a/n: heya...two chappies in one day! Woot go me! lol...anyway same as always, don't own em...this one is a little longer than the others and a little on the cheesy side in some places...but it fits I promise!
Continued thanks to Ducky who pretty much wrote this whole thing since I'm a loser who's never been on a date...pathetic I know anyway...much thanks to her!
And thank you to Dodger, Spades and Mouse for consistantly reviewing!
Friday night rolled around and I was more nervous than a deer during deer season. The fact that Spot and Spades had been teasing me all day didn't help the nervousness any they actually made it worse. I was rummaging through my closet in a desperate attempt to find something to wear that night when my mom walked in.
"Angelica, can I talk to you for a minute." She asked.
"If you don't mind that I keep on digging." I said from the depths of my closet.
"No, I don't mind. How much do you like this boy?" she asked. I stopped rummaging and looked at her, was she serious?
"Um, I don't know, why?"
"Because it seems that you've fallen for him rather quickly and I don't want you to rush things or be, pressured in anyway."
"Pressured? You sound like I'm an old maid whose biological clock is ticking and it's almost out of time! What kind of a girl do you think I am? I didn't go to True Love Waits for 6 years for nothing!"
"Watch your lip young lady." My mom said sharply.
"Well, what am I supposed to say? You and dad are always on me to find a guy and get married and now that I do you start telling me to be careful!"
"That's because we want to make sure that you don't get carried away and make sure that he's the right one for you before you do anything you'll regret doing later."
"Yes Mother, I'll be careful!" I sighed exasperated.
"Well, I just don't want you to get hurt sweetie."
"Thank you for your concern, I've got my heart covered it's ok." I said while digging through my closet still.
"So what are you two doing tonight?" she asked. My mom was great at being nosy. No wonder everyone in the family knew how my love life was.
"I don't know, he said it was a surprise."
"Ohhh, that's sweet." She sighed wistfully.
"Mom, it's a mercy date, I flipped him and this is how he said I could make up for it."
"Oh I'm sure he would have come up with another reason had you not flipped him."
"Uh, mom, I'm still trying to get ready, so would you mind?"
"Oh all right, have fun!"
Half an hour later Spades beat on my door.
"Your future husband is here!" she called.
"HE'S NOT MY FUTURE HUSBAND!" I called.
"You don't know that!"
"LEAVE!"
"Spot is interrogating him by the way." She said walking in the door.
"What part of leave are you not comprehending?" I asked.
"The leave part. Are you going to wear you hair like that?" She asked sounding shocked.
"I was, why what's wrong with it?"
"Oh nothing, it's just so, everyday."
"Do you want to do something with it?"
"Why darling ah thought ya'd nevah ask." She said slipping into her "southern belle" accent. She wrestled the brush away from me, took my hair down from the ponytail it was in and started brushing through it. A few minutes later of plucking, pulling, straightening and curling, she was done. I looked at myself in the floor length mirror on my door; she had worked wonders on my hair. It was piled on top of my head and loose ringlet curls framed my face, thus complimenting the midnight blue dress I was wearing.
"Wow, Spades, you're a genius!" I said hugging her.
"I know" she smiled. "Now go, I'm sure that Spot has scared him off by now."
"If he has I'll kill him!" I said my eyes flashing.
"Well, no way to know til you get down there." Spades said pushing me out the door. I walked downstairs to see Jack and Spot talking on the couch. When I entered the room, Jack got a huge goofy grin on his face, which caused Spot to turn around.
"Heya Angel," Jack said.
"Good evening, kind sir." I said curtsying.
"COUGHDRAMAQUEENCOUGH." Spot said having a sudden coughing fit.
"I heard that." I said glaring at him.
"Oh, let me get a picture of you two!" my mom said running in the room with her camera.
"Mom, this is a date, it's not my first, and it's not the prom, not the first day of school. No pictures."
"But it's your first date with Jack." Spades said elbowing me.
"And your point is?" I asked.
"Don't you want a picture to show your kids one day?" She said still elbowing me. I glared at her menacingly.
"I wanna have a talk with you later." I said not looking at all amused.
"Stop it you two. Jack and Angelica, smile!" my mom yelled taking the blasphemous picture.
"I hate it when she does that." I muttered.
"How often does she do dat?" Jack muttered back.
"Since Prom, this has been the first."
"I feel special." He joked.
"Ha ha, very funny. Can we go before the rest of my family gets here?" I asked dreading what would happen if Media showed up.
We walked out to his car and he opened the door for me, and as I got in the car I hit the top of my hair on the edge of the door, since I wasn't used to it being so high.
"DON'T MESS IT UP, YOU HAVEN'T EVEN LEFT THE DRIVEWAY YET!" Spades shouted from the door.
"Brittany, stop spying on your sister!" I heard my mom yell inside the house, even though spying was exactly what my mom was doing from the kitchen window.
The drive over was a bit awkward at first, but became more comfortable as our conversation progressed. We pulled up in front of Olive Garden and I began to open the door due to force of habit, thus causing Jack to sprint around the car to open it for me.
