Here's the next chapter!
Kim grinned as she took a bouquet of roses from Tommy. "What's this for?"
He leaned over and gave her a kiss. "It's for you." He grinned at her. "You look beautiful, by the way."
"Thank you." She twirled around in her black and white printed dress. "Figured it's be something different than what I usually wore back in high school."
Tommy laughed. "You ready?"
Kim nodded. "Yeah, let me just grab my coat." She ran to the kitchen and Tommy locked the front door after the two of them walked out of the house. "So, where to?" she asked, buckling her seat belt.
"You'll see when we get there," replied Tommy with a wink.
Kim rolled her eyes and laughed. "Well then, I can't wait."
"Wow, Tommy," Kim said, opening the passenger's car to Tommy's jeep. "Impressive."
Tommy grinned as he handed his keys to the valet and hurried around the jeep to Kim's side. He took her hand and the two of them headed for the entrance. "I wanted to make it special."
Kim grinned as she thought about the conversation she had with Trini and Aisha earlier. "Yeah, this is pretty special."
"Well, today is a special day."
Kim rolled her eyes. The host showed them to their table and Tommy held out Kim's chair, waiting for her to settle in as the host set down the menus. He took a seat across from Kim and smiled at her, even though she couldn't see him since she was immersed in the menu.
"What do I feel like eating tonight? Maybe some fish or something. I was in the mood for pasta, but I had some for lunch." She looked up and saw Tommy smiling at her. She grinned back. "What?"
Tommy shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just glad that after everything we've been through, we're here right now."
Kim smiled. She reached her hand across the table and took Tommy's hand. "Me too." She smiled at him and then looked down at her menu. "So what do you think you're going to have? Could I take a few bites from it?"
Tommy laughed. "Your appetite did get pretty Rocky-like."
"Blame it on being on the road," Kim replied.
"Good evening, my name is Amanda and I will be taking care of you two tonight," the server said, setting down a basket of bread and two plates on the table.
"Thank you," Tommy and Kim said at the same time.
"Can I get anything for you two to drink?"
Tommy and Kim placed their drink orders and continued to glaze over the menu.
"I'm glad we're here, Kim," Tommy said, smiling at her.
Kim looked up. She returned his grin. "Me too." She smiled and thanked the server for bringing their drinks over. Kim took a long sip of her wine and opened her mouth to speak again. "Trini reminded me that a year ago today was the LA show. Hard to believe, huh?"
"Hard to believe that it's only been a year? Yeah. It feels longer."
"Yeah. Almost like we were never apart, right?"
"You mean like being back in high school?"
"Do you ever wish we were still in high school?" Kim asked Tommy, expectantly.
Tommy shrugged. "Maybe before I started teaching high school."
Kim laughed. "Every time I talk to Kira and she reminds me that you were her science teacher, I always remember how old I am."
"Every time I look at Kira and the others, I get reminded of how old I am. Those kids are in college and almost done with college. Kira's pretty much taking the world by storm. I remember them when they were nobodies."
The two of them laughed. Their server returned to take their dinner orders and refilled their glasses of wine and water. Kim started talking about one of the restaurants that she and Adam always went to in Phoenix and Tommy found himself looking at her, smiling at himself. He thought about what each of their closest friends had said earlier that same day and felt on his chest near his jacket pocket. He slightly panicked, not feeling what he expected to be there, and his breath got caught in his throat. He sighed in relief and took a sip of his wine. He laughed at one point during Kim's story even though he wasn't really paying attention.
He watched her every move, memorizing the way her face moved in the candlelight. He saw how her eyes grew smaller when she grinned and smiled. The look on her face when she talked about her life on the road, Adam, Kira, and the rest of her friends.
"So, what about you, huh?" Kim grinned as she invited Tommy into the conversation.
Tommy smiled. He told her about when he first got into graduate school and decided to get a PhD in paleontology. Even though a lot of what they were saying was already talked about between the two, they still went through all of the stories they had when they were a part. Kim talked about how she and Adam met Kira and Tommy talked about when he was her teacher. The two of them continued to talk throughout dinner.
"Why didn't you want anyone to know about...the whole singing thing?" Tommy asked.
Kim shrugged. "I guess I've always valued my privacy a little too much. And I wasn't willing to give it up."
Tommy nodded. "That makes sense."
"And I never thought that it would get as big as it did. It always kind of seemed like a job to me, but I loved every minute of it."
"Gosh, I remember hearing your songs in the hallways when Kira was still in high school."
Kim nodded, laughing. "Kira told me that a lot of your students would walk into class singing some of my songs."
Tommy nodded. "Still do. And now they're singing Kira's songs, too." Tommy looked around when he heard someone start singing. He saw two people singing near a piano player and a guitar player. He saw a few people stand up and start dancing. "You want to dance?" He cocked his head toward the dance floor and Kim grinned, nodding.
