Well, my plans were canceled today-I normally teach English to Refugees on sundays-but alas, class was canceled today.
Ah well, that means another chapter in this story for you guys! ANDDDDD another chapter in my other story "The Queens"
Tomorrow though is my hike-YAY! I love hiking. It allows me to think-which means more story line ideas for you readers!
This one is a rather long chapter...I hope you all enjoy!
Praciting my Russian again...
Вот!
Sunday morning came too quickly for Serena, as Mina bounded into her room, diving on her bed.
"WAKE UP! WE GET TO GO SHOPPING!" Serena rolled over, pulling one of her many pillows over her head. Mina began to pull, "Serena! Come on! It's seven in the morning! We need to exercise, eat breakfast, get dressed and be at the stores no later than 11:00!"
"It's seven? Mina, why would you wake me up at this ungodly hour? As a matter of fact, how did YOU get up at this hour?"
Mina giggled as she finally pried the pillow free. "Because, I'm excited for you! And Rei, though Rei was up an hour ago doing some yoga or Pilates, something that involves stretching in weird ways—ANYWAYS! We need to make sure you have the best morning. We need to make sure you're prepared and ready for the evening. Come on!" she jumped off the bed, "I'm already dressed!"
Serena popped open one sapphire eye to see if Mina was speaking the truth. Sure enough she donned a pair of knee length, skin tight pants. Bright orange in color. She also had a white tank top on and a bright orange sports bra underneath, "No push up today Mins?"
Mina rolled her eyes, "I can't work out in a push-up bra silly, that would hurt!"
"Of course, but you can do martial arts in one?"
Mina pouted, "Come on lazy bones!" Mina marched out of the room yelling, "Rei said we are leaving in T-minus 5 minutes!"
Serena pushed her covers off and practically rolled out of bed. Stumbling into the bathroom, she went about getting ready.
"Rei," huff, "Rei, please," huff, "Slowdown..just for a second!" Mina and Serena were trailing farther and farther behind, as Mina's pleas barely made it past her lips. Serena stopped, breathing heavy as she placed her hands on her knees, "I think shes trying to kill us Mina."
Mina stopped as well. Placing her hands on her hips. "REI!" she yelled. Sure enough, Rei turned around, jogging back.
"Whats wrong slow pokes? We're just a block from the house."
"Rei, no more." Serena stood straight, "I'm exhausted."
"You're still talking normal which means you're not exhausted yet."
Serena rolled her eyes and began walking. Mina followed in step next to her.
"We surrender, give up, cave in, whatever. I think we're good."
Rei rolled her eyes and jogged to catch up to them.
"Babies." She mumbled.
"What do you think of this dress Rei?" Mina held up a sexy red strapless dress
"That's basically saying, "Let's have sex tonight" No thanks. I don't want that impression."
Mina stuck her tongue out. "Well, maybe it would help with the crankiness." She moved out of the way as Rei tossed a coat hanger towards her.
"Alright ladies, what about this one?" Serena stepped forward from behind a curtain.
Mina cringed as Rei pursed her lips together, struggling hard not to laugh.
Serena walked out in a unique number.
The dress went all the way to her neck; a gaudy necklace was sowed around the collar. From there, the dress just fell flat to almost her ankles—though with random pleating towards the bottom. To top it off, it was an odd shade of baby pink.
"Well, I thought it looked good on the hanger."
Mina began to giggle as well, "And that dress says 'please, please push me off a cliff' " Rei and Mina busted up laughing as Serena rolled her eyes and marched back behind the curtain.
"What now Mina?" Serena asked, as she removed the contraption they called a dress.
"Here, try this one on." Rei stood up and shoved a little black number through the curtain.
Within a few moments, the curtain was pushed back and Mina and Rei simply smiled.
"That's the one."
She wanted to lie to herself and say she wasn't excited to go out. But she couldn't. She was still nervous about being alone with a man but,she knew she was slowly, if not surely, moving on with her life. She promised herself, as the police took photos of her bruised face, that she wouldn't allow that experience to ruin the rest of her life.
Even the prospects of wearing heels, a dress and what Mina called, "the Smokey eyes", weren't enough to put a damper on how proud she felt about herself for simply wanting to go out.
Rei being there and reassuring her helped too. Lita was admiring the dresses they had purchased, laying them out on Serena's bed, as Ami walked into the room carrying a massive box full of jewelry. When they all looked at her in surprised, she smiled and shrugged, "I like accessories."
Mina came in with a determine look on her face and a curler in hand.
"Now, for your hair I wanted to keep it down, but add some curls to the end. That way, if it gets in the way, he'll have an excuse to touch you! I'm brilliant!" Mina squealed as she plugged in the curling iron and set about picking the right make-up.
