After the Strip · MAVEN
Do You Mean a Date?
Liking someone leaves plenty of room for interpretation. An actual invitation gives Maven something she can answer.
She and Eli have history, including an awkward experience with borrowed money. They also have an interest in spending time together. Neither fact supplies a complete description of what this next outing will be.
Making a date means getting specific enough that both people know what they are agreeing to. A time and place make an invitation usable. It belongs on a calendar alongside the rest of Maven’s life, which has continued to contain obligations despite the presence of an appealing man.
She does not have to turn one invitation into a prediction about the relationship. She can want the afternoon, ask what she needs to know, and show up interested in the person who is actually there.
There is pleasure in being clear enough to stop interpreting and start looking forward to something. For now, they have a date. The rest will require more time together.
What would you need to ask to turn an appealing possibility into a plan you can actually answer?