Helpless (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty-Six

WE ARRIVE AT the Le Coucou restaurant in midtown Manhattan. Laurens parks his car and clenches the steering wheel, staring intently at the restaurant in front of us, grinding his jaw and squaring his broad shoulders. Laurens presses his lips together tightly and swallows thickly, letting out a shaky breath. I rest my hand gently on his bicep, rubbing it up and down as comfortingly as I can.

 "Okay..." Laurens whistles. "I can do this..." 

 I nod encouragingly, a warm smile painting across my face. "You can. I'll be right there with you, John."

 Laurens lets out another shaky breath as he lowers his hands from the steering wheel. He swallows once more before glancing at me hesitantly over his shoulder but his hesitant and tense expression on his face softens into warmness. He smiles dreamily at me, tucking a loose auburn curl behind my ear and rests his hand on my freckled cheek, brushing my cheekbone with his thumb. I hum, closing my eyes with a content smile on my face as I lean into his palm. 

 "You look beautiful, Alex," Laurens whispers.

 I open my eyes and lock my violet ones with his. I grin, smoothing out his black tie. 

 "You look mighty handsome yourself, Laurens," I say. 

 Laurens wears a simple navy-blue suit with a black tie along with dark navy-blue dress pants and black dress shoes. A gold watch on his wrist and his honey blonde hair in his usual, low loose ponytail on the back of his neck.

 I, however, am dressed as a woman as expected. I have my curly, auburn hair up in a low bun that Eliza had done. I wear slight makeup, nothing too fancy just simple foundation and concealer to hide the bags underneath my eyes and a dark green eyeshadow with black eyeliner and mascara of course and cheery red lipstick. My freckles are faint underneath the foundation on my skin, but still visible. I wear a dark green sleeved V-neck dress, the top half of the dress covered with sequins and the waist surrounded with a small, thin black belt and the rest is flowy and thin, shaping out my curvy hips perfectly. 

 Laurens smiles gently before leaning over and pressing a quick, chaste kiss to my lips before letting out another shaky breath. Laurens turns off the ignition and climbs on out the driver side door while I climb out the passenger side and slam the door with the side of my hip. Laurens stands on the sidewalk, holding out his arm. I link my arm through his and we enter the restaurant. Laurens opens the glass door to the restaurant and rests his hand on my lower back, guiding me inside. We reach the front. 

 "Bonsoir monsieur, madame," says the waiter in front of us with a warm, welcoming smile on his face, nodding his head in greeting at Laurens and then at me. "Comment puis-je vous aider?" 

 "J'ai une table avec Monsieur Henry Laurens?" Laurens explains with both eyebrows arching upward. 

I whip my head over my shoulder, grinning. I didn't know Laurens could speak French. 

"ll deverait deja etre la." 

 "Ah, oui!" the waiter says with a wide smile, grabbing two menus for us. "Suis-moi." 

 We follow the waiter down the aisle of tables. I grin devilishly up at Laurens, leaning in towards his ear and whisper, "I didn't know you could speak French!" 

 Laurens grins cheekily. "Well. Now you do." 

 "Jackie!" squeals a childish voice from the table in the back rear of the restaurant. I look up to see a boy about thirteen-years-old with smooth dark brown hair and hazel-golden eyes rush towards his older brother.