First Date- Part Two
Romonica turned down their invitation for dinner. She looked touch by the gesture but she decided it would be better for her not to have a front row seat to Rick proving that men who were the total package still existed. They ended up at a spot that Carol had suggested, where the atmosphere and service turned out to be better than the food.
The place was gorgeous with high coved ceilings and arched windows that overlooked the river. Most of the customers sat out on the veranda in the evening breeze but Michonne was too chilly with temperatures in the low seventies. The view indoors was just as romantic with real ivy climbing the white plaster walls and even overhead. The cream-colored seats and table settings seemed to glow in the abundance of candlelight. And though there seemed to be a flame flickering on every surface in the room, the tinge of orange dancing on the stark environment was casting shadows that made their plush rounded booth fell extra snug and sleepy. It was like that restaurant belonged to them.
Without much delay, their tiny effeminate server, Toni, came over to introduce himself wearing more eyeliner than Michonne and thin expertly shaped facial hair. He had just a hint of a Spanish accent and had most likely just turned old enough to serve alcohol, though he probably was still too young to drink it. Admiring Rick's lovely date, he went on and on complimenting her head to toe before he got around to the business of taking their drink orders.
"I'll have a seven and seven and what'chu want, honey?"
"Lemonade?" Michonne shrugged unsure if they had that option.
"My wife'll have a lemonade." Rick announced looking right at Michonne. Toni missed her puzzled grin and left the table, headed to the bar.
"Your wife?" Michonne asked after a few quiet moments as she studied her menu.
"Yeah. We're married. I gotta lock you down like Miss Viv said. You good with that?"
"Well, I don't know. Where's my ring?"
"What?! You lost your ring?" Rick pulled her perfectly manicured fingers into his hand, rubbing his thumb under her ring-finger knuckle. "I spent a fortune on that ring, Michonne. Why would you take it off?"
Toni came back with their drinks, "Everything okay?"
"Not really, Toni." Rick answered running his hand over his face dramatically. "My wife just told me she lost her wedding ring. I take her out for our anniversary and she's not wearing her ring!"
Michonne decided to level the playing field. "He's not telling you the whole story, Toni. Our anniversary was last week." She snatched her hand away from Rick, crossed her arms and raised her brow with a pretend attitude.
Rick thought his performance was pretty good but Michonne's was better. He reached across the table for her hand, which she denied him. "C'mon, baby. I apologized for being away. If I could'a rescued those kittens from that burning building on a diff'rent night, I would'a." He hid a wink from Toni, pleased with his addition to their little play.
"Oh, wow." Toni exclaimed sympathetically. "You're a firefighter?"
"I wish!" Rick embellished a little more, "I could've used their protective gear that night. No, I was just at the right place at the right time."
"Oh, my goodness." Toni put his hand over his heart, stirred by the thought of Rick's heroics. "I love kittens!" Michonne rolled her eyes, seeing their server was taking Rick's side. He's good, she thought as she tried to figure a way to beat him at his own game. "Happy anniversary. How long have you guys been married?"
"Feels like forever!" Michonne answered, pretending to be exhausted with the old ball and chain.
Rick chuckled and Toni grinned at her theatrics, "Any kids?"
Michonne grabbed the opportunity for the upper-hand, "We tried for a while but Rick, here, was shooting blanks."
Toni looked to him with a pitiable unease. Rick shook his head at her low blow and laughed. "I wasn't shootin' blanks," he defended himself, "Just had to improve my aim, s'all. Three sets of twins... that was all me." Rick told a ridiculous lie that made Michonne swell her chest to hold in her laughter.
"Three sets of twins..." She repeated, questioning the unbelievable family composition her "husband" had made up. "I look good for a woman who had three sets of twins, don't I Toni?"
"Queen, I was just about to say... you are slaying the game out here." Toni congratulated Michonne all the more.
"But what he's not saying is that we actually have seven kids." Rick perked to hear her weave another tale. "You know, my husband had a baby on me with a white lady?" Rick almost spit out his drink. "But I love my white son anyway. It's not his fault his daddy is a hoe."
"Oh no, honey! You a real one. I couldn't take that from no man." the waiter vowed, totally immersed in their world of make believe.
