I step into the cold car and I accidentally slam it behind me and one corner of my quiet mouth falls into a 'uh oh' look before Paul slides into the car without a care and he whistles as he sticks the key into the car's ignition. My dad would always tell me to not slam the car door when I was little, but I never saw the real point in it, to tell you the truth. I tip my head to rest against the cold window after buckling my belt as the light rain meets the already spattered window and I watch two rain drops race down the pane, like I did when I was little and when everything was different.
"I'm starving, aren't you? How about we visit that Italian place again for some pasta?" Paul suggests and I lift my head to see his hairy head turned to look out the window on his side while the windshield wipers sweep back and forth. I wonder how people here put up with this constant rain.
"That place again?" I groan with a false ignorance and he shakes his head while snickering.
"But it's our new place, Court!"
I laugh in response and he joins me in it as he makes a turn and I watch the people in old fashioned dress pass as well as we the tall buildings and then we pull up to the building with the blinking sign and Paul shuts off the car.
"Milady." he addresses me while he holds out his hand as one of his feet is set on the curb and I take his hand that still has spots off glaze covered patches on his warm skin.
"You're so goofy sometimes." I comment loud enough for him to hear as we enter the restaurant from the early October cold and the smell of garlic and cooked bread floods my senses.
"Oh, just come along." he spits back with a fake annoyed look and he leads me up the stairs and to the back corner of one of the three walls of the upstairs where we find a booth.
I peel of my warm jacket, a nice and hardly worn one that I found in that cardboard box from Cynthia along with high socks, knee length skirts, high necked dresses and several other choices.
"I'll be right back," I announce as I stand up and when he lifts his eyes to meet mine and he looks puzzled. "Bathroom." I explain and then he nods and looks back to the nearly familiar menu and I find the stairs that I go down.
I look myself over in the mirror in the women's bathroom marked with smudges and I dry my wet wands before ducking out of the empty washroom to collide with a tall, blonde man whose eyes I meet when I mindlessly mumble a quiet sorry.
"It's okay, darling. I don't mind being bumped into by a gorgeous girl you." the man with sharp in between colored eyes comments with a wink of his blonde eyelash laced eye as the smell of beer pours from his breath and I turn away from with a offended look.
"Maybe I could go buy you a drink, pretty lady. How would that sound to you, babe?" he suggests with the words roll off his tongue clumsily and he lays a hand on my arm.
"Get off me, your perv." I retort and shake off his hand with one hard movement and I see his light eyebrows dip before I look away and bolt out of the dimly lit corridor.
"What a fucking tease." he retorts under his breath as my steps put more and more distance between him and I, thank God.
I bound up the carpeted stairs, taking a glance behind myself to check if he followed but I only saw the glimpse of his green sweater before his figure vanished from my sight. Not being able to see something or somebody anymore doesn't always mean what you want it to mean. I turn to travel down the wide walkway and my eyes fall upon the black hair a couple of feet away from me and I look behind me before sitting down.
"What're you lookin' at with that look for?" Paul questions the minute I sit down and I look to his face where his thumb sits below his bottom lip and I shake my head silently as I open the menu.
"Court, is something the matter?"
"There was just some drunk guy hitting on me and wanting to buy me a drink, that's all." I mumble in reply and it was impossible to not hear the frustrated sigh he let out as he shuts his menu out of the corner of my eye.
"Do you want me to go speak to him?"
"No. I already did, but thanks for the offer." I respond in a flat tone as my eyes mindlessly read the specials on one of the first few pages.
"I should've guessed from the start, I suppose." he remarks with a cheeky tone and I look up at him with an annoyed look and I see his amused grin fade before I look back to the menu I'm not really reading.
"Courtney, I didn't mean it like that, love."
"It's not just something that you just dismiss so suddenly." I retort as I face him again and he looks away with an exasperated look covering his features before glancing back to me.
"I never said that it isn't and I'm not going about it that way. I just asked if... I'm not going to fight with you about this, Court, and I know that that's probably the last thing you want to do too. I'm mad that some bloke made a pass at you, and even more that the idiot was drunk 'cause who knows what else he would've said without thinking or what he would've tried."
"He did grab my wrist."
"Well that's just great," he grumbles and then rubs his eyes and takes in a deep breath. "But I'm sure you don't want me to go yell at him in front of everybody, so I won't, unless I see him." he remarks and I nod my head and return my attention to the menu.
I finger the page and turn it just as he stands up and sits beside me on my side of the booth and I let my hands fall to my lap before I cock my head to look at him. I tilt my head to his shoulder and he drapes an arm around my shoulder and I look around at the few couples as well as groups up at the front sitting at tables and in booths and then the ones laughing and talking away up on this floor.
"Paul, there's something that I need to tell you. I've been afraid to tell you before, but now I'm ready." I announce and a nervous expression floods onto his face and I hold back a grin.
"Yeah...?" he draws it out.
