Chapter 3 – The Date.
It had already been seven o'clock. Rex was waiting impatiently in front of the Golden Gnome restaurant. Where was she? Had she maybe changed her mind and decided not to come to their date anymore? It actually made him quite insecure. He, Rex, being insecure, that was unique. He normally wasn't like that at all. Rex was about to go back inside to bother the waiter for the third time by asking if everything had been arranged as to even the smallest details were perfect, when suddenly a pixie came walking towards Rex and the restaurant. Rex knew this pixie all too well, it was prince Arsenio. ''What is he doing here…?'' mumbled Rex, quiet enough so Arsenio wouldn't be able to hear it. ''I will be dining here today!'' Arsenio announced in a loud voice. ''No you can't! I rent the whole restaurant for today'' Rex protested as he called the waiter. ''What is this supposed to mean?'' He demanded an explanation. ''I'm sorry sir. We couldn't turn him down, he's paying his weight in gold just to dine here. We will make sure he will not disturb you'' the waiter said, whereafter he went back inside. Arsenio cheerfully followed the waiter. Rex growled. The diner hadn't even started yet and Arsenio had ruined it already just by being there. He couldn't easily think of something to make him leave either. ''I'm here!'' Rex heard a voice behind him say. It was Caramel. ''Why are you so la—'' Rex turned around to face Caramel and was immediately caught speechless. ''Wow…'' Caramel blushed thanks to his reaction. ''Caramel… you look absolutely stunning…'' Rex said, full of disbelief that this was his girlfriend, standing right in front of him. Caramel wasn't sure about what to say. ''Erm… let's go inside, shall we?'' she offered. All Rex could do was nod. Caramel took Rex his hand and together they went inside of the restaurant.
Once inside, the waiter escorted them to their table. The whole restaurant was empty, aside from a small table in the back of the restaurant where Arsenio was sitting at. ''It's so empty here…'' Caramel looked around her while she sat down. Rex nodded. ''I rent the whole restaurant out especially for you''. Caramel shyly stared down at the table. ''I don't want to be a bother though, but…'' she started. ''…But if you hired the whole restaurant, then what is he doing here?'' She pointed at Arsenio. ''Don't mind me. I'm just sitting here in this corner, watching and judging your special moment'' was what Arsenio replied once he saw her pointing at him. ''He's just a douchebag who's only point to being alive is ruining other people's special evening'' Rex said, his face showing an annoyed expression. ''Hey! I heard that!'' Arsenio sounded insulted, but he didn't make any effort to get back at what Rex was saying. Caramel put her hand down on top of Rex' his hand. ''Just let him be. At least we're together'' she tried to calm him down, as Rex was still growling towards Arsenio. He knew she was right though, and tried his best to ignore him. Luckily for them, soon there was distraction. The waiter came walking up to their table to take their order. ''Do you want to have anything to drink?'' the waiter asked. ''Orange juice, please'' Caramel answered immediately. A smile appeared on Rex' face. He knew how much she loved orange juice, she always drank it when they we're together. He ordered some water for himself, as he didn't want to make the bill any more expensive than needed. Even though he had rent out the whole restaurant, he also still had to pay the bill. The waiter wrote down their order and then walked away. ''So…'' Caramel began. ''I thought you said you would win the elections?'' she continued, teasing him. ''Uh… what?'' Rex wasn't sure about what she was talking about. He was so distracted by how beautiful she looked, that he had forgotten all about the elections and how he didn't win. ''The elections, of course'' Caramel started to laugh. ''Oh… yeah'' He finally started to realize what it was about. ''The residents of Pixieville are just stupid!'' He crossed his arms out of irritation. In the meantime, the waiter put their drinks down on the table. He pretended not to hear what Rex just said. ''But, since you didn't win… why are we here then?'' Caramel asked. Rex hesitated about his answer. ''Because… I want to ask you something'' he finally said, and made up his mind. ''Caramel… so… I..'' he began while stuttering a little. Caramel had never seen him like this before, not even during their relationship. ''We've been together for a long time, you know… And you're the sweetest and most beautiful girl I've ever met…'' Caramel kept staring at him while he was talking. ''So… I wanted to ask you something…'' He stood up from the table, and kneeled down in front of her. Before continuing, he took her hand, and with his other, free, hand, took a small black box out of his pockets. Inside of it shined a beautiful silver ring. ''Caramel… Would you marry me?'' He asked. Caramel was stunned. She didn't know what to say anymore, and thus ended up staying silent. ''Denied!'' Arsenio yelled. Rex turned to Arsenio just to growl, but when he turned to face Caramel again, his face was full of worry. ''Do you… really not want to…?'' he asked her with a soft-spoken, disappointed voice. ''Of course I do!'' Caramel proclaimed. ''I just… I wasn't expecting this… Of course I want to marry you!'' Caramel was beaming out of happiness. Rex also started to smile again. ''Really…?'' Caramel nodded. Rex pulled her towards him and gave her a kiss. ''Bravo!'' Arsenio started to clap his hands loudly. He was clearly enjoying this spectacle. Both Rex and Caramel ignored him, and stared at eachother, clearly being in love.
