Casey closed the door and she and Sam walked to the elevator. She could tell that Sam wanted to ask her something. It was probably about Derek. It seemed like every time they were together he only wanted to talk about Derek. "What was that about?" he said venomously turning his head slightly to look at her.
"What was what about?" she asked quietly while looking at the floor. They made it to the elevator with Sam glaring at her intently.
"You know damn well what I'm talking about." He whispered huskily. "But since you want to act stupid," he continued harshly. Casey did not look at him; she kept her eyes on the floor as they descended the levels. "What was the 'You can stay as long as you like, eat my food and lock up when you leave' about" he said in a falsetto voice that was mocking her.
"Look I don't know what your problem is, but could you please stop. Me and Derek are JUST FRIENDS. You always get angry whenever you see Derek at my apartment, and every time were alone and you bring him up your left eye starts twitching!" she accused, hoping to change the subject. She really didn't want to talk about Derek with Sam; he was always a different person whenever Derek was involved. Or any guy for that matter.
"I do not!" Sam said as they exited the elevator. "I don't get jealous and my left eye does not start twitching every time I say Derek's (his left eye twitched three times) name."
"Sam, just let it go." She said as they left the lobby. A few people had stopped to stare at them because Sam was talking so loud.
When they got to Sam's car he did not let it go. Casey could feel his eyes glaring at her while he drove to the restaurant. She kept quiet and looked out the window. 'Another date; another chance for Sam to interrogate me about Derek.' She thought sourly as Sam began asking why he and Derek both had keys to her apartment. 'Honestly; it's like he doesn't trust me.'
After an hour of uncomfortable silence, Sam and Casey finally made it to the restaurant. Sam's bad mood hadn't changed and she was a little apprehensive about starting conversation. "Ah so this is a party of two?" asked the waiter. Both Casey and Sam nodded their heads in agreement as the waiter made a gesture with his elbow, meaning to follow him.
They followed him to a booth at the very back of the restaurant. This side of the room was dimly lit. There were crystal vases in the center with roses in them. Casey had to hand it to Sam; he sure did go all out on this date. This looked like a very expensive restaurant and a quick glance at the prices on the menu proved it. $15.00 for spaghetti with meatballs, $27 for calamari. 'Wow, this is gonna be an expensive dinner.' She thought as she examined the menu. It turned out that spaghetti was the cheapest item there.
" See anything you like?" asked Sam as he sat opposite of Casey looking at the menu. Hearing no response he said, "I think we should get appetizers, what do you want?" he sat the menu down and stared at Casey who was still looking at her menu.
"Lets see… I think we should get the calamari for an appetizer and I want baked ziti. How about you?" she asked while looking up from the menu. When her eyes finally rested on Sam she noticed he was looking directly at her. "What?" she asked startled.
"Oh, nothing… you just look beautiful tonight." He said while reaching for her hand.
"Just tonight?" she asked teasingly.
"Well, every night, its just I-"
"Hello, my name is Tim and I'll be your server. Can I start you out with anything? Drinks? Appetizers?" he said as he looked from Casey to Sam. When they did not reply, he thought of asking something else. "May I interest you in our specials for this evening?"
"Actually I am ready to order." Casey said as Tim began to list the specials in his head. He quickly got his pen and pad ready to take orders. "We'll start with the calamari, then I'll have the baked ziti."
"Okay, so that's calamari as an appetizer, and baked ziti for the lovely lady in pink." As soon as Sam heard this his expression changed. He was in a pleased mood when the waiter first arrived, but now he was irritated. "And you sr.? What will you be having?"
"I'll have the lasagna." Sam said curtly.
"Ah, and what will you be having to drink?" Tim asked while looking at Casey because Sam's eyes were drilling into his skull.
"Lets see…" Casey said while biting her lower lip. "I think I'll have a cherry 7-up with two cherries."
"You know that drink has a name right?" asked Tim as he wrote the order down.