"I um have a kid."
"You what?" he exclaims in disbelief and I laugh and nuzzle my head against his shoulder.
"That is not funny at all, Court. You almost gave me a damn heart attack pulling that one on me!"
"Ah, you're so gullible," I pause to recover from my bout of laughter and to face his eyes. "But would it really be that bad of a thing if I did?"
"Uh I guess not, but that's not something to joke about! I thought you were bloody serious, you know."
Him saying that pushes me into a another round of laughs and this time he wraps his arms around me as my head is resting on his shoulder and I hear him snicker before I remove my face from his dark blazer to return my gaze to his.
"You think you're awfully hilarious, don't you?"
"Mmhmm." I respond and he grins before pecking my cheek and sitting back to relax into the black booth.
"I can tell. Man, you're such a jokester." he comments while I listen to the clink of glasses, the seemingly never ending laughter, the ice chips colliding with the sides of glasses, and the soft footfall coming up and down the steps. I look up at Paul who sticks his pink tongue out at me and I think of the line of George's from A Hard Days Night when he shaves the reflection in the mirror as I clamp my hand over his mouth.
I see the corners of his mouth hinting at a smile and then he licks my hand and I pull my hand away with an 'eww' escaping my mouth and I wipe my hand wet with his saliva all over his pant leg, "That's what you get when you try to silence me."
"Yeah, I know that now." I comment as I finish drying off my hand on his black pants and I lift my head with a laugh and he steals a kiss off of my cheek as I giggle.
"Why do you have to be so cute?" I ask him and he shrugs his shoulders with his pink cheeks.
"I dunno. I guess the credit goes to me mum and dad. Now who do I give the credit to for you being so pretty, huh?" he inquires with a cheeky grin as he leans in to kiss me on the lips ever so softly with his own, with the ghost of the kiss lingering there a couple of seconds later.
"Do you get all of the girls with that charm of yours?"
"Not all of 'em, but only the ones that matter; like you." he remarks sweetly and I roll my eyes at him, making it plain obvious, and he makes a goofy face at me before pulling me close for a makeshift hug.
"Your sayings are so cheesy." I joke into his shirt and I hear him scoff and he pulls away.
"They are not!"
I laugh at his reaction and then I smile, "I'm joking, you should be able to tell me with now, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I suppose. But you better be kidding!" he responds with a relieved look as his hand sits on my waist and mine rests on his extended arm.
"I am so you can stop your worrying."
"Whew." he comments while pretending to wipe his forehead and I shake my head and turn my body back to read the menu and I rest my chin in my propped hand.
"Whatcha gonna get?" Paul whispers to me and a smirk creeps up onto my lips as my eyes run over types of soups and pasta dishes while I feel his hand on my waist.
"I have no clue whatsoever 'cause all of these sound so good."
"Then we'll get a few. Waiter!" Paul decides and I look to him with my mouth hanging open and he just grins as he holds up his hand to flag down a waiter who arrives shortly.
"I just can't believe you bought six appetizers and two strawberry milkshakes!" I exclaim as we set foot on the dark walk outside of the restaurant where we leave with most definitely full stomachs; filled to the brim.
"Oh what's that saying?," he pauses to think and he opens my door politely. "I remember now, it's go big or go home!"
"Isn't that supposed to be an American saying?" I question with a slightly puzzled look as he brings the car to life and drives off.
"That's way you say, you Yank. It could be British for all you know."
"I'm pretty sure that it's American, Paul." I comment and he steals a smiling look at me while his beginning to be cigarette stained teeth show behind his smiling mouth.
"Oh, is that just because you said so?"
"Yeah, I think so." I joke back and he laughs and looks back to the road to speed up so he can make a light.
I reach forward to twist the dial on the radio and I get the volume up and I go through the stations that all seem to be on commercial or playing something boring so I shut it back off to resume the silence. I blow out a breathe and sit back in the fancy looking seat.
"We have a show tonight, you know. You're going to come, aren't you?"
"Do I have to?" I grumble with a false annoyance in my voice and my amused lips fall when he doesn't laugh or even smile.
"You don't have to, but I'd love for you to be there. It'd uh make me feel better if ya did." he remarks in a calm tone and I hardly hear his last line.
"You what? I didn't hear what you said." I ask with a proud grin as I lean over while I see a glimpse of his blushing cheeks.
"I'd like it if you were there." he rephrases it to still sound sweet and I nod my head and look out the window where little light stays on the streets.
"Of course I'll be there, I'm sure you already know that though." I even hear my tone change to something more serious and he turns his head to look at me when the car stops and his hand comes over to pat mine affectionately.
"Ta. I gotta have my good luck charm there, you know, or else I won't do any good."
I can't hide the smile that his words brought forth to my lips and I look away with pink cheeks to see the long road ahead of us with headlights only a few feet away.
AN: Hey there! So thoughts on this part?