New Light | Rafe Cameron

the first "date"

The restaurant is quite busy when you arrive, but as soon as Rafe leans on the podium and tells the hostess, "Cameron, party of two," she smiles and grabs two menus.

"Follow me, Mr. Cameron," she says, motioning for you to follow her.

Rafe gestures for you to go first, so you follow the young woman through the restaurant. She leads you to a table along the back wall, which is entirely made of glass. The view of the water is breathtaking.

"Your server will be with you shortly," she says as she places your menus and silverware down in front of you.

"Thank you," Rafe responds, and she nods before walking away.

You're in awe of the awesome view you have, and you don't try to hide it. "You made a reservation here this morning and you got this table?" you ask.

He shrugs and gives you a cocky smirk. "Yeah. You like it?"

Truth was, he had had to fight for the reservation and the table. It had taken some heavy bribing to get the hostess to bump another couple from this table so he could have it. Luckily, his sister Sarah knew the hostess through her boyfriend, and so he used that connection to get his way. That, and a crisp $100 bill he had slipped her very discreetly when he approached the host stand when they first walked in.

"I love it," you say truthfully. You look out at the water for a moment before looking back at him. "You didn't have to do all of this, though."

"I know I didn't have to," he says. "I wanted to."

You roll your eyes. "You don't have to try to impress me, Rafe. As far as everyone here is concerned, we're a couple."

"I can't be nice?" he asks, opening his menu.

"You're never nice," you reply, copying his actions.

He feigns a look of shock. "I'm nice!"

"Maybe when you want something," you comment, looking down at your menu.

Your server approaches the table just then. "Hi, I'm Jasmine, and I'll be helping you guys tonight. Can I get you something to drink?"

Rafe looks up at her from his menu, and she immediately blushes when she gets a look at him. It takes her a moment to process that he's told her his drink order. Flustered, she writes it down and turns to you.

"Water with lemon," you tell her, and she nods and writes it down. She gives Rafe one last look before speaking again.

"I'll be right back with those drinks," she says, turning on her heel to leave.

You let out a laugh once she's out of earshot, and Rafe gives you a questioning look. "What?" he asks, his eyebrows raised in confusion.

"She was checking you out," you giggle. "And she was terrible at hiding it."

"She was?" he asks, looking over his shoulder towards where she disappeared to. "I didn't notice," he says.

"The blushing and staring wasn't a dead give away? You know, I always thought you were decently smart, but you sound pretty dumb right now," you say, looking back down at the menu.

"You think I'm smart?" he asks, not hiding his surprise.

You roll your eyes. "Well, I'm smart, and we had all the same classes, so that must mean something, right?"

"I guess," he says with a shrug. "Do you know what you're getting?" he asks, changing the subject.

Your server returns a few minutes later with your drinks, and you both order your entrees. She assures you that she'll get your orders in promptly, and that it shouldn't take too long for your food to come out. She gives Rafe a shy smile when he thanks her as she leaves.