Pov y/n
The last three weeks have been very busy and kinda exhausting.
A bunch of new, permanent customers came to the coffeeshop, which is good but makes it busier.
I don't mind it though, because more customers mean more tips, as materialistic as it may sound.
But I've been saving up a little to be able to take Scarlett on a nice date as she deserves.
On top of my normal shifts, I've taken a couple of extra ones on the weekend and worked longer at the aquarium, helping to clean up and stuff.
It was a lot and most days I just fell into bed at night but I think at the end of the month, it will be worth it, when I get the money for all those extra hours.
But working overtime also meant that I couldn't spent a lot of time with Scarlett and Rose. We saw each other and stuff but not as much as before, when I didn't work this much.
Scar started visiting the coffeeshop on a regular basis, mostly Wednesdays and then she sits at the table, drinks her coffee and does work on her laptop. Even though we might not have talked as much during the past three weeks, we still texted daily. Some days it was more, some days it was less and just a quick check in but we always made sure to text each other when we went to sleep.
I don't know, it just became a habit and I love her nightly messages so much, they are always very sweet and make me smile.
I was over a few times and we ate dinner together. It's always very nice and Rose is always excited when I come for dinner. She jumps around me and pulls me to either play or draw with her, proudly showing off each fish she learned to draw.
Scar watches us happily and doesn't complain at all, when Rose takes up all the time I spend there with playing with me.
I caught her watching us with a content smile, lost in her thoughts. She seemed really happy with the situation and it made butterflies appear in my stomach at how happy she looked.
Rose doesn't seem to have caught up on the fact that her mom and I are dating now, not that it would be obvious but still.
Scar and I are careful around Rose because we don't want to make her hope when we don't even know ourselves where this is going. We share glances and make each other compliments here and there but nothing more. When Rose is getting ready for bed, we enjoy our short time together.
We don't do much, mostly just hold hands while looking into each other's eyes or hugging longer than usual.
There also were a few kisses but we were very careful with them as they would definitely give us away.
When Scar comes to the coffeeshop, we also keep it low, not wanting to draw more attention to us. Yes, we decided to not really care about the media but we don't need to provoke any rumors. Besides, we decided on 'just dating' for now, although we didn't have a date yet but I hope to change that really soon.
But it seems like I'm not the only one busy with work as I notice Scar also has a lot to do right now. When we chat she sometimes tells me that she feels a little stressed right now with different movie and commercial offers. Since I don't really know anything about that kind of thing, I've always listened and cheered her up. Maybe I'll ask her to tell me more about her job at some point.
Today is Thursday and right now it's not too full, so Jesse and I have a little break, which I spend on my phone, just scrolling through some social media. When Jesse gently nudges me, I look up and see Scarlett.
Apparently I was so focused on my phone that I didn't hear the doorbell or it was just too loud in the shop.
Jesse gives me a small wink before leaving the counter and checking up on the guests. I put my phone away and fully face Scarlett, giving her a wide smile that she returns.
"What a surprise to see you here today, you usually come on Wednesdays." I observe, which makes her chuckle a little.
"The usual?" I ask and start making her coffee.
"Well, I thought I'd surprise you today." Scar says, her eyes sparkling with something that I can't quite recognize yet.
"You did surprise me, so well done." I laugh a little while purring her coffee into a cup and adding milk and a bit sugar, just as she likes it.
"I'm also here because I wanted to have a little chat with you." She lets me in on her thoughts and I raise an eyebrow, usure what to think about that. I mean, it could be a good chat but also a bad one.
"Okay, sure. Let me just see when I can come over to your table." I say, giving her a small nod to assure her I will find that time. She smiles at me before strolling over to her usual table.
My eyes stay on her as she pulls out her phone and starts typing something while sipping her coffee.
"What did she say?" Jesse asks, appearing next to me and giggling when I slightly jump, not having noticed him.
"She wants to have a little chat." I say and lean my elbows onto the counter, resting my hand in my palm. Jesse mirrors my position and shortly looks at Scar before looking back at me.
"Did she seem upset?" He asks and I shake my head. No, she seemed pretty happy actually.
"Well, then I don't think you have to worry about it. Maybe she just wants to catch up since you said yourself that you haven't really spent a lot of time with her recently." Jesse thinks out loud, making my worries shrink.
"Maybe." I agree.
"Well, then go over, talk to her. There's nothing to do right now anyway, so you can just-" He stops himself and I turn my head a little to see why.
A small sigh escapes me and I stand up properly, greeting the first elderly woman. Jesse gives me an apologetic look, as if it's his fault, that the weekly elderly-coffee-gossip-club decided to come in now.
That's not their official name, if they even have one but we called them that because they are a bunch of elderly women and when they have their coffees they sit at a table and whenever we walk around the store, we can here them gossip.
