To Our Only Hope

Part Five: Dinner at Six

I sat up and grabbed my phone. I noticed the time, 1:30pm on Sunday, October 15th. I had slept through my entire Saturday. I'm glad it wasn't my pay-day this time.

Ben was calling. I answered the phone. "Hey, sweetie. What's up?" I said quietly, in a sleepy voice.

"Hey Vick. I was wondering if you would come to dinner with me tonight? I have reservations in place at the Spiral Galaxy." He sounded as if he couldn't stop smiling, his voice was bright and clear.

I woke up completely, the surprise shocking me into full consciousness. "Ben, Spiral Galaxy?! You're kidding! That place is so expensive. Reservations are like a hundred bucks a person!"

"I know. I've been saving up for a really long time so I could take you somewhere nice for your birthday, but I ended up having work, and I knew you'd end up sleeping through your entire Saturday. So, meet me outside your door at six, got it? And bring Linus too! They allow pets, and I'm sure he'd love it." He said, no longer asking me.

"Alright, alright, I got it. I'd better start getting ready then. I love you, Ben. See you at six. With Linus."

"Good! I love you too, Vick. See you soon. Bye."

I hung up. I stood up and pulled the cord on my ceiling fan, turning on the light.

"Oh! That's bright, Momma!" Linus said, covering his eyes with his paws.

"Momma? I'm... Oh, right." I smiled and scratched beneath his chin. He purred and rolled over, so I rubbed his tummy. Because he spoke so formally, I had forgotten he's still only very young, and he knows very little. "Well... Momma... Has to get ready for a date with Ben. He's taking me to a nice restaurant for dinner tonight, and I'll have to get ready quickly if I want to bring you, too. I'm gonna dress up nice and do my makeup, and I'll fix up a collar for you, using one of my chokers."

"Okay." He sighed, and burrowed into the covers.

I hunted through my closet and practically pounced on an ankle-length black dress that I'd hadn't worn yet. "Perfect!" I slipped it on, yanked the tags off, and went to the bathroom, pulling out my makeup. I may not do my makeup very often, but I've got a lifetime supply of dark hues and soft brushes.

My makeup took a half hour to perfect. The eyeshadow was black, so it was difficult to clean up the edges and keep it off of the rest of my face. I had silver highlights, and, having no need for foundation, concealer, or blush, I put on a dark red lipstick to compliment the black and walked out of the bathroom to find some shoes.

I found my favorite black, closed-toe heels and slipped them on. They had three spikes on the top of each one, and until now, I had never gotten the chance to wear them, since I never dress up. To complete the look, I slipped in my silver gauges, switched my cartilage earring to silver, and put on a black choker with silver spikes.

I grabbed another choker of the same type and went into my room to see how much I needed to cut off of the end for Linus's collar. When that was done with, I sewed a silver buckle onto one end, and sewed a small ring into the center to attach an identification tag to, along with another, slightly more durable ring for a leash. I untied the red ribbon from his neck and pet him for a moment, before putting the collar on him.

"It looks great, Linus." I smiled.

"Thanks, Momma."

I looked at the clock. 5:58pm. Perfect timing!

I picked Linus up and grabbed my leather jacket as I headed out the door with my house key attached to a thin chain. I locked the door and hooked the chain around my neck like a necklace.

"Hey, Vick. You look beautiful, as usual. And Linus looks handsome, as well." I turned around to see Ben wearing a black tuxedo with a dark red undershirt, and he had his long black hair pulled back behind his ear instead of over his eye like usual. He was wearing nice black shoes, and a black tie, which was tied completely wrong.

"Thanks, Ben. You do too." I loosened his tie a bit and adjusted it. I realized his undershirt was buttoned wrong, the right side was higher than the left. I smiled at these small childish errors. "However, I think you dress up less than I do."

I giggled and took his tie off. I unbuttoned the shirt and rebuttoned it the correct way, then replaced his tie and buttoned his petticoat. He kissed my cheek sweetly.

"You're right, I do. You sweep me right off my feet with your beauty. And your little perfectionist observations." He picked me up bridal style, and Linus hopped into my lap. Ben carried me to his car, while I giggled at his attempts to woo me with his strength. "So now, my sweet Victory," he announced "it's my turn to sweep you off yours." He kissed me full on the lips, and I felt as if I was floating. I smiled and sighed in content. I shivered when he whispered, "I love you, Abigail Victorus Miranora."

"And I love you, Benjamin Linkin Chester."

He set me down in the passenger seat, Linus still in my lap, and walked around to the driver's side. I looked at him and laughed.

"You have lipstick all over your face, Ben." I grabbed a makeup wipe from the glovebox-I always keep some there because Ben usually takes me wherever I need to go-and wiped the dark red off of his mouth.

"Gee, I wonder that came from, huh?" he said playfully, with an accusational glance at my own mouth. "Vick." He reached over me, his hand directly in front of my stomach.

"You wouldn't dare, Benjamin!" I gasped.

"Oh I wouldn't, would I? We'll see." his hand shot back, and he tickled me.

I squealed and giggled, Linus fell off my lap and onto the floorboards. Through my attempts to breath, I said, "You win, you win! You would dare!"

Finally, he stopped and I caught my breath. He looked at me and leaned over the center console to kiss my cheek.

"Now! Off we go!" He shouted, starting the car.