Saving Us

The (First?) Date

They walked to the restaurant while holding hands, smiling.

They make their way to their seats. Neil pulls the chair and Claire sits down, thanking him. He makes his way to his chair.

They take a look at the menu for a while.
"So. What are you having to eat? " he asked.
"Um... It is a difficult choice." Claire said, laughing.
Neil chuckles.
"You're so indecisive." he said.
Claire smiles.
She hands their menus back to the waiter.
"I'll have the same as him." she said.
Neil looked at her.
"What?" she said.
"And to drink?" Neil asked her.
"Oh." Claire takes the menu and points at something, then hands it back to the waiter.
Neil shakes his head.

A few moments later, the drinks arrive. They start sipping on their drinks.
"Oh. I meant to ask." Claire said.
Neil looked up.
"How is Gabi?"
"She is great. I just visited her a few days ago before I came back to work."
"Glad to hear." said Claire.
They are silent, for a bit.

"Since when do you do self-defense?" Neil said, remembering the jogging date.
Claire laughs.
"I picked it up earlier in the year." Claire said.
He nods.
"You could've warned me." Neil said, jokingly.
"Sorry. But at least I realised it was you before I did anything."
Neil nods, smiling.

Their food arrive.
They start eating.
"I guess I made a good choice." Clare said.
Neil looks up and laughs.
He continues looking at her while she eats.
She looks up. He still stares at her, with love and admiration.
"What? Is there something on my face." she asked.
He shakes his head, laughing.
"No."
"Stop lying." she said
"I am not." he chuckles.
"Okay."

They both continue eating and talk. They laugh in between. They finished the dinner and asked for the check.

"I got this." he said.
"Uh-uh" she said, giving him the money.
He hesitates to take it, insisting that she keeps it.
She forcefully opens his hand and puts the money in it.
He takes it, shaking his head, puts it in the check and hands it back to the waiter.

They leave the restaurant in silence, walking to the car, holding hands. After a while, Claire moves to interlock their fingers. He looks at her and smiles.
"Wait." he said. He lets go of her hand and walks to a street vendor.
He comes back with a bouquet of pink roses and hands it to Claire.
"I know you hate flowers, but I hoped you'd make an exception."
She smiles.
"Maybe just this once."
He smiled.
"Thanks...They're beautiful."
He nodded.
"Just like you. Except you're more beautiful."
Claire blushed, smiling and holding his hand, once again until they reached the car.

He opens the door for Claire and he starts the engine.
The car ride back was silent, until Neil turned up the radio.
Claire ended up singing to the song.
When he got to the traffic light, he stopped as it turned red.
He watched her, intensely focused.
Claire blushes, smiling quite shyly.
The light changes and he drives.

She stops abruptly.
"Why did you stop?" he asked.
She shrugged, touching her hair.
He smiled and shook his head.
They were quiet until they got to her house.

"I had a lovely night and a great fight with you today." Neil said, smiling.
Claire laughed. "Me too."
He leaned in towards her, slowly kissing her.
They pulled away, smiling at each other.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." Claire said.
Neil nodded. "Good night."
"Good night." she said.
He gets out and opens the door for her.
She smiles and nods.
He watches as she walks to her front door.
She looks at the roses and sees a note.
She stops and reads it.

"I love you."

She tears up, thinking about when he said those words to her. When she nearly lost him almost three weeks ago.

She turns and runs back to the car.
He thought she forgot something.
She gives Neil a kiss. He pulls her closer.
She pulls away, whispering.
"I love you too."
He smiles, wiping her tears and pulling her in for another kiss.
"Go inside." he whispered.
She smiles and nods, heading inside.

Through the window, she sees him driving away.

Neil pulls up to his driveway. He sits in the car for a while, thinking about the night that he had with Claire. He smiles as he replays the night. He eventually opens the door and heads inside his apartment.

Claire puts the roses in a vase.
She showers and gets changed for bed.
Lying awake, she thinks of Neil. She smiles and eventually falls asleep.