It takes a while until everyone has their coffee and we watch them sit down.
"Now you can go." Jesse encourages me and taps my elbow with his, signaling me to go over to Scar.
I do so and sit down next to her, her eyes following my movements as soon as she notices me approaching her.
"Hey." I greet and her eyes soften.
"Hey." She greets back and reaches for my hand under the table. I intertwine our fingers and give her hand a little squeeze.
"Sorry, it got busy right after you sat down." I explain why I'm only coming now, as if she didn't see it herself. She shakes her head lightly.
"It's all good, don't worry." She assures me and gives me a smile, that I easily return.
"You wanted to chat?" I ask, searching her eyes for a potential clue what this might be about.
"Yes, I wanted to ask you something, to be precise." She explains and I feel her getting a little nervous, wondering what this could be about.
"Sure, go ahead." I say and give her an encouraging smile.
"Do you work longer tomorrow? You know, at the aquarium?" She asks and I am confused for a second why this made her nervous.
"No, I don't. Why?" I ask and her cheeks turn slightly pink but she nods.
"I wanted to ask you out, so...would you like to go on a date tomorrow night?"
I just stare at her for a few seconds. For some reason this was the last thing I expected. Not because it's something bad, not at all. It's just, that she was so unsure about what exactly she feels and everything, so I assumed I would be the first one to ask for a date but apparently not.
"Yes, I would love to." I reply, my heart starting to beat excitedly. Scar looks like a huge weight just got lifted off her shoulders and her smile widens.
"Great, I'll text you when I'll come and pick you up. Oh, and maybe you should know: I'm taking you out to dinner. Nothing too fancy but a little bit shicker." She explains with a wink and I have a hard time keeping my excitement inside because I would like to scream out loud how happy and excited I am right now.
Not about the fanciness of the place she'll take me but because this is really real.
"Yes, of course, text me." I reply, my voice almost jumping in tone at my feelings.
Scar gives me another wide smile and squeezes my hand.
I go through my closet again for now the third time, looking for something to wear.
It's needs to be a bit fancier...I just don't really have those kind of clothes a lot.
There are like three options and that's it. I have a very nice suit but it's warm today and the suit has long sleeves and pants, so I would die if I wore it.
Then there are two dresses, both just to the knees so not too warm. But I don't know which one to wear.
I like both of them, I just don't know which one would be more fitting for the occasion.
My eyes dart between the two dresses and after another five minutes, I finally make a decision and pick one.
I already took a shower and everything, now I just need to get in the dress and do my hair and then I'm good to go.
A quick glance at the clock tells me that Scarlett will be here in about 15 minutes, should be enough time.
I put the dress on and pull it a little down so it sits right before I step in front of a mirror. My eyes look over the bordeaux colored dress.
It's chick and not too tight. A rubber band inside the dress gives it more form, as it's a bit tighter around my waist but falls loosely down from there.
I smile at myself before I almost skip down the stairs to do my hair. Since it's warm, I decide to tie it up but I add a little braid on my left side that leads into the pony tail as well.
For a few seconds I look at myself, before I give myself a smile, happy with the outcome.
I put on the only nice shoes I own so far, they aren't very high, so I can easily walk in them and not embarrass myself in front of Scar.
There are a few more nice clothes at home, including shoes but I didn't think I would need them this soon in New York. Maybe I should ask Mom to send them to me after tonight, just in case.
The vibrating of my phone makes be grab it excitedly to see that it is a message from Scar, telling me she is here. I quickly grab my things and lock the door before I almost run down the stairs.
Within a second I recognize her car and when she rolls down the window, a big smile forms on my lips. A big smile is also present on her lips and she watches me while I get in. She shortly scans my body before signaling me to put on the seatbelt. I do so and she drives off.
"Thank you for picking me up." I say and she shortly glances over at me with a smile.
"Of course, I wouldn't want you to walk there or take the subway, that's not very romantic." She answers and winks at me, which gives me butterflies for some reason.
As she concentrates back on the road and comfortable silence overcomes us, I notice soft music coming from the radio.
My eyes look over to her and I shortly admire her appearance, which is a little difficult since she's sitting but still.
She's wearing a black dress that, like mine, is more loose than tight but still makes her look amazing. Her neckline is a little more low cut than mine but not too much, leaving a lot to the imagination.
I feel my cheeks blush when she glances over at me with a smirk, apparently feeling my staring, although I would rather describe it as admiring.
"So, how was your day?" She asks, starting a conversation.
