When Friday night arrives, I'm a little nervous. I haven't been on a date in so long. I know this shouldn't count because it's not a real date, but I'm still a little nervous.
Joey is scheduled to pick me up so we can travel together. I'm grabbing my coat when I hear a loud engine sound. I look outside my window from my top, penthouse suite and see an expensive, flashy car that must be Joey's. Two woman are walking by and I can even hear them start to shriek and run up to the car window - it's definitely him. I can't believe he drives around in that thing, he obviously wants the attention which is the total opposite of how I am. In fact, the biggest aspect of this PR relationship I was worried about was the attention. I knew dating a big TV star would spur up a lot more of it than I'm used to.
I make my way downstairs and walk outside to find the same two women receiving autographs from Joey who's leaning out his window with a smug smile on his face.
"Thank you Joey!" the women swoon and then walk away from the car. I walk around to the other side and get in the passenger seat.
"Hey," I greet him.
"Hey," he murmurs as he turns the radio on and searches for a good song.
He immeditaly begins driving and we don't talk the entire ride. I'm already regretting this, I'm taking an hour out of my night to go on a fake date with this guy and we can't even make small talk? I'm praying the dinner won't be this silent.
We get to the restaurant and I'm stunned to find about ten paparazzi outside taking explosive amounts of photos. This is my worst nightmare, I never get paparazzied and this is already way more insane than I predicted.
Joey gets out of the car, so I get out too. I'm already feeling flustered. Joey suddenly meets me on my side of the car. I wasn't expecting him to walk over and before I know it his hand slips into mine and he's holding my hand as we're walking to the entrance of the restaurant.
I'm shocked by all of this, I mean it makes perfect sense since the point is for us to look like a real couple, but I wasn't expecting Joey to suddenly switch into couple mode when he barely spoke one word to me so far tonight.
I feel like I should smile at the cameras to look happy, but I'm hating every second of walking past all these cameras. The flashes are so bright and fast, they are hurting my eyes. The crowd is shouting at us as well - a ton of questions and comments that I can't fully understand since they are all shouting over each other. I can't help, but keep my head down as we quickly walk into the restaurant.
When we're inside the restaurant, I'm glad Joey does all the talking. I'm still kind of out of it. Some anxiety has kicked in which hasn't happened to me in a while, but it's back tonight thanks to that thirty-second whirlwind walking in. The host seems to know Joey and they are very friendly. The host escorts us to a very nice table in a more secluded area.
A waiter walks over immediately and hands only me a menu.
I give Joey a confused look.
"I have a usual," he winks at me.
I almost roll my eyes, but I stop myself and simply open my menu to look the options over.
The prices are beyond overpriced. Luckily, Joey is paying tonight. The agreement is to switch off, which is why he chose the place tonight.
"So, what's your usual?" I inquire.
"The lobster," he tells me.
I look for the lobster on the menu and my mouth nearly drops when I see the price. My face must still be giving me away because Joey catches on to my shock.
"Don't worry, it's my treat tonight so you're supposed to take advantage," he surprises me by saying.
I never had that attitude that simply because someone else is paying you should order the entire menu. Even with my poor opinion of Joey so far, I would still feel bad racking up an enormous bill.
I order a chicken dish that sounds good to me. Joey gives me a look when I tell the waiter what I want.
"That's it? No appetizers, no drinks?" he asks.
I shake my head.
"I'm fine," I state.
Silence falls over the table as Joey starts digging into the complimentary bread.
I hate the idea of sitting here for an hour in silence, but I also don't want to make small talk with him because I don't really need to learn about his life and I know he doesn't care to learn anything about me.
Within five minutes, I'm too bored and annoyed to not start up a conversation.
"So, how'd you start coming here?" I ask, since this is clearly a regular outing for him.
He finishes his large mouthful of bread before answering.
"I was in this play years ago, but the director hated me. After opening night, he celebrated by bringing the whole cast here. He turned to me and told me I would never be successful enough to afford to eat here," he shares.
My eyes widen at his story.
"Really, wow. So, now you come here all the time?"
He nods.
"Why do you think the director hated you so much?" I question him.
He shrugs.
"It could have to do with the fact that I slept with his girlfriend," he reveals to me.
My head automatically drops in disappointment and I give him a knowing look.
"I didn't know she was his girlfriend, she was my co-star and she made a move on me," he argues.
"Oh... well then I guess it was innocent on your part," I reason after hearing that.
He shakes his head while he takes another big bite of bread.
"Why don't you eat here?" Joey questions me now.
"It's too expensive," I respond.
Now, he gives me a look.
"You can afford it," he says confidently.
"I know I can, but I don't don't need to spend so much on food that I can get other places," I defend.
"Yeah, but it's the image. This is the best restaurant to be seen at," Joey retorts.
"I don't care about being seen," I state honestly.
Our food comes after this so the conversation ends.
The rest of the dinner is pretty quiet, but I don't force another conversation.
Joey pays for the bill and we head back outside. Joey puts his arm around me this time and even though I tried to prepare myself for the onslaught of flashing lights, I'm still not ready when it happens again. This time is worse becuase we have to wait a few seconds while the valet pulls the car up. The paparazzi are now shouting both our names, they're asking if we're dating and if we are enjoying our night. I look to Joey to see if he's going to answer, but he doesn't. He smiles once or twice and then guides me over to the car after the valet gets out.
I reach for the passenger door handle, but I'm suddenly in Joey's way who is apparently opening the door for me. I thank him awkwardly and then get in. He walks around and gets in the driver's seat and swiftly speeds off.
