Cove

Candle Light Dinner

By the time I've convinced BOTH my parents to let me go out with Taylor I have half an hour until he picks me up. I rush upstairs and change into a cute dark blue dress and some black flats with a black headband. I curl my hair and just put a DAB of make-up. I'm just getting my pocketbook that matches my outfit when I hear a honk outside. My heart flutters when I see him standing outside with roses in a cute black suit. He has a huge smile much too big for his face and I run out to him, slamming the door behind me and jumping to his arms.
"Hey beautiful." He says with a huge smile, setting me down and handing me the flowers. The roses are bright red and practically glowing.
"Thanks! Babe they're gorgeous!" I say smelling them. The beautiful scent wafts through my nose and just fills me with joy.
"This way," He says mysteriously leading me to his car. He opens the door like a butler and helps me in. This is so sweet, so much effort was clearly put into this and he is just so cute. To be honest, this is the sweetest thing a guy has dont for me. I love him. He gets in the car and starts it up.
"I love you." I blurt out awkwardly. He looks over at me and smiles and big, bright smile.
"I love you too."
We talk the rest of the drive and when we reach the resturaunt he helps me out of the car and keeps opening doors for me until we're seated and then he pulls out my chair. At first, I'm a little concerned about the price but then I see that he has his dad's debit card in his wallet when he shows me a picture of us. We wait for the waitress for quite some time but we don't mind because we're happily chatting away. When they finally get here Taylor looks up about to greet her when he stops, his smile fades, and his whole body freezes. At first, I go to the extreme and think it's a terrorist, or a person with a gun, or someone dangerours. But when I look a little closer I realize that it's just his ex-girlfriend, Hallie. They had a nasty relationship before a nasty, unfaithful, breakup and then Taylor met me and he got OVER it.
"Uhh..." he mutters, looking at her also frozen face. She then pops back to reality and looks down at her notepad and mumbles, "What can I get you to drink this evening?" Taylor opens his mouth, looks at me, then closes it and looks at the menu. Silence. This is awkward. I talk first, trying to break the ice. "I'll have some cranberry juice," she looks down at me with cold eyes and I smile weakly. She scribbles something and nods at me. She then looks at Taylor and her eyes soften. "And what would YOU like to drink Tay-boo?" She smiles sweetly and his head snaps up.
"Do NOT call me that!!!" He says, almost yelling. I look in his direction and, seeing how worked up he is I slide my hand onto his and give it a supportive squeeze. When he looks at me his face softens and we smile at each other. Now that he has strenth, we can get through the night.
"I'll have water." He clears his throat and looks down at the menu again. As she turns Hallie throws me an evil glare filled with hate. I quickly look at my menu. If I lay low, then she can't do damage. Hallie saunters off and throws her fake smile at other diners. I turn my attention back to Taylor, who sighs and relaxes. When I squeeze his hand again he looks at me and smiles.
"The candlelight suits your beautiful face." I laugh out loud at his strange remark. He's so cute. Sitting there in his little tux, totally over dressed for a simple date. Then there's me. We must look like a strange couple. Hallie is stomping back so I pick up the menu again and start flipping the pages. She puts the glasses down with a bang and folds her arms.
"What would you like this evening?" She clears her throat and cocks her head. She's chewing her gum so hard spit is flying out to the side of my glass. I speak first.
"I'll have the tomato soup.......please." I slide the menu toward her and she snatches it up. She then slides in a smile and turns her attention to my poor Tay Tay, who's sitting there helplessly.
"I'll have the.....uh....lemon chicken. Please." He places his menu on top of mine and folds his hands. Hallie (who's pretty tall) bends down trying to look him in the eyes, and he directs his attention at me. She gives up and sulks away. Okay.... I'm sure that we are both over reacting about this, but Hallie really hurt him and this is going to be a long night. I wipe off my glass with my napkin and take a long, refreshing sip. A bitter, stingy taste fills my mouth and I freeze, my eyes bulging. I spit it out of my mouth coughing and choking. "Sh*t! You okay? What is it?!?" Taylor shoots up and grabs the glass from my hand and slaps me in the back. Once all the liquid is out of my mouth he gives me his napkin and I mop up my dress and the table cloth. People from other tables are staring but I don't care and neither does Taylor.
"What was that?!?" He says, very concerned. My breathing has slowed and I'm able to give a calm, quiet answer instead of shouting like he did.
"I don't know, but that DEFINITELY was not cranberry juice." In the corner of my eye I see Hallie leaning on the doorway of the kitchen door. She then turns into the kitchen.
"I was just drinking it and then, boom, I tasted something I've never tasted before." Taylor hands me his water to flush out the strange taste.
"You okay?" He asks once I'm done. 
"Yeah, I guess. Here." I hand him the cup with the dark pink substance and he sniffs it. The second he does, his face curls back in disgust with his nose wrinkled. He's so cute, even when he's not trying to be. He just fills me with joy.
"Ugh!!! That smells like the new cleaner fluid my dad bought yesterday."
"Oh really?" I tease him as he stands up saying "I have to go to the bathroom." My smile fades. Well, I'll finish teasing him when he gets back.
.................................
It's been 15 minutes and he's still not back yet, and even for him, his dumps don't take that long. Because I am who I am, I stand up, look around, then dash to the bathroom hall way. Once I'm there I stop and tiptoe to the guys single-stall bathroom. I freeze. The blood drains out of my face as I lean in closer. Oh no.