I will admit, it's much nicer riding in a cab at this point in winter. I walk into my apartment and lock the door behind me, shrugging my jacket off my shoulders and hanging it on a coat rack I mounted near the door.
The air in the apartment is hot, thankfully. I inhale and exhale for a few minutes, trying to register what happened that morning. It's kind of unbelievable. I set my purse on the counter, digging in my pocket for his number and debate calling him. NO! I shout at myself. Not yet. It's too early and he'll think I'm needy. I'll call him in two days, Saturday. That will be enough time, right?
This feeling is insanity. I can't sleep, I can't eat because everything is him. My mind is made up of him right now. In the morning I will call him. It's been two days now. The longest two days of my life...
The rings vibrate in my ear and I realize I'm anxious. Really anxious. Then, I have no more time to worry because the phone clicks and it's him. I take a deep breath as he says hello.
"H-hi...Soul?" I hear his grin on the other line.
"I was beginning to think you forgot about me." You have that the wrong way. "No, no, no! I didn't. I've just been...busy." I should know better than to lie to you, Soul Evans.
"Hmm...well, if you'd so wish, I'd like to take you to dinner." I almost explode with glee. I manage to contain myself.
"Sounds great...um, when? And where?"
"I'll pick you up tonight at eight."
"Oh. Do you need my address."
"No, I have it already." WHAT?! I stay silent trying to figure out how and why he has it already. He laughs. This is NOT funny, Evans! "Maka, I'm kidding. I need your address." I sigh into the phone.
"Evans, do you like scaring girls?"
"No. Not normally. You're different though." Different?
"Oh...um...okay. Well, I'll text it to you."
"I look forward to it." And a click. Frustrating. That's what he is.
It's seven thirty and I have applied makeup, giving myself a natural look. I have a a short, strapless dress on the fans out from the waist and ends about four inches above the top of my knee that is the color aqua. My favorite dress. I've put on black flats because I'm too clumsy for heels.
I let myself wonder briefly where he's taking me, but that is soon overcome by the thought of what will happen. That part excites and scares me the most.
I decide on a small black handbag which can hold my phone and money inside it. Someone knocks on the door and I realize it's now eight. It took me thirty minutes to decide on a bag. Wow...
I open the door and I am greeted by a white haired boy who is looking sharp in a nice black and red suit with blue carnations. My favorite flowers. How? I smile and he grins back down at me. He holds the flowers out to me. I take them.
"Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl." I blush. How does he do that? How is he so charming? I smile shyly and take them and put them in a vase and admire them.
"Thank you. They're lovely." He smirks.
"I know." His voice has a trace of dignity. I grin.
"You sure are full of yourself."
"You could say that." He winks and smiles, showing his sharp teeth. I flush and look down. He has so much affect on me. "Okay, ready?" I look up and he's in front of me, his hand extended for me to take it. I do and his hands are warm. The touch is relaxing and I feel my shoulders drop. He frowns.
"Why are you nervous?" he asks, genuinely concerned.
"Soul, I've never been on a date with anyone. It's...different and confusing...I...I don't know h-how..." I lose my place and I feel warm fingertips on my left cheek bone and realize that I've been looking down. I meet his gaze and his crimson eyes meet my emerald. They are filled with...what? Is he nervous too? He can't be. He's been with too many other girls to be nervous. It must be something else.
"Are you scared of me?"
"No! No...of course not...nervous is all." He visibly relaxes.
"Okay...well, shall we go?" He smiles shyly and I grin.
"We shall." and I grip his hand as he leads me out of my apartment.
The restaurant is very romantic. The lighting is dim but it doesn't affect our sight because there are unscented candles on every table. The white table clothes over tables with the wood hidden beneath it. The carpets are flat and subtle gray. The seats roll and the booths are plush with red cushions. The bars are empty except for a single bartender behind the counter. He wears a white, button-down shirt with black dress pants. Uniform. I walk behind Soul and admire the paintings on the walls of fruit and other things in Italy that I am unaware of.
