He removes his hand from my face. It's a cute little restaurant. There are vines growing up the brick sides and white Christmas lights all around the entrance. I remember Will saying that he liked Italian food when we were talking in his bed the night of the storm, so this was a good choice. I mentally give myself a little pat on the back as we walk into the restaurant.
"Two," Will says to the lady standing by the front door. I can't help but to notice how she smiles extra big at Will. She leads us around to a table in the back. Every five seconds, she glances over her shoulder as if she's afraid we'll stop following her for some reason. She obviously just wants to stare at Will.
"Can I start you off with something to drink?" She asks Will politely. She grabs the end of her shirt and pulls down to expose her chest even more. A Victoria's Secret model wouldn't be able to look good in those uniforms, so she needs to stop trying.
"I'll have a water," I say since Will is still looking over the menu. The lady looks over at me like she just noticed I was here.
"Okay," she mumbles. "And what about you?" She leans on the table a little as if to block me out of the picture. We're not even on a date and this is pissing me off. Will seems to be completely oblivious to her desperate behavior.
"She'll have a glass of Chardonnay. I'll have an ice tea." Will hands her the drink menu without looking in her direction.
"Sure thing." Her smile drops a little at the lack of attention, which only makes mine widen. "Richard will be your waiter." She lingers after the sentence as if she's waiting for something to happen. "I hope you'll enjoy your meal." She leaves and I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding in. I was so focused on the lady that I didn't really comprehend Will's order.
"Will!" I say in a whisper yell. His eyes widen but he doesn't say anything. "I can't have wine. I'm only nineteen."
This is now the second time in one night that I've done something illegal. Before you know it, I'm going to be robbing grocery stores and breaking into banks.
"Rosie, do you realize that you're probably one of the only college students that doesn't drink on a weekly basis? You're broadening your horizons tonight."
He's not even whispering.
"Not in a public place."
"Clam down. You can barrow my ID if it makes you feel better."
"Not funny," I say moving the napkin around the space in front of me. He laughs and the sound makes me smile as well. He needs to stop having this effect on me. I'll never be able to stay mad at him.
"Leah told me they have good wine here."
"Then why didn't you get some?" He is driving home, but the way he downed those two shots at the party forever ago gave me the impression that alcohol doesn't affect him much.
"I don't drink."
Now that's just a flat out lie. I saw him at the party.
"Well, I haven't since I moved to North Carolina."
"What about when we played Don't Say Anything?"
"You thought that I was just going to let some prick win while you were still playing? Two swallows of vodka does nothing to me anyway. When I said I don't drink, I mean I don't drink like I did in California."
I'm kind of glad I didn't know the Will from California. He doesn't sound like the same Will I'm talking to now.
"So a glass of wine wouldn't do much."
"You're right, it wouldn't. But I try to avoid alcohol when I can. The only exception is when I have to save innocent girls from a game they didn't know they were getting themselves into," he says with a smirk.
"Have you saved anyone else lately?" He still goes to parties. There's no way I'm going to stop him from hanging out with his friends when he spends almost all his time with me. I do sometimes wonder what goes on those nights. I get a weird knot in my stomach whenever I think of him with other girls.
"There hasn't been anyone else worth saving," he says with a lopsided smile. My heart feels like it's beating out of my chest and I thank God that the waiter comes just in time with our drinks.
Did he really win the game just so I wouldn't be stuck with someone else in the end? Does he still play those party games? I wonder how he can say that kind of stuff to me and then go hook up with other girls in other people's houses. He's made is explicitly clear that he doesn't date, but look where we are right now.
"Here are your drinks," the young man says putting the wine in front of me first. He's kind of cute with his short black hair and small freckles under his eyes and across his nose. He's not as attractive as Will by any means, but he seems like a nice guy. "Is there anything else I can get you?" He asks me with a smile.
"No we're good," Will says for me.
"Okay, my name is Richard if you need anything. I'll be back to take your order soon," he gives me another smile and walks away. I look back over at Will and see his eyes glaring into the back of Richard's head. He mutters something under his breath before burying his head in the menu.
"Did you say something?" I ask and he shakes his head.
"Is something wrong?"
He finally looks up at me.
"No, why would there be?" he says in a clipped tone.
"No reason." I look at the menu as well to end the conversation. Richard is back within five minutes and writes down our choices.
"Excellent. I'll bring those out as soon as they're done."
"When else would you bring them out," I hear Will say under his breath.
He's jealous. He's got to be, or at least, I kind of hope he is. If he's jealous, then that would mean he has feelings for me.
"Thank you Richard," I say with a smile as he walks away. Will looks over at me in surprise. "He's nice, don't you think?" I take another sip of my wine as I wait for Will to respond.
"I liked the other one better," he says referring to the crazy women that seated us. I can't tell if he's playing with me, or if he's serious.
"Oh. So how's your uncle?" Changing the subject is probably the best thing to do right now.
"He's good."
"Are you going to visit him at all?"
"Talking on the phone works just fine." I don't know what other questions to ask about Will's life without making him angry. I'm not exactly sure where the "too personal" line is.
"Who did you date in high school?" he randomly asks. I'm about to say that I didn't date anyone until I remember my first kiss story that I have to maintain.
"Just someone freshman year and someone senior year. They're both in other states now. It doesn't matter."
