I meant to post this last weekend but got caught up in other things, sorry for the wait. I'll try to have another chapter up within the next week or so. Enjoy the late Valentine's Day chapter!
"God dammit…" Cal grumbled before hanging up his phone.
"Any luck?" Sarah asked from the couch. Cal shook his head, rubbing his nose with his thumb and forefinger.
"That's to be expected when you wait until the day before Valentine's Day to make a reservation." Alison chided. Felix rolled his eyes,
"A single person criticizing a couple's Valentine's Day plans, that's refreshing." Alison swatted his shoulder,
"Don't rub it in, and I'm not criticizing them as a couple, I'm criticizing them as separate individuals, both with poor planning skills." Alison defended herself.
"It shouldn't be this hard to get a table." Cal groaned. He looked to Cosima, who was sitting on the floor by the couch, thinking about nothing.
"Where are you and Delphine going for Valentine's Day?" He asked, bringing Cosima out of her thoughts.
"Oh, I don't think we're gonna go anywhere." She answered.
"What are you guys doing?" Sarah asked. Cosima looked at her with a smug grin, looking at her friend like hers was the dumbest question in the world. It took Sarah a couple seconds to tune in, but then she cringed,
"Ugh, shit, gross. Sorry I asked." Cosima chuckled.
"Where is Delphine anyway?" Felix asked.
"She's at a physical therapist, she twisted her knee at lacrosse practice yesterday and is getting a brace today." Cosima supplied. The boy laughed,
"You guys are gonna be a sight. You with your swollen nose and her with the knee brace." He was exaggerating about her nose, it was still a bit swollen and purple, but it wasn't nearly as grotesque as it was a few days ago. Cosima nodded,
"That's really funny, because we're still both incredibly attractive, arguably more attractive than you, Felix." Felix tossed a pillow at her.
Cal drummed his fingers against the table, thinking about his and Sarah's options. He cocked his head a little, an idea growing in his mind,
"So, Cosima, you guys don't have any set plans?" Cosima shook her head, "And Felix and Alison obviously don't." Both of them turned to him, affronted, "How about we all just go together? It's way easier to get a six top on Valentine's Day than it is to get a two top. Let's just go out to dinner together." Cal proposed. Sarah nodded,
"I'm down for anything." Felix and Cosima nodded in agreement. Alison looked hesitant.
"I don't want to intrude on you guys."
"It's really no problem, Alison, me and Delphine are probably gonna watch movies at my house all tomorrow night, dinner'll just be a fun hang out with all of you guys." Cosima reassured her friend.
"Yeah, Cal's so mushy all the time, I doubt he could be any worse tomorrow." Sarah said, smiling at her boyfriend.
"Okay, it sounds fun, I'm in." Alison finally agreed.
"Alright, now that we're all in, where are we going?" Felix prompted.
"How about The Fox's Den?" Cal suggested, "It's nice, and the manager owed me a favor, so I could probably get us a discount."
"Sounds good to me," Cosima answered. The others agreed.
"Alright, so let's all meet up at the restaurant at around…six-thirty tomorrow." Cal said before calling the manager.
Cosima exited Sarah's house, she took out her cell phone and called Delphine, mounting her bike and peddling down the street in the process. She'd gotten rather adept at things like this. She didn't really understand why she was so terrible at driving, well she did, she got distracted by everything, but she didn't understand why. She was content to ride her bike around, get rides from Delphine and only drive when absolutely necessary.
"Allo? Cosima?" Delphine's voice came through the phone.
"Oh! Sorry, I got distracted. Yeah, hey, how'd your appointment go?" Cosima asked.
"It went pretty much how I expected, I can't play for two weeks, and I have to wear the brace for six weeks." She explained. Cosima nodded, stopping at a stop sign.
"So, how do you feel about going out to dinner with everybody tomorrow night?"
"That sounds fun. We're still gonna hang out at your house, right?"
"Yeah, of course, but for dinner we're going out with the others."
"Where are we going?"
"The Fox's Den."
"Bien."
"Yes, very bien," Cosima joked, "I'll pick you up at your house at around six, be sure to dress nicely." She smiled.
You will be picking me up?" Delphine asked, confused.
