They drove around for a while, thinking of what they could do next. Sydney's stomach rumbled, breaking the comfortable silence that had filled the car. She laughed as she placed her hand over her stomach, a sheepish smile appearing on her face.
"It looks like you've decided what we should do next!" He joked, as he moved the car into the next lane; the perfect restaurant coming to mind.
"Yeah, I guess we should probably eat. We haven't eaten much today." She smiled at him and then looked out of the window, wondering where it was he was taking her. "Where are going?"
"I know the perfect place." He smiled and didn't say anymore. He knew that she would soon realise where they were going with him having to tell her.
She continued to look out of the window, trying to spot any landmarks that would give her a clue as to where they were going. After a couple of minutes she finally started to recognise some building and knew immediately where he was taking her.
They were going to their restaurant. The restaurant that they always went to, regardless of the occasion. She smiled, and glanced at him to see that he too was smiling.
Ten minutes later, Vaughn pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car, quickly running to open her door. She thanked him with a kiss and then took his hand as they walked towards the entrance of the restaurant.
Chez Mimi was one of the most romantic restaurants in Los Angeles, and it also served the best French cuisine in the city. Everything about the restaurant was perfect, They had a man playing a piano inside, providing the ideal romantic setting, and sometimes there were even singers who would sing love ballads while everyone ate.
The minute they walked through the door, Sydney could feel the romantic atmosphere. Vaughn spotted a hostess walking towards them, while Sydney glanced around the restaurant at all the couples.
They were quickly seated close to the piano. Sydney smiled as she took her seat. She loved coming to this restaurant, and although there were other couples in the room, she always felt as if it were just her and Michael.
After they were seated, a waiter came over to them to take their drink orders. "Bonsoir, bienvenue Chez Mimi." It was custom for the waiter to greet the guest in French as the owner felt that it made the experience more authentic. After that, it was the guests choice whether they continued to speak French, or went back to English.
"Merci beaucoup." Vaughn replied, all traces of his American accent gone as he started to speak his native language.
"Vous parlez français trés bien." Vaughn simply smiled, deciding not to explain the reason why he spoke perfect French.
"Souhaitez-vous prendre un apéritif?"
Vaughn ordered them each a glass of red wine while they looked over the menu. The waiter left to get them their drinks, leaving them alone.
"Michael, thank you for bringing me here." Sydney reached across the table and placed her hand over his.
"Hey, a celebration wouldn't be a celebration without coming to Chez Mimi." He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips, placing a soft kiss on top of it.
They started to look at the menu, but every so often, they would look up and catch each other's eye. They fitted in with every other couple in the room; they were young and in love.
Flashback
They came to Chez Mimi to celebrate sixth months of being married. They had just finished eating when Michael stood up and walked around the table. He smiled at her and cupped her face with his hands. He leant down and passionately kissing her.
"Close your eyes." He whispered in her ear. She looked at him for a few seconds and then did as he asked, although she felt ridiculous sitting in a packed restaurant with her eyes shut, but she trusted him so she remained like that.
A couple of minutes later, she noticed that the song the man at the piano had been playing changed. She was curious about what was happening but she kept her eyes shut. She sat patiently waiting until she finally heard his voice.
"Open your eyes baby." She slowly opened her eyes and looked at his seat but he wasn't there. Feeling slightly confused, she looked around until she spotted him standing beside the piano with a microphone in his hand.
She felt a smile grow on her face as her eyes filled up with tears. He smiled back at her, although she could tell that he was nervous about what he was about to do.
"Syd, I love you more than anything in the world. This is for you sweetie…" He nodded at the man sitting at the piano who began playing the tune to Elvis Costello's 'She.'
"She may be the face I can't forget, the trace of pleasure or regret. Maybe my treasure or the prize I have to pay. She may be the song that summer sings, maybe the children autumn brings. Maybe a hundred different things, within the measure of a day." Sydney listened to him sing, amazed at how great his voice sounded. She had only ever heard him sing in the shower, and he had always told her how he would hate singing in public. And yet, here he was singing to her in a packed restaurant.
He never once took his eyes off her as he continued with the next verse of the song. "She may be the beauty or the beast, maybe the famine or the feast, may turn each day into a Heaven or a Hell. She may be the mirror of my dreams, a smile reflected in a stream, she may not be what she may seem inside her shell..."
A few people in the restaurant 'awwed' as he continued to publicly declare his love for her. "She, who always seems so happy in a crowd. Whose eyes can be so private and so proud, no one's allowed to see them when they cry. She maybe the love that cannot hope to last, may come to leap from shadows in the past, that I remember 'till the day I die."
He smiled at her as he walked away from the piano and went over to their table. "She maybe the reason I survive. The why and wherefore kind of life. The one I care for through the rough and ready years." He held out his hand and she happily took it, being pulled to her feet. She felt a tear roll down her cheek but she no longer cared. She couldn't possibly love this man any more than she did at that moment.
"Me, I'll take the laughter and your tears,"
he smiled at her as he wiped away the fallen tear. "And make them
all my souvenirs. And when she goes I've got to be…
the meaning
of my life is," he paused, his arm wrapped around her waist, gently
pulling her towards him. She rested one of her hands on his chest,
while her other stroked his cheek. "She."
End Flashback