Engaged

Chapter 18

At 2:00 the girls decided they were ready to leave.  They said goodbye to Connie and promised to visit again before they went back home.

The more Peyton learned about Lainey the more surprised she was about how far off the reputation that proceeded Lainey actually was.

Lainey too was surprised as she learned more about Peyton.  She no longer thought of her as stuck-up.  Peyton was actually really down to earth and more willing to branch out than Lainey had originally thought she'd be.

When it came time for dinner the girls got all dressed up because Lainey told Peyton that this would be a special night.

"Will you please just give me one hint." Peyton begged for the hundredth time as they were in the limo headed towards their destination.

As they pulled up to the restaurant Lainey groaned in annoyance.  "Why can't they just leave people alone and get normal jobs, that don't involve getting into people faces and invading their privacy?" she whined, referring to the flashing lights from poparazzi outside the front door of the restaurant.

Peyton chuckled.  "What did you expect when you made reservations at the nicest restaurant in Miami.   Speaking of which, how did you even get reservations here?  Don't you have to make them like months in advance?"

"For most people, yeah, but the head chef used to work for my grandparents so I called in a favor."

"You are so spoiled.  We literally could have just gone to McDonalds and I wouldn't have complained."

"McDonalds for our first real date?" Lainey gasped.  "Never.  Now maybe on like the third or fourth date after I really have you hooked and know you won't be leaving anytime soon, then I'll consider fast food, but for now I'm pulling out all the stops." she said as Raul opened the door for the girls to get out.

Immediately there were a bunch of flashing cameras, and voices all yelling out trying to get the girls' attention.  Lainey got out first and held out her hand to help Peyton out.  Once out they locked hands and made their way through the mob and into the restaurant.

"Whew, I hate poparazzi." Peyton said.

"Yeah, remind me before we leave and I'll call Raul and have him see if the back entrance is any less hectic." Lainey said as they walked up to the hostess.  "Hi, Lainey, party for two."

"Of course, right this way please."  The hostess said motioning for them to follow.

Once seated the waiter took their drink orders and promised to come back right away to take their order.

"What are you getting?" Peyton asked.

"I don't know.  Usually I get the shrimp, but I've heard their sushi is to die for."

"Oh my gosh, I love sushi!  That's definitely what I'm getting." Peyton exclaimed.

"Great, then you can order for the both of us." Lainey said closing her menu.

"Huh?  Don't you want to order for yourself?  What if I get something you don't like?"

"Honestly I've never had sushi, but I'm sure you'll be fine."

"You've never had it and you want me to order it for your first time?  That's a lot of pressure."

"You love it, so you must know what's good and what's not.  Plus I trust you, so it's fine.  Just order whatever you think I'll like."

"Good evening ladies, here are your waters.  Are you ready to order?" The waiter cut in setting down the drinks.

"Yes, we are, she will be ordering for the both of us." Lainey said.

The waiter looked to Peyton waiting for her to order.  "Ok," Peyton said, still slightly panicking as she looked at the menu.  "I will have the Ebi Ten roll, and she will have the California roll."

"Thank you, I'll get those right in for you guys."

The girls both ended up loving their sushi, and when they were done eating Lainey made sure to pay before Peyton had the chance.  After dinner they headed to a park downtown, not too far from the hotel, to walk around for a bit. 

As they were walking they were holding hands and talking. Peyton yawned and laid her head down on Lainey's shoulder.

"Are you tired?  I can call a car to come get us, or we can walk.  It's only 5 minutes to the hotel from here."

"I'm good thanks.  If we went back now I wouldn't fall asleep anyway.  This park is beautiful."

"This is one of my favorite places to come in Miami.  It isn't an overcrowded tourist spot, and it's natural beauty makes it a perfect place to come think and just exist sometimes." Lainey said as they walked up to the fountain in the middle of the park.

Peyton was speechless, she had just assumed that Lainey had brought her to a random park.  She had completely underestimated Lainey's ability to do something genuine.  "Lainey, can I ask you something serious." Peyton sighed.

"Anything, P." Lainey said keeping her eyes on the fountain in front of them.

"How many girlfriends have you had?"

"Real girlfriends? Two."

"Hook-ups?"

"None, the only girls I hooked up with I ended up dating. Why?"

"I don't know. I guess I was just curious because I know now that the rumors about you hooking up with everyone all the time wasn't true, so I guess I was just curious how many were."

"None.  Word never got out that I did anything with your friend Josie, and the only other girl I've been with doesn't even live in this country anymore."

"Oh."

"I'm assuming Scott is your only one?"

"Yeah, I almost dated a girl one of the times Scott and I broke up, but I ended up getting back with Scott before giving that girl a real chance so he's the only one."