"Sorry, old habits die hard." I said sheepishly smiling.
"Oh, it's okay dere Angel." He said. "Just ta give ya a warnin, I'll be gettin da door ta da restaurant as well."
"Good to know, since I probably would have grabbed for it." I chuckled. We entered into the lobby of the restaurant where we were told by the seating hostess that we would have to wait for a couple of minutes for an open table. I noticed that she was eyeing Jack the whole time she was talking to us, and my anger began to flare. Was that jealousy I was feeling? Why was I getting so uptight over a flirtatious seating hostess, especially over Jack? I mentally slapped myself for thinking that way and made my mind up to stay calm for the rest of the date. As promised, a few minutes later the pager went off letting us know the table was ready and we were lead to our seats.
"So waddaya in da mood foh Angel?" Jack asked.
"Chicken Fettuccini." I said eyeing my menu.
"Sounds good."
"And ta drink?"
"Water is good."
"Lost ya taste foh alcohol?" he laughed.
"After Monday, permanently!" I said, not joking. Our waiter then arrived and took our orders leaving us to talk over breadsticks.
"So, as I recall, you told Blink that you were taking a break from the stage?" I asked, trying to make conversation.
"Yeah, I'm an actah and a dancah by trade. I woiked at dis place called Medda's it's off Broadway."
"What brought you into that business?" I asked my interest suddenly peaked.
"Ah well, I met Medda trough me faddah, befoh he passed away. She took me in an raised me in da theater, so I'se always been around it, and I dunno, I guess I'se just always liked it." He said shrugging.
"So ah, tell me bout yaself."
"Oh stayed at home, went to community college, work, there's really not much to me." I said trying to recall something interesting that had happened to me.
"Oh I doubt that, from what I'se seen in da tree weeks I'se been heah, dere's a lot ta ya." He said slightly leaning across the table. I felt my cheeks begin to flush with slight embarrassment at all that he had witnessed over the last few weeks.
"Oh I didn't mean ta embarrass ya or nuttin. Just seems like dere's moh to ya dan whatcha say." He said leaning back.
"Well, I suppose there is. Well, let's see, we moved from New York when I was four. We got here and my dad opened the hotel, I grew up around it. I started working there when I was 16. Graduated High School around here, went to the university and the rest is history."
"Well, whadda ya wanna do wid ya life?"
"When I was little I wanted to act on Broadway. Now, I'm not so sure, I'm an acting major, but we'll see."
"Well ya know, I'se got connections in da theater if ya evah wanna try it"
"Ha ha yeah sure."
"Ya tink I'm jokin?"
"Aren't you?"
"No, I'se serious."
My face turned somber, I hadn't thought about that in a long time. I was an okay actress, good enough for community college, but for Broadway? My train of thought was broken when the waiter returned with our food.
"And I'll be back in a little while to see how ya'll are doing." The waiter said gliding off the kitchen.
"Ya know, I tink dey teach 'em how ta glide like dat." Jack said.
"Oh what, like Tommy's Gliding School for Waiters?" I asked.
"I woulda picked anoddah name, but ya got da idea." He smiled.
"So uh ya got some interestin friends."
"They are definitely one of a kind."
"Yeah but it's good ta have interestin friends." He smirked.
"I sense a story behind that comment." I urged.
"Ah lotsa stohies."
"What were they like?"
"Well, David, he's real smaht, kinda like a walkin mouth. He has good ideas; just don't got da guts to get 'em out in da open. And den his kid bruddah Les; he's like my adopted lil bruddah. He's engergetic, almost naïve in dat innocent child way, ya know? Who else, dere's Crutchy. He's ona da most loyal people ya'll evah meet. He's gotta gimp leg so he walks around wid a crutch all da time, which is why we'se call 'im Crutchy. But dey're a great buncha guys."
"Do you miss them?"
"Yeah, but at least I got Blink, and I got ta meet youse."
And again, my traitorous cheeks gave me away by blushing.
"Aw, she's already blushing, and I haven't even teased her yet!" Media said walking out of nowhere.
"Media, what are you doing here?" I asked, mortified. "Did my mom send you here to spy on me?"
"Yeah, she gave me a way cool little earpiece!" Media said in a mocking tone.
"I wouldn't put it past her."
"No, you brat." She said smacking my head. "Oh nice hair."
"If you mess it up Spades will kill you!"
"You her and everyone else."
"So, how's the date goin?" Mush asked walking up behind Media.
"Better if we weren't in Grand Central Station!" I glared at the two of them.
"We can take a hint right Media?" Mush said dragging her away to a seat across the aisle.
"I swear, if everyone doesn't act like I'm getting married, I'm gonna jump of the roof of the hotel!" I mumbled to myself. Jack and I picked our conversation up again, but every so often I would feel the burning gaze of Media, who was giving me the kiss kiss face from across the aisle. Which resulted in either my throwing a straw paper at her or Mush kicking her under the table.