"Ah-ha! I found them! Mina, you had them shoved in the back of your closet. These will be perfect for tonight!" Lita bounded up, holding a pair 3 inch heels that sparkled under the bedroom light. As Ami held the dress up to the shoes, all four women nodded their approval.
Lita set up her station to get Rei ready for the evening.
Serene eyed the outfit that the grils had picked out, as Ami went about matching some jewelry with each outfit. A semi- short strapless black cocktail dress. It had a soft silver belt circling the natural waist area. The shoes, though 3 inches, weren't bad. They were peep-toe, black, with very small silver sparkles all over. It looked like someone had dropped glitter on it.
She smiled. What girl didn't like glitter?
Mina stood in front of her, smiling like a cheshire cat, "Rei, I thought Jed wanted to pick you up at five?"
Grumbling Rei sat still as Lita applied eye-shadow, " I told him to pick me at 7pm sharp. If he came early, I told him the "date" was off."
All four girls shook their heads in amusement.
"So do tell, why is there such hostility between you two?"
Rei rolled her eyes as Lita reached for the bright red gloss, "Didn't think you knew that word blondie."
"Don't avoid the question!"
As if saved by the bell, a exactly 7pm, the doorbell rang. Mina clasped her hands together at the art work before her and sprang towards the front door. Serena heard a muffled, "I'll get it!" as the pink of Mina's skirt vanished from her room. Lita rolled her eyes and proceeded to follow in Mina's wake.
Ami ran to retrieve a small cardigan from the back of the closet before not so gently, pushing Serena and Rei out of the room.
When they reached the family room, Serena couldn't help but smile at the picture Mina, Lita and Darien made. The poor guy was surrounded. He seemed to be answering a question as she walked up to them.
"I'm sure I could teach you ladies how to ride a motorcycle." Satisfied with his answer both Mina and Lita beamed.
"I hope they weren't hounding you too much."
Turning from Lita and Mina, Darien's eyes caught hers, " Not at all. You look beautiful. I feel like I'm under dressed now." His soft chuckle brought a smile to Serena's lips. She couldn't help but appraise him. Black shoes, shined clean. Black slacks adorned his long legs. A deep blue dress shirt tucked in, two buttons undone at the collar. His tanned skin seemed to accent his blue eyes and dark hair even more while wearing darker colors. 'Goodness,' she thought, 'he looks like Adonis.'
The door-bell rang again and Lita stepped to the side, opening it up. Jed smiled at her, "Hey there."
"You're late." Mina turned and rolled her eyes at Rei but she heard Jed chuckle, "Sorry there sweetpea. I received a call from my supervisor." The girls eyed Jed as he stepped into the threshold of their home. Darien and him nodded at each other before shaking hands.
Dressed in a pair of dark washed blue jeans, Jed appeared relaxed. His button up shirt-white, a compliment to his bright blue eyes.
"These are for you by the way." Serena blinked back to reality as a bouquet of soft purple, blue and white orchids danced before her vision. They were breath taking. As Serena took them from him she couldn't help exclaiming, "Thank you. These are beautiful. You honestly shouldn't have." But, even she knew how false her words sounded on her lips.
"Shall we go?" Darien held the front door open, he seemed eager as Serena nodded.
Rei smiled at her and nodded. A small comfort.
As she handed her flowers off to Ami to be put in her room and started heading out of the house, she couldn't help but think back to her small understanding of flowers. Weren't Orchids a symbol for seduction?
Rei slid into Jed's silver Audi S4 and admired the leather seats. Though, when Jed walked to the driver's side, after closing her door, she realized she picked the wrong dress. Rei tried to tug it down, but to no avail.
Her deep purple lace cocktail dress rode up to mid-thigh.
She noticed Jed's eyes wandered to her legs as he settled in.
"Soooo" She dragged it out, "Where too?"
His blue eyes seemed to take on a look she had seen all too often from him years ago, when he finally made eye-contact.
"I picked a place, hope you don't mind."
"Not at all. What kind of food is it?"
He put the car in reverse as he smiled at her, "The kind you eat."
'Figures' Serena thought, 'he would have an overly manly car.' She eyed around his Dodge Charger.
Serena began humming lightly to herself as music played softly on the radio. She knew the song, it was a catchy little tune that she found herself rocking out to whenever it came on.
"You said you liked Italian, so I figured I'd show you a place I often visit. Authentic Italian, I think you'll enjoy it."
Serena smiled, "Sounds good. I haven't eaten since breakfast."
"Why not?" Darien turned his eyes towards her as they stopped at a light.
"Mina ordered Rei and me not too, which sucked because Lita had just got done baking some homemade oatmeal squares."
