In the darkness of his room Willie tossed and turned in a sleepless fit, finally gonging his head on the brass headboard in frustration.
Half asleep, he dragged himself out of bed and crossed the room to the dresser. Pouring some water from the ceramic pitcher into the basin, he puzzled over the same thought that had been driving him crazy all night. "How in the heck can I get out of this date?"
He couldn't fake an illness, not with Dr. Julia around and her handy dandy traveling pharmaceuticals. Besides, Maggie could be incredibly bull-headed when she wanted to be. No, playing sick would only buy him a little time.
Bending over the basin, he began splashing water on his face in an attempt to wake up his tired brain. As he picked up the towel and began to dry his face, it suddenly occurred to him that what Maggie had actually said was, that she'd CALL him with the details, and everyone know that there are NO PHONES at the Old House. A smile suddenly broke out across his face.
Willie gleefully informed the elegant lady in the portrait over his fireplace, "She was pullin' my leg, all the time she was just pullin' my leg". Feeling a little more relaxed now, he crawled back underneath the plaid covers and began counting the bricks on the wall until he fell asleep.
***
Balancing precariously on a step ladder Willie began to polish the dust off the crystal chandelier in the sitting room. Of all his household chores, this was his favorite. He loved watching how the light danced merrily along the surface of each crystal, causing them to shimmer with an intoxicating radiance. If he polished them up just right they shone like a bowl full of diamonds. Willie was dreaming of diamonds when Julia Hoffman entered the room.
She wore a big Cheshire Cat grin on her face as she spotted Willie and began impatiently tugging at her gloves.
"Barnabas ain't here", he informed her, stretching a little higher to clean some of the harder to reach areas. He didn't for one minute like the look of that smirk on her face.
Julia calmly pulled off her remaining glove and with great delight replied, "That's okay, It was you that I came to see".
Willie froze in panic, this could only spell trouble with a capital T.
"Maggie sent me", she said snapping her gloves for emphasis.
The chandelier all but forgotten, Willie climbed down off the steps, but his stomach felt more like he was in an elevator that had just snapped its cable, wildly plummeting down to an unavoidable fate.
"Yeah?"
"She wants you to meet them at the diner, at six o'clock so she can introduce you to your date"
Willie ran his hands through his hair nervously. He hadn't looked this pale since the first time Barnabas used him for a midnight snack.
"Dr. Hoffman, I don't wanna go", he protested. "I'd bet money Maggie 'll say that this girl has a "good personality". "But don't cha know she'll wind up looking like Godzilla's sister with a mustache!"
"Relax Willie", she laughed. "You might even actually enjoy yourself".
Then feeling a little sorry for him she quickly added. "Besides if all goes well with this girl, maybe Maggie will have a better impression of you".
Having successfully dropped her bomb the good doctor started to make her exit, she paused by the door way and looked back thoughtfully at him, "You know if your feeling a little nervous, I could give you a little something for that". But Willie wasn't buying, so she left, banging the great door shut on her way out.
***
He had never thought of it that way before. If Maggie could only just see what a great guy he could be, then maybe he'd have a shot with her in the future.
Now properly motivated, he readied himself for the evening's festivities. He looked in his closet and picked out a brown shirt, and his brown tie with the white polka dots to go with it. A relatively unwrinkled black pair of pants was found. Then he set about shining his shoes.
He didn't even mind heating up all those pots of water to pour in that wrecked old fashion bathtub. No task was too great if Maggie was the goal.
His mood was jubilant as he looked in the mirror to slick back his hair with some fancy greasy kid's stuff. And since no one was around he began to wiggle his hips and sing a bit of his favorite ad that he had heard over at the Old House. "She says, I like it long, just as long, as you put on Groom and Clean......"
Finally as the piece de resistance in his dating arsenal, he snuck into the Collin's family rose garden and cut off two of the finest red roses he could find. Willie was feeling quite confident now and ready for anything..... or so he thought.