Rick spoke up, "She tried to leave me but nobody else could satisfy her in bed. So, she came crawlin' back."
Toni laughed at their craziness. "I think that's a little bit much for my virgin ears." he shook his head. "I'll give you guys a little more time to look over the menu and decide what you're having'. He tapped the table with his pen and sauntered off.
Michonne watched him go back into the kitchen and a few seconds later he came to the kitchen's entrance with some of the back of the house staff. Michonne glanced inconspicuously as Toni slyly pointed at their table whispering to his coworkers, generating amused and shocked faces as he presumably spilled the tea on Michonne and Rick's "tumultuous" relationship.
"Looks like we're the center of attention no matter where we go tonight." Michonne gave a secret gesture toward their waiter and their huddle of gawkers. "You must be loving that." She commented sarcastically, having had more than a few conversations about Rick's disdain for social media and people's indifference towards privacy.
"I am." he said mischievously. "I'm havin' the best time. I think you an' me are makin' history tonight."
"Probably." Michonne smiled and took his breath away, "We did get married and I pushed out six babies in a matter of minutes tonight."
"And I gave you a white son."
Michonne giggled, hearing him repeat what she said made her feel a little embarrassed now. She covered her face, "Oh my god! I can't believe you are the bad influence in this relationship!" She tried to save a little face, "I'm trying to be a good mommy, though." she said seriously, "I've been a lot more thoughtful about what I post on my accounts since you told me he was lurking. I can't be held accountable for what he may have seen before, though." she held a hand up in her own defense. "But I've been keeping things a little more PG... well, PG-13." she grinned.
Again, Rick drank in her adorableness, "He wants to meet you so bad, but he's still tryin' to put up the whole 'teenage who cares, whatever' front. It's all very exhaustin' for him."
Michonne had to laugh. She was still guilty of the whole 'teenage who cares, whatever' front at times. "So, when are you gonna let me meet the little intruder in my life?"
Rick put on an extreme long face to Michonne's giggling delight. "He's gonna still my thunder." he lamented, then answered her seriously, "I don't know... maybe next month when school's out. He's obsessed with you and he won't be able to function once he meets you in the flesh... I can barely function." He raised his eyes slowly to hers wanting her to realize the truth of that confession.
The blossoming couple began dinner a table's length away from each other, however the need to touch soon took over and they found themselves unable to resist the magnetic pull. Michonne sat under her boyfriend's left arm with her fingers tracing his right hand, laying heavy in her lap. His right hand kept finding new ways to fondle her legs and thighs. While the long feelers of his left hand surveyed her upper body, skipping around from her neck, to her ear, to her cheek and chin.
Rick was especially enjoying the 80's tracks that coursed through the venue's sound system. He was feeling like an adolescent again, venturing boldly into an uncharted future with the woman of his dreams. It was a trip that Rick thought he'd made over 20 years ago with Lori. He didn't end up where he thought he would in that undertaking. But he learned so much; enough to know that this was different.
When Toni came to clear away the remains of their food and drinks, Foreigner's "Waiting for a Girl Like You" was reading Rick's mind, heralding the feelings of a man who had waited so long to find the one. He felt an overwhelming happiness as he looked down at Michonne's bright smile and dark eyes. "You wanna dance?" He asked her in a husky tone, "I know this ain't your kinda music..."
"I know Foreigner, Rick. You act like I'm some young girl who only listens to rap... I love this song."
"C'mon." Rick said sliding out of their booth pulling Michonne behind him gently.
For a long time, Rick had chosen not to be the dancing type.
He could dance. He did at prom and at his wedding. But since then he had sat out many a function with his ex-wife. Lori would beg and he wouldn't budge. He had no motivation. He wasn't in a mood to have fun, punishing himself for marrying her when he shouldn't have and punishing her for making him look like a fool. He was resolved to what was left of his life, like a man on his way to the gallows. He kept a dull, steady march to nothing and nowhere.
So, Michonne was more than a breath of fresh air to him, she was the resuscitation that rescued him from unconsciousness.
"We can't just dance in the aisle, Rick. We'll be in the way."
He looked around then, and spied a big unoccupied space on the other side of solid wood, French doors near the back of the restaurant. "Hey Toni, This music..."