"Really" asked Casey in disbelief. "What's it called? Cuz I just order it and no one's ever told me."
"It's called a Shirley Temple miss…"
"Casey" she supplied with a smile.
"Casey," Tim said returning her smile. "That's a nice name; I like It." The whole time they were talking, Sam was starring intently at Tim. 'Who does he think he is?' Sam thought bitterly as they continued to talk. 'Flirting with her, doesn't he see were on a date?'
"Well thank you." Casey said giggly.
"Okay, so that would be one Shirley Temple. And you sir?" Tim said while looking at Sam who was still glaring at him.
"I'll have a bottle of red wine." He said plainly. Casey gazed at him quizzically but did not say anything.
"Okay so lets see if I got this," Tim started as he repeated the order. "You," he said while pointing to Sam with his pen. "Will have the lasagna and red wine." Then turning to Casey he said: "the lovely lady will have the baked ziti and a Shirley Temple." He turned to see them both nodding then added "will there be anything else for you today?"
"Well… um, you forgot our appetizer." Casey said shyly.
"Oh I'm sorry," he said while checking over his notes to make sure that he did write it down. Seeing Calamari at the top of the list he sighed in relief, then while looking directly into Casey's eyes added "I must have been distracted." Casey giggled as he walked away.
Once Sam was sure Tim was out of earshot he said, "What was that about?" in such a rude voice that Casey was startled. She had jumped a little in her chair.
"He was just taking out order." She said shyly, but noticing how red his face got she added "he forgot our appetizer, what did you want me to do not say anything?"
"I was talking about you two flirting right in front of me! How can you be on a date" when he said the word "date" he used air quotes."With me and flirt with the waiter?"
Just then, Tim came over with the bottle of wine and two wineglasses. "Here you go," he said as he placed the bottle and glasses on the table. "And your Shirley Temple will be out in a minute." He said while smiling at Casey.
As Casey thanked him, she noticed that Sam had filled his glass to the brim and had started to down it. Casey had started to get nervous. She had seen Sam mad before, and she had seen him drunk. But she had never seen him mad and drunk, and with the way he was drinking tonight she knew something bad was going to happen. After he had finished two full glasses of wine in less than five minutes he turned to Casey and said, "You know… while we're on the subject of you flirting with other guys… what was Derek doing at your apartment today?"
"He was only visiting. He got there five minutes before you did." She said as Sam filled another glass. She was really starting to get worried, she had seen Sam drink before, and he had a very high alcohol tolerance level. She had noticed that the bottle was three quarters empty.
"Well if you knew that you were leaving with me… then why did you tell him he could stay as long as he liked?" He asked with a scowl on his face.
"It's Derek; he's not going to stay all night, and I don't have anything he'd want to eat so drop it!" she said defensively as Tim came by holding a tray.
"Here is your Shirley temple," he said while placing the drink in front of Casey. He noticed that the wine was almost empty so he said "would you like another bottle?" he turned to Sam and he nodded. "Okay, so that's another bottle of red wine and your food will be out shortly."
'Another bottle' Casey thought in agony as she quietly sipped her drink and ate a cherry. Sam had stopped using the glasses and started drinking directly from the bottle. 'Oh crap, this is gonna be a long night!'
An hour, five more bottles of wine, and two Shirley Temples latter, Casey and Sam were finishing their date. Casey was irritated because the whole time all Sam did was accuse her of doing things with Derek behind his back. He was so drunk he couldn't stand- let alone walk- straight. "Maybe I should drive back to your apartment." Casey said as they exited the restaurant.
"NO! I CAN DRIVE!!!" Sam bellowed loudly as they made it to his car.
"I know you can drive, but I don't think you're at 100 yet." She said softly trying to calm him down.
"NO I'M DRIVING SO GET YOUR ASS IN THE CAR!"
"Sam I don't think that you should be-"
"EITHER GET IN THE CAR OR YOU CAN WALK!"
Casey quietly got into the car. 'I have a really bad feeling about this…'