Animator's Magic - James and Jaiden

The Date

When the expensive car pulled up to the restaurant, Jaiden realized how much James was spending on this.

"Wow, you didn't have to do all of this you know..." Jaiden said, still staring at the three-story Cheesecake Factory staring down at her. James rushed out of the car to get Jaiden's door. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the night to come, whatever it held. He opened the door, smiling. Jaiden snickered while she gracefully got out of the car, pretending to flip her hair dramatically. They both laughed as they walked down to the door.

"Hi, I called for a reservation under Ja--"

"OH MY GOD!OH MY GOD! ITS YOU!" the employee screamed. "You're theOdd1sOut and you're Jaiden! I can't believe I'm meeting you for the first time at my job, in my uniform. I'm fangirl-ing so hard right now, I'm so sorry!"

"Haha, that's okay!" neither of them knew how to react to fans yet, "do you want an autograph?" Jaiden said, still laughing at her reaction. She got a piece of paper for them to sign on and put it away.

"Sorry, so James Rallison, correct?" she said, composing herself.

"Yup, that's me, table for two" he responds.

"Y'all are celebrities! I'll make sure you guys get a free cheesecake on the house," she says while updating the table management software. "Alright, follow me," she says as she grabs two menus and starts to walk. They get to their table and they sit down; James pulled out the chair for Jaiden. She looks at him with a look of disbelief. 

"Really?" she says, still accepting the gesture

"Have a nice date you twooo..." the fan walks off smiling. In what seemed like seconds, a male waiter comes up.

"So I hear you two are celebrities, would you like to start with some drinks, appetizers, or just go straight to the entrees?" he asks, going through his waiting routine.

"Drinks would be nice," James said ignoring the celebrity comment. 

"Two ice teas," Jaiden says. She nods at the waiter and he leaves as she looks at James. They've been to enough dinners together to remember at least his drink order. 

They talk and eat for the rest of the night; laughing about all of the special "celebrity" treatment they're getting, eating (Unlike most dates, they're already comfortable eating around each other), and having a good time. For the most part, they both forget they are on a date and not just a regular dinner. They decide to split a dessert, an Oreo New York-style Cheesecake - on the house - and after another iced tea, they're off. They argue about splitting the bill until they decide that she'll pay the next time. They both smile at the reassurance that there will be a "next time."

The two animators take a walk downtown, window-shopping through cute, little stores. They stop at a white baby store with twinkling star lights all around it. He puts his arm around her as she snuggles up.

"Oh James... Look at those blue shoes, they are adorable!!" Jaiden squeals pointing at the blue and white pair of baby shoes on display.

"I know, and that onesie to go with it!" he points at a matching blue onesie with a monkey face on it. 

"I can't wait to have kids..." Jaiden says, not thinking before it came out. "Sorry, it's our first date, I shouldn't of s--"

"Me too," he responds, taking her by surprise. He takes his eyes off of the baby store display and looks at Jaiden. He takes his arm off and puts it on her waist while the other goes onto her neck. He smiles and kisses her. She doesn't hesitate either and gives in, letting them kiss for what seems to them, an eternity. They continue to walk around, laughing and talking until they get back to where the car was. They drive to Jaiden's house forcing them to either split for the night, which seemed so hard to them now, or for James to come in. 

"I'll walk you up," he says, wanting to stay with her a bit longer. They slowly walk to her front door, silence fills the air along with a bit of sadness.

"I'll see you tomorrow, I don't know why it's so hard!" Jaiden blurts out as they get to the porch.

"Yeah, I know. I hope you had fun tonight..." he says still not looking at her. 

"Of course I did!" she can see her phone in her purse glowing from a notification. She can barely make out a "10:35 PM" on her lock screen. "James, I was worried this wasn't going to go well but I'm glad it did. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" she says, trying to go inside and push down her feelings of loneliness.

"Me too. I'll see you tomorrow Jaiden." he half-smiles. He decides to kiss her on the cheek as a goodbye. She notices this and moves her head just the tiniest bit for him to kiss her on the lips. He misses her cheek and they kiss again, the spark still there.