"Hell yeah I'm picking up my girlfriend and taking her to dinner for Valentine's Day!" Cosima insisted.
"Of course, of course. I am very excited." Delphine giggled.
"Awesome, I'll see you tomorrow." The two exchanged goodbyes and hung up.
Sarah had just finished getting ready when her doorbell ring. She padded downstairs and opened the door, there stood Cal, holding a bunch of heart-shaped balloons and a giant stuffed monkey. Sarah laughed and let him in, taking the things from his hands.
"I thought you might like this." He said, gesturing towards the stuffed animal.
"I do. I love it, thank you." Sarah said, still giggling. She walked up the stairs and put the things in her room, when she came back down, the two were finally able to get a good look at each other. Cal looked rather debonair in a sharp black tuxedo, his beard trimmed neatly. Sarah was a vision in a blue floor length dress, she had put the hair on the left side of her head into intricate side braids. Sarah nodded approvingly, "We look good. Good for us." Cal laughed.
So, are you ready to go?" He asked, nervous for some reason. Sarah nodded, picking up her heels and scampering outside into Cal's truck.
Cosima drove very carefully down the cul-de-sac, keeping both hands on the wheel, looking only at the road in front of her. She parked her father's car in front of Delphine's house. She proceeded to take the keys out of the ignition, deliberately put them in her purse, and put the purse on her shoulder. She would not lose them again. She got out of the car and walked up the path to the front door. She rang the bell, adjusting her maroon dress. The door opened and she was face to face with Baptiste, Delphine's older brother. He was three years older than her girlfriend. They looked almost identical, except his nose was a little bigger, his jaw more square. The young man grinned at her,
"Hello, Cosima, how are you?"
"I'm good, Baptiste. Is Delphine ready?"
"Almost, come in, please." He gestured. The girl walked into the house. She entered the living room and sat down, Baptiste sat on the couch across from her. She'd always enjoyed Baptiste. He was nice to her when her and Delphine were just friends, and didn't change at all when he'd learned of their relationship. Her favorite thing about Baptiste, though, was how he would do absolutely anything for his sister, her younger brother, Clement, would too. Both of them were completely devoted to their sister. It was endearing and impressive. She remembered the time when she was in tenth grade and Delphine in ninth, they were climbing a tree in Delphine's front yard when the younger girl had fallen out, landing squarely on her back. Baptiste, seventeen at the time, had picked her up and carried her into the house and upstairs into her bedroom, reassuring both of them the whole time. Cosima and Baptiste conversed for a few minutes until she saw Delphine coming down the stairs, she was in a black and white dress. Typical, Cosima thought sarcastically. She got up to get a better look at the girl.
"You look great." She said excitedly. Delphine looked doubtful,
"Even with the brace?" Cosima didn't even notice the sleeve around her left knee until then.
"It's the perfect accessory. Don't worry." She reassured the blonde. The two said goodbye to Baptiste and left the house. They got in the car and were about to leave when Cosima remembered something,
"Oh, hey, I got you something, look in the backseat." She motioned to the wrapped object behind her. Delphine reached over and grabbed it. It only took Delphine a second to figure out what it was, she looked at Cosima excitedly. She unwrapped the gift and found a very nice, very new lacrosse stick.
"I bought it before you busted your knee, I'm not being mean." Cosima explained, Delphine laughed in understanding. She examined the stick, it was nice, the head was standard white and the shaft was black and yellow.
"Thank you, I love it." Delphine smiled.
"It was no problem, I'm glad you like it." Cosima said, wrapping her arm around her. She started the car and drove away from the house.
When they arrived at the restaurant, Cal and Alison's cars were already in the lot. Cosima shrugged it off, saying something about safe driving. When out of the car the two locked hands and entered the restaurant. They looked around for the others and saw Felix waving them down. He looked good. His hair was swept back and he wore a fitted long sleeved button up. Seated on the other end of the table was Alison, matching him in a white sundress. On one side was Sarah and Cal, both looking great, there were two empty chairs on the other side for them. The girls sat down,
"You guys look great." Delphine complemented.
"Thanks, so do you guys." Alison replied. The six began talking about their day and were happy to spend Valentine's Day with each other.