In Love With A Good Man
Chapter 14: Dinner Date
Harley had never seen such a distant look in Casey's eyes before.
He wasn't avoiding her like he had been before, but for the past two days, since the bank robbery, Casey was being uncharacteristically quiet. He expressed no desire to go out or do anything; he would just sit at home – eat, sleep, and watch TV on repeat.
Harley was laid up next to him on the couch, resting her head on his shoulder and holding his hand. She was looking up at him, watching him stare absently at the TV screen. From her perspective, it didn't even look like he was paying attention.
His mind was definitely somewhere else.
"Babe...you know what I'm thinking?" She spoke up.
"Hmm? What's up?" He asked, looking down at her.
"We should have a date night!" She suggested enthusiastically.
"Oh yeah? Hmm...oh you must be bored, huh? Since we've just been here." Casey realized.
"A little, yeah. But I think that it would do ya some good to get out of the house! Plus, I can finally show off my dress!" Harley pointed out with a giggle. Casey chuckled at this.
"Yeah. I don't know any nice restaurants here though."
"Ooh, I know a place! It's Ivy's favorite restaurant! It's called the Green House!" She suggested.
"Of course it is," Casey commented with another little chuckle. "Yeah. I have some money saved up. I guess we can go." He agreed. He shut off the TV and stood up slowly, stretching his arms out.
"I can pay if you need to save up, baby!" Harley offered without hesitation.
"Really? You have money?" Casey asked. After asking the question, he realized how it sounded, and he proceeded to laugh at himself for saying it.
"Haha yes, I still have some money stored away from after the breakup." She answered.
"Got it...well...alright, maybe we'll split the bill." He agreed.
"Okay! Come on, let's go get ready! I wanna put the dress on already!" Harley urged him, giggling as she grabbed him by the hand and pulled him towards the stairs.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" Casey said as he followed her...
The two of them left the house in his car and Casey used his GPS to drive to the Green House. It was a nice little restaurant close to a nearby pier – it was a popular romantic spot for that reason. Casey leaned forward and looked up at the neon sign gently glowing above the double doors at the front of the building.
"Is this the place?" Casey asked.
"Yep! You're gonna love it here, baby!" Harley said with a smile as Casey parked the car.
He stepped out first wearing a full black suit with a long white shirt and a red bow tie. He fixed the cuffs of his shirt as he made his way around the car. He opened up the passenger door and held his hand out to Harley. She smiled and took it as she stepped out of the car.
She had on a short but elegant sparkly red dress with a small matching handbag. She wore black heels; she'd also painted her nails the same color. She put on red lipstick and black mascara with winged tips at the corners of her eyes. Finally, she curled her hair with a curling iron and parted it all over her left shoulder.
She wasn't exaggerating in the slightest when she said she wanted to show off for him.
"If I'd known you were gonna go all out like this, I would've agreed to a date night sooner." Casey joked, giving her a kiss on the cheek before closing the passenger side door and locking it with his key.
"I told you, didn't I?" Harley teased him with a giggle.
"I know, I know." Casey rolled his eyes and smiled before offering his arm to her. She slipped her hand in and held onto his arm as they made their way into the restaurant.
"Welcome to the Green House," The hostess greeted them as they walked inside. "Do you have a reservation?"
"Yep! 'Harleen', table for two." She answered. The hostess confirmed this and nodded.
"Right this way," The hostess gestured for them to follow her. She led them to a private table for two, one with a window view. "Here you are. Someone will be right with you."
"Alright, thank you," Casey said. He waited for the hostess to leave before speaking again. "I forgot that your full name was Harleen. I'm so used to just calling you Harley." He brought up with a chuckle.
"Yep! Dr. Harleen Quinzel, at your service!" Harley giggled, pretending to introduce herself to him. Casey smiled and shook his head a little.
"You're silly. Well, have a seat, Miss Quinzel. Sorry, Doctor Quinzel." He invited, pulling her chair for her to sit.
"Aww thanks, sweetheart." Harley smiled and sat down. Casey pushed her chair in then sat down across from her. Once he was seated, he looked around curiously.
"You're right. This place is nice." He nodded in approval.
"It really is. Ivy and I used to meet up here once every couple of months just to catch up." Harley said. She pulled out two menus from a stand on the side of the table. She handed one to him.
"That's cool. Oh, the menus are already here." Casey realized with a chuckle. He took one and opened it up.
As he looked through it, he was pleasantly caught off guard. Not only was there a larger variety to the menu than what he was expecting, but the prices weren't nearly as exorbitant as what he'd predicted. Without saying it, Harley had shown a lot of consideration in regards to his limited income.
