Sweet Love (2; Valentines Day Special)

The time on my watch ticked to 5:45. If she wasn’t out any minute, we’d be late. That’d suck, took the night off to book a table.

Thankfully, Brooke rushed out the bakery door and saw my car, her chauffeur for the night. We had been seeing each other after we first met a few months ago, and now it was Valentines Day.

“Hey, honey bun!” I teased as she fit into the shotgun seat. I knew it was her favorite treat, and I knew she liked the nickname.

“Good to see ya, cookie!” She reached over for a smooch, and I didn’t hesitate to go in too. While she was distracted, I snuck something onto her lap.

“Surprise!” She looked down at the heart shaped box, filled with delicacy chocolate.

“Oh, honey! You didn’t have to!” I smiled as she tore into the box, reading the assortment. “Ugh, Cherry Fondue.” She stuck her tongue out. “It’s extremely nasty.” Once she realized what she said, her head turned to meet my eyes. “N-not that your present is bad, or anything!”

“Eh.” I shrugged. “I don’t like it either. But that was  the only box left. Ready to go then?” She nodded as I drove away.

——————————

I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, just in time for our reservation. As I unbuckled myself, I saw Brooke had already finished half of the box. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Save some room, I have other stuff planned.” She wiped the chocolate off her face and we headed inside.

The place was upscale, but nothing too fancy. It wasn’t one of those posh places where everyone wore monocles, but it wasn’t meant for a family.

Browsing the menu, I realized just how deep my pockets would be afterwards, hopefully Brooke wouldn’t break the bank.

Our waiter came by, and spoke in a French accent that didn’t sound too authentic.

“Good evening, Sir, and Madam. And how are we today?”

“Good, thank you.”

“What could I get for you today?”

“I’ll take the double smoked salmon platter with red chardonnay.” Brooke ordered. Well there goes my hopes.

“And for you, sir?”

Just a medium rare porterhouse with sparkling cider, please.”

“Very well then, complementary bread rolls and your food will be out shortly.” I nodded as he walked away. Brooke gazed around the fancy room as I thought about quick was to get paid.

“This place is nice! Better than my apartment.”

“Well, of course it would be. Many people are a stickler to interior design.” I paused after my sentence. “Oh god, that reminds me of some asshole from work today.”

“Oh, please tell!” She always liked listening to my stories, must be how I tell them.

“Ok, so I finished up working on some guys engine, when a guy showed up. Classic rich guy stereotype, sunglasses, linen suit, talking about a business deal on his cellphone. He interrupted me and went ‘Hey bud, up ‘ere!’, and didn’t even give me time to respond before yammering on about the white leather interior being messed up by his seatbelt.”

“Mmhmm, Goh ohn!” Brooke said with a mouthful of bread, it must’ve arrived during my rambling.

“The seats were shredded and paint was chipping off. Turns out the bastard spray painted his leather seats white! No wonder the seatbelt messed it up! It rubbed the paint off! But oh! Mr. Snappy didn’t understand me, so he told me to replace the seats!”

“Jeez!”

“And ya wanna know the worst part? He had the nerve to give me a deadline! I wanted to tell the guy to get lost and go get someone who cared, but Jim caught wind of him, and told him that directly.”

“Let me guess, Mr Richie Bucks threw a fit?” Brooke predicted as our waiter came by.

“You bet! The bastard flipped his lid! Apparently he thinks people will do anything of money is waved in their face!”

“Excuse me, Sir. Your food.” I looked down and saw a plate now in front of me.

“Oh, thank you.” He nodded and I looked at my expensive meal. $30 for an 8 ounce steak and asparagus? At least it wasn’t as much as Brooke’s.

We both dug in, and after that first bite, I’d say the price was now nearly justifiable, NEARLY. The spices worked well with each other, and wasn’t too spicy before being drowned out by the juicy meat. The sparkling cider was also a refresher.

I looked over at my date, and she was going to town on her meal. She was already onto the second salmon, while I barely made a dent on my plate. I tried not to make such a fuss, though.

She got done eating nearly 15 minutes before me, so she passed the time waiting for me by finishing up the bread and telling me about one time she went camping.

After I finished, she downed the rest of her chardonnay as I paid with all of the cash in my pocket, making sure to leave a tip.

On the way back to the car, I could tell Brooke was already a bit tipsy, so I helped her inside.

“Thanks- *HIC*” She managed to say before a small hiccup.

——————————

We made our way back to her apartment, which just so happened to be located above the bakery. We walked inside the lower floor, and at this point, she was flat out drunk. If there’s one thing I learned about her, is that when she’s drunk, she’s hungry.

Before making our way up to her bedroom, she opened the glass case and pulled out some Valentines themed cupcakes and cookies. She plopped down on her bed and scarfed them all down.

“Well, today was a good night. I guess I’ll see you later.”

“Wuh-wait.” She said, grabbing onto my jacket. She pushed me onto her bed and leaned onto me.

“Let me give you your present.”