Impress Me Not: The Handyman

Chapter 35

The restaurant was something that he actually hadn't seen before. Niko was shocked about that. He had wracked his mind for some restaurant that would be perfect for that night. And it really was fun challenging himself to find one that Solomon wouldn't have known.

It was one of the restaurants that you needed to make a reservation at. There was a dress code, elegant decoration, the whole nine yards. He decided to go Italian. Because, who doesn't like Italian food?

Well, some of the women he had been with didn't. But he doubted Solomon hated it. He was happy that he had chosen correctly, because his face was priceless when they walked into it. The lights were dimmed to allow for the candles on the tables to illuminate the guests more and the theme dark to add to the seclusion of the tables.

Solomon was definitely a romantic. He could see it in his face just how much he loved all of this. It made it all the more perfect. As much as Niko had plenty of women in the past, he had still liked the idea of romantic things such as dates like this. He had actually taken Matilda there at one point.

Everything had gone great. They spent hours just talking at that table. Seeing him under candle light only made him want the man more. He was full of endless stories that Niko just couldn't get enough of. The more they talked, the more he wanted to know about him. It was unlike anyone else he had ever been with.

Even over the phone it was that way. Of course, he had talked a bit about himself as well. He had told him plenty of stories of some of his friends that he had met at parties, or how he had wandered around his parent's mansion as a child. Solomon seemed to like that one the most.

"They weren't the best parents, were they?" he asked.

"They still aren't," Niko shrugged. It didn't bother him that he had asked about his parents. He didn't hate them himself, but he didn't exactly like them either. "I'm just glad my mother hadn't been at that party that we went to."

"She's not exactly happy about you dating me I take it?"

"She acts like the world is ending," Niko laughed. "I'm in my early thirties and she still tries to boss me around."

"I didn't exactly have the greatest parents either," Solomon shrugged. "So, I guess we have something in common in those regards."

"You said your parents owned a jewelry store?" he asked.

"Yeah," Solomon nodded as he twirled his fork into some spaghetti. "They had a rival jeweler just a block down. It's still up, actually. When I was little, they made me go and look inside the place just to see how they were doing or to compare prices. They acted like it was some sort of top secret mission."

"They had you spy for them?" Niko raised an eyebrow. "That seems a bit ridiculous."

"Oh, the owner already knew what was going on," Solomon smiled when he recalled the memory. "He would always give me some cookies and just sit in a corner until it was a good time for me to head back. I didn't really like being a spy for them, but I enjoyed the cookies."

"The owner sounds like a good guy."

"He is," those hazel eyes lit up when he talked about him. "I actually got a bracelet from that place a long time ago. I had been looking at it ever since the jeweler first got it in."

"A bracelet?" Niko leaned in. "What did it look like?"

"It was custom made," Solomon said. "I actually wore it in the picture I took for the piano contest. It was a gold dragon that wrapped around the wrist and connected to a ring that was of the dragons mouth."

"Wow. That sounds pretty cool," he said. It really did sound like something fun to wear at parties. "Maybe I should hire him to make me one of them."

"He can't make them like that one," Solomon shook his head. "Trust me, he's tried. There's only one in the world."