Darien chuckled softly. "Is there a crime against eating hours before a date? If so, then I'm screwed, I think a shoved down two hamburgers earlier."
Serena laughed, "Its Mina. What can I say?"
"By the way Serena, you look beautiful tonight." He eyed her and she noticed his eyes did a quick scan down then back up again.
Serena blushed slightly at the compliment, "Thank you. You look handsome yourself."
They settled into a comfortable silence until Serena heard another song come on.
"I love this song! " She reached forward, turning the volume up, singing along "Call me maybe…" She grinned as Darien laughed.
"What is this?" Rei leaned forward to look out the windshield as they pulled up to a house in a nice, newer neighborhood.
"Where we're eating." Jed answered honestly.
"This is your house, Jed." Rei accused.
Jed smiled, rather seductively, "Afraid to be alone with me..Reina?"
Brown eyes narrowed. "No." She pulled her seatbelt off and climbed out of the car.
Jed's smile widened, "Didn't think so."
He caught up to her at his front door, "Welcome to my humble abode."
He opened the dark wooden door and allowed Rei in, flipping on the lights as he closed the door.
"Let me give you a quick tour and then I'll show you where we'll be eating."
He placed his hand at the small of her back, leading her deeper into the house.
"This is obviously the family room and here, " they turned slightly to the left, "Is the dining room and kitchen." Rei admired all the dark tones throughout his house so far, he seemed like a clean freak.
"And going back through here, I have my office." He lead her down a hallway, "Bathroom." he pointed, "what I converted into my gym room," Rei peeked her head inside. He seemed to have a full size gym shoved in there.
"Another bedroom; I usually let friends stay over or when my parents or sister come to visit."
Rei simply nodded then came to a stop in front of double white doors. He smiled then opened them wide, "And finally, where all the magic happens. And by magic I mean sleep."
Rei rolled her eyes, "Sure Jed."
She glanced around but stayed on the threshold.
"You can look around, it's always nice to hear your opinion on things. I'm sure you have a few on my house."
Rei shook her head, holding her purse in front of her. "No, you have a nice house here. You've done good for yourself."
She watched his blue eyes soften. "We shouldn't be uncomfortable around each other Rei. We went through a lot together. I wish.."
Rei interrupted him, "So, where's this dinner you were speaking of. Mina refused to allow myself or Serena to eat so I'm starving."
Jed took a few steps towards her, saw the look in her eyes and sighed. "Follow me."
He led her back to his family room where two French doors led out to the backyard.
When he opened them, Rei could only gasp in surprise.
Sitting in the middle of the patio was a small two seater table. A white cloth covered it with red roses placed in the center. The entire backyard was covered in white lights and candles. Standing to the side were two men dressed in black suits behind a large silver cart.
Jed led Rei to the table and helped her in. Within a moment, one of the serves came up and poured them both a glass of red wine.
"Why did you do this Jed?" Rei asked after a few sips.
"Because, "His face took on a serious look and his blue eyes seemed to burn with a passion, "Years ago, I let the woman I cared for deeply go without a fight. Seeing you yesterday made me realize, I want a second chance."
Serena marveled at the little quiet and romantic restaurant Darien had brought her too.
Tea-light candles were the main source of light all throughout, with deep burgundy table clothes helping to set the mood.
"Welcome! Welcome! I am Josefina. Table for two?"
Placing his hand against the small of her back, Serena glanced up at Darien, "Yes, two please."
"This way."
The waitress moved them towards the back of the restaurant, away from the other couples situated around.
"The appetizer tonight is a caprese salad, seasoned to perfection. Following that, we have pane fresh from our oven. The main course dishes to choose from are the house lasagne, which can be meat or vegetarian, or Spaghetti alla carbonara. For Wine, we have Chianti. And finally, for dessert, we have our homemade Tiramisu."
The waitress stood for a moment as Serena glanced over at Darien, the small menu in hand
"What will you be having, Darien?"
He glanced up and smiled, "I'm thinking the meat lasagne, what about you?"
Serena smiled, "Everything sounds good." pursing her lips, she glanced quickly over the menu again, "I'll have the meat lasagne as well."
The waitress nodded, "And would you like water or tea with dinner?"
Serena looked over the prices, "Water, please."
Darien nodded as he handed back the menu, "Same."
The waitress gave one more nod and walked off.
Turning, Serena thought to start off with the obvious question, "How did you find this place?"
"I was craving Italian one night, decided to simply drive around. I just stumbled across it, honestly. The owners, Maria and Luciano, are the main cooks. I promise, you'll be begging to come back here to eat for a second date."
Serena smiled as the waitress dropped off their water, caprese salad and bread.
Taking a sip of the ice water, Serena watched Darien expertly cut the bread into pieces.
