Arranged What 2- You Want Me to...What?!?!?!?!

Chapter 7- I Know Good Mexican Food

There were a lot of things to consider before going to dinner. It had to be somewhere lowkey and away from high school crowds; that was something we'd been clear about for a while now. He was still a mild celebrity around town, and with social media as rampant as it is there were no doubt questions would be raised about my identity if I started popping up in photos with him.

In the end, I called in for a reservation at my favorite Mexican restaurant and reserved a time in their empty party room. It was large, but I felt no qualms about spending the extra money for the added privacy, especially since they had an opening already.

"Plus," I told Rae as I pulled on some sandals that matched my plain gray blouse and jeans, "I could really use a strawberry margarita."

"Virgin cause you're driving," she said.

"Yes, virgin cause I'm driving," I agreed, remembering how her parents died after being hit by a drunk driver. My best friend swore she would never drink, and even though we were technically still under drinking age, she held true to her word.

"I told Giovanni that you and Jason wouldn't be at dinner and that you were going out. He pouted about needing to practice his margarita mix some more or you weren't ever going to stop going to that Mexican restaurant."

My chuckle filled the small, brightly lit dressing area. "So now he's going to be all in a tizzy for the next few days?"

"Don't you know it." She chuckled back. "I wrote a few text messages aloud while some maids were walking by so they heard that you would be going out as well. No doubt your parents will know about it before you even reach the restaurant.

We decided that the best way for our parents to learn about our 'dating' relationship would be through the same means they probably learned about everything else in my life. Maybe I didn't need to worry about the paparazzi ever finding out about me when the maids would probably always be more relentless spies than anyone else ever would be.

"Penny for your thoughts?" My best friend asked from where she lounged on another one of her black bean bag chairs that she had scattered in just about every room she frequented in this house except for maybe the kitchen.

I shared my musings with her and she laughed while agreeing. What we couldn't agree on was whether the maids prepared to work here by being employed by the CIA or if this job was training for the KGB.

I headed out probably fifteen minutes before I needed to and was the first to be escorted to the back.

He was on time and was escorted to the back of the restaurant by one of the regular staff. The room had surprisingly soothing lighting for normally being a place for a large amount of people to gather. As it was, our voices echoed as we greeted each other.

I sipped on my virgin strawberry margarita when he walked in a looked up briefly from pretending to read over the menu.

I don't know how I expected him to sound- still apologetic for what happened at Lux or maybe nervous about going on a date with me or being seen in public with me? Whatever I expected, he sounded completely normal, and I couldn't decide if that was better or worse.

"Hey Jason, how's it going?"

"Going alright. I've never been here before, is this place actually good?"

"Best Mexican food I've ever had."

"A friend of mine likes to say the best Mexican food places have free food, but you have to pay for the bathrooms. Another likes to say that it's only quality if there are old ladies arguing in the kitchen? So I am coming into this with pretty high expectations here."