The Animal Inside

Chapter Twenty-Five: Date Night

“Go on a... date?”

“Yes cat girl; a date.”

“I...um...”

“You don’t have to. I just thought it would be, I dunno, nice to get to know each other a little better; considering we are going to be spending a lot of time together.”

“We are?”

“But of course. How else do you think we’re going to take down the government?”

I was silent, looking at my feet.

“I get it. You don’t want to-”

“Yes,” I blurted before I could stop myself.

“Yes?”

“I’ll go on a date with you.”

Adrian smiled.

“Excellent,” he said.

So plans were made. We would go out that Saturday night. Adrian wouldn’t tell me what he had planned because “it would ruin the surprise”.

Finally, Saturday rolled around. Adrian had told me to wear something nice, so I wore my dress that I had worn to Heroes. I left my hair loose, and applied some natural makeup. Kody and Adrian were waiting for me downstairs.

“You look...” Kody said.

“Beautiful,” Adrian finished. I blushed at his compliment. Adrian was dressed in black pants and a button-up top with a loose red tie around his neck.

Our trip was half an hour of awkward silence. Adrian parked his car and rushed around and opened the door for me. I smiled and thanked him. I took his arm and he led me into a restaurant. It looked so posh. There were several tables, covered with black tablecloths with white napkins. Most of the tables were full of people in suits and pretty dresses. A server greeted us, and showed us to our table. Adrian and I sat opposite to each other. A waiter came over and filled our water glasses and gave us our menus. I scanned over the menu. Yay, Italian food; my favourite.

“You like Italian food?”Adrian asked.

“I love it. How did you know?”

“The massive smile on your face.” I blushed at his comment. But my smile and blush faded when I saw the prices. Adrian must have noticed my expression.

“I’m paying.”

“But it’s so expensive,” I said.

“It’s a date. Isn’t it customary for the guy to pay for dinner?”

“Yeah. But it’s-”

“Kefira, don’t worry about it. I can afford it. I mean, have you seen where I live, the car I drive? Money isn’t really much of an object.”

The waiter came back and we ordered our drinks and meals.

We sat in silence for a while, and I fidgeted with my bracelets, wanted to ask him something but not knowing how to phrase it.

“Adrian?”

“Yeah cat girl?”

I sighed.

“Stop calling me that.”

“What, cat girl? But it’s your nickname,” he said in a mock sad voice.

“Whatever. I was actually going to ask you why you asked me on a date.”

“I asked you on a date because I wanted to spend time with you. I explained that when I asked you out.”

“But-”