"Yeah. I know. I'm sorry. My manager likes the oldest oldies." The younger man replied with a roll of his eyes.
Michonne found his misunderstanding comical, to Rick it was painfully so, as their waiter rained on his nostalgic parade. The 70's born, 80's kid, shot Michonne a playful warning glare but otherwise rolled with the punches and explained with a chuckle, "The music is fine. Is it okay if me an' my gorgeous wife do a little slow dancin' over there?" He nodded to the area.
"Sure, you can." He answered right away. "We use that room for big parties but I don't expect any this late. Knock yourselves out."
"Thanks." he pulled Michonne in front of him with his hands on both her hips, pushing her to the alternative dance floor. He had his nose nuzzled in her spicy coconut scent before they could even get in step. He pulled her close just as Lou Gramm made his way to the end of the song,
There's nowhere on earth that I'd rather be
than holding you tenderly
"I think Toni's ready for us to go..." Michonne noticed.
"He'll be okay. He's gettin' a serious tip."
I've been waiting for someone new
To make me feel alive
Yeah, waiting for a girl like you
To come into my life
Michonne's arms rested on Rick's shoulders, hugging his neck. She sighed, pressing her body comfortably into his bulky frame. "Tell me about your last date." She was wondering if this was all for her or if this was just the Rick Grimes every woman got. She wouldn't be upset if it was. She could believe that a man like him would make every date he went on perfect. Instead of being upset, she smiled after she asked him, thinking of how he belonged to her now. "Where'd you take her?"
Rick had to put a lot of effort into leaving the moment he was in to search his memory for something that may have been deleted as soon as he dropped what's her name off. "Umm..." He suspended his sway, "I'm pretty sure she asked me out. So, I don't know. Maybe we went to a bar or somethin'."
"She asked you out, huh? Damn. They just jump on your hook, don't they?" the woman in his arms laughed as he resumed the dance he was using as an excuse to get every part of her on him. "I know I did."
"I saw you first and you didn't even need a hook." He whispered in her ear as he pulled her ponytail to expose her neck to him, where he kissed her with barely any pressure. "Even though you were making your boyfriend cry... I wanted to be the guy you were talkin' to."
"Then you found out I talk too much."
"I never said you talk too much..." he reminded her apologetically with his down-home twang.
"You kinda did."
"A lot... I said you talk a lot."
"Some would say there's not much difference. I'm obviously, one of those people. You ever think maybe I talk so much because you make me nervous?" She made a point with a little sass. "You're usually so serious and you're always staring and you make me feel so needy. It's your fault that I talk a lot. You ever think of that?" She rambled.
"Shut up, Michonne." He said slipping his tongue ambitiously past her lips as she giggled at his words.
A man telling her to shut up was a serious infraction any other time. But his lips on hers gave him a little leeway. His prankish yet commanding inflection made her close her eyes with arousal and she started to worry that maybe her jumpsuit would confess how much his voice physically affected her with a wet spot between her legs. He must've known though, judging from the monologue he delivered through his lush, cottony kisses as Cyndi Lauper's "Time after Time" began softly.
Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick
and think of you
Caught up in circles confusion
is nothing new
"Why talk when I can prove?" He asked her as she sank into his embrace. "I could say 'Michonne, I'm gonna make you happy' or I could just make you smile." He said pressing his hand to the back of her waist, engaging the front of her against his brassy erection, making her giggle then turn somber with longing on a dime. "I could say 'I want to see you' or I could just come to where you are. I could say 'I want you to need me' or I could just put my finger to work until I wrap you around it." He traced a finger slowly along her belly, raising the fine hairs on her arms and the corners of the lips he kept attacking. "I could tell you to say my name or make it the only thing you want to say. What would you prefer?"
She answered clearly with an incoherent moan.
They wore down the night to R.E.O. Speedwagon, Richard Marx, Journey, Roxette and other big-haired romantic screamers of decades past. Michonne felt bad for Toni when she saw him cleaning his tables in anticipation to leave. Rick was true to his word, though. When Toni glanced at the bill's tip line he looked like he'd won the lottery. Their formerly exhausted attendant perked up and reminded them repeatedly to ask for him whenever they came back and he'd be happy to take care of them.
