"Would you hate me if we went somewhere cheap for our first date?"
"Who said there was going to be more than one?" Larissa teased. Chris grabbed his chest in mock hurt.
"Ouch." Larissa just laughed.
"Where did you have in mind?"
"There's an In-N-Out Burger around the corner..." he trailed off, waiting for her answer.
"That sounds good."
"Oh, thank God. I was afraid you were going to be a vegetarian or something," they both laughed.
"No way! I love me a good burger!"
"Good. Otherwise we couldn't even be friends," Chris joked.
"Wow. That much of a deal breaker? That's a little shallow, isn't it?" Chris just shot her a smirk and held out his arm to her.
"Shall we walk?"
"Sure," Larissa laced her arm through his. "Hopefully it's still nice out. What time is it anyway?" Chris looked at his watch as they started out the studio.
"Almost 7:30."
"Jeese, no wonder I'm starving."
"Yah, that took a lot longer than I expected. Not that I had anything better to do," Chris looked at Larissa and smiled. "Have you ever done tv before? You were great today, by the way."
"Aw, thank you. It was easy with you around. Didn't feel like work. And not exactly. I've done a couple super, super small things on some other shows, but nothing like this."
"How long have you lived here, anyways?" Chris asked as they stepped out into the cool night air. "You said at the audition that you weren't sure you were ready to date 'L.A. People'."
"Oh. That." she looked down at her feet like she was embarrassed. "About a year and a half."
"Wow..." Chris paused, not really sure what to say. He was used to meeting plenty of people who weren't from L.A., but all the questions he would normally ask "outsiders" seemed trivial asking of Larissa. Anything non-cliche eluded him.
"So how do you like it?" His own words made him grimace.
"I'm still here, aren't I?" she smiled wanly.
"Where are you from?" Larissa sighed and laughed at the same time.
"Can we get all of the boring, customary questions out of the way so we can move on to something more interesting?" Chris smirked, but couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about how much she kept trying to avoid questions about where she was from.
"Listen, Larissa, it's none of my business, but is there a reason why you don't like talking about certain things? I'm just trying to get to know you. Did something...happen to you, in the past?" He felt like he was pushing his luck, but he wanted everything laid out on the table, for some reason.
"No! God no! I didn't mean to give that impression. It's just, I don't know," she shrugged. "It's nothing exciting. People here usually make fun when I tell them. Plus, does it really matter? Like, in the grand scheme of things, does it make a difference?" Chris had never really thought about it that way. It was such a typical question to ask people when you were getting to know them that he had never really put it in perspective.
"Well, no, of course not. I just never thought about it that way before. Asking it is just second-nature."
"I'm sorry," Larissa sighed and shook her head. "I'm being totally neurotic, aren't I? I just, I haven't really been able to make friends out here very easily and telling them about where I'm from and what I like to do in my spare time, blah blah blah hasn't really helped matters."
"What if I promise not to laugh?"
"You can't promise something like that and you know it," she poked him in the ribs.
"Let me ask you another boring question then: Siblings?"
"Nope. Only child. You?" They reached the restaurant and walked inside and continued talking as they waited in line to order.
"One sister, younger. Her name's Megan. I love her, but we're a lot different from one another. The only reason we even see each other as often as we do is because we visit our parents so much."
"What are they like?"
"Oh, they're great. They're really sweet people. We all get along really well. What do you want to order?"
"Hmm, everything sounds good," she said as she looked at the menu above the counter. "How about a double cheeseburger, a small fry, oh! And a strawberry milkshake! Oh my God, that sounds so good!" Chris had let go of her arm and stared at her with his mouth agape.
"What? I told you I was really hungry," she said quietly and looked at her feet again. Chris lifted her chin with his index finger.
"It's fine. How on Earth did you manage to land this part, anyways? You're like an oxymoron. One moment you're teasing me and the other you act like you have self-esteem issues."
"I'm a girl and I live in L.A. Of course I have self-esteem issues." They both laughed. "You just met me at a weird time in my life." They moved forward in line and Chris order for both of them.
"So, only child, when is your birthday?" he asked as they found an empty booth.
"May 17th."
"Oh wow. That's like a week away." There was an awkward pause.
"What?" Larissa asked.
