No.
You think that you did the best that you could do.
It didn't really play out the way you imagined, but nonetheless you got to express your feelings towards her.
And you were shut down.
Is it really that much of a social taboo for an older woman to date a younger guy?
I mean, even if she IS half his age.
All of these semantics roll through your head as you begin to walk down the steps.
Your heart is heavy with disappointment.
Your mother's advice rings through your ears.
"Just date women your own age!"
...Its not like Velvet doesn't want you hanging around her daughter anymore.
You figure that you still have a chance with Twilight.
You sigh, turning onto the side walk, walking home.
You were hoping with all your heart that she would have some sort of reciprocation, but there was absolutely none from her.
She seemed so cold towards you.
Cheerilee was so much warmer towards you, and tried to be as gentle with letting you down as possible.
Velvet seemed like she wanted nothing to do with you.
She obviously cares about her daughter a lot.
...But what if she didn't like you?
You've barely known her for two weeks now...you don't figure why Velvet would even put Twilight's feelings for you into question with such little time.
Then again, that could have just been an excuse.
You're over thinking this.
You groan dramatically as you pass under a street light.
The light fades as you walk past it.
The light posts are sparse and not close together.
A lot like your life: Long periods of darkness with the occasional light spot.
Its those periods of light that keep you going.
But man, you're in a dark spot right now.
You're waiting for the next light post to pass by...metaphorically speaking.
Whatever. You're just going to go home and go to bed.
Its about time you get this shitty day over and done with.
You pull out your phone and check your messages.
A couple of new messages from some of your friends, none from Twilight.
You figure she's still talking to her Dad or something....
On the subject of Twilight, should you go for her?
Her mother made a good point: You both have similar interests and are good for one another.
You don't like her though...for whatever reason.
Sighing in frustration with yourself, you round another corner on the sidewalk.
Your mind drowned out in your own thoughts, you snap back to attention when you hear something off in the distance.
Klick klack klick klack klick klack.
Must be someone jogging.
Whatever.
You move to the far right side of the sidewalk to let them pass.
Then you realize something...
Joggers don't run in heels.
And those sound like heels.
Perplexed, you turn around...
Theres the lady in the pink dress...
"Velvet."
She continues to run up to you, but suddenly
KLACK!
She falls over, catching herself with her hands as she falls forward.
You rush over.
"Velvet?! What are you doing here?!"
She looks up at you and then back at her feet...
"Dammit...I broke it..."
"Well, yeah! You're running in heels...by the way, why are you running in heels?"
She starts to get up.
You offer her your hand.
She looks at it and then tenderly places her hand into yours.
...Its so soft.
You pull her up to her feet.
She's still catching her breath as she stands up.
"Anon..." she huffs.
"...Yes?"
"Remember when you asked," she huffs for more air, "How long has it been since I did something that made me happy?"
....You're shocked that she ran after you...you have trouble finding words...
You slowly nod your head.
"Its been a LONG time, Anon...A long time..."
You remain silent.
"I've been raising Twilight on my own for several years...and even though my ex husband pays for a lot...its been hard...I've tried to be the best mother I can be. for her."
"Velvet..."
"So when you ask me if I'm interested, what am I supposed to say?"
You lower your head, thinking and then bring it back up to look her in the eye.
"You're supposed to say whatever you feel."
She stares back at you, having caught her breath.
She looks down at her broken shoe and sighs.
Looking back up at you she says, "I'm interested, Anon...I've tried dating men my age...but I just feel like I'm dating old sweaty guys who are desperate for someone..."
She steps towards you, her walk looking a bit funny since she has only one intact heal on.
"But I feel guilty...because I know Twilight feels the same."
You give her a stern look.
"Twilight barely knows me...and I'm not interested in her...so whats there to feel guilty about?"
She folds her hands in front of her, looking down at them as she thinks about what you've said.
"You really are interested in me?"
"Yes. Absolutely."
"Why?"
"Is it just because of-"
"I already told you. You make me laugh...you have a wonderful personality...and well..."
You sigh and grip your hands into fists.
"I think you're beautiful."
She blushes and smiles a little bit.
"Anon...I just..."
She fidgets.
"I need some time to think...but I figured you deserved to know why I said no."
You nod and smile.
"I do now."
"But I want you to have this.
She pulls out her phone and types out her phone number, showing you the screen.
"Whats this?"