"Wow, look at all this. They really got a lot going on here." Casey chuckled. That was his indirect way of complimenting the menu.
"Right? That's why we love it!" Harley giggled, "See anything you like?"
"Yeah, a few things. But I'm gonna get the steak." He decided quickly, closing up the menu and putting it back where Harley had pulled it from.
"Sounds good! I'm gonna get the pasta!" Harley said, putting her menu back.
As she placed her menu back in its place, their waiter came. He greeted them cordially, "Good evening. My name is Phillip, and I'll be your server. Can I start you off with something to drink?" He asked.
"Hmm," Casey hummed and looked at Harley. "Bottle of wine?"
"Yep!" Harley agreed with a giggle.
"Alright. Could we get a bottle of wine, please? Something sweeter? Also, we're ready to order already." He said.
"Alright. Any particular dessert wine you have in mind?" Phillip asked.
"Eh, surprise us." Casey replied with a shrug.
"Okay, I'll bring a bottle back shortly. The menus are there on the table. No rush though, okay?" Phillip said with a polite smile before walking away.
"Oh, alright then." Casey chuckled and shook his head.
"It really is a nice place." Harley giggled.
"Apparently not that nice. I told him we were ready to order and he just walked off." Casey said with a laugh.
"Did you? Aww oops!" Harley laughed too.
After a few minutes, Phillip returned and poured their wine for them, "Here you go. And I'll just leave the bottle right here for you. Are we ready to order?" He asked.
"We certainly are, I'm glad you asked," Casey joked even though only Harley would get what he was referring to. "I'd like the steak and potatoes with asparagus on the side, please." He ordered.
"Excellent choice, sir. And how would you like your steak?"
"Medium rare, please."
"Of course," Phillip wrote this down. "And you, madame?"
"Oh!" Harley giggled at being called 'madame'. "I'll have the shrimp alfredo."
"Seafood alfredo," Phillip repeated and wrote it down. "Your food will be ready soon." He said before leaving.
"See, this is why you can't take me anywhere nice." Casey joked with Harley once he was gone.
"Haha, it's okay baby." She giggled. She reached across the table and took his hand. He held her hand and smiled at her. It was nice to see that he was already in a better mood.
"You look like you're feeling better already." Harley smiled back at him.
"Uhuh." Casey said, staring at her. It seemed like he wasn't paying attention at all to what she was saying; he was just happily watching her.
"Babyyy." Harley called to him with a giggle, stretching the last syllable out to get his attention.
"Yeahhh?" He responded in the same way.
"Are you listeninggg?" She asked before letting out a laugh.
"Haha, sorry, I was going in and out for a sec. I'm just lookin' at ya." He chuckled and smiled again.
"Aww haha, I love you."
"I love you too." Casey replied with a chuckle.
The two of them continued to idly chat about random things. After awhile, Casey's attention started to drift again. She noticed that he was now looking around the restaurant more. His eyes would wander around and then peer out the window before turning back to her.
"You okay, baby?" Harley asked.
"Huh? Oh yeah! I'm just taking this all in...this is really happening." Casey said with a small chuckle.
"What?" Harley asked.
"Here we are!" Phillip suddenly arrived at the table with their food. "Medium rare steak for the gentleman and shrimp alfredo for the lady," He said as he placed their plates down in front of them. "Can I get you anything else?"
"Oh yeah! Uhh, no I'm good. Everything look good, babe?" Casey asked her.
"Everything looks great, thank you!"
"Of course. I'll be back later to check on you." He said before leaving once again.
The two of them started to eat their food. Harley, who had this particular dish often, already knew that it was going to be good. Casey curiously bit into his steak and was satisfied with the taste and how it was cooked. They ate quietly for a little bit before Casey resumed the conversation from earlier.
"Yeah, so what I was gonna say is, uh, I'm really glad we're here. It's been a long time since I've ever...ever felt this good, you know? Being at a nice place with someone I really love. Not to mention you're like easily the most attractive girl I've ever been with." He threw in at the end.
"Aww you're making me blush," Harley giggled. "But I understand. I'm really happy too...it feels like this is what I really needed. I feel safe and happy and loved with you; you're the guy I've always wanted, and I feel like this is the relationship I deserve."
"That's awesome. You do deserve it," Casey said with a warm smile. "I'm happy that I get to be that for you."
"You definitely are. Thank you, baby." Harley said with a grin.
"Anytime." Casey replied with a sideways smile and a wink.
Maybe some of it was coming from the near scare with the bank robbery, but Harley had now come to realize just how much she'd fallen for Casey, and he made it pretty obvious that he felt the same way; that was one of the things she loved most about him.
At the end of the night, he insisted on paying for dinner after all...