''I don't want to disturb your romantic moment…'' A voice said. ''But can I finally take your order now? I've been waiting here all this time''. Both Rex and Caramel snapped out of it. The waiter had been standing beside their table the whole time. ''Yes… sorry'' Rex stammered and quickly got back into his seat. Both of them chose a dish on the menu. After the waiter had left, Rex took Caramel's hand again. Arsenio got up from his corner and proceeded to walk with his plate towards the table of Rex and Caramel. Without asking he put down his plate and sat down next to them. He took Rex his other hand and shook it enthusiastically. He then did the same with Caramel's. ''Congratulations!'' he said, sounding way too happy about it. ''Er… thanks, I guess?'' Rex looked at Arsenio, confused. ''Could you leave now—'' ''I can't wait until your wedding!'' Arsenio didn't even let him talk. ''I'll make sure I'll be there! And of course, I would love to be the witness at the wedding!'' ''What makes you think you will be our witness?'' Rex snapped at him. Arsenio looked dumbfounded. ''But of course! I'm also a witness at this moment, so it's only self-evident that I will be the witness at the marriage too''. Rex had already opened his mouth to react, but Caramel already answered before him. ''Of course you may be our witness!'' she said. Now Rex was the one looking dumbfounded. ''What?'' he whispered to her. ''We just won't invite him to our wedding''. Caramel gave him a wink. ''At least it might make him go away''. Well, that was what she hoped. ''Thank you! I will not let you down!'' Arsenio happily pricked a piece of meat of his plate on his fork, and began to eat. Caramel and Rex both stared at him. Arsenio looked up once he felt he was being stared at. ''What? Are my eating habits weird or something?'' Caramel shook her head. ''No… we were just wondering if you didn't want to go back to your own table by now'' she said with a kind voice. Arsenio shrugged. ''I find it more pleasant to be here''. He continued eating from his, not so big anymore, steak. ''Listen… I know you don't want to hear this, but…'' Rex began, but got interrupted by Arsenio who accidentally while trying to cut his steak let go of his fork. The fork flew up in the air, and landed right on the suit Rex was wearing. It left behind a big, gross stain on the middle of his clothes. For a minute, it was silent. Then Arsenio spoke. ''My fork… may I have that back?'' Rex almost exploded from anger. ''If you won't make haste and leave right now…'' he threatened. All of a sudden he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was the waiter. ''Could I please ask you to go back to your own table, sir?'' he asked Arsenio. ''The restaurant wants everyone here to have a pleasant time, without it getting ruined by others''. Arsenio wanted to protest but he knew the effort would be a waste. Thus he nodded instead and went back to his own table while carefully carying his plate. ''Thank you'' Caramel thanked the waiter. ''No problem'' the waiter answered while putting Caramel and Rex's plates down on the table. Rex stared annoyed at Arsenio once the waiter was gone. ''I really wanted to make him pay for that…'' he growled. Caramel took hold of his hands. ''Don't worry, at least he's gone now'' she tried. ''Let's just eat now''. Rex nodded, but still grumbled while picking up his utensils.
A while later, they we're finally done with their dinner. Luckily, Arsenio stayed at his own table and the rest of the dinner went by peacefully. Caramel couldn't wait until she was home. She wanted to tell her brother Martino and her best friend Sapphire the good news. She walked home to the Molly Moo while holding hands with Rex. He had promised to bring her home as it was already late and dark outside. Rex grumbled. ''I had expected our date to be different…'' Caramel laughed. ''Well, aside from Arsenio, I had a really good time''. They came to a halt in front of the Molly Moo. Caramel turned towards Rex. ''Will I see you tomorrow?'' Rex nodded. ''Yeah, sure. See you tomorrow then''. Caramel wanted to walk to the front door but Rex grabbed hold of her arm. ''Wait!'' He pulled her against him and kissed her. ''Now you may leave'' he said afterwards, while grinning. Caramel laughed and waved at him once he left. She went inside of the Molly Moo once he was gone. Martino was inside, cleaning the bar. ''Where's Sapph?'' Caramel asked, once she noticed Sapphire wasn't with him. Martino didn't even look up from his work. ''She got bored and went to Floxy, I think''. Caramel sighed. ''I'll just have to tell her tomorrow then''. If Sapphire was with Floxy she would probably just see her tomorrow, she would be able to wait until then. ''And? How did your date go?'' Martino asked her. Caramel sat down in front of the bar. ''Amazing!'' Martino smiled. Even though he didn't like Rex at all, he was still happy for his sister. ''Rex asked me to marry him!'' she continued. Martino spontaneously dropped everything he was holding at that moment. With a loud noise a glass broke into a million pieces on the floor. ''He did WHAT?'' Martino looked shocked. Caramel sighed. ''He asked me to marry him'' she repeated once again. ''What was your answer?'' Martino still couldn't process it. ''I said yes, of course!'' Caramel started to smile once thinking back on it. Martino stood up from behind the bar counter to give his sister a hug. ''Congrats! I'm really happy for you!'' It did sound genuine. As long as his sister was happy, he would be happy for her too. ''Thanks!'' answered Caramel. ''But can you clean that up now?'' she pointed at the glass pieces once Martino let go of her. Martino sighed deeply. ''Slave-driver…'' he muttered. Caramel pretended not to hear it and went upstairs. After this long day, the only thing she wanted now was to sleep.
