Robbery in Progress

Twenty

The next day came and I was genuinely excited to go out with John. I was nervous though. John showed up and was so polite to me. He opened the car door for me.

"Where are we going? You told me to dress up."

"It's a surprise." I instantly got nervous.

"I'm not much on surprises now, John."

"Trust me. You'll like this one." I sat quietly in the car the rest of the way, looking out the window at the passing cars and the buildings. Finally, John put on his car signal and pulled into a parking lot. I got out, not realizing where I was. Oh, was that a mistake. "Here you go." He motioned me inside the door and talked to the waiter to get us a seat. I sat down, starting to feel a little uneasy. I had been in this place before.

"Hello, my name is Derek and I'll be your..." He looked up from his notepad. It was so awkward. "I'm sorry." He walked away from our table.

"That was weird." I nodded, not letting him know that I knew our waiter.

"Hi. I apologize for that. He was not feeling well, and I told him to go get some fresh air. My name is Jessica, and I will be your waiter. What can I get you to drink?"

"Sweet tea, please." I quickly spoke, not knowing what to do.

"Same for me." The waitress nodded and went to get our drinks. "So how..."

"I have to tell you something, John."

"It sounds serious."

"It is...kind of. I did not want to get into any of this with you. I just wanted us to enjoy our night together, but I cannot start this off with secrets."

"Okay." John's demeanor changed to a look of concern.

"The guy that came over here to take our order...that is my ex."

"Oh. Is that all because that's no big deal, Jen?"

"Not really. He apologized to me a few days ago and said he cared about me and he wanted to work things out. I told him I cared about him, too, and I do not want to lie about that to you. But before you showed up at the station yesterday, I was telling my partner, Paul, about everything that had happened with him. He hurt me and made me feel terrible about myself. He made me feel like I had felt before in past relationships, which is something I never wanted to feel again. I have anxiety and insecurities and flaws, John...and I just want someone to accept those but still want to put in the work with me and be there for me when I need them. I need a lot of reassurance, something I did not feel like I got enough of during my past relationships...even with that guy." The waitress brought our drinks out.

"Are you ready to order?"

"We need a few more minutes," I answered.

"Okay, take your time." I looked back at John and carried on.

"I'm sorry if this is too much for you and you would rather leave. I would not blame you." I looked down and then felt a hand on mine. I glanced up. "I just started to question whether or not that guy could ever do that for me...provide me with the reassurance I need...really put in the work it takes for a relationship, especially when you are dating someone with anxiety and insecurities."

"Can I stop you there?" I paused, listening to what he had to say. "I am really glad you told me all that just now. It takes a lot of courage to do what you just did, and I appreciate you not wanting to have any secrets between us. I promise you that my intentions are pure and genuine and that I will not hurt you in any way. I know you probably do not believe me right now, but I will put in the work and give you the reassurance you need to help you through your anxiety and insecurities because I like you and I enjoy spending time with you. If you want to take things slow, I completely respect that." I smiled.

"No one has ever acted this way towards me before."

"And how does it feel?"

"It feels good." He smiled back at me and picked up his menu.

"Order whatever you want. I'm paying for our meal." We scanned the menu for a couple of minutes before the waitress came back.

"Have we decided?"

"I think we have." John looked at me to make sure I knew what I wanted to order. "I want the 8 oz sirloin with the garlic mashed potatoes and the steamed broccoli."

"Okay and what for you Miss?"

"I'll have the same."

"Okay, I'll get that right in for you." She picked up our menus and left.

"Why did you get the same thing as me?"

"Believe it or not, but that's my favorite." We smiled at each other. "So, tell me about yourself."

"Well, I'm an only child. I grew up about three hours from here. I came here one summer to spend a couple of days just to get away from home and everything and fell in love, so I moved here. My parents still live there. What about you?"

"I'm also an only child."

"Do you enjoy being a cop?"

"I do. It is what I have always wanted to do, and I have my dad to thank for that. What do you do?"

"I'm a firefighter."

"Really? So...I enjoy catching criminals and you enjoy running into burning buildings?"

"I guess you could say that." We laughed again. The waitress brought out our food and we continued telling each other about our past and things we liked to do for fun.

"I like being outdoors...and hiking...I like getting out sometimes and doing that. There's so much to see."

"I like hiking, too. If you are not too scared of a girl showing you up, maybe we could go together sometime."

"I highly doubt you could show me up, but I would like that."

A/N: I hope you all have enjoyed the latest chapter updates. This storyline just came to me, so I knew I had to write it down as soon as possible. Please vote and comment!