Ethereal Love

Getting to Know You

Dana smiled as Ricky and Nini sat back down at their table. "Is everything okay?" Dana asked her daughter, who smiled slightly and nodded her head. "Everything's great mom, but could we maybe sit down tomorrow and talk? Like actually talk..." Nini asked her mom. "Of course, baby. I'm always here if you need to talk." Dana said, grabbing her daughter's hand. Nini opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the maître d coming up to the table.

"Hello, there Mrs. Salazar-Roberts, it's great to see you back here! And your lovely daughter, too." the man greeted them, kindly. "Oh, and we have a guest, I see." Dana smiled and nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry Louis. I realize now that I forgot to let you know that there would be three of us." Dana looked apologetic but the maître d, whom Dana was obviously familiar with, just waved it off. "Can I get you started off with anything to drink? Perhaps the usual for you and your daughter?" Louis asked. Dana and Nini simultaneously nodded and Louis nodded before turning to Ricky. "And for you, young man?" Ricky glanced at Nini, a little lost. Nini just rolled her eyes. "Ricky, it's just a fancy restaurant, not a college interview. What do you want to drink?"

He swallowed thickly, turning back to the waiter. "Um... could I just have an iced water, please?" Ricky asked, nervously. Louis' eyes glimmered with amusement but he simply nodded. "Take as much time as you need to look over the menu, and I will be back with your drinks shortly." The man smiled and walked off. Ricky let out a sigh of relief, and both Nini and Dana laughed at him. "What? I'm sorry, I'm just not used to places like this. Usually my dad and I just order in." He defended himself, flushing slightly. Dana chuckled and patted his shoulder in a motherly way. Nini grinned happily at the motherly gesture and was glad that her mother was quickly warming up to the man she loves. "Don't worry, honey. You'll be used to it in no time."

Louis came back about five minutes later with their drinks and took mental notes of the rest of their order. Ricky and Nini both decided to get the buccatini pasta and Dana went with Lobster. When Louis walked away Dana turned to the young couple. "So Ricky, how did the two of you meet? I assume through school?" Dana asked. Ricky glanced at Nini and smiled when he caught her eye. "Technically, yes, although we didn't exactly get along." he told the older woman. "Oh?" she hinted at him to elaborate, causing Nini to roll her eyes, humorously. "I was never Nini's biggest fan and we would always go out of our way to ignore each other and sometimes we would say mean things to each other just to get under each others skin. Something changed this year, though. Nini mentioned to you that we share a birthday?" Ricky asked Dana, who nodded in response. "Well, we were pulled to the front of the class so we could share what gifts we got and so the class could sing 'Happy Birthday'. When class was over, I wished Nini a happy birthday, but she wasn't having it and I finally just went off on her. We really got to know each other over the summer." Ricky told her. Dana nodded. "So, I assume you went to the same camp?" She asked the pair, who nodded in response.

"Right. You sent me to camp and Ricky showed up looking like a completely different person. It started out rough and I was even kind of seeing someone else, but we ended up just talking to each other about why I was who I was and one thing led to another..." Nini chimed in. "Wow, and how long has this been going on?" Dana asked. "Two months." Nini responded. The rest of the dinner went smoothly, with Dana getting to know Ricky. She found out that his parents were divorced but that he decided to live with his dad when his mom moved to Chicago, and that he was an only child. Ricky also learned a little bit about Nini's past, though there wasn't much that he didn't already know. Eventually, dinner ended and the trio made their way back to the Salazar-Roberts house. "Alright, I'm heading up to bed. Ricky, you're more than welcome to stay for a little bit, but not too late." Ricky nodded and smiled. "Thank you so much for dinner, Dana. It was delicious." Dana smiled back and made her way up the stairs. When the couple heard her bedroom door close, Nini immediately jumped Ricky causing him to stumble back. "Woah!" he stumbled back, causing Nini to giggle. "Guess what?" Nini said. "Hmmm?" "I love you." she said, leaning in to capture his lips. They kissed gently for a few minutes until they had to pull back for some much needed air. Ricky looked at the gorgeous girl in his arms and pushed some loose hair behind her hair before saying, "I love you more."

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Well, I'll tell you what was a disaster... this chapter! Also... this was supposed to be a part two but as I was writing this terrible chapter, I realized that it wasn't needed.

YIKES!!!