The smell. Oh, the smell. The mix of cheese and tomatoes and chicken and sweet, sweet champagne make an amazing aroma. I don't really pay attention to where we are going, but I know we are at the back where no tables are filled. Why?
We arrive at the table. It is a small table compared to the others, but still considerably large. The nice waitress smiles kindly at us and walks off back to the front of the restaurant, her low, long, brown ponytail swaying from left to right as she walks.
Soul pulls out my chair and I sit and scoot in. There are flowers on the table and I remember the white carnations. A disturbing thought hits. Ask him! I shake my head and he sits. He gazes at me, a ghost of a smile bringing up the corners of his lips. He sits like he did in the coffee shop, his fingers laced together in front of his mouth and his elbows resting on the table. His eyes are filled with an unfamiliar emotion in which I have never seen.
"What?" I ask. "Aren't you going to look at the menu?" He chuckles.
"I know what I want." I fill with rage.
"Yeah, because you bring all the other girls here, don't you?" I smile sarcastically. His lips significantly drop into a frown. He moves his hands in front of him, keeping his fingers laces but making his forearms rest on the table.
"You're jealous?" He asks, giving nothing away. I can't tell if he's pissed or curious. It may be both.
"Yes." I state matter-of-factly. He pauses for a few beats and then replies.
"You shouldn't be. You're the first girl I've brought here."
"And you expect me to believe you with all the girls at school you've screwed over?" He gasps, shocked by what I just said. And, frankly, I'm shocked at myself as well. Why am I so pissed off?
"No." He says and sits back in his chair, eying me intently. I pick up the menu and look over it. Everything sounds delicious, and I'm starving. Though, I don't really know if I could eat. I decide to narrow it down to the fettuccine alfredo and chicken parm.
Before I decide, my menu is abruptly pulled down by Soul's hand.
"I've never brought anyone here. Ever. This is where my family and I go out to eat. Every other girl I've out with, we go to get ice cream because they think it's "cute". But you...Maka Albarn, you are different all together and I like that. You're quiet and polite and I figured you might like something like this because you are so different. When I say different I don't mean you are freak in any means. I mean you are intelligent and shy and gorgeous and, well, in my eyes, perfect.
"So, if you'd like to ask me what else I've done with my exes on our dates and cross them off the list, by all means ask because I frankly want to be different with you." I gape at him. That's what he meant earlier by different. Different...I let the thought swim around in my head and he lets go of my menu.
"I...Soul, I didn't...I really-"
"It's fine. I have a bad rep and I get that. But I believe that with you I won't need anyone else." He says everything calmly. Even when he just all those things. Those nice, wonderful things. He wasn't mad. He was stating how he felt for me. It warms my heart so. He interrupts my thoughts.
"I love your smile." I realize I have been looking down at the table cloth...and that I'm smiling. I look up, unable to get the damned thing off my face. He's grinning and he breathes before speaking.
"Have you decided on what to eat?" I nod.
"The chicken parm." He smiles.
"Excellent choice." He chuckles. "You haven't even had anything to drink and you look flushed and happy."
"That's because you're...intoxicating." I take a sip of water that the waitress must have set at the table when I was going over the menu. And speak of the devil, she's at my side right now. I keep my eyes locked on Soul.
"What have we decided on?" she beams happily. I don't even think she's acting. That's a lovely trait. Soul speaks.
"We'll both have the chicken parmesan." His eyes are on mine as well.
"Easy enough." I hear her smile. "It'll be with you in just a moment."
"Thank you, Kaitlyn." He smiles and my eyebrows furrow. I glance quickly at her name tag and he's right. Her name is Kaitlyn. I stare back at him and he's amused. He's smiling boyishly.
"How do you know her name?!" I say quietly but with anger.
"Her name tag?" I feel stupid and embarrassed. I rub my temples with my thumb on one and my middle and index finger on the other.
"Frustrating. You. Are. Frustrating." I annunciate each word clearly. He chuckles.
"Get used to it, honey." Honey?! He's got to be kidding me right now.