The Searching Secret

Chapter 17

When I emerged from the bathroom, an hour later, I had the purple cocktail dress on. My hair was pinned up on the back of my head and my bangs hung off to the side. I slipped on a pair of black and silver sandals and tried to calm my nerves. At six o'clock exactly there was a knock on my door. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I ran my hands down my dress to make sure it was lying neatly. Before my nervousness could become overwhelming, I opened the door. When I saw Jay's smile and felt his excitement, as well as his astonishment, all of my nerves disappeared.

"Wow," Jay said, just above a whisper. "You look stunning."

"You look pretty handsome yourself," I responded. Jay was wearing black dress pants, a white button up shirt and a deep purple tie, which matched my dress perfectly.

"Shall we go?" he asked, as he offered me his arm.

"We shall," I replied, linking my arm with his.

Jay smiled as he led me a few steps and then stopped. I stood there confused as he unlocked his door. I thought at first he had forgotten something in his room, but when he held the door open for me I couldn't hide my confusion. Jay laughed, "Trust me."

I nodded and stepped through the door. Jay led me out the patio door and there on the beach sat the most beautiful candlelit table. Jay escorted me to the table and pulled my chair out for me. I smiled and said, "thank you," as I took my seat. When Jay sat down on the opposite side of the table, I just stared at him, wondering how he did all of this in one hour. "This is beautiful," I said at last.

"It's nothing compared to you," he sincerely replied.

I smiled softly and diverted me eyes to the cover plate that sat in front of me. Sometimes, the sincerity of Jay's compliments made me feel awkward, but in a good way. It was like I didn't know how to respond to such intensity. So, instead, I would change the subject. "So, what's for dinner?" I asked. Jay motioned to the plate, giving me the okay to uncover it. I laughed when I saw what was underneath. "Cheeseburger and French fries?"

Jay grinned. "No matter what restaurant we went to, if they had cheeseburgers you would have ordered one."

"You're right," I replied, and popped a fry in my mouth.

He smiled, happy that I approved of the meal. He picked up his burger and took a bite, as I dipped another french fry in ketchup. Jay's smile had instantly reminded me of the dream I had last night. As if he knew he asked, "What are you thinking?"

"About a dream I had last night," I answered.

"Oh? The one you had about me?" he questioned.

I blushed slightly; I had forgotten I told him about that. "Yes," I mumbled, as I stuffed another fry in my mouth.

"So are you going to tell me about this wonderful dream?" he asked.

I shrugged a little and wished I had never said anything about the dream to Jay. "It was nothing."

"It didn't sound like nothing last night," Jay stated, and then took another bite of his burger.

I sighed, knowing he wasn't going to let this go until I told him. "It was a strange dream," I replied. "I was sitting on a sofa, facing a screen. Nothing much."

"Say no more," Jay said, as he raised his hands. "I get it. It was one of those dreams."

I looked at him confused for a minute, until I finally understood what he was saying. My face turned bright red with embarrassment. "Oh my gosh! No! it was nothing like that! Oh my gosh."

Jay laughed, "Well then you better tell me what it was about, or I will keep on thinking you're having naughty dreams of me."

"Oh my gosh, Jay!" I said, throwing a fry at him. "You are terrible."

"Me?" he asked innocently, as he tried not laugh. "I am not the one having naughty dreams."

"Jay!" I shriek.

"What?" he laughed.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, "Fine. I'll tell you about my dream."

"Go on." Jay smiled, as he leaned back in his chair.

"As I said, in my dream I was sitting on a sofa, in this white room, with a screen on the wall in front of me. When the screen turned on it showed me different scenes from a future... our future." I told him, mumbling the last part.

Jay leaned forward and looked me in the eyes, "And it was wonderful?"

"Yes," I sighed, as I threw another fry at him. He smiled, as he caught the fry in his hand and put it in his mouth. However, the questioning about the dream didn't stop there.

After dinner we took a walk on the boardwalk. We walked closely to each other, but never actually touching, yet part of me wished he would grab my hand. I tried to shake that though from my head and enjoy the conversation we were having without thinking about how close his hand was to mine.

When we stopped for ice-cream to eat on the way back to the hotel, Jay couldn't help but laugh when I ordered mine. I looked at him confused. "What?" I finally asked.

He shook his head, "You know you are so predictable."

"What?" I replied, shaking my head. "I am not."

"You order the same ice-cream every single time," he pointed out.

I thought about it for a moment, and realized what he said was true. I had order my normal, mint chocolate chip in a waffle cone. "Well that's just because it is the best" I replied, as we got our ice-cream and started walking back.

Jay laughed and shook his head, "Nope, I don't believe it."

"Oh you don't?"

"Nope, not one bit. I think you are just afraid to try something new."

"No." I said, still laughing. "I just know what is best, and the best is what I want."

"So, you think mint chocolate chip is the best? he asked.

I shook my head, "No. I know it is."

"Then prove it," Jay dared, as he stopped walking and turned to face me.

I turned and faced him and thought for a moment of how to convince him of what I had said. Then I smiled and held my ice-cream out for him. "Try it."

"Try it?" Jay laughed. "That's how you are going to prove it?"

"That's all it takes."

"I've had mint chocolate chip ice-cream before."

"Not like this." I laughed, "Just try it!"

"Alright," Jay said, with a shrug. He leaned forward to take a bite of my ice-cream. Before I lost my chance I shoved the ice-cream in his face, and smeared it along his chin and cheek. He stood there unmovable for a moment, as I burst out in laughter. Then he wiped what he could off of his face and licked his fingers. "Yup, I see what you mean," He smiled at last. "Definitely the best."

I smiled victoriously. "See, you shouldn't doubt me."

"Oh, never again," he laughed. When we started walking again I looked at Jay and a smiled formed on my face. As soon as he saw me looking at him, he asked, "What?"

"It's just," I smiled again, "You still have some ice-cream on your face."

"What?" he asked, as his hand went to his face trying to remove the ice-cream he couldn't see. "Where?"

"Right there," I said, as I pointed to the spot just below his bottom lip. I watched as he again failed to even come close to the ice-cream on his face. I laughed, "Let me." Jay let his hands dropped and turned to face me. I placed my finger on the spot right above the ice-cream and kept it there for a moment longer, before wiping the last of the ice-cream off his face. I placed my finger in my mouth to lick the ice-cream off. "Still the best." I smiled trying not to notice how my lingering touch was making Jay feel.

"Just like you," he said softly, as he looked lovingly into my eyes.

I smiled as I moved my eyes away from his, and changed the subject. "This really has been a wonderful night, Jay."

Jay smiled, "Night isn't over yet." As he grabbed my hand, my heart fluttered. I tried not to show this as he pulled me along to the ocean.