When they left the paint and sip for dinner, Michonne had insisted that she drive to the restaurant even though Rick swore one glass of wine couldn't affect him. She didn't want to take a chance on anything ruining their night. When they ended up back in the rec center's parking lot next to Rick's truck, they had the saddest moment of silence preparing to say goodbye. In the end, he simply couldn't let her go. And she couldn't leave.
He easily persuaded her to join him in the backseat of his truck. Opening the sun roof to the dim little lights in the sky struggling to be seen through the glare of the nearby city lights, Rick just enjoyed the moment. He leaned back, stretched out across the leather seats and pulled his doll up on his chest. Her arms hugged around his ribs, her leg was thrown over his. They were a comfortable tangle of limbs in a quiet innocent cuddle. Rick kept her under his chin. Michonne kept her lips near his and he more than took advantage of the easy access.
Michonne's phone was connected to his stereo's bluetooth and he insisted she play whatever she was in the mood for, secretly hoping to take notes on whether this was a content quiet or an upset quiet.
She was deep in her thoughts and in a certain frame of mind, one she couldn't describe. At the risk of being too transparent, she pressed play on Lil' Wayne's "How to Love". Something about the strum of the guitar soothed her. Sometimes the words of the song made her sad. Sometimes they made her wonder.
You had a lot of dreams that transform to visions
The fact that you saw the world affected all your decisions
But it wasn't your fault, wasn't in your intentions
Could she ever see the world differently? Could a man like Rick adjust her view? How had all her intentions become so poisoned? Could he be her antidote?
Never really had luck, couldn't never figure out
How to love
If it was just luck and not anything in her power, did that make her struggles in love better for her or worse?
Yeah, see you had a lot of moments that didn't last forever
Now you in this corner tryna put it together
How to love
Was this just another moment for her and nothing more? She had no doubt this was a moment. Maybe they could make it last forever, like Miss Viv and Winston had. Rick had tried to make something last forever, she thought... and he failed.
"Rick?" She stared into the dark cabin and called him away from his study of the lyrics and his hypnotic gaze into the purple patch of sky.
"Hmm?"
"You've been married before..." Instead of asking about a forever like Vivian and Winston, she asked him about what he'd most likely know, "How do people end up like Romonica and James after only three years?"
"I don't know, baby." He whispered into her hair. "Maybe they got married for the wrong reasons in the first place. Maybe they got married for the right reasons to the wrong person. I don't know."
"What happened with you and your wife?" she asked him not feeling the least bit intrusive until he hesitated to answer. "Is that too personal?" She adjusted her body on his to see his face and backtracked to respect his privacy.
"No, honey, it's not too personal. It's just not a nice story, s'all..." Michonne drifted high on his chest as he sighed on a deep breath and continued, "She listened to her friends and made some bad choices. I was too trustin'... and well, we got married for the wrong reasons."
"What reasons?" Michonne asked, as the piano pushed Alicia Keys into their quiet conversation. "Diary" was next in the shuffle and Rick prepared to peel the onion of his life.
Rick decided to just spit it out. "No one else knows this." he made sure she understood, "Not Daryl, not even my mother."
Michonne nodded, recognizing he was about to make their relationship more significant than the one he had with his best friend, even more significant than the one he had with the woman who brought him into this world. That created a lump of emotion in her throat as she waited for him to continue.
"She got pregnant... or she told me she got pregnant and then I found out she never was and I couldn't get past it." He said plainly. "Her friends told her that if I joined the military, like I planned to, she'd be better off if we got married."
I won't tell your secrets
Your secrets are safe with me
"You didn't want to marry her?"
I will keep your secrets
Just think of me as the pages in your diary
"I prob'ly would've... I guess. I don't know. I had other thangs on my mind then. But when she told me she was gonna have my baby, I married her because that's what my dad would've done." Rick found that funny. If only I would'a known the life my father really led with my mother. "I found out that Lori lied a few months later and our relationship was dead in the water."
"Damn, I guess so."
"I stayed with her though, but I made it clear that I didn't want to bring a kid into that kinda environment... And then she lies to me again... told me she was takin' her birth control when she wasn't, comes up pregnant with Carl. Says she did it 'cause she was jealous of her sister's family."
