Nick and I stayed at his parents house for over and hour before the two of them, along with Griffin, were telling us to leave. After checking to make sure Griffin was okay, we left.
"You okay?" Nick asked as he drove us back to the house.
"Fine." I answered.
"Are you sure?" I nodded making him turn his head to look at me briefly before turning his attention back to the road. "Something's bothering you. I can tell. So just tell me because I won't stop bugging you until you do."
"Nick I'm fine. I swear."
He bit his bottom lip and glanced at me quickly before sighing. "Okay." He gave in and left me alone.
"What are we doing tonight?" I asked as we started to get closer to the house. He smirked and didn't respond. "Nick."
"I'm not telling. If I tell you'll say no."
"If you know I'll say no, they why are you still doing it?"
"Because I'm me." He laughed. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms across my chest and pouted for the rest of the short ride. He pulled into the driveway of his house and turned off the car. "Now get out and go get dressed." He opened the door and got out.
"How can I get dressed if I don't know what we are doing!?" I yelled after him as I opened my door and stepped out.
"You'll see." He said leading the way to the front door with his keys in his hand. He unlocked the door and pushed it open and we walked inside. "Go upstairs and all your questions will be answered."
I stood there staring up at the staircase. Nick rolled his eyes and walked off. After watching him walk from the room, I began climbing the stairs, muttering under my breath about how simple it would have been just to tell me what we were doing instead. I walked into the room I shared with Nick and turned on the light. I saw something on the bed, so I made my way over to it. There on the bed, laid out neatly, was a simple,but elegant black dress. I picked it up and studied the material.
I didn't know what he was up to, but he did say my questions would be answered by coming upstairs. So I assumed this dress was for me to wear. I walked to the bathroom and took a quick shower. After I walked back into the bedroom, with a towel firmly around my body, and picked up the dress again. After taking a deep breathe, I gathered up the courage I put it on. I spent the next five or so minutes looking of for shoes to go with it. Then I made my way over to the mirror and stood in front of it to look at myself.
"You just about r-?" Nick asked as he entered the room. "Wow." He breathed.
"Ready for what?" I asked.
"To go." I turned my head towards him and smiled.
"What's the occasion?" I questioned taking in his appearance. He had on a dark blue button up shirt, tucked into a pair of black dress trousers.
"No occasion. We're just going out."
"You could have told me."
"I know but I wanted to surprise you. And I'm not telling you where we're going."
"I get it." I held my hands up in surrender. I turned to look back in the mirror. "Where did this dress come from?"
"Veronique got it."
"How did she know it would fit? I'm a whale compared to her."
Nick appeared in the mirror behind me, with a frown on his face. "You are not." I rolled my eyes. "She guessed? I'm not sure how she did it. She's always been good at clothing. While we were going today she stopped by and placed the dress up here where you would find it."
"It was laid out on the bed."
"Easiest spot of find it." He chuckled.
"I'll have to thank her."
"Later." He spun me so I was facing him and no longer the mirror. "Right now it's time for us to go and have some us time." I nodded my head and with a soft kiss planted on my forehead, he grabbed my hand and led me out the bedroom door.
"Where are we going?" I asked as we got into the car. He chuckled but didn't reply. "Nick, where are we going?"
"You'll see when we get there."
"Oh come on." I sighed and looked out the windshield as he began to drive down the road. "Are you going to kill me?"
His booming laughter fulled the car. "What?" He managed to choke out.
"Are you going to kill me?"
"No. Never. I am trying to surprise you. So just sit back and relax."
"You have something planned and that's what scares me."
"Har har." He replied slowing down for a red light.
* * *
I started to play around with the radio, out of boredom, while Nick laughed and drove on.
"You coming with me?" Nick asked. I looked away from the radio and at him.
"Oh. Sorry." I blushed when I realized we were parked in a parking lot.
"Don't be. You're adorable when you're focused on something." He smiled before getting out. I reached for the door handle, only to have to door open from beneath my hand. Nick stood there next to me with a smile on his face. He reached forward and grabbed my hand, pulling me gently out of the car. Without saying a word he closed the door and led the way to wherever we were going.
He opened the glass door, and held it open for me. I walked passed him and waited. Once again he grabbed my hand and together we walked into an open, almost empty room. We were greeted by a young woman in a black pants and a gray button up shirt. She smiled at us.
"Welcome." She greeted. "How many?"
"Just two." Nick answered.
She walked to a stack of menus and picked two of them up. "Would you prefer upstairs or down?"
"Up, please."
She nodded. "Follow me."
We did as she said and followed her into the other room and then up the big wooden staircase. Once we got up there we realized it was empty, except for a few others, where as downstairs was full.
"Wow, not really busy up here."I commented.
The hostess turned and smiled at me. "It never really is up here. Most of the time it's just families that come eat up here. Once in awhile we get a few couples that want to get away from the crowd downstairs."
"I can see why. It's nice up here." Nick said looking around.
"It is." She agreed. "Thursday, Friday and Saturday are our busy family days. They're also our busy bar days. Sometimes things get a little loud down there."
"I bet." I nodded, remembering my time working at Patty's.
"Is this table good for you?" She asked.
"It's fine." Nick answered.
"Here are your menus. Your waiter or waitress will be with you shortly."
"Thank you." We said together.
"I love walking into a restaurant and seeing the hostess so cheerful and full of life." Nick smiled as he pulled out a chair for me.
"I know. Can we tip her too?"
He chuckled. "I'll slip her a tip when we leave."
* * *
We sat and waited. Soon a waiter came and took our drink orders. When he returned with them we ordered our meals and he off he went. Only ten minutes had passed before our food had arrived. I smiled happily and started to eat. I glanced at Nick and found him staring at me.
"I'm sorry." I told him.
"Why are you sorry?" He smiled softly.
"Because I'm eating and you're not?"
He laughed. "Don't be."
"Why are you staring at me?"
"Because I love you so much."
"If you keep watching me, you'll lose your love for me." I chuckled.
"Impossible." He reached over the table and took my hand in his, keeping eye contact with me. "I'm glad I got to spend this time with you."
"It's not over yet."
"I know. But soon you'll be heading back to Vegas and I'm going to miss you."
"I have to go, for Griffin."
"I know. You're a great mother. You're always putting our son first and that's something I love about you."
"Thank you."
"I mean it."
"I know." I watched him squirm in his seat, before he cleared his throat. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." He smiled. "I'm just nervous."
"Nervous? Why?"
"Well." He pulled out a black rectangular box and placed it on the table. "I got you something."
"Nick you shouldn't have."
"I did." With a deep breath, he grabbed both my hands and held this tightly. "Saige, you mean everything to me. I've made some horrible mistakes and I know what it's like not to have you in my life. Once you entered it, I knew that you needed to stay in it forever. If I could go back and take back all the pain I put your through, I would. All the bad decisions I made while we were together; I'd take back in a heartbeat. I'm happy to have you back. I promise I'll never give you a reason to walk away again." He let go of my left hand pushed the box towards me. "Open it." He smiled.
With one last look into his brown eyes, I removed my other hand from his and took hold of the box. I took the top off. "Nick..."
"I wanted to do something different this time around. I made you a promise. I want you to remember my promise."
"I didn't need a necklace for remember that."
"I know." He smiled. "It's more for me. If I see you wearing it, I'll remember to keep my promise to you. Consider it a promise necklace."
"It's beautiful. Thank you." I leaned across the table and placed a soft kiss on his lips.
"I'm glad you like it."
"I always like what you give me."
The conversation ended and Nick began to eat. I watched him for a second, before I started to eat as well.