"My number..." she say sheepishly.
You stare at it in awe
You get your phone out so that you can type her into your contacts.
She holds it out as you glance from your phone to her phone a couple of times, making sure all the numbers are right.
You triple check it.
Hitting the okay button, you now have Velvet in your contacts.
Scarcely believable.
She holds her phone in her hands as she locks it.
"I've never done anything like this before, Anon...so..."
She sighs and pushes some of her multi-colored hair out of her eyes.
"If I seem hesitant, its not that I'm uninterested."
"No, I understand." you say, trying to confirm that you know how she feels.
"Good...well..."
She steps forward to you a little closer.
"I think I should get back. Twilight will wonder where I am...and why I have a broken shoe."
She leans forward.
Her scent invades your senses of smell...
Her blue eyes lock with yours as she plants a kiss on your cheek.
Some of her weight presses into you as she does.
You're in heaven right now.
Finishing her kiss, she stands back up straight and smiles at you.
"Call me." she says.
She begins taking off her heels.
"Should I take you home?" you ask.
She shakes her head and smiles.
"No, I'll just go barefoot...I can't believe I ruined these."
You glance at her feet.
Anon, don't get any ideas.
"Are you sure?"
She nods.
"I'll be extra careful not to step on anything."
"Yeah. Watch out for glass..."
She smiles again.
Before turning around she says, "Goodnight, Anon."
".....Goodnight, Velvet."
You watch as she starts to walk off.
You look at her feet again.
But this time, not in a perverse way.
You can't help but feel sorry for her.
No lady should have to walk home barefoot on a dirty sidewalk.
You start walking towards her again.
"Velvet!"
She turns around, her balled up hand up to her chest.
"A-Anon? Whats the matter?"
You walk around her and turn towards her.
"Let me carry you home." you say with a small grin on your face.
"W-What?" she stammers.
"Come on, you want to feel young again, right?"
"What?!" she says, embarrassed.
You turn around and lean.
"Come on." you gesture.
"Anon...I don't know."
"I'm not letting you walk home barefoot. What kind of man would I be if I let you do that?"
She sighs.
"Alright..."
She shifts over to you so that she's behind you.
She puts one leg over your shoulder...
Then the other.
As soon as both legs are over you stand up with her as fast as you can, throwing her up a little bit.
She gives out a slight squeal as you do.
You start laughing.
You wait a few seconds...
She starts giggling.
Oh man. Mission accomplished. Got her to laugh.
You're now walking Velvet home on your back.
She's a lot lighter than you imagined.
Her weight pressing against you makes your testosterone flare up a little bit, but nothing too major...
"Anon...What if Twilight sees?"
"Who cares? I'm just carrying you on my shoulders."
She sighs a little bit.
"You okay?"
"Mhm...I just wasn't expecting this..."
You hold on to the front her legs.
Your fingers drag across them slightly as you take each step...
Her legs are soft as silk.
She's gotten a lot quieter from her usual self.
She's usually really out spoken and not afraid to speak up...
Maybe she hasn't been in a situation like this in awhile.
Or ever.
A car drives by as you're doing this.
You can't help but feel a little embarrassed.
You have a woman sitting your shoulders, after all.
"Anon..."
"Yeah?"
"This is kind of embarassing..."
You won't admit that you feel the same.
You scoff.
"Who cares what people think?"
"I do!"
"Well tough shit. You could step on a nail or something."
She bops the top of your head from up there.
"Ouch."
"Don't curse at me." she says jokingly.
You smile.
A few seconds pass.
"Anon?"
"Yeah?"
"Am I heavy?"
"Yeah. I can barely lift you."
She gives an offended gasp.
You laugh at her reaction.
"I'm just joking, calm down."
She giggles.
"Me too."
Another bonk on your head.
You feel as if you're falling in love with her every second that she's up there.
You turn around the corner, her house just up the sidewalk.
This beautiful moment can't last forever.
"Do you want to go around the block again?"
"What? No! I gotta get home!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! I don't want Twilight to see us..."
"I should probably put you down now then...we're almost there."
"Oh...Alright."
You bend your legs and let her down.
She slides off and stands up.
You turn around.
As you face her, she's smiling at you...her hands folded in front of her.
"Thank you, Anon. I'm glad I didn't have to walk home barefoot, admittedly."
"It was my pleasure. Really."