-7.00 P.M., Sapphire P.O.V.-
It hadn't been long since Caramel left the Molly Moo for her date. Sapphire was sitting behind the bar counter, she was bored. Martino grabbed a few mango's and began to toss them in the air as entertainment, but Sapphire only yawned. ''You're so boring'' she said while standing up from her seat. Martino quit juggling the mango's and only stared her, feeling insulted. ''I'll just go to Floxy or something''. Sapphire was already walking to the exit. Martino shrugged. Whatever, it was her choice.
Sapphire arrived at the house of Rex and his gang a little later. She rang the bell, but no one opened the door. Maybe he wasn't home? Just to be sure, Sapphire rang the bell once more…. And five more times. Not much later, Floxy finally opened the door. ''What is it now?'' he asked, obviously sounding irritated by the persistend person. It was only then that he realized who was standing in front of him. ''Oh… it's you''. He already wanted to close the door again, but Sapphire quickly put her food between the door. ''I want to talk to you'' she quickly said. Floxy let out a deep sigh. ''Fine''. Even though he didn't want to, he knew it would be better to listen to her, it might solve some problems between them. Unwillingly, he let her into the house. Sapphire followed him inside. Both of them sat down on a different couch. Silence. ''You can just leave if you don't have anything to say'' Floxy said, after a long time of waiting. ''No, I…'' Sapphire wasn't sure of what to say to him. ''I'm sorry'' was what she finally said. ''I should've spend more time with you''. Floxy didn't say anything. ''But I promise I will spend more time with you as of now'' she added. Floxy shrugged. ''How could you say that? Don't you need to work?'' Sapphire shook her head. ''I took some days off'' was what she said. She didn't want to tell him that she had quit yet, even though it would've been better if she did. Floxy looked at her. It didn't look as if he was believing her at all. ''Are you lying to me?'' ''No, I…!'' Sapphire began, but she didn't got any further than that. ''Your manager brought me a visit. He told me everything'' Floxy continued. ''You quit for me, didn't you? You know as well as I do that I don't want that!'' He sounded hurt. ''I did it for our relationship…'' Sapphire said, but what she said didn't matter much anyway. ''You know how I feel about lying! The only one you think about is yourself!'' Floxy shouted to her. ''That's not true, I—'' Sapphire wasn't even given a chance to defend herself. ''I thought I could trust you!'' That sentence hit her. Hard. ''And you just changed after Lenny died!'' Sapphire blurted, but went silent after she realized what she had just said. A short time of silence followed. Floxy walked up to the front door and opened it. He pointed outside. ''Get out''. His voice sounded calm, but Sapphire knew he wasn't calm at all. He was actually really angry. Sapphire gazed down at the ground. ''I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that..'' she stammered. ''Go away. I don't want to see you anymore''. It came across as if Floxy didn't care much about how Sapphire felt at all. When Sapphire didn't move, he grabbed her by her arm and shoved her outside. ''It was an accident! I'm really sorry!'' She was almost begging him now. ''That's not what hurt me the most. The worst part of it all is, that you weren't honest with me'' said Floxy, with a cold-sounding voice. ''If you had been honest, it could've at least meant something for our relationship''. Sapphire stared at him. ''W-What do you mean with that..?'' But Floxy didn't answer her anymore, as he threw the door shut.
It was starting to get dark outside. Sapphire was walking on the streets, all alone. After what happened, she didn't feel like going home. Caramel was probably still out for dinner, so she couldn't listen to her. Besides, she didn't want to ruin Caramel's happy mood. She sounded so excited for her date. Sapphire was that much lost in thought that she didn't notice a pixie coming her way, and accidently bumped into him. ''Can't you watch where you're going?'' the pixie asked, sounding irritated. Suddenly, once he saw Sapphire, he went silent. ''…Don't we know eachother?'' Sapphire looked up to face him. In front of her was a tall, good-looking boy with black hair. She didn't have to think long before remembering who he was. Earlier that day, when Sapphire had been running away from her manager during the elections, this boy had helped her to find a hiding spot until she could safely make her way to the Molly Moo. Sapphire nodded. ''Yeah. We met earlier today''. She sounded a little distracted, as she still was thanks to all that happened. ''Are you okay?'' The boy sounded worried. Sapphire shook her head. ''Let's grab a drink somewhere, my treat. I'll listen to you, if that makes you feel better'' he offered. Sapphire thought about it for a second. What did she got to lose? If she got kidnapped, Floxy might realize he loved her and come save her, and if not, everything would be fine and at least she had someone who'd listen to her. She shrugged. ''Okay''. The boy smiled. ''My name is Lucas by the way. I just moved into this city''. He offered his hand to Sapphire, which she shook. ''I'm Sapphire'' she said, while following him.