Over Again

Chapter 1: Reservations

"Yes I can't wait to see you... yes girly, it's for 6:00!" i said to my friend. I love her, but Kiera has a habit of being late, but I love her for it. That's why I told her 6:00... the reservations actually for 6:30.
"Ok I'm getting ready now. Bye!"

I hung up the phone and started thinking about what I was going to wear.

Me and Kiera have been friends for 14 years. She lives almost 9 hours away but she came to town a week ago to visit her family. I texted her two days ago asking if she wanted to grab dinner before she left. She said absolutely, then asked where we should go. I took that opportunity to recommend a popular restaurant that just popped up. We both heard people mention the restaurant and how low key it was. How a friend of a friend went there for their bnkirthday. Stuff like that. We wanted to see what the fuss was about ourselves.

It's kind of on the outskirts of our town. Not far from where i live, it's even walking distance...but its a little far from her. So i told her to drive to my house. I was just finishing putting on my lashes when I heard my phone vibrate. Kiera was calling. "Hey, I pulled up, can u unlock the gate?"
"Yea."

...Buzz.

Knock knock!

"HEY!!" "Hi my love!"
We stood there embracing each other, rocking back and forth. I missed her so much, it feels weird being adults now, we were only 12 when we met. I took in her perfume, her soft clothes and her big smile and honestly I felt like the strange little kids first meeting at our after school program again.
"Nia it's been so long." She semi whispered. And I almost caught myself getting a little emotional. I pulled away.
"Yes.

Thank you for coming to see me before you leave.
"You think I wasn't going to come see you?" She said on a exaggerated gasp feigning shock.
I nudged her and said "look you ain't gotta come see me. You grown. But I'm happy you are here none the less. Let me grab my shoes and my purse then we can head out."

I did just that. We headed out the door and began walking through the gate towards the side walk

"So this restaurant doesn't have many online reviews, it's fairly new. But from what I hear, it's got nice ambience, good music, the food is actually worth the money, and the serving sizes are good too."
"How'd you hear about it"

"Ok so funny enough, a coworker said her friends went and really enjoyed it."

"Oh that's good. I hope I like it. You know I can be picky"

"They have something on the menu for everybody. Don't worry" I chuckled. It's true, growing up she was extremely picky. But I had no room to B speak. I could be too.

We were approaching the restaurant and saw a few people waiting outside. I had a reservation so I wasn't that worried. We walked in and I approached the host.
"Welcome to l'appétit, do you have a reservation or is this a walk in" she said with a polite smile.
"Reservation"
"Ok can I have a name?"
"Yes, Nia"
"Ok I see, table for two, please follow me."

As we walked to our seat I subtly observe the environment. There was a low buzz of chatter, laughs, music and the sound of the kitchen. The lights lights were somewhat dim with candles on the table, the walls were a nice shade of maroon with a matte finish, but there were gloss stencil of flowers that were the same color of the wall, along the back. Kind of like an accent wall. Very interesting. The wall fixtures were sleek and very modern. The host stopped us at our table us and placed our menus in front of us gently then with a quick smile he said "once you eat here, you won't wanna leave!" And walked away. We both chuckled and turned over our menus. Our waiter came over and asked us for our drink order. Then briskly walked off.

"So how is your family" I asked. "Is your mom doing well? I know last time we spoke she was getting on your last nerve."

"Girl, when does she not. But no she's doing fine. Her and my dad are doing well. He just retired so they threw him a party at his office actually."

"Oh that's awesome! I know he's probably ready to rest."

"Chile no, they already planning to go on about 5 different vacations. Dubai, Bali, Maldives, whatever. They need to sit down."

"I'm not mad at it. If I was retired and grown, no way my child is gonna tell me to sit down somewhere. I'm gonna be where? Outside."

"We both busted out laughing. It felt so see my friend. I have been working so much, I forget to socialize sometimes. I saw our waiter coming towards us with our drink and as he was walking he let a couple pass him going towards the back, where the waiter came from, so i assume the bathroom was also that way. I like this restaurant already, felt like a relaxed place. Not long after we ordered, our food arrives. It smells fantastic and im ready to dig in. Me and my friend eat our meal, quietly talking about school and work and our love lives.

"How's Anthony?"

"He's ok, he got a promotion at work. Which is great but ummm also..."

She hesitates. Then flashes her hand at me. I stifled a scream. "NO WAY SHUT UP!!!" I tried not to disrupt the people next to us but I was just too excited.

"Yes!! He asked me last week and I wanted to take pictures to make am announcement but I'm just too excited to keep my mouth shut"

"I wouldn't shut up either I don't blame you."

As we were talking, our waiter comes back and asks if that would be all and we said yes and asked for the check.

We walked towards the front of the restaurant, I grabbed her hand to look at the ring, it was beauty, catches on the light too. We walked past the hostess station and the host had a small smile, but I couldn't help notice a shift in his facial expression. Oook? I said thank you again to him, He said see you again... Instead of come again. Which was weird, but i understood it anyways.

"do you want to come to my house to talk more?" I asked her. I didn't want to hold her any longer, we used to be able to talk all night but now we be in the bed by about 9:00. Sigh, getting older sucks sometimes.

"Yes! You have to tell me about you? I heard you were working for Microsoft?!"

We start walking back towards my place. I had my hand on the gate, when I felt a hand grab my arm.