Robert carefully maneuvered the Yellow, Vintage F250 pickup truck until it was adjacent to some other vehicles parked near the large manor. As he turned off the engine, he took a second to look at the old truck’s interior. He had only gotten it recently but he felt that it had character and gave the previous owner a good deal for it. The truck had to be at least from the 1970s but it didn’t look worn down at all despite it having been involved in at least 4 car crashes. The friendly old man who sold it to Robert said it was dependable and indestructible and so far it had proven to be just that.

Robert got out and looked around. He thought the place looked familiar. [i] “It looks very similar to an older and larger version of Aunt Harley’s house,” [/i] he thought. He grabbed his simple, gray panama fedora and his remarkably large and overstuffed black duffel bag from the truck before locking it. He slipped the bag across his shoulder and the hat onto his head.

The gray hat matched his gray slacks and gray and white saddle shoes. He also wore a black wrinkle-free button down shirt and red suspenders. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to wear. The letter didn’t say but he had a few changes in clothes, something for every occasion, just in case. He approached the house, brimming with excitement and wondering what waited inside. When he reached the door, he knocked once before realizing it was ajar. He smiled, sighed, and then went inside.

He could hear voices and seeing no one else decided to move towards the sounds. Having missed all the previous events and conversations, Robert walked in clueless during a lull in the conversation. He quickly surveyed the room. Robert asked in a friendly tone, “Hey guys. What’s going on here?”

The girls all caught his eye but one near the window stood out in particular. Before anyone could answer his question, he strolled over to Kara. [i] “No sense in being coy” [/i] he thought. He leaned on the wall near her, smiled warmly at her, and said “Hello. Do you know what time it is?” 

He immediately thought, [i] “Oh God! Oh God! Crap! Crap! Crap! But there is sense in using lines better than that. Like any line, any line at all. There are billions of lines and you go with that crap.” [/i] He calmed down, exhaled, and thought, [i] “Hey. No. It’s cool. You’re fine, besides, on the bright side, if she does give you the time, you’ll know that she will at least give you the time of day, and that’s not a bad start, right?” [/i] He fiddled with the ring on his right middle finger as he awaited her response.