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“Oh well that’s good news,” I rasp back, hardly able to keep my emotions inside. “So you can have fun for as long as you want.”
Lola nods but doesn’t say anything else. She keeps her gaze firmly fixed out the window as we continue moving. I desperately want to ask her what’s going on through that mind of hers, but I don’t think I can. I don’t think that’s appropriate.
“Right,” I say as we pull the car up to a halt right outside the restaurant where I have a table booked. “We’re here now. Are you… are you okay to go in?”
She turns in the chair to face me before we make our move. “Brandon?” she asks quietly. “Can I just ask you something before we go in?”
My heart leaps. I don’t know how to feel about that. What if she asks something that blows all of this apart before we even start our night out? “Erm, yeah sure.”
“What is this?” She cocks her head to one side and examines me closely. “Tonight, I mean? Are we just hanging out as friends or is this a date? I know that might be a bit heavy since it was a night that was thrown upon us by my dad, but the anticipation is killing me. I don’t think I can be myself if I don’t know.”
I purse my lips thoughtfully. I need to answer this delicately so I don’t freak her out at all. “I’ll be honest with you, I would like it to be a date. I would like to think that there’s still a connection between us that can turn into something real and new, but I know that I did you wrong. I can give you all the excuses in the world, but I still treated you badly, so if you want nothing more than to be friends, I understand that.” It breaks my heart to say it, but I’d rather have her in my life in some way rather than not at all. “It’s entirely up to you.”
She nods slowly as she processes this. “Okay,” she drawls. “I see. I think…” She sucks in a deep breath of shaky air. “I think I would like to give us a chance. I think I would like this to be a date. I think we should see… where this might go.”
Yes! I almost pump my fist in the air with excitement. Thank God!
“Okay.” The smile on my face is so bright and genuine I think my face might crack. “Well let’s get outside then, shall we?”
I hop out the car and move over to her side to open the door for her. I want to be the perfect gentleman tonight, even more so now that I know there’s a chance. I don’t deserve it, but I’m getting one anyway. I must have done something right!
“Thank you.” Lola slides her hand into mine. “Let’s go inside. This place looks nice. Is this where you bring all your dates?”
“You have the wrong impression of me,” I tell her seriously. “Maybe in the past I dated around, but not anymore. Not for the last year.” I see her eyes go dewy eyed with emotion. I’m glad I’ve been given the chance to let her know that much. “But even before, I never brought anyone here. Only friends. This is the place for me and you.”
“I like that,” she replies warmly. “Let’s go in.”
The well dressed waiter takes us over to a table in the corner where we can have the most private conversation in the world. The booth seats around us are high, so it feels a bit like we’re the only people alive. As we take our seats and we look at one another over the romantic, flickering candle light, my heart leaps up into my chest.
I could love this woman, I think seriously to myself. I might actually love her already.
I haven’t ever been in love before so I don’t know how it’s supposed to feel, but I’m sure this dizzying excitement where it feels a bit like the foundation has been pulled out from beneath me, is a part of it. I’m falling deeper and deeper into this abyss but I like it. I love the sensation that I’m falling because it’s with her. With Lola clinging to me, it’s good.
“So what’s good here?” Lola asks as she pulls the menu open. “I presume that you’ve been here enough times to have something to recommend to me.”
“The calzones are amazing. I think you’ll like them.”
“Ooh, calzones, very posh,” she teases back. “No wonder you didn’t like eating out before. My town doesn’t exactly have a variety of food choices.”
“It does now,” I shoot back rapidly. “That’s a part of my development plan. Haven’t you been to see it?”
“No,” she replies softly, reminding me what a stupid question it is. “I haven’t been since you left.” Of course she hasn’t. If it was the other way around, I would be the same. “But I’ve heard great things.”
I need to pull this back, I need Lola to remember the good things rather than the crap. “I didn’t mind not eating out anyway. I loved hanging out in your tiny cottage and one of us cooking with whatever we could get from the store. That was so much fun.”
Lola laughs and tosses her head back. “Yeah, I’m sure. Just wonderful. I bet about three of my houses could fit in your living room.”
I nod, agreeing with her because I know she’s right. “We can go and have a look after this if you want? It feels weird that I’ve spent so much time with you at your home and you haven’t seen the inside of mine at all.” It reminds me that while she shared something intense, it wasn’t fully real. If things ever did happen again I would want it to be very real. I would want to be fully immersed in one another’s lives, I want it to be everything. Even my father will meet Lola, if she lets us be again. “Would you like that?”
“I think I would. Just to see it,” she answers. But a redness tinges her cheeks. I get the impression that she might be thinking dirty thoughts… which is fun, but I don’t want just that. “I’d like to get to know a bit more about you.”
I smile at her, wanting to say so many things. There’s a lot between us that needs to be said, but I don’t know how to find the words. Instead I try to say it with my eyes instead… at least until the waiter comes along to take our order, shaking us both from our little moment.
***
“That was really nice,” Lola says happily as we leave the restaurant. Her hand is in mine and she’s swinging it casually. It’s just a small gesture but it means the world to me. It builds a connection between us that I want to last forever. “Thank you for taking me there.”
“Yeah, it’s a great place… but there’s another reason I brought you here.” I tug her along with me towards the back of the building. “There’s a little pond out here which has some Koi Carp inside. It’s lovely. Not as lovely as your lake but nice.”
