Love Me

Chapter Twelve

Alyssa

Saturday. The day I've been looking forward to. I was getting ready to leave for Nathan and I's date. I already had my outfit on and applied some makeup myself. After all the times I got beat up, I had to learn how to apply a decent amount of makeup to cover my bruises so I'm practically a professional makeup artist.

Nathan and I spoke very briefly today. He just told me that we were leaving by 7pm sharp and it was currently 6:58pm. He would be here in roughly two minutes. Truthfully, I was very excited to be going on a date with Nathan. It was going to be my first ever date and I wanted to look perfect. Just as I black ankle strap heels, I heard a knock on the door.

That must be Nathan.

I hurriedly moved to the door to open it. As I suspected, Nathan was standing there looking good in his black suit and a dark blue dress shirt underneath. He didn't have a tie on, that would have been too formal anyway, instead, he left the first two buttons open, giving him that casual yet classy look.

Did I say good? I meant wonderfully handsome.

I fiddled with my fingers as he thoroughly examined me. The way he stared at me made me self-conscious. Did I look okay? Am I up to his standards?

“Nathan, is anything wrong?” I asked when I couldn't take the suspense anymore.

“N... No.” He cleared his throat. “You look gorgeous, Alyssa.”

My cheeks colored at his compliment. Did I look that good? “Thank you.”

“Are you ready to leave now?”

“Yes.”

I shut the door to my room and followed him to his car, passing Oliver who was so proud of the outfit he chose. The drive was quiet. Nathan was stressed. I could tell by the way he kept his eyebrows together and gripped the steering wheel.

I wanted to ask him throughout the ride but I couldn't just get the words out. It really wasn't my business but I still wanted to help.

Maybe it's work. I guessed, noticing the bags forming under his eyes and how tired he actually looked.

Has he been sleeping well these past few days?

If I had noticed earlier, I would have told him to rest and postponed the date. But not it was too late. We had arrived at a high end restaurant with expensively dressed people tripping in and out of it. I definitely didn't belong in a place like this.

I'm already feeling nervous.

The maître d' greeted us almost immediately, directing us to the table Nathan reserved. Like a gentleman, he pulled a chair out for me before taking his.

A waitress came over with a bright smile, a notepad in her hand. “Hello, my name is Hannah and I'll be your waitress tonight.” She said. “What can I start you off with?”

“Are you okay with wine?” Nathan asked me.

“Wine's okay.” I replied.

“Some red wine please.” He told the girl who wrote it down, telling us she'd be back soon.

Once I was alone with him, Nathan was staring at me. Well, looking in my direction but his attention was elsewhere. Something was definitely bothering him.

“Nathan, is everything alright?” I finally asked.

That seemed to snap him out of his trance. “Hm? Yes, I'm fine.”

“You're a bit distracted.” I stated.

He let out a breath, rubbing his eyes. “I'm sorry about that. There's a lot on my mind right now.”