"It was good but a little more busy than our usual Fridays. This time not in the coffeeshop though. There it was nice and mostly calm. People prefer cold drinks when it's so hot outside, which is nice because we don't have to use the coffee machine as much then. I'm not sure if it's really the case but it feels like that thing radiates heat off as well and we do not really need that right now. The aquarium was full though. Maybe because we have air conditioning or because the water tanks also cool the buildings a little. No but it really was fuller than usual. My tour usually contains around ten to twelve people but today there were around twenty and more people in front of the aquariums as well. The subway wasn't full today though, which I kinda understand but it was still nice." I end my telling of today and bite my lip, noticing how much I rambled. "Sorry, that was a lot."
But Scar shakes her head and turns to look at me because we're standing at a redlight.
"There is nothing to apologize for, I asked about your day and you told me about it and I liked it." She assures me and gives me a reassuring smile. I slowly nod and she gives me a last glance before looking back at the street.
"How was your day?" I ask in return and see her smile softly at my question. Her hand reaches out for mine and she intertwines our fingers, resting them on her right thigh. The gesture gives me little butterflies and I enjoy the feeling of her hand in mine.
"It was a bit stressful but good. I took Rose to school this morning and my phone was already vibrating on the way to school but I ignored it because I wanted to pay attention to Rose. After I dropped her off, I pulled onto a parking lot, taking the call. It was my manager, she wanted to talk about some things. I told her the next time she should please wait until after I brought my daughter to school. We met up and discussed some things over coffee. There are some things, I need to take care of within the next week and we made a schedule for that. After that it was time to pick Rose up again and we ordered take out for lunch since I wanted to spend some time with her before her father came to pick her up. Rose told me her school has a free day next Wednesday because of something and ever since I was trying to come up with a solution because there is still work to do."
I see Scar tensing up a little during her telling and can only imagine how stressed she must be because of this.
"But, I was really looking forward to this date and am happy to take you out. It will make this whole day amazing." A smile forms on her lips again and I can't help it but to also smile, seeing her happy is just contagious.
"I hope so too." I agree with her.
We arrive shortly after that but I barely notice because I'm in thoughts while we drive and get out. I catch onto the real world again, when Scar lightly taps my arm and I turn my head to look at her.
"Are you okay?" She asks, concern swinging in her voice as her eyes search mine for an answer.
"Yes, of course, I was just in thought." I reply, giving her a reassuring smile.
She nods and keeps eye contact for a few more seconds until she takes my hand and leads me towards the entrance.
The small gesture makes my heart flutter with happiness and I follow her. Now I also get to see more of her dress. It's about as long as mine and waves around her as she goes. She wears heels underneath that she put on after driving because driving in heels is not safe.
Since we are usually around the same height and her heels are higher than mine, she is now a bit taller than me. Her make-up is barely noticeable and I'd assume she didn't put on a lot. But she also doesn't have to, she always looks stunning.
The entrance to the restaurant already looks very beautiful and I notice the people are all dressed up. The waiters and waitresses also look more dressed up than in the restaurants I usually go to and I now understand why Scarlett told me to wear something fancier.
Without wanting to, I wonder how expensive the food must be.
We are greeted by a waiter at the front door who asks for reservations and Scarlett tells him her last name and a smile lights up his face.
"Ms. Johansson, of course. Please follow me." He says politely and guides us through the restaurant and out onto a balcony.
There are less tables here but all of them are full, except one near the railing. I look at the view and it's really nice. Since we are a little bit higher up, we look down onto the streets and at a few buildings. Behind them, in the distance, I can see water.
The noise of the city is only faint up here and the whole atmosphere is just nice.
I'm brought out of my glancing when the waiter pulls back a chair for me and I give him a smile in thanks before sitting down and watch him do the same for Scarlett.
"Can I bring you anything already?" He asks kindly and pulls out a device to note down our order.
I'm honestly a little lost, not knowing what they have here and what to order. I look at Scarlett for help and she lays her hand on top of mine, that's resting on the table, giving me a reassuring smile.
"We'll just have some water for now." She says and looks at me for confirmation. I nod and she looks back at the waiter with a smile. He notes it down.
"Of course, I'll be right back." He says and disappears into the building. I look after him until I feel Scars fingers graze over the back of my hand, making me look at her.
"Are you okay?" She checks in again, due to my helpless eyes.
"Yeah, it's just... I never was in a restaurant like this and I don't know what the etiquette is and stuff." I try to explain and gesture around with my free hand. She gives me a soft smile.
"That is okay and if you don't like it here, we can go somewhere else, I won't be mad." She promises and squeezes my hand a little.
I feel myself calming down at her words and gestures and shake my head before giving her a little smile.
"It's alright, I just need to get used to this. It was just a bit overwhelming, you know?" I try to explain and she nods.
"Take all the time you need, no pressure." Her eyes are soft as she speaks and I lean back a little more, taking a deep breath, this will be nice.
A/n: Uhhh, first dateee, exciting.
Also, yes another update because I want to continue updating on uneven days, I know I'm a little weird but oh well.
Thanks for reading and love to you all <3