "Young at heart is always a good thing and you seem real sweet as well." she admits.

"Oh, is that what it was? Thank god. I thought I was tracking glass into my house." Lalo grins, a little wryly, but he continues, "Thanks. I'd like to think I can still have a good time. Not quite that old yet."

His smile fades, but just a little bit as he leans forward. "I'm gonna lay it out," he says after another brief pause. "Probably too much for a first date, but hey, maybe I'm too old for bullshit. I like you. You seem fun, and you're cute. I'd like to go out again. But I haven't stayed in one place for that long in years, and I don't know how long I'm gonna be settled here, either, so I'm not gonna jump into anything real serious right away. I don't know if you're gonna be okay with that. If you aren't, I get it."

"Could be glass too, who knows?" Mariah gives a smile to that. Then there's a moment where she sobers a bit, looking to him and listening. "If it's information that someone /needs/ to know going in then it's not too much." she tells him. "And honestly, I'm not expecting anyone to jump into things quick. I just don't want to continually go out with a guy who is also seeing two or three other girls on the side and banging them all. Just...not into it." she admits with a shrug. "So if you are looking to date around and things, I understand that." she smiles to him.

Lalo looks mildly horrified for just a brief moment when she mentions banging several people at the same time -- or maybe not at the exact same time, but still. It's comical, really. There's amusement there, too, but...yes, definitely horror as well. "Now I know I'm old," he admits, "because that just sounds fucking exhausting." He grins at that, though again, wryly. "I'm definitely not interested in juggling a bunch of women at the same time, so you don't need to worry about that." He shakes his head, before he adds, "Let's just see where this goes. Yeah?"

"Right? I mean, I'm closing in on 30 and I'd rather save all that energy for banging ONE guy than bed hopping. Really." Mariah sighs to that. She just wasn't built for being with multiple people. "Your facial expressions are priceless though." she grins at him. "So, sure. Let's see where it goes. I think it'll be fun." she nods to that.

"No kidding. And I'd also like to get sleep now and then, 'cause this doesn't just happen." Lalo reaches up to gesture to his face, before another laugh escapes him at the comment about his expressions. "I'm gonna take that as a compliment," he says with a nod and a grin -- since clearly, it is. "Cool. Sounds good."

And while they don't end up at one or the other's places, they do have a good time, and no one tells the other to delete their number, so that's a plus.