"I'd love to."
Tommy took her hand and moved something from the inside pocket of his jacket to his pants pocket. The two of them held hands as they headed to the dance floor. Kim put her head on Tommy's shoulder as the two of them slow danced to the song. Tommy listened to the words of the song and smiled, holding Kim close.
I thought that dreams belonged to other men
Cuz each time I got close
They'd fall apart again
Kim smiled as she sighed happily on his shoulder. She had missed this.
I feared my heart would beat in secrecy
I faced the nights alone
Oh, how could I have known
That all my life I only needed you
Kim thought back to just a year ago before she and her friends got back in touch with Tommy and the others. She thought about the two of them at the Youth Center, a couple of weeks after the LA show. Even though she had never gotten back on a beam since, she knew that since he was there, since he was with her, she wouldn't be afraid of it now. She felt like she could do anything now. She felt complete, something that she hadn't felt in a long time.
Almost paradise
We're knocking on heaven's door
Almost paradise
How could we ask for more?
I swear that I could see forever in your eyes
Paradise...
Tommy was still unsure about what he wanted to do. Every move he made, he could feel the ring box bump against his leg in his pocket. He could feel his heart beat in his chest, nervous about whether or not Kim would find the ring box and he was nervous about asking her. He thought about his talk with Adam earlier that day. Adam called Tommy before he picked Kim up for dinner and Tommy didn't pick up.
It seems like perfect love's so hard to find
I'd almost given up
You must've read my mind
And all these dreams I saved for a rainy day
They're finally coming through
I'll share them all with you
Now we hold the future in our hands
"Kim..." Tommy started. He let go of her and started to reach for his pocket.
Kim looked at their table. "Look, they've put the dessert down!" She took his hand and led him off the dance floor.
He put his hand in his pocket and closed it around the ring box. He felt the vibration of his phone right next to him and pulled it out, looking at the front screen, and saw Adam's name. Tommy took a deep breath and pressed the 'ignore' button. He put his phone back in his pocket and closed his fist around the ring box again. He took another deep breath and pulled his hand out.
"Did you get a phone call?"
"Yeah, nothing important."
"You want some?" She pushed the plate of chocolate cake closer to him and handed him a fork. She looked back at the performers and smiled. The two of them sat there, eating their dessert and listening to the song.
Whenever I'm weary from the battles that rage in my head
You make sense of madness when my sanity hangs by a thread
I lose my way, but still you seem to understand
Now and forever
I will be your man
The song reminded Kim of when the two of them were still rangers. She thought about him losing his green ranger powers and her leaving Angel Grove and the rest of the team. She looked at Tommy and smiled. She thought about how lost she was after moving to Florida and was grateful for her friends. She thought about Trini and Aisha and how they were teasing her earlier about getting married. She felt a flutter in her stomach that went all the way up to her chest and couldn't help but think that Tommy was going to propose to her. She didn't want to think so because if he didn't, she wouldn't be too disappointed.
Sometimes I just hold you to caught up in me to see
I'm holding a fortune
That heaven has given to me
I try to show you each and every way I can
Now and forever
I will be your man
"Do it, Tommy," he thought to himself. "Just put your hand in your pocket and pull it out."
"But what if this isn't how she imagined it?" he argued with himself, in his mind. "What if she wants something different? What if she doesn't think I care enough to plan it out?" He heard Adam's voice in his head, repeating the same words that he said earlier.
Tommy took a deep breath and withdrew his hand from his pocket, without the ring.
Now I can rest my worries and always be sure
That I won't be alone anymore
If I only known you were there all the time
All the time
Kim looked at Tommy. She thought he seemed a little jumpy, but couldn't quite figure out what it was. Her thoughts turned to him being nervous about proposing to her, but she quickly squashed that idea. They weren't even together for an entire year yet, while Jason and Trini were dating for six years, and Rocky and Aisha were together even longer than that. Adam and Amy had a longer relationship than Tommy and Kim, being together for three and a half years.
She looked around at all the other couples around her. It was a popular restaurant and there was barely an empty table in the place. The servers were moving around quickly and the dance floor was filled with a bunch of couples slow-dancing to the Richard Marx song. She felt like Tommy was going to propose because this seemed like the perfect place to do it. The perfect setting for a proposal.
Until the day the ocean doesn't touch the sand
Now and forever
I will be your man
Kim watched as the different couples were still dancing. She knew this was the perfect place for a proposal. But she wanted something different. She wanted something that was more her. She felt like this was a normal place for a person to propose. It was romantic, the mood was right, the lighting was low. But she wanted something that meant more to her.
