Love Rivalry (A Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Fanfiction)

Chapter 43- In a Time Past

The place was high end, seeing people dressed nicely coming in and out of the restaurant. I parked my truck in the closest spot I could find and turned the car off. 

Ashley got out and the two of us walked into the restaurant hand in hand. The upscale restaurant was crowded with Edmonton's elite. 

An older gentleman stood at the front podium, checking people in. 

"Name?" The man asked. 

"Daniels." Ashley replied. The man checked the list and grabbed two menus. 

"Right this way." He smiled, walking us to the back of the restaurant. I followed Ashley and the host to our table, a booth situated at the far end of the restaurant with a great view of downtown. 

"A waiter should be with you shortly." The man said, walking back to the front of the building. Ashley and I sat down on opposite side of the booth. 

She's striking in her beauty. 

Her hair falls just right. 

Her blue eyes shine perfectly in the dim light. 

Her smile is flawless. 

She is flawless.

"So what were you thinking about having?" She asked me, looking down at her menu. I perused the menu and looked at the options. 

There was a selections of elegantly served pastas, meats, and seafood. 

"I'll probably have some type of pasta. You?" 

"The shrimp dinner. I think you should have it too. You always eat pasta." 

"It's a possibility." I said, seeing our waitress coming over to our table. She was a younger girl, about Ashley's age, with red hair tied in a neat bun, and a light smile. 

"Hi, my name is Hannah, and I'll be taking care of you two tonight." 

Hannah. 

That name and this time of year is associated with one particular bad memory. 

One that I've kept to myself for a long time. 

I chose not to tell anyone what happened that night. 

"Can I start you off with something to drink?" The girl asked. I was on another planet. 

I didn't even hear what the dialogue between her and Ashley was before they both turned to me. 

"Ry." Ashley said, looking slightly concerned. 

I looked up and the girl stood there, smiling at me. 

"Oh, sorry, I uh... kinda spaced out." I smiled. "Just a water." I said, looking away from both of them.

"Alright, I'll have those up for you in a minute." She turned away from us and walked towards the kitchen. 

"Are you okay? Your eyes totally glazed over. You looked like a zombie." Ashley said, giving me a grave look. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just drifted off for a second." I said, giving her a reassuring look. She shrugged, and looked back at her menu. 

I looked out of the window and stared out towards the city. 

I need to get this off of my mind. 

This isn't the time or the place to think about that night. 

The waitress came back with the drinks and placed them down in front of me and Ashley. 

While I wasn't paying attention, Ashley had gotten a glass of wine as her drink.