Steve grabbed the flowers a little tighter, squared his shoulders and looked at his watch. Still ten minutes left. Should he go and ring, nevertheless? He tried to remember what Bucky had told him about women. Women hate it when you’re late, he would always say. Never let a woman wait. She will be mad at you for the rest of the night.
That settled it. He walked up the short driveway, raised his hand to touch the bell button, and hovered over it for a few seconds before dropping his hand again and walking back down the path.
They also hate it when you are too early. Because they need time to get ready and don’t want you to see them with their curlers still in their hair.
“Jesus Christ, get it together, Rogers,” Steve muttered under his breath. Why was he being such a chick-en? He was Captain America, for God’s sake! He had fought Nazis and Hydra agents, he had saved New York City from being nuked – but right now, none of this was left. He was Little Steve again: shy, awkward and nervous as hell when being around a beautiful woman. And Peggy Carter was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known.
“Are you leaving again?” he heard a voice mockingly ask behind him. He turned around.
There she was, standing in the open doorway, wearing a beautiful red dress, the porch light illuminating her perfect silhouette. “I thought we agreed on 8 o’clock.”
“No. Yes! Yes, we did. That’s why I didn’t … I mean, I just wanted to…” He cleared his throat and went back to her. “You look wonderful.”
“Thank you,” she smiled, smelling the flowers he handed her. “Those are beautiful. Hold on, I’ll just put them in a vase. Be right back.”
She vanished inside the house while Steve scolded himself for behaving like a fool.
Two minutes later, Peggy returned, locked the door and linked arms with him. “So where are you taking me?”
“There is a nice British restaurant in Manhattan I thought you might like, and then I still owe you a dance, I assume.”
“Yes, you do,” Peggy smiled and climbed into the taxi that had been waiting for them outside her gate. After Steve had closed the door behind her, he walked around the car and sat down next to her. He gave the cab driver the restaurant’s address, and half an hour later, they were sat at a nice little table overlooking Central Park, enjoying their meal and a good talk. All nervousness had left Steve as they talked about their childhood and how Peggy had come to the United States and what they intended to do now that the war was over.
When they had finished, Steve led Peggy up to the rooftop which had been decorated with strings of lights and flowers, and had a pianist waiting for them. As soon as they entered the area, the man started to play a soft tune.
For the first time that night, Peggy was speechless. “Oh Steve, this is beautiful,” she finally said looking around. “I had no idea one could go up here.”
“You can’t, usually,” Steve explained with a shy smile. “But being Captain America has its perks.”
He took her hand and led her to the centre of the improvised dance floor. “I still don’t know how to dance, though.”
“I will teach you.”
She placed his left hand on the small of her back, her left hand into his right, and her other hand on his shoulder. Then she slowly started to move in a circle. “Just one step after the other,” she said softly. “There’s no need to rush it.”
Time and space seemed to merge into one as the piano music filled the air, a light summer breeze mixing the scent of the flowers and Peggy’s perfume. She had laid her head on his shoulder and he was holding her tight while they were doing turn after turn, just swaying to the music, enjoying the other’s warmth and the beauty of the moment.
“Thank you for that wonderful dance,” Peggy whispered looking up to him and kissing him softly.
When he opened his eyes again, bright daylight filled the room and he could hear the sounds of early morning activities in the house.
A single tear ran down his cheek as he looked at the calendar displaying August, 15, 2016.