"I feel like you left the year out on purpose, but I really want to ask even though I know it's not very polite and I was raised better than that." Larissa laughed.
"How old do you think I am?" Chris thought about it for a minute, not wanting to offend her.
"Don't get mad at me if I'm way off. I'm terrible at guessing age, always have been."
"Just guess. I won't be offended."
"Mmm...I want to say 19, but you act more like 24. Does that make any sense?" Larissa laughed loudly.
"Yes. People always tell me I act older than I am despite my neurotic tendencies sometimes. I'm 22."
"So you're getting ready to turn 23?"
"That's usually how it works," she winked at him as she sucked on her milkshake. A silence fell over them as they ate. Awhile later, when they were both full and just nibbling at the rest of their fries and burgers, Larissa finally spilled the beans.
"I'm from Iowa. I love my parents dearly, but I've been dreaming of leaving there since I can remember. Everything you hear about Iowa and how terribly boring it is? Completely true. Like I said, I'm an only child, so that just made it even worse. I want to have lots of kids some day for that reason. I refuse to only have one and do that to my kid. Don't get me wrong. I'm really good at keeping myself entertained now, but again. It would have been nice to have someone to keep me company growing up. Not that I didn't have friends. Ok. I'm rambling." Chris just stared at her, speechless again.
"I like scrapbooking, reading romance novels, writing, and trying new recipes. I was a cheerleader in high school which even makes me cringe thinking about it. I love swimming. I'd love to be able to goon a bunch of beach vacations some day. I cry every time I watch E.T. Every. Single. Time." Larissa paused to catch her breath.
"I think that about covers it...Oh. And, as you can probably imagine, my parents weren't crazy about me moving away, let alone out here, by myself. But, we talk on the phone a lot. Your turn." Chris finally closed his mouth and tried to think of what he wanted to say first. Instead, a laugh came out.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at what you told me," he put his hands in front of him. "Just the way you came out with it. Was that so bad?"
"No, but let's talk about something more interesting now. Right after you tell me about yourself, of course. That's only fair and I do want to know."
"What do you want to know? I'm an open book." He leaned forward and folded his hands together on the table.
"Birthday?"
"August 26th...1980."
"Hmm. I always did have a thing for older men," Larissa gave him a playful look.
"Well, I guess it really is my lucky day then," Chris gave her his charming smile.
"What do you do in your free time? Do you do anything besides acting? Crap. You know what I mean...Right? Like a normal job?" Chris couldn't help but laugh.
"Practically my whole immediate family has acted at some point in their lives. Acting is a "normal job" to us," he continued to chuckle.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."
"No, it's ok. You didn't know. It was funny. It's fine. Honest." An awkward silence fell over them.
"So, hobbies?" Larissa offered.
"Right. Uh...I don't know. I guess I don't really have any."
"Seriously? Oh come on. There has to be something."
"I do like to read...Does working out and binge eating carbs in front of the tv count as hobbies?" he laughed. "Not necessarily at the same time, by the way." Larissa shot him a look.
"No. Don't tell me you're one of those freaks who actually enjoys working out either." Chris laughed even more.
"God, no! You're one to talk, though. Look at you!" She was 5'7"and all of 130 pounds. Larissa rolled her eyes.
"I don't hate exercising, but it's not my favorite. You really don't have any hobbies? That's kind of sad," she frowned. Chris finally thought of something.
"I like hiking. One of my favorite things is going out to the woods and just getting away from the noise. It's a bit overwhelming sometimes, isn't it?" Larissa nodded in agreement.
"The noisiest thing in Iowa is the wind," they both laughed.
"What about you? Do you work anywhere, regularly?" Larissa wrinkled her nose up some.
"I work at a diner...As a waitress. Hello. My name is Larissa and I'm a walking cliché," she held out her hand as they chuckled. "It wouldn't be so bad if my boss weren't such a pain in the ass. It's not like I'm not used to working at restaurants. I'd much rather work in the kitchen, though. Have I mentioned I really like cooking?" Chris ventured to put his hands on top of hers, which were now resting on the table dangerously close to his.
"Do you want to get out of here?"
"Yes," she answered a little too quickly.