"Wow."
"That part was my fault... I should'a divorced her when I found out she wasn't pregnant. I kept her in the marriage out of spite. I was stubborn. Never tried to make it work. I was angry. She made me look stupid and I wanted to make her life miserable... and I did. I was good at it. I enjoyed it."
"I can't believe that."
Only we know what is talked about baby boy
I don't know how you can be driving me so crazy boy
Baby when you're in town, why don't you come around boy
I'll be the loyalty you need, you can trust me boy
"Lookin' back, I can't believe the thangs I said and did to her either. It was ugly." His heavy voice trailed off, ashamed.
"I guess you wouldn't want to get married again after that."
"Said just that more times than I can count." Michonne was disappointed but already reordering her future hopes so Rick could still be a part of them. "But I was lying." He changed his tune to her delight. "I love my son. I know I'll get married again and have more kids, God willin'. What about you? You wanna get married start a fam'ly... with somebody" he tried to make his question as innocuous as possible "... one day?"
She wanted to pour out her heart to him about everything she'd been through in life. His honesty with her made her feel so peacefully protected. "I'm kind of scared to try it. I didn't grow up in a family like most people."
Rick waited. "You want to tell me?"
"One dysfunctional family story is probably enough for tonight." She joked wiping away a tear. She didn't even know she was crying. She wasn't sure if her tears were for Rick or herself.
A few still moments later, Rick's phone buzzed from his pocket. He pulled it out and a chuckle followed. When Michonne looked up at him curiously, he explained. "Your white son's callin'."
They both laughed as Rick put the call on speaker.
"Hey, Carl." Rick gave him a weak greeting, already sure of why he was calling.
"Hey, dad. How'd your date go? Thought you were gonna call me when you got home? Did Michonne have fun? How'd your painting turn out? ... better than your handwriting, I hope." He let loose an avalanche of his most pressing questions while still holding dozens of others at the ready. He could hear "Take Care" in the background. Drake serving as his father's soundtrack had stopped being shocking to Carl.
When you're ready, just say you're ready
When all the baggage just ain't as heavy
And the party's over, just don't forget me
We'll change the pace and we'll just go slow
"Actually, I'm still on my date."
You won't ever have to worry, you won't ever have to hide
You've seen all my mistakes so look me in my eyes
"Oh, sorry..." he apologized sheepishly. "Wait..." He noticed the distant sound of his father's voice. "Am I on speaker? Can she hear me?"
"Yes. You are and yes, she can." Rick smiled at his son's embarrassment.
"Oh." Carl cringed, wishing he'd been a lot cooler a second ago.
Michonne decided to cut his torment short, "Hi Carl. It's Michonne." They heard a tight quaver from the kid's end of the call and Rick could just picture his son's stunned face at hearing his secret idol speaking to him. "I had lots of fun tonight." And six babies, she almost said before she thought better of it. "You sent us on the perfect date. You're the real MVP. I owe you."
"I'm... glad you had gun... I mean fun." A good time and a fun time tried to come out of his mouth simultaneously and he rolled his eyes at his mistake. Rick laughed and Michonne censured him with a pinch to his chest.
"Your dad says we can get together once school's out and I'm real excited to meet you. You like rollercoasters?"
"Yeah." He jumped to answer.
"Maybe we can go to Six Flags?"
"Dad won't ride 'em though."
"He will for me. Won't you, Rick?" She asked him as her boyfriend shook his head no. That earned him another pinch to the chest and he laughed in and out of a howl of pain, which Carl heard and enjoyed almost as much as Michonne. "You're going to ride them, right?" she asked him one more time through the grit of her teeth.
"Yep." He strained out the right answer, while rubbing his wounds. "I'll call you tomorrow, Carl. Go to bed."
"Okay dad. I'm not sleeping in tomorrow, so you can call me early. As early as you want." He hinted, eager for more details about their date. "Love you, dad. Good night, Michonne."
If you let me, here's what I'll do
I'll take care of you
I've loved and I've lost
"Good night, Carl." she giggled.
"Love you, too." Rick said and Carl disconnected the call. His father spoofed a sigh, shaking his head, "Whew… white sons."