Can't Help Falling in Love by David W. Menefee, Carol Dunitz

opened, she ran right into
Karen, who emerged clutching her large portfolio case.
        
“And where are you going all dolled up?” Karen demanded to know. “I thought you
and I were having dinner together. I’ve been waiting to hear all the news you
were going to share with me!”
        
Allison smiled slyly. “It’ll have to wait.”
        
“Who is he?”
        
“I’ve got an extremely important early dinner engagement.”
        
“So I see. And I repeat: who is he?” She eyed her sister’s outfit and nodded to
show her approval. “I’m sure he expects you’ll add some spice to the meal—or
should I say the evening?”
        
“Karen! You’re always assuming there’s more to these situations than there
could ever be. This is a business meeting. If I thought the way you do about
such matters, I’d be—”
        
“You’d be having a lot more fun. Relax. I’m sorry if I’ve gotten you worked up.
I want everything to go well. You look lovely. You’re very capable, and you’ve
got lots of talent. Go get ’ em !” Karen turned and
headed for their apartment. 
        
Allison emerged from her building to the parking lot. This
afternoon—and maybe tonight—will be important. I don’t want to get my hopes up too high, but I’m finding that suppressing my
excitement is too difficult. An early dinner with any handsome man at the Arcade is an adventure, but with him I can’t help but believe that something wondrous
might happen!
        
Allison found that keeping her mind on the road proved difficult. She wondered, What could he be wearing with blue suede shoes? How many people will be inside the
diner? Will any of them be famous? I met Patti Page there once, so you never
know who might show up. So what if there’s no candlelight and flowers? There’s
more to enjoying a man than being distracted by such superfluous things like
that. Besides, I already know enough about him to know that just being with him
is going to be great. And those booths are so sweet! You can either sit side by
side or sit across from each other, lean forward, and look into each other’s
eyes without a thought about anyone else in the world. I wonder if he’s
thinking the same thing right now about me? Could he
be?
         That thought was tantalizing
and almost too much so. She bit her lip just pondering the possibility. As she
turned the corner onto South Main in the downtown area, she tried with little
success to snap back to reality. This is, after all, just a
business meeting , she cautioned herself . She drew in a deep breath in an effort to calm down. 
Still, she could not stop her heart from racing in anticipation, as she drove
to the intersection at Patterson Street and saw the bright neon sign arched
over the restaurant’s front entrance.
        
The restaurant was packed. The bright atmosphere and the din of dozens of
conversations going on at once seemed almost overwhelming. Allison looked for
her date, but all she saw was the crowd of people occupying all the booths and
boomerang tables that were faded and worn around the edges due to thousands of
coffee cups, plates, and elbows rubbing across them.
        
The seating hostess noticed her searching gaze and asked, “Can I help you?”
        
“I’m meeting someone. He might be here already. You might have noticed him.
He’s probably wearing blue suede shoes. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s—”
        
“Right here,” a soft baritone male voice said from behind her. 
        
Allison turned to see him standing so near to her shoulder that she could not help
but smell a whiff of his Sportsman Aftershave. She felt his warm hand touch her
shoulder. He said, “I sure am glad you could come here on short notice. You
look like a million dollars!”
        
Allison laughed. “Thank you! Do you still have to make a reservation for a
simple booth here?”
        
“Everyone does,” he said. “I eat here so