“How about I just act surprised?” I said. “And I'll be surprised here, in the car.”
“Nah. Doesn’t work that way,” he said, shaking his head. “That’d be like us getting halfway through a scary movie and me all of a sudden telling you how it ends. Besides, we’re almost there.”
“Re
ally?” I asked. I peered through my window and tried to run through the list of nearby restaurants. We were well out of my small town, but since I hadn't been paying attention to which direction we were going, I wasn't sure quite where we were.
“Well, comparatively speaking. We’re closer to dinner than we were this morning,” he said with a chuckle. “But, driving wise we’re maybe, eh, ten, fifteen minutes away.”
“If you say so,” I replied. I slouched back in my seat and crossed my arms. I wasn't really angry. I couldn't be with him there. There was something about him talking to me, something about his presence that was both soothing and captivating. It was the thing I missed most when we were apart.
He laughed and asked me about my day. Our conversation was easy and flowed as I lost track of how long we were in the car. Those ten or fifteen minutes felt like seconds.
We were engaged in a serious debate about the merits of different computer programming codes when we pulled onto flat cobblestone that circled around a fountain and small garden. We rounded the circle halfway, stopping at the door of the restaurant.
“We’ve gotta get out here,” he said as I gave him a confused look. “They valet at this place.”
“Oh, wow,” I whispered to myself before stepping out the door. This was fancy.
The restaurant’s entrance was grand in every aspect of the word. Designed to imitate a sort of Victorian-era mansion, the place was long and wide and looked to be three stories tall with triangular contours that jutted out peaking and blending into the shingled roof. The outer walls were a natural looking gray, but had vines and various flowers growing up their sides. Windows and balconies lined the building, and I could easily imagine Romeo climbing up to one to meet his Juliet.
A thin stone path lead from the cobblestone driveway up to a beautiful deck. The deck was wide enough to collect assorted groups of guests, all conversing while sipping from drinks. I stole a glance at the patrons on the deck and was extremely glad Jacob had suggested a nice dress.
Jacob offered me his arm as we stepped inside the beautiful restaurant. The hostess quickly greeted us and we didn't even have to wait for a table.
I was trying to contain my wonder, but as we followed our host to the table I couldn’t help but comment, “This place is really nice.”
“You like it?” Jacob asked. He unconsciously pulled at his tie, revealing that he was more nervous than he appeared.
“It’s beautiful,” I said. “I kind of can’t believe it.”
I felt Jacob’s hand against my lower back, guiding me to my place at the table. I wanted to turn around and produce a smile crazy enough to match the butterflies in my stomach, but it just didn't feel right to do so in such a fancy place.
“I wanted to take you somewhere really nice,” he said as took the chair directly across from me.
“This is,” I paused to search for the right word, “this is… I don’t even know. This place is absolutely incredible.”
He smiled back at me and held it as my eyes wandered about the interior.
Inside, the restaