I'll Be There

Chapter 12

Standing up and pulling back on his jeans and boxers, Jamie said, "I'm going to call Dulcie and wish her goodnight. Why don't you call your mum and Celina to let them know what's going on?"

"Ok," Dakota replied. She went back into the kitchen and made the calls. After letting her mom know that they would be down the next day to pick up her car and thanking Celina for taking care of Zeppelin. Dakota walked back towards the living room. She found Jamie finishing up his conversation with Dulcie so she took a seat beside him while she waited patiently.

"It's getting late," he remarked after ending the call. "Other than snacks on the plane, we haven't eaten all day. What do you want to do for dinner?"

"I think I just had it," she smirked.

"Dakota, you need more than my semen to eat," Jamie admonished. "Now where would you like to go?"

"I'm really not all that hungry," she replied in all seriousness.

"Well you need to eat," he said. "I guess I'll choose the place. Come on, I'll call a cab to pick us up."

Twenty minutes later, they were pulling up outside of an Italian restaurant. Jamie hopped out of the cab first and ran to grab Dakota's door. Dakota took the hand he offered to her and stepped out of the cab. She looked up and saw the sign of the restaurant that they were at: Purple Cafe and Wine Bar. "I figured you would like a glass of wine after all that's happened today and this place has the one of the best wine selections in the city," he said as they walked through the rotating doors.

"You're right," she agreed. "This day has been exhausting."

The maitre'd instantly recognized them as they walked in. They were seated at a table in a private room almost instantaneously. Jamie walked around Dakota and pulled her chair out for her, motioning her to sit. She accepted and he pushed her up to the table before taking his own seat. The waiter handed them both a menu and put a menu with the list of wines on the table. "Good evening, sir," he replied looking at Jamie, "...madam," he nodded to Dakota. "I'll give you two a moment."

"Thank you," Dakota replied.

"We'll have a bottle of the Cabernet Sauvignon," Jamie announced.

The waiter nodded and went on his way, but not before checking out Dakota.

"So how on earth did you manage to get your hands on this gem?" he asked, referring to the house.

"That will make for good conversation on the plane ride back to New York," she replied. "Right now, we need to talk about what we're doing tomorrow."

"Ok, here's what I had in mind. We'll leave early in the morning and get a cab to the rental car place. We can eat breakfast on the road and we'll stop for lunch when we reach California. We're going to meet your mum halfway to cut the driving down. Once we meet your mum, we'll pick up your car and leave the rental with her to return. We can grab dinner with her before heading back up. When we get tired, we'll find a hotel to crash in and finish our journey back here to drop the car off tomorrow before heading back to NY. "

"It's exhausting just listening to all of it!" Dakota exclaimed.

"It could be worse," he remarked. "We could have had to drive all the way down there, I don't think spending almost seventeen hours on the road both ways is a good idea before flying back to New York though. Eight and a half is bad enough."

Dakota loved the idea of spending so much time with Jamie, but she wasn't thrilled about riding in a car for so long. She was even less thrilled of having her mom and brother doing so to bring her car up, though.