Alone Time?

By 18lzytwner

Chapter 1

Stephanie was excited. Sportacus had promised to come over and take her out to dinner. She had arrived today around two o'clock and Sportacus had picked her up from the train station. The sixteen year old could barely contain herself as she picked out something nice to wear.

Around four o'clock the doorbell rang and Bessie answered it. She let Sportacus in and commented that he looked sharp in his pants, shirt, and tie.

"I heard that." Mayor Meanswell yelled jokingly from the living room.

"I take it newlywed life is going along smoothly." Sportacus smiled.

"Yes, we are quite happy. I want to thank you for the gift you gave us. It was so thoughtful." Bessie smiled back.

"I think you have thanked me about twenty times since the wedding. I didn't think that a book could have such an effect." Sportacus winked at her.

Just then Stephanie came downstairs. Sportacus stood in amazement. She was wearing a pink dress that came down to her shins. The dress had spaghetti straps and the neckline came down just before her chest. It was conservative enough not to show her chest yet nice enough to draw some attention to it. The shoes she wore had two-inch heels and were open toed. She pulled a pink cover over her shoulders and smiled at Sportacus. He stood there with his mouth hanging open. Stephanie came over and closed his mouth for him.

"Ready to go?" She asked smiled. Bessie winked at Stephanie and she winked back.

"Sportacus?" She asked again. He snapped back to reality and said, "Yes, let's go." Being a gentleman he escorted Stephanie out the door and into a waiting taxi.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"A little place in FunTown called Chef Tony's. It has great Italian food or so I'm told." Sportacus told her.

"You look good in a tie. I'm surprised that you didn't wear your hat." Stephanie remarked.

"I couldn't wear my hat when I'm taking a lovely young lady out to dinner. Besides no one in FunTown will recognize me without my hero costume. That way we can have a nice quiet dinner alone." He explained. The taxi pulled up to the little Italian restaurant. Quickly Sportacus got out and opened the door for Stephanie. Then paying the cabbie he went over to Stephanie and the two entered the restaurant.

The hostess showed them to their table. They were enjoying their time alone when the hostess came back over and told Sportacus he had a phone call. Begrudgingly he left Stephanie and took the call.

Stephanie waited for him to come back. She hoped that he wouldn't be long. Since the wedding last summer the two had barely had some time alone. It was hard because he was a hero. Some emergency was always coming up and sometimes Sportacus would joke about giving up his life as an above-average hero. Finally he came back to the table rolling his eyes.

"Where were we?" He asked. Sportacus didn't say anything about the phone call. Stephanie didn't even bring it up. They just continued to enjoy each other's company until the waiter came over to take their order. Stephanie ordered Chicken Parmesan, which was her favorite Italian food. Sportacus ordered spaghetti and meatballs. The waiter left and they got back to talking.

They chit chatted until their food arrived. Then they ate in almost total silence. Ever since that phone call Sportacus seemed not able to focus on what was going on. Stephanie wanted to ask him if he was ok but she decided to wait until after dinner. They skipped dessert and Sportacus said that he had a surprise for her.

Leaving the restaurant, the two strolled down FunTown's main street until they came to a little shop called Sam's Apple Stand. There Stephanie got a caramel apple and Sportacus just got a regular one. Taking a bite Stephanie just stared at Sportacus. His Icelandic baby blues weren't as intense as they usually were. They were kind of dull and something about them looked sad.

She was about to ask him if everything was all right when he got up and threw out his apple. She noticed that he had barely touched any of it.

"Sportacus, is everything all right?" She asked, concerned.

To Be Continued…