"What do you do for a living, Serena?"
Sapphire met cobalt blue as she looked up, "I actually teach Kindergarten at Rosemead Private School."
"Rosemead? My niece and nephew were enrolled this year, Kindergarten as well."
"Oh? I haven't received my class list yet, but do they share a last name?"
Darien dipped a small piece of bread in the olive oil that he poured.
"No. They're my sister's children. Jenny and Jacob Tompson."
"I'll look to see if I have them and let you know."
Taking a bite of the caprese salad, Serena ventured another question, "Do you only have a sister?"
She watched Darien turn towards her in the booth, his body seemed relaxed, "Yeah. She's a few years younger then myself. I introduced her to a cop friend of mine a few years back. Now shes married with twins."
"What about you? Any brothers I should be warned about?"
Serena chuckled, "I have a younger brother. He's still in High School. I don't think there's much to fear."
Darien smiled as an overly plump older woman walked over, "Darien! I see you try to hide this gorgeous woman from me!"
Serena felt her face bloom as Darien only laughed, "Maria, I would never do such a thing. Serena, this is Maria, the lady who created the amazing food you're about to taste. Maria, this is Serena. My date."
Serena held out her hand as Maria clucked her tongue. Taking hold of Serena's hand, she glared over at Darien, "She better be wife soon! I want to see some babies and you two would make some handsome babies!"
Serena wasn't sure her face could handle anymore as she glanced at Darien. He only seemed to chuckle as he ran his fingers through his dark locks, "This is our first date Maria, perhaps later on-"
She waved her thick hand around, "Luciano proposed after date two. We've been married almost fifty-five years now. Seven healthy babies."
Maria turned her chocolate brown eyes toward Serena, "How old are you, young lady?"
Serena swallowed, "Twenty-four."
Placing her hands on her extended waist, Maria nodded, "Yep. You're almost thirty Darien. Get married. Make babies. Life will be good."
Darien chuckled again, "Thanks, Maria."
The waitress was a saving grace as she brought out their food. Maria excused herself and Serena sighed in relief.
"A sweet lady, but from the old country. Everything is about making babies to her. She's a good lady though."
Serena found herself smiling, "She's adorable. I don't mind."
The food had been delicious, and Serena had to admit that he was right. Though, she found herself still blushing from Maria's words. She came back again to serve dessert, eyeing Darien and before she placed it before them, Serena swore she heard her mumble, "Lots of babies." before walking off to greet another customer.
Sliding into Darien's car, Serena thought back for a moment on how the evening had turned out so far. The conversations never turned stale; he actually seemed interested in what she was doing with her life. Though she had avoided a lengthy discussion on her college years, he seemed shocked to find out that she had only dated a few times in her life but nothing serious.
She also learned his age. He had just turned 29 on the third of August. He seemed content with her age as well 24, just this past June.
Darien opened his door and climbed in. "I have something else planned, if you're okay with that?"
Serena jumped out of her musings, "No, not at all. What do you have in mind?"
Her smile faltered slightly when they pulled up to a billiards hall just down the street from the restaurant.
"Do you like billiards? I thought it was something fun we could do."
Serena reached to undo her seatbelt, "I haven't played in a while. I might suck."
Darien smiled gently, "I'll teach you."
They walked inside, with Darien's hand placed gently on the small of her back, leading the way.
Within a few moments, Darien was setting up the table and asked Serena to find them two pool-sticks.
"You can break," Serena looked at the table, "I suck at breaking."
"Sure, if you'd like. I'll break and you pick whichever one goes in, then you can go."
The competitive side of her came out at his cockiness, "You sound so sure of yourself. What if you don't get anything in, hmm?"
Darien leaned down, his hands moving the stick expertly. "Wanna make a bet?"
Serena turned her head to the side, contemplating it, then grinned, "Sure! We'll play 5 games. If I win, you have to sing karaoke, "She placed her hand on her chin as if thinking, "'I'm a Barbie girl" while dressed in pink and doing the dance moves that I give you."
Darien stood back up, "Why do I get the feeling when you said that you 'sucked' that it was an understatement?"
Her only response was a sly grin.
"Alright rabbit, I'll adhere to your rules if you win, "His smiled turned seductive, "But if I win, I get a goodnight kiss."
AHHHHHHH snap!
What did I do?
My mind kept going-thats what I did! The dates are not over with yet. I enjoy tormenting my characters.
What did Jed mean about "loving Rei"? Is there a history that has yet to be revealed? o_O
We shall see..We shall see...
Opinions? Reviews?
P.S. Thank you to everyone reading my story (stories) and reviewing. It means a lot to me!
Following my random Russian words/phrase that I'm learning; Мне нравится русский!
Toodles
-LAla