"Did you love them?" I almost choke on my wine. That question throws me off guard even more than the last. What kind of question is that when Will doesn't even believe in love and marriage?
"I don't think so."
"How would you know if you did?"
He's being all serious and philosophical and it's freaking me out a little.
"I'm not sure. I think you would just know."
"Can someone be in love with someone that doesn't love them back?"
He's so strange. He'll avoid any conversation where his life three years ago is mentioned, but he'll bring up topics like this.
"Of course they can."
"So how do you tell that person that the one they're in love with will never love them back?"
Oh my God. He's talking about me. I'm not in love with him. I just really like him and care about him. That doesn't mean I'm in love with him. But he just said that he will never love me. I have no idea how to answer his question. My first instinct is to run, but he has to drive me home. The second option is to run and hide, but I still need a ride home.
"Ummm.." I need to think of an answer. Maybe I should just explain to him that I don't love him and I just want him as a friend. Then we can put the whole issue behind us.
"I'm just wondering how to get through to Leah," Will says. "I've tried everything and I think that maybe you would be able to say something to her about Ethan, or maybe help me out."
It feels like a huge weight was just lifted off my shoulders. He wasn't referring to me. I'm just paranoid.
"Oh, Well, I'm not sure if it's my place to say anything yet. And if you've said all there can be said, I don't know what else you can do. You mentioned to me that you thought he'll be leaving soon, right?"
"Yeah, he should be. He's got all the money he needs and that's all he came for. I'm just worried that Leah will loose it when he does."
It saddens me how much he cares for his mother. He cares so much that it would drive him mad to care anymore, so he's pretty much given up. I wish there was something I could do to make him keep trying. I've never been in a situation like this before. I'm not sure what I can do.
"I'll be here to help you and her whenever it happens."
"Thank you," he says softly. It's amazing how much my opinion about someone can change over time. I remember meeting Will and thinking he was the biggest asshole the world has to offer. Now that I know him, I still think he's an asshole, but with a hidden heart that is twice the size of mine.
"Here you go," Richard says putting our food down on the table.
I feel bad trying to make Will jealous now. I just say a quick thank you before he walks away.
"How do you know Ethan's been with different women?" I ask quietly.
"Because I see them."
"All of them?"
"I recognize the regulars," he says stabbing his pasta harder than necessary. I can't imagine being in his position; seeing different women come into his house all the time while Leah is somewhere else. His eyebrows are furrowed and he stares at his plate as if he's analyzing his food. I shouldn't have brought it up.
"I know why you got pasta," I say trying to distract him.
"Because I like pasta?"
"Because you can't cut the chicken," I say with a smirk.
"Why wouldn't I be able to cut the chicken?"
"Your left arm still hurts." I take a bite of my chicken and he stops chewing. "You never wear your wrap."
"I don't need it," he mumbles.
"You do if you ever want to cut meat again."
"You trying wearing that fucking piece of tight fabric for a day and then you can lecture me," he tries to sound stern but his lips are slightly turned upward.
We continue bantering back and forth until both of our plates are clean. We move onto lighter conversations about everything from different places in the world to our favorite zoo animals. He told me I need to learn to enjoy life more and I told him he needs to swear less. To that, he told me to "mind my own fucking business," and I laughed louder than I should in a restaurant.
"I'll get these out of your way," Richard says as he removes our plates. A piece of paper drops from his hand as he takes away my wine glass. I pick it up and hold it in his direction but he just winks and walks away. Will is signing the bill that he insisted on paying for so he's distracted from the waiter's actions. I unfold the piece of paper and see nine digits written in black ink.
"What's that?" Will asks as soon as he looks up. I hesitate to answer and he reaches across the table to take it from me before I can think of a logical response.
"He did not just give you his fucking phone number."
I can't tell if he's amused or angry; probably both. He crumbles up the paper and puts it in the middle of the table. The lady from earlier come to collect the check and Will looks slightly disappointed.
"Oh now he's hiding. That prick."
He should be hiding. Even if we're not technically on a date, anyone from the outside looking in would think that we were. Who gives their phone number to someone on a date?
The lady returns Will's credit card and wishes him a goodnight. I think she might have given me a small smile, but it's hard to tell. I'm relived that Richard didn't come back. I don't want to draw attention in a public area. There aren't many people left at this hour, but I still don't like the idea of causing a scene. I do smile at the fact that Will is so mad about the whole thing. If we were just friends, he wouldn't care that someone gave me their phone number. I stand from the table but Will remains seated.
"Wait one second," he says scanning the room. Both of us spot Richard at the same time two tables over. Will reaches to the back of our table without turning his head and picks up two coffee creamers.
"Hey Fucktard!" Will says and surprisingly, Richard turns around. Will chucks the coffee creamers as hard as he can across the room and both of them hit him right in the face. My hand instinctively goes over my mouth but I'm also hiding a smile. Richard bends over in pain and holds his head in his hands. What a baby.
He tries to act tough when he stands up, but he still looks like a child. His eyes are watery as he looks between the two of us.
"She's taken."
Will grabs my hand and we walk out together.
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I'M BACK! I had an amazing time in Canada but I'm also glad to be home:) I'll be updating daily again until school starts or something comes up. Thank you all for sticking around for a week.
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