Hometown Glory

Eighteen

Georgia and Zac sat across from each other in a dimly lit booth, both looking over the menus.

"Everything sounds so good," Georgia groaned.

"Why is half the menu in French?" Zac whispered, making Georgia laugh.

"Did you not research the restaurant before you picked it?" Georgia grinned.

"Should I have done that?" Zac asked, scratching his head. "I just knew the food was good here..."

Georgia covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled uncontrollably. They hadn't even been on the date for five minutes and she was already having a good time.

"Did I screw up that bad already?" Zac whispered to himself, sitting back in his chair and looking defeated. Georgia felt bad for laughing; Zac looked genuinely upset.

"No!" she shook her head, leaning across the table to put her hand on top of Zac's. "No, Zac, you didn't mess up. I promise. I was laughing because you're so cute, and you try so hard to impress me."

"You're just saying that," he grumbled. "If you wanna go home-"

"Zachary," Georgia scolded him, taking his hand in hers. "I want to be here. With you. I want to. If I wanted to stay home, I would have."

Zac lifted his head and gave Georgia a small smile, squeezing her hand. He looked down when he felt something hard push into his hand.

"Is this..." he stumbled over his words, lifting Georgia's hand to be eye level as he stared at her finger. Middle finger on the right hand, just where he put it three years ago.

"Yeah," she grinned, happy he noticed.

"I can't believe you still have it."

"Why wouldn't I?"

Zac smiled, gently sliding it off her finger. He put her hand back down on the table, picked up her left hand and slid the ring onto her ring finger. Georgia was speechless, but she smiled widely, her eyebrow raised.

"Maybe someday you'll have a different ring on this finger." Zac gave her a small smile. Georgias stomach did flip flops.

"What can I get for you two?" The waiter interrupted their sweet moment.

"Um," Georgia cleared her throat, quickly skimming the menu as Zac did the same. "I'll just have the poulet champignons."

"Me too." Zac quickly replied, handing the waiter the two menus. When the waiter was out of earshot, Zac leaned forward. "Okay, 1: what the hell did I just order, and 2: where and when the hell did you learn French?!"

"You ordered the mushroom chicken, and I learned a lot of French in high school. Other bits I learned on the road during tour, that way I could be half fluent when I went to Paris." Georgia replied, spinning her ring around her finger.

"What else don't I know about you?" Zac laughed, shaking his head.

Georgia shrugged, pulling her hair over one shoulder. "You pretty much know it all."

Zac observed the beautiful girl in front of him. The way the candle light cast soft shadows on her face, the way her eyes seemed to sparkle when she looked at him. He couldn't believe he had a second chance to do things right, to make sure Georgia knew how much he still loved her. He knew he had a lot of making up to do. They sat in comfortable silence, catching each others glance every now and then.