First Date- a Novella Read Free Page B

realized there were nowhere near the number of people that should’ve been there even if lunch was an hour away. “If they look sick at the restaurant, we eat out of the vending machine,” he said, heading to the Chinese restaurant.
    Happy to see the staff healthy, Daniel placed his order then glanced around and noticed only a few of the booths and tables had costumers. “If this flu shot works, I’ll get one,” he vowed. It didn’t take long for the hostess to bring him his order, and Daniel fought the urge to run back to the office. A few more people were in the food court. Even the ones that didn’t have their heads down looked sick.
    Looking at his watch, Daniel thought out loud. “Maybe I can to get a flu shot real quick.”  Hearing his own voice, Daniel stopped and heard his Ranger instructor’s voice. “A hasty action always causes harm either to you or someone else. Make sure you know which and can live with it. A decision or action that comes from training is what you always fall back on.”
    “I’ll wait,” Daniel said and walked off but did speed up the pace. “If the shot works, I’ll get it in a week or so, and if not, I’ll just have to suck up being sick as shit.” Coming around the corner, he saw several people getting off the elevator, and only a few looked sick. Luckily, the ones who were staff at SCC didn’t look sick.
    Teresa saw Daniel and other employees coming down the hall and pressed the button under her desk to open the doors. Walking in, Daniel let the others pass as he stood off to the side. When they were gone, he walked over to Teresa. “I’ll put the food in the break room, and you can eat with us. You know how the bosses get when they see someone eating at their workstation.”
    “Thank you,” Teresa smiled. “Ginger won’t get mad, will she?”
    “Ah, why?”
    “You bought food for me.”
    Totally lost, Daniel shook his head. “I don’t know, but is this like poking fun at us southern boys?”
    A smile filled Teresa’s face as she laughed. “No, but if she gets mad, I’m giving you money.”
    Not saying another word, Daniel spun on his heel as another group of employees came in, and he followed them through the doors leading to the cubicles. Dropping off the food, Daniel walked back to Ginger’s office. He found her studying the screen as she scrolled with her mouse. “Ah Ginger, can I ask you a question?”
    “I can use chopsticks, and I like my fortune cookie, so I’ll wrestle you for it,” she said, never looking away from the screen.
      Daniel laughed as he walked over and noticed in her other hand was a chewed-on pen. “No, I bought Teresa’s food, but she said you would be mad. Are you?”
    A pang of jealousy hit Ginger as she looked up and saw an innocent look on Daniel’s face. “No, am I supposed to be mad?” she asked. She wanted to admit the jealous part, but honestly, she wasn’t mad.
    “Not according to the way I was brought up,” Daniel said, sitting down and looking out the window as more employees came back. “If a man offers, he can’t accept money. Hell, I watched my dad spank my brother because he let his girlfriend buy her own popcorn at the movies. My brother said she insisted, but Dad said he needed to dump the bitch if she didn’t like being treated like a lady.”
    A grin slowly spread across Ginger’s face as that one statement opened a vision into Daniel’s world. “Well, if you offered, I would be very disappointed if you had taken money,” she said, and Daniel let out a huge sigh of relief.
    “I was beginning to wonder about you northern girls for a minute,” he droned.
    “Just don’t go thinking I’m a girly girl,” Ginger chuckled.
    Daniel looked over at Ginger with a straight face, and she stopped chuckling. “My momma could out shoot my daddy and my older brother. One night, Daddy got drunk and pissed her off. Momma broke his jaw with her fist. Now, she also broke her hand, but Daddy was knocked