"So," Chris looked at his watch. "It's only 8:15. Walk back to our cars, or walk around a bit? Totally up to you. I'm just glad you were ready to go. I was starting to get a headache from the noise in there."
"I was starting to get all anxious. Usually lots of people don't bother me too bad, but after working all day today I feel like all the nerves in my body are standing at attention." Chris waited for her to decide what to do. She finally realized what was going on.
"Oh. Right. 'Only 8:15'? You're a night owl, aren't you?"
"Guilty," he raised one hand in the air. "Are you one of those elusive 'morning people' I've heard about?"
"Also guilty. What can I say. It was ingrained into me. The day starts early on the farm." Chris tried to hide a smile, hoping Larissa wouldn't notice.
"See!" she pointed accusingly at him. "You're trying not to laugh!"
"Come on! You lived on a farm too? You're right. You are a cliché, but I like it." Without thinking about it or even realizing what was happening, Chris found himself leaning in towards Larissa with his lips pressed against hers. He immediately pulled back once he regained his senses.
"Oh my God! I'm so sorry. I..." A look of horror washed over his face and a feeling of dread filled him.
"It's ok," Larissa tried to hide the look of surprise on her face.
"I didn't mean to. I don't know what came over me. Can I still walk you to your car? Because it's getting late. It would just make me feel better, is all." Larissa looked down, trying to hide the smile spreading across her face at Chris' expense. She rested her hand on the inside of his arm. He couldn't help but tense at her sudden touch. They began walking back toward the studio parking lot.
"Listen, Chris. I would totally stay out with you longer if I didn't have to be up early for work tomorrow. Don't worry about it,"Larissa patted his arm with her free hand. He relaxed his muscles and they walked in silence for a block.
"Chris?"
"Yah?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"What have you been doing for the past two weeks? We've answered most of the rudimentary questions, so we can move on to fun things now, right?" Chris grinned.
"Sure. But that had to be the one thing you asked me, didn't it?"
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Well, I could tell you the truth at the expense of embarrassing myself further and possibly freaking you out even more. Or, I could lie to you and feel like a total ass." Larissa didn't say anything, but he knew she was waiting for him to tell the truth. Chris took a deep breath and sighed.
"Honestly? I've been a fucking wreck for the past two weeks."
"Why?" Chris shot her a look.
"You're really going to make me say it out loud?"
"Why not? Chris, you just kissed me. I read romance novels. I'm a glutton for this stuff." Chris chuckled in spite of himself.
"I was scared to death I was never going to see you again," he said quietly. It was his turn to look down at his feet in embarrassment.
"What would you have done if I hadn't been the one who got that part?" Larissa stopped walking.
"Probably would have gone insane and ended up in a mental institution eventually."
"I'm serious, Chris," though she couldn't help but laugh.
"So am I," he looked into her eyes completely straight faced. They paused before starting to walk again.
"What is it about me?" she ventured.
"Now you're just fishing for compliments," they both giggled. Chris regretted that they were almost back to the studio. The parking lot was in view. Neither of them spoke until they reached the edge of it.
"Which one is yours?"
"It's over there," Larissa pointed. There weren't many cars left, so her black Saturn was easy to spot. They stood staring at each other for a long moment before Larissa started fumbling for her keys in her purse.
"I don't know what it is about you. It's not something I can pinpoint, but everything all at the same time. Do you think I'm crazy?" Larissa shook her head silently.
"Do you have something I can write on?" he asked. She dug around in her purse some more and found an old envelope and handed it to him.
"Pen?"
"Right," she started digging again. "It's been a long day." Larissa fished out a pen and handed it over. Chris scribbled some numbers on the envelope and handed it back.
"Will you call me?" he asked almost sadly, already afraid that she wouldn't. She simply nodded.
"I'll see you soon," she smiled as she opened the driver's side door and got situated. "I had a really good time. I promise," she tried to reassure him.
"Me too. See ya soon. Drive safe," he took a few steps back as he watched her pull away. He suddenly felt very tired himself and couldn't wait for his head to hit his pillow at home. Definitely not the way he had hoped their first date would go, but it definitely could have been worse too. Despite the night's bumps, he was hopeful he would be seeing Larissa more outside of work. God, the next shooting day is a week from now. Please let her call before then, Chris thought to himself as he approached his own car.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
