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“Well, make it dinner. Only friends have lunch.”
I groaned inwardly. He was not letting it go and though it was flattering, I wondered if it would have been easier if he would have. Dennis was too perfect, swooping in and saving me. I wasn’t going to be able to deny him much longer. Not much longer at all, by the way I’d been feeling lately.
We went our separate ways, agreeing to meet for dinner at our place. I felt like I had just jumped headfirst down a rabbit hole, and there was no telling where it was going to lead.
It felt like trouble was coming.
* * *
He cameto pick me up and I was waiting for him again. I half-expected him to show up with the limo, kind of wanted him to because it was really nice, but he was back to his sports car and the top was down. It was November and the Indian summer was over. I don’t know what he was thinking.
“It’s freezing, Dennis. Why is the top down?”
“Thought you’d like it.”
“No, I would rather be warm, if you don’t mind, and I swear, Dennis, if you go into a line about warming me up, I am walking back to the dorms right now.”
He chuckled loudly and promised that he would do no such thing. I don’t know if I believed him or not, but I suppose that I didn’t have a choice. I got in, while the top went back up and set into place. He turned the heater on and soon it was hot, so I had to open a window. He turned it down.
“You alright?”
I said that I was fine, but I bet that all of these palpitations were causing me to burn up. My blood was certainly flowing at the moment. I knew that it was probably clear to Dennis. He always read me a bit better than I would have liked. It was like he knew what I was thinking. Right now, that definitely wasn’t a good thing.
“Yeah, I’m good. Where are we going?”
“I was thinking we would get some dinner.”
“Sounds good. It’s going to be better than canned fish eggs, though, right?”
“Those cans were hundreds of dollars.”
I shrugged and told them that they still sucked. He found that hilarious and I could detect a hint of nerves in his own voice. It looked like I wasn’t the only one that was bothered by our proximity.
“Well, we are going to the Greenbriar.”
I sighed. “The Greenbriar? That mansion place on the hill?”
He agreed, and I must have made a face because he asked me if I didn’t want to go. It didn’t sound appealing to me, but I knew that it didn’t really matter.
“No, no, it’s fine. I will try not to flush out this time, so you can take me in public.”
We both tittered nervously. Why hadn’t I realized that this was going to be so full of conflict? I knew that it would be awkward, but this was painful. One kiss and our whole relationship changed. It was funny how that worked.
Silence inhabited us for several minutes, and then he pulled up the long driveway and I tried to squash the rebellion that was starting in my stomach. It was doing summersaults and I couldn’t help it. I found an impending doom had returned and every part of me didn’t want to go. Something was going to happen.
“Are you sure this is where you want to go?”
“Yeah, I made a reservation, which is hard to get, and I really want to use it. They have duck that is to die for.”
I scowled and opened the door. I guess I was going to have to suffer through even more rich food, which wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. If I was rich like Dennis was, I wouldn’t want duck. I don’t know what I would want, but it wouldn’t be fish eggs and fowl.
The mansion was large and sweeping on both sides. It looked down to the city below, benevolent like a ruler. I don’t know why, but the place just oozed money. Oozed it. It made me uncomfortable right off the bat. I had been around money before, but not like this. This was a whole other level and I swear, it was the first time that I saw Dennis standing a little straighter. No wonder he didn’t want to take me here when I was sloshed. This place was nice.
He took my hand and we started to walk inside. He told me that it was fine, but it didn’t feel fine. I felt out of place and underdressed, but since I was with Dennis, everyone treated me like I was born to be here.
We had a table ready and apparently Dennis had orchestrated more than just a reservation. He had food already ordered for us and wine was chilling on the table. It was really nice and again, I felt nerves wash over me. It wasn’t about the opulent surroundings that made me feel like I had hives. No, it was the man in front of me and the plans that he had for the evening.
The wine tasted okay, but I drank it anyway. I didn’t drink like I had the week before, but faster than usual. At the bottom of the first glass, I switched to water, but I was already feeling the flush and the settling of good emotions over me.