Her face gets red, as you can see her face clearly under the streetlight.
Her hair is in her face a little bit, ruffled up from the wind passing her as you carried her home.
She looks absolutely beautiful right there.
Her shimmering blue eyes reflect the light of the street light.
You stare into them, as she stares back into yours.
Only for just a moment...but it feels like minutes.
She still has that little happy grin on her face.
"No one has been this nice to me in a long time. Even though it was something that small...you're right...I do feel young again."
Your heart skips a beat.
"You're not old. You're far from that. And you look more beautiful than most, if not all the girls I go to high school with."
"Anon..." she says, smiling wider.
"Its true! They wear like...miles of make-up and look completely fake...dress like sluts. And you wonder why I'm attracted to older women."
She fidgets, but a still happy grin on her face as she looks down at the ground and up at you again repeatedly.
"They're still finding out who they are...they'll figure it out eventually."
You nod.
"Maybe...but I know for a fact that I don't want to deal with their garbage."
"Understandable." she says, nodding a little.
Her face is still red as a tomato.
She still holding both of her heels in one hand, playing with her hair a little bit with the other one.
You don't know why but you get this feeling that she's really enjoying this.
Must be the big smile on her face.
"Well, I better get going." you say, stretching your arms out above you and pulling your back muscles.
"What? Oh..." she says, looking down towards the sidewalk.
She looks disappointed.
"Well, I'll talk to you later then."
"Yup. Peace."
You walk past her.
She looks towards you as you pass her, but then turns around and starts walking home.
You stop and turn around...heading towards her again.
"Being on my shoulders might be a bit ridiculous."
She barely gets a chance to turn around.
"But if she sees this..."
"Anon? Ano-WHA-"
"Just say you sprained your ankle!"
You scoop her up in your arms.
She giggles a bunch, realizing you were faking her out bye saying goodbye to her.
"Anon!" she says, still giggling, "Put me down! She'll see!"
"Who cares! You have a sprained ankle, remember?"
You bring her all the way up to her front steps.
Every second that she's in your arms is perfection.
As you bring her up to the front steps, you gently set her down onto her feet.
She still hasn't got all her giggles out.
"Anon, you make me feel like I'm in high school again."
"Well you look young enough to be. Could have fooled me."
She smiles widely again.
She pushes the hair out of her face.
"Anon, I really want to see you again."
"I feel the same." you say, staring directly into her eyes.
She steps a little bit closer to you, looking up at you.
"Anon. I just need to ask you something."
"Yeah?"
"Are you sure that you want this?"
"...What do you mean?"
"I just want to know if you're serious or not. In High School guys play a lot of games...but I see this as us both being adults. So I just want to confirm that you aren't just trying to...."
She shifts uncomfortably, looking away from you.
"Well, you know."
Your face gets warm, but you try to ignore your embarrassing feelings.
"Thats not the only thing I'm after..." you say, looking away.
She pushes you.
"So you ARE after that!" she says with a smile.
"Wh-What?! Well...Its not the ONLY thing I'm after!"
"But you're after it..." she says with a mischievous grin, swinging from side to side a little bit.
"We-Well...I uhh..I just...I mean I don't think-"
"I'm joking, Anon." she says, giggling at your inability to formulate your sentence properly.
She walks up to you, her joking push moving you away from her a little bit.
"When do I get to see you again, Anon?" she says as she re approaches you.
"Well...I'm not sure, exactly."
You think about school, but you also think about Twilight.
You also start thinking about dates...and how you have literally no money or anything to fund them.
Oh boy.
Well...maybe you can just hang out until you can find a job...
You're not sure.
"Anon?"
"Oh. Sorry. Thinking..."
"Thinking about what?"
"Well..."
Suddenly you hear Twilight.
"Mom?" you hear her call from inside of the house.
Both her and your eyes widen as you hear her.
"Crap. I better get going, Anon."
"Right, Right...Umm...Well, I'll call you, okay?"
She blushes and grins a little bit
"Okay, Anon. Talk to you soon."
You smile and wave as she goes back inside.
Hopefully she can think of a good excuse for the broken heel that she's carrying in her hand.
You decide to get out of there. Would be weird explaining to Twilight why you're standing in her front lawn at night.

Author's Note

I know this is late and not in the correct format. I blame google docs and my need for an editor. Birthday passed so that didn't help, but here is the new chapter!