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Megan and her mom meet Greg and the drama kids at the theatre for the Hitchcock double feature.

As promised mom moves down towards the front, a little ways from Greg and Megan.  Most of the drama crew go towards the middle and Greg leads Megan to a row closer to the back near the aisle.  "The sound is best here, and we're far enough away from the screen to take it all in without having to crain our necks."

The first show is 'To Catch a Thief".  Greg is quiet during the film, only responding if asked a question.

After the show ends he suggests coffee, "Cafe Americana is right across the street,  best coffee in the city."

When the first movie ended, Megan was at least grateful that Greg had been right that they had not had to crane their neck.  But otherwise, so far this “date” had far less action than her one with Zack earlier in the evening.  She figured she should not have been too surprised that Greg had actually wanted to watch the movie, but was still a bit disappointed.

When he mentioned the coffee, she nodded with a smile.  “Yeah, that sounds good.”  She replied.  I’m going to need it if all we do is watch the next movie.  She looked over where her mom was, again bummed that she had actually come along, feeling that this date really could not get much worse.  “Well, I should see if my mom wants anything from there.”  She said, hoping that she would not want to come along as well.

"Why not have her come with us.  No sense in abandoning her."  Greg makes  his way down to where Erin is sitting, a few moments later she follows him back up and the three of them cross the street to the cafe for coffee.

If nothing else, Greg was right, the coffee there was excellent.

"So, Megan says you want to be a director?"   Erin says, "That's certainly something to aspire to."

"Yes.  I've made a few films, and I'm working on getting the resources together to make a bigger film maybe in the spring.  I prefer the thriller, which is why I'm such a huge Hitchcock fan."

"I'm going to head back over.  I'll see you two after 'Frenzy'."  with that Megan's mom heads back to the theatre.

"Your mom seems pretty nice."  Greg says, "And I get the impression tonight isn't what you thought it would be.  Is something wrong?"

Megan nodded as she watched her mom head back across the street.  “Yeah, mom is pretty cool, even if she had to totally embarrass me by coming along.  I was really hoping she would just drive me out here just to be sure this was where we would be and then go home.  She hasn’t gone along on a date with me since Seventh Grade.” 

She looked back over at Greg and smiled.  “Just can’t wait to hear about it on Monday, the cheerleader who’s mom went to the movies with her.  It will take some work to live that one down.” 

"Well, I'd rather it be that then the cheerleader who spent her first date with a guy making out in a dark theatre.  Embarassment comes in many colors."  Greg says, sipping his coffee.

“Well, I would not really be that embarrassed about that, especially with the right guy.”  Megan replied with a shrug as she took a drink of her coffee.  Part of her considered going back to the theater and telling her mom she was ready to go home so she could get some sleep.  But a big part of her still said she should try to stick through this, even if Greg seemed be acting like a self-righteous jerk.  If nothing else it could be practice for future dates that were disasters.

"So, let me get this straight.  You'd spend a couple of hours making out with someone on the first date, someone you barely know?"  He seems suprised.

“I believe I said, ‘especially with the right guy’, but yes, I would, and have.”  Megan replied.  “I mean, making out can be fun, haven’t you ever played spin the bottle or seven minutes in heaven?  But doing so on a date, you have chosen the one you think you might like to be intimate with.  Would I like to have some balance between making out and spending time together doing other things on a date?  Yes.  Heck, even my mom, when she said she wanted to come along, promised she would sit up in front of us so she wouldn’t be able to see what we might be doing.”

"That's odd is all.  You struck me as someone that would be more careful in relationships is all.  Me, I much prefer to know a person and have there be just the right moment for the first kiss.  I guess it's the hopeless romantic in me."

While Megan might have normally found a comments like the one Greg just made about being a hopeless romantic and the perfect kiss rather cute and endearing, this time they were lost behind his suggestion that she was careless in her relationships.  “More careful in relationships?”  She asked, her face showing her irritation.  “You make it sound like I have been taking trips to the third floor storage closet with guys from the football team by ascending number.”

“Gee, guess the fact that I have kissed and made out with a boy or two on the first date tarnishes me in your eyes.”  She glanced at her watch as she started to stand up.  “Looks like we had better head back if you don’t want to miss the second movie.”

"Tarnish?  No.  You just always seem to be very careful about what you say and who you hang out with.  Kissing on the first date just didn't seem to fit in that frame is all, just goes to show that you learn something new everyday."  They head back across the street towards the theatre.  "So, you mentioned 'the right guy' before.  What are some of the things you look for in a guy that make him right?"

Megan was still angry with Greg over the things he had said, but she realized that letting her anger control everything she said would likely only ensure that the rest of the time tonight would be unpleasant.  Looking over at him, she gave a secretive smile as she replied.  “Oh, but to tell you that would allow you to figure out if that might include you.  That would make things too easy.””

"I suppose.  Well, would you say that you have romantic standards or compatibility standards, basicly is it more important for the right guy to mesh well with you or do you like to feel a romantic attachment?"

