Life without You...

Part 24 - The Necklace

Letty's POV

I could feel his eyes on me as I made my way back into the house. I felt slightly better but still exhausted and slightly queasy. In our room I changed, hauling on shorts and a vest top.

We went for a drive and we stopped on the edge of the city at a market. We walked around it for a bit, pausing at stalls which we found interesting. I stopped at a stall which sold jewellery where Dom ran his fingers over a necklace which hung in a thick silver chain. The cross was studded with fake diamonds and coated with silver. It looked more expensive than it probably was. I could see longing flicker in his brown eyes. Dom moved on until he was a little ahead of me but still within view. With my typical impatience and the carelessness only he could tease out of me, I inclined my head, inviting the stall owner to me.

"How much?" I asked.

The man tipped his head and looked me up and down. "Thirty five dollars."'

I scoffed and smirked. "I'll give you thirty dollars."

The guy looked impressed especially since I held out the thirty dollars. Greed coloured his eyes and he took the money. He actually looked like he was slightly desperate. I knew we weren't in the nicest end of town but we were together.

He boxed up the necklace for me and I watched him carefully. He handed me the black cardboard necklace box. My hand curled awkwardly around the box which was too large for me to hold comfortably.

"Where'd you go?" Dom asked in his deep growl of a voice.

"Just looking at the stall."

He nodded and grinned indulgently at me. It was only when we were alone that we actually behaved like a couple. Slipping his arm around my shoulders he and I walked through the markets. We only stopped at a few stalls, most of them food stalls. I insisted we stop at the doughnut stall as a lack of food was getting to me and I needed a sugar kick. Then Dom dragged me off to an Italian place for a late lunch or an early dinner, depending on what way you looked at it.

We sat in the restaurant. An informal feeling surrounded us. There were red and checked table cloths on the table and a candle lit on every table, even the unoccupied ones.

"Why here?" I asked Dom with a slight smile. We never ate anywhere like this, we were always on the go so stopping was never an option.

"Sometimes it's nice to slow down and enjoy it."

I shook my head and my smile got bigger. It was rare we stopped for long enough just to appreciate where we were. It was actually rare we slowed down enough to share a meal together on our own. Usually everyone else was there.

"Ready to order?" A waiter asked us.

"Yeh, I'll have the lasagne please," Dom requested.

"Yeh, I'll have the chicken bake please."

The waiter nodded and we ordered our drinks. I ordered a water and he ordered a Corona. I knew I had to drive home. I wouldn't ask him to drive after drinking.

We lapsed into silence. What did couples actually do on dinner dates? We didn't go in for gooey conversation nor idle gossip. We didn't talk to fill silence. It was strange. All around our couples were affectionately drooling all over each other and there we were sitting like friends and not lovers. Maybe what we had was better though, we didn't need to be open about our affection to know the other cared.

An idea struck me, I should give him the necklace. I didn't really know what to say so I slid the crappy looking cardboard box over the table to Dom. His eyes widened as he looked at the box.