She looked at Tommy, still getting the same weird vibes from him. She wondered if he was going to ask her to marry him that night. She looked down at her dessert, wondering if he did one of those cheesy things and hid the ring in the cake. She glanced at her champagne glass, making sure nothing was floating in it. She looked around for the servers.
She wasn't sure what she wanted. Did she want Tommy to propose or not? She knew that she definitely wanted to marry him. But she wasn't sure if she wanted this as a part of her memory of the proposal.
A couple of hours later, Kim's phone rang. She groaned, running out of her big closet to find her phone on her bed. She saw Trini's name flashing on the screen and pressed the 'ignore' button.
Tommy dropped Kim off after their date, things ending a little weird. He hugged her and gave her a long kiss goodnight, but Kim couldn't help but feel a little awkward. She was expecting a proposal that didn't come. She hyped herself up for it, but tried to not think about it. Most of all, she didn't know what to feel if it had come to that point.
Kim sighed, dropping onto her bed. She wanted to marry Tommy, but she didn't want him to ask there, at the restaurant. And now she couldn't figure out if she was disappointed that she got all these clues from him and their friends, expecting a proposal, and not getting one.
She heard her phone ring again and looked at it. This time it was Aisha. She ignored this phone call too and looked up at the ceiling, confused.
"Why can't I figure out what I want?" she said out loud. She groaned again and crawled into bed. She looked out the window at the moon, thinking to herself until she fell asleep.
Adam poured himself a bowl of cereal and settled at the breakfast table, reading the day's newspaper. He heard Tommy get in pretty late last night, but didn't want to press him about anything. He could tell that Tommy ignored his phone calls last night, but didn't hold it against him. He did wonder what happened on Tommy and Kim's date, thought. He hoped that Tommy listened to him and took what he said into consideration.
"Morning, Sunshine," Adam said as Tommy walked into the kitchen, wiping away the sleep from his eyes.
Tommy mumbled a low good morning and scrambled to get a bowl. He poured cereal and milk into it and sat across from Adam, who was staring at him expectantly.
"What?" Tommy asked, taking a big bite of his cereal.
Adam stared at him for a few seconds before answering. "Nothing." He looked at his newspaper and continued reading in silence as he and Tommy ate their cereal.
"I didn't ask her if that's what you're thinking."
Adam looked at Tommy over the top of his paper and didn't say anything.
"It wasn't the right thing to do last night."
Adam folded his paper and put it on the table. "I'm listening."
"I could tell in her eyes that she wanted it, but she didn't want it. And I didn't want her to say no."
"Well, she wouldn't say no."
"Yeah, but, she would've over there. That place...that restaurant...it's not her. It's not me. She and I are much happier in sweat pants and a t-shirt, watching a movie at home, over delivery pizza. Leftover Chinese food."
Adam gave him a small smile. "I think you're beginning to understand then."
Tommy nodded. "And I'm going to need your help."
Adam grinned. "I've been waiting for you to ask."
"What the heck?" Trini said into the phone as she heard Kim's cell go to voicemail again. She looked at Jason, who was putting coffee in the coffee maker. "Either Kim's ignoring my phone calls or she and Tommy must've had a really good night."
Jason rolled his eyes. "I think they must've had a really good night."
"I can't wait to see the ring."
"I better be the best man."
"I'm gonna be the maid of honor," Trini said, smugly.
"Who else would the best man be?" Jason said aloud. "I'm Tommy's best friend."
"Yeah, well, I'm gonna be the maid of honor," Trini repeated.
"But you girls had that figured out a long time ago."
"No, not really. Just after Aisha got married. And when we were planning our wedding."
Jason was about to say something, but was interrupted by Trini's cell ringing.
"Hey 'Sha." Trini paused. "Nope, not getting anything either." She laughed. "Well, Jason and I think they had a really good night." She paused again. "I know! I can't wait to see the ring either."
Jason rolled his eyes, listening to Trini talk. "Well, I better be the best man." He stood up. "I've got to get to the dojo." Jason kissed Trini, interrupting her phone call. "I'll see you later, baby. Call me."
Trini nodded, returning his kiss. "Yeah. I love you."
"Love you too." Jason grabbed his coffee and headed out the door.
"I hope Kim's over pink," Trini was saying. "I hope she doesn't choose that to be her wedding color."
They were both silent as they heard an incoming text message. The two of them read it.
"Did you just get that text from Kim?" Aisha asked. "Breakfast at The Original Pancake House."
"Yeah," answered Trini. "I'll see you there, then."
"Okay, bye."
THere's that chapter! Hope you enjoyed! Songs are: "Almost Paradise" from the Footloose soundtrack and "Now & Forever" by Richard Marx. Let me know what you thought of the chapter!