"Like you said Jack, interesting friends." I said turning my attention back to my date. After dinner we got back in the car and he drove us to the Arlington suburbs where the annual Christmas light decorating contest was held. We got in line and drove through the myriads of houses that each had Christmas lights dangling from eaves, trees, bushes, and posts each one a different color. By this time we were comfortable with each other and the atmosphere was relaxed. We drove by one house that had a large display of a pink horse around a manger scene.
"Oh," I said and hit Jack's leg excitedly. "It's a pink horse!"
"I take it ya like hoises."
"Yeah, when I was in seventh grade I took equestrian lessons and got into gymnastics on horseback. Oh it was so much fun!"
"Wow." Jack then fumbled through his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.
"Who're ya callin?" I asked
"Infohmation."
"For what?"
"You'll see." He pulled the car over and stepped outside so I couldn't hear what he was saying. After a couple of minutes he got back in and turned the car in the opposite direction.
"So?" I asked.
"Ya'll like it, so long as I don't get da dihections mixed up." He said.
We arrived a short time later at the West End, a small section of downtown Dallas that housed the arts district. The whole trip there Jack had a smile plastered on his face, which only spurred on my curiosity.
"We'se heah." He finally announced.
"Where exactly is here?"
"Da West End, shohly ya knew dat." He joked.
"My dear Watson, you have a blazing talent for observing the obvious! But seriously, what are we doing?"
"Ah you'll find out." He said opening his door before coming around to open mine. He helped me out of the car and offered me his arm. I took it and we walked to a booth of some sort. Jack got his wallet from his pocket and paid the guy sitting there who pointed off to our right. We followed his directions, for lack of a better word, to where a beautiful white carriage drawn by a bay horse. I was speechless as we approached the carriage and climbed in.
"So ya like it?" Jack asked me once we were settled.
"I love it." I said.
"Well, it's ya gift, so Merry Christmas, Angel." He said putting his arm around me. I smiled and absent-mindedly gave him a kiss on the cheek. A wave of shock and panic then ran through my blood, did I just kiss him? I looked at Jack to see his response and he was smiling broadly.
"Was dat my Christmas present?" he said jokingly. I hit him in the stomach, which got an oomph out of him.
"Guess not." He laughed. Our carriage ride took us through a park where children attempted to scrape up what little snow there was to have a snowball fight.
"Dat's what I miss about New Yowk. Dere's snow."
"But," I countered, "When we do get snow, the entire city shuts down."
"Oh yeah how much do ya get?"
"If we're lucky, six inches."
"Wow," Jack began to laugh. "And dat's a lot?"
"For us, yeah. I've seen 18" drifts exactly once in my life and that was on my 17th birthday, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas." I said reminiscing.
"Well maybe ya should come ta New Yowk wid me." That kind of threw me off guard. Jack must have caught my hesitation because he started talking about the horse.
"Do ya know what kinda breed dis hoise is?" he asked randomly.
"Uh, well, it looks like a bay." I said by this point completely lost.
"Oh, dat's neat." He said. And then through a random series of questions from Jack, I forgot about the awkward comment he'd made. The rest of the carriage ride was pleasant but a little chilly. Jack must have noticed because he suggested that we go for hot chocolate afterward. We said goodnight to the carriage driver and made our way back to the car. Jack once again opened the door, and once again, I hit my hair upon entrance.
"Remind me never to let Spades do my hair again." I grumbled to myself. Jack got in and we began to cruise around the town looking for a place to get our Hot Cocoa. We finally settled on a cozy café, which was partly inhabited by caffeine addicted college students. Jack paid for our drinks and we picked a table in the corner.
"So are ya content wid ya cocoa?" he asked.
"Yep yep." I replied ingesting the liquid chocolaty goodness. I noticed that Jack had a little bit of a froth mustache and began to chuckle quietly at him.
"What?" he asked.
"Your facial hair is growing out." I laughed. Puzzled he touched his fingers to his face and smirked.
"So you tink dat's funny?" he asked dabbing the froth off of his lip.
"Yeah." I nodded while still giggling.
"How bout that?" he asked flinging the napkin at me. I attempted to duck, but it bounced off of my forehead.
"Why is everything attracted to my head?" I asked.
"Uh, I dunno." He shrugged. We continued our warm conversation over cocoa attempting to block out the caffeine addicted college kids. We did a fairly good job since we went through several rounds of hot cocoa and soon found that the employees were starting to mop.
"I tink dat's a sign Angel."
"Yep." We made our way back to the car almost being stepped on by college kids running around playing shoe football. The drive home was a little quieter than before but still relaxing. We pulled up in my driveway where Jack proceeded to open my door once more.
"Should I walk ya up?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'd like that." He offered his arm and we strolled up the walkway. We reached my doorstep and just stood there for a second not knowing what to say. Jack seemed nervous as if he seemed unsure of what to do.
"Well, I guess I'll see ya tomorrow at woik?" he asked.
"Yeah, tomorrow." He hesitantly turned and walked back to his car. Once inside it took him a little longer than usual to start it up and drive off. I fumbled for my keys and quietly walked into the house and proceeded to walk upstairs to my room for sleep.