A Night to Remember

Part II

At last, Audrey and Seymour arrived at a fancy restaurant, quite possibly the fanciest in the whole city actually. Both the Skid Row residents felt extremely humbled there, where so many of the rich city folk spent their time talking about things that they had never known because they were poor and the rich never associated with Downtown people. Seymour was the more frightened of the two with his hands shaking from nerves, but Audrey noticed this and took a hold of his hand gently to calm him down.

When at last they were seated, poor Seymour couldn't speak. Audrey giggled at him. "If you're so scared here, Seymour, you could've just taken me to Shmendrik's instead."

"I guess I wanted to be classier than that. With the money and all," Seymour replied.

"Good evening Sir and Madame," their waiter interrupted. "Might I start you off with something to drink?"

"Coca Cola please," Seymour and Audrey answered simultaneously, which made them give each other a look of small astonishment.

"Two of a kind I see," the waiter said, "And to eat?"

They looked at each other again, trying not to talk simultaneously like last time. Audrey gestured a "you first" sign, as did Seymour, and this happened over and over (annoying the waiter tremendously), until finally Audrey ordered first.

"I'll have the steak please," she said. Seymour's eyes widened, and he stared at Audrey. Naturally, she was curious why and asked, "What is it Seymour?"

"It-it's just that I was gonna' order the same thing," he said with a tone of awe.

Audrey smiled sweetly from his naïve look.

"Two steaks then," the waiter said and jotted the orders down. "And how would you like them?"

"Medium," they said at the same time again, and once again, stared at each other with sparkling amazement in their eyes.

"How nice," the waiter answered with sarcasm toward their date antics then left.

It was a long two minutes before either of them spoke. "So," Audrey interrupted at last. "Do you wanna' play a game?"

"A, a… game?" Seymour asked. "What kind of game?"

"Well, how 'bout the secret game?" Audrey suggested. "Ya know how to play don'tcha?"

Seymour shook his head.

"Oh. Well, um, what ya do is eh… you tell each otha' secrets about your life. Little things that you've neva' told anybody else," Audrey answered.

Seymour still appeared dumbfounded.

"I'll go first Seymour, and then I think you'll catch on." She smiled and cleared her throat. "I have never... um, oh -I got it! I've never rode the subway to First Street. Your turn, Seymour," Audrey said expectantly.

Seymour gulped. "Okay, um… I've never had a one hundred dollar bill."

Audrey laughed as Seymour gave a sigh of relief. This isn't too bad, he thought

"Good one," Audrey replied. "Let's see, hmm… Oh! I've neva' had a job I liked." She stopped then because their sodas were at the table and she quickly took a sip.

"Ha, I know how ya feel," Seymour replied. "But then, I've never had another job. Say, that counts as a secret doesn't it?"

"I guess so," Audrey replied with a smile after swallowing her coke. "But tell me anotha' one Seymour, please?"

"All right." Seymour thought and thought about what to say. He should have told her about so many secrets; like what Audrey II ate, and how he fed her old boyfriend and Mr. Mushnik to it, but not for now. Finally, he thought of something. "Well, I always thought… that you were pretty."

Audrey could have died of joy at those words. "Are you lying Seymour?" she asked, not sure how to take the complement.

"No! No, I mean it. You're real pretty, you're beautiful!" Seymour proclaimed to her (and the whole restaurant for that matter), without realizing it. After a moment of awkward silence from them and everyone else, they both cracked up laughing.

Neither could help but think that maybe this was love.