Megan sighed quietly, not really wanting to talk about what she might look for in a boy.  But she did respond with a casual tone.  “Why does it have to be either one all the time?  But truthfully, I kind of feel like I would like someone that could be a little bit of both.”

"That's good to know."

The second movie 'Frenzy' is from the 70s and it shows in the cloths and other aspects.  Greg is quiet through the film, watching the movie intently.  Once it's over and everyone has left the theatre Greg says goodnight to the drama kids and then comes back over to Megan and her mom.  "It was nice meeting you Mrs. Howell."   he shakes her hand and smiles.  "I hope you guys enjoyed the movies, I had a nice time.  Maybe we can do this again sometime."  he smiles and waves good-bye, "Goodnight."   With that he turns and heads back towards his car.

"He seems nice."  Erin says as she heads towards their car.

“Night Greg.”  Megan replied with a smile as she waved and then followed after her mom towards the car.  “Yeah, I guess.”  She replied as the got into the car, feeling incredibly tired and not quite sure how she had stayed awake during the second film.

After they were on their way, Megan was silent for a bit before she spoke up.  “Mom, I’m sorry to have wasted your time and had you stay up all night.  Over all this ‘date’ was pretty lame.”

"Oh, I'm sorry honey.  I enjoyed it.  You didn't want to see the movies?"

Megan sighed as she shrugged, a gesture that was likely lost as her mom was focused on the road.  “Well, I did because Greg wanted to.  But I wasn’t fully expecting it to all be just watching them.  Guess I should have realized that given how focused Greg is on becoming a director and whatnot.” 

"Ohhhh."  the long drawn out word was accompanied by a smile.  "So a boy invited you to the movies and you're disappointed because you watched movies."  her mom almost doesn't keep from laughing, "In the world of teenage romance that must be a major catastrophe."

Megan scowled at her mom, something she likely could not see as well as she replied.  “No, not really, but when added with the fact that my mother came along, the gossip come Monday will be very unflattering.”  She considered telling her mom more about her conversation with Greg at the coffee place, but decided against it, not wanting to give her more possible reasons to laugh.

""I'm sorry."  she says with a half laugh, "It's just, it's just that your sister would have pitched a fit if I'd suggested coming along on a date with her.  I thought it was very mature of you to be comfortable enough to do it.  I can see now."  she laughs a little, "I can see now that you're mortified by it, and I'm sorry."

Megan was feeling angrier as she thought about what might, or might not, come Monday morning.  Her mom’s laughter and indication that she might not have come if Megan had insisted, making it worse.  “Then next time I will pitch a fit.”  She said angrily. 

She was about to say something more and then went quite.  If she wants me to feel comfortable about talking to her about things in my life, this sure isn’t the way to go about convincing me of that!  The blond girl though, her teeth clenched as she looked out the window.

When they got home they saw dad's car and driver out front, and his suitcases were in the foyer.

"Oh, great, I thought I wouldn't get a chance to say good-bye."  he says, giving each of them a kiss.  "Have a good time?"

"Ah, yes."  Erin says, looking at the luggage, "You're leaving us?"  she says, slightly confused.

"No."  he chuckles, "I'm flying to Vegas to meet with a couple of campaign finance guys and then to Arizona for a breifing by the NSA on the situation in the country and maybe some ideas about what we can do here.  Should be back by Thursday at the latest."  He gives Erin a hug and then Megan, "Meet any cute guys a the theatre?"

Megan had smiled at her dad as he had kissed her and her mom, looking at the luggage as well, thought she had not been thinking the thing her mom had, hopefully, jokingly asked.  It had been awhile since her father had done much regular travel, even when he was with the law firm, it had not been a great amount.

When he asked her if she had met any cute guys, she shrugged.  “Only the one I went there to meet, but otherwise pretty dull.”  She looked over at the suitcases as she gave him a hug.  “Looks like you are going to be moving forward with your plans to run for the Senate.”  She realized that if he did get elected, in addition to having to be in DC when the Senate was in session, there would likely be a great deal of traveling he would be doing.  And she could only imagine the number of social events that she would be required to attend as well.

"Yep.  Although, depending on how this next meeting goes those plans may change too."  He took his suitcases and headed out the door with another goodbye.

"I'm going to get some sleep."  Megan's mom said, heading upstairs.

“Well, have a good trip daddy.”  Megan said with as warm a smile as she could manage, given how tired and angry she was.  When her mom headed upstairs, saying she was going to bed, the blond teen did not even acknowledge her, following up herself not too long after.

Stopping at her bathroom, she washed up and brushed her teeth.  She then made her way to her room, feeling incredibly tired as she set her alarm clock so she could get up in a few hours to meet the other girl’s at the train station to go into Chicago for their shopping trip.  Undressing, she laid down under the covers, trying to forget how angry she felt at Greg and her mom right now. 

She was not really angry with Greg for wanting to watch the movies, after all, that was what he was passionate about.  What had gotten to her was the things he had said over coffee.  While he had likely not meant them so, they had been a bit hurtful to Megan, as if he was judging her and finding her something lesser than he originally thought.  Lying on her side and looking at the alarm clock, she hoped that sleep would come soon as a tear rolled down the side of her face.