In response to a guest review who asked to see Jake have dinner with his mom. Enjoy.
Chapter Ten
Jake pulled the chair out for his mom before taking a seat opposite her. The restaurant they were at was a bit more pretentious than his usual tastes but he knew his mother would like an excuse to dress up.
He picked up the menu and automatically scanned it for the cheapest option, not really caring what it was, nodding as his mother deliberated what to order, while his mind was far away with Amy. They'd hardly seen each other all day as they'd each been working separate cases.
"Jake?" his mom said loudly cutting though his thoughts.
"Yep" he said looking up from the menu.
"The waiter asked what you wanted to order"
He could've blushed. How had he gotten so wrapped up in her? They'd only been dating now for two weeks. And yet she'd somehow taken up residence in his head full time. They tried to keep professional when they were at work, though they did slip on occasion. But outside of the precinct they had become inseparable.
"Jake – do you want to talk to me about something?" his mom said gently, putting her hand over his now the waiter had gone.
"I'm fine – let's focus on you. How does it feel to be twenty-one?" he said, knowing how much she loved him for that.
"You realise I've known you your whole life – enough to be able to tell apart your average daydreaming and when you're actually thinking about something important" she said with a smile. It was true. He was that much of a momma's boy.
"It's nothing, I'm just thinking about someone from work" he said, not lying but hoping she'd think he meant a suspect or his boss.
"Amy?"
He almost fell off his chair.
"How'd you know that?" he said his surprise colouring his voice.
"I don't think you realise how much you talk about her sometimes" she said with a laugh. "So has something finally happened?"
"We started dating – only two weeks now, don't start planning the wedding or anything"
"Hmm, if you'd have asked I'd have thought you'd been seeing each other longer"
"Why?
"It's changed you – you have a look about you"
He laughed.
"It's true – I hardly recognise you" she said pointing at him. "You'll have to bring her over I'd like to meet the woman who's made my son so happy"
"Fine mom if it makes you happy" he said rolling his eyes.
"I'm serious"
"Me too" he said putting his pinkie finger across to her.
Across town Amy allowed Bryce to pull out her chair for her. He'd gotten them a table at the back of the restaurant far away from the sparse Thursday night crowd.
She looked up from the table when she heard his chair scrape back and was greeted by a warm and familiar smile as he sat down.
"You know I can hardly believe you agreed to this"
"Me either" she said and picked up the menu.
She felt his eyes brush over the blue cocktail dress she wore and up to her face which was covered in the make-up she hardly ever used. Amy told herself that she had put in the effort for the classy restaurant not for Bryce.
He hoped that the conversation would move past its interrogative phase as his mother pushed for every piece of information he could humanly give about Amy Santiago.
He automatically looked up as the door opened and barely registered a woman and man enter as his mother distracted him with yet another question. He pushed his empty plate away, his mother having finished a while ago while he'd been slowed down by being forced to talk so much.
"What's her favourite food?"
"Oh mom she'll eat anything let's not get too worked up about this"
She put her hands up to wave him off as if he were the odd one. "I'm just trying to be thorough"
"Mom the only way you could be more thorough is to ask which brand of toilet paper she prefers"
She sighed and said "Fine – but it pays off to be observant. Women want a man who knows what they want"
"Don't worry. I know quite a few things to keep her happy" he said with a deceptive smile which didn't fool his mother at all he realised as she kicked him under the table.
"Behave sweetheart"
"I always do mom"
"Here is your bottle of wine sir" the waiter said setting it on the table after he had finished pouring. "Are you ready to order?"
Normally Amy would shy away from pretty much everything on the menu no matter how tasty it sounded – in her mind no steak is worth $45 – but given that Bryce was paying she didn't mind and opted for the crab and lobster ravioli.
Once the waiter had left Bryce leaned across the table and lowered his voice although there was no one around.
"You look stunning"
She took a gulp of her favourite wine which of course Bryce remembered. "Thank you" she said out of pure courtesy.
In the kitchen, through the door right behind them, a waiter dropped a plate.
Like everyone Jake's head snapped up at the sound of a plate smashing and while most people turned back to their conversations within seconds Jake found a reason to keep looking towards the back of the restaurant.
The man and woman he had so casually dismissed earlier was in fact his girlfriend and a tall man he had never met before. He was pretty sure it wasn't one of her brothers – who from her descriptions sounded quite menacing – so he hung onto the hope that it was another more distant relative, given that he bore no resemblance to her, or maybe someone she used to work with.
"Jake?" his mother said sounding quite exasperated that she had lost his concentration again. "I hate to pull the birthday card but a bit of attention would be nice"
Amy hadn't noticed him as she was fully absorbed in conversation with the man opposite her who had just taken her hand. He was slightly reassured by the fact that she was leaned backward but she still didn't pull entirely away.
He was being crazy, it was probably perfectly harmless. And while a good part of him wanted to do nothing more than to stand up and walk over there to interrogate this touchy feely stranger he listened to the logical side of him that knew he could trust Amy. She would probably tell him all about it tomorrow.
He stood up and grabbed his mother's coat.
"Let's go – I thought we could stop somewhere else for dessert. Then you can open your present"
However all the way through eating their cake at a place in his mother's neighbourhood and as she kissed him and shed a tear over his present, contently placing the ring on her finger, his mind was back in the restaurant he had just left trying to alleviate the feeling that Amy wasn't telling him something.
The next morning Jake had placed Amy's favourite breakfast on her desk and sat at his waiting for her to come in.
Without fail she came in right on time and first walked over to Terry's desk to drop off some work. When she saw him her face lit up and she smiled in a way that still left him breathless. As she walked over the smile grew as she saw what he had left her.
Sitting in her chair she said "Yum, thanks. How did it go with your mom last night?"
"Great – she loved the present"
"I knew she would. It was so sweet"
"So" he said slowly, "did you get up to anything last night?"
When she looked up at him her face betrayed no sign of emotion. "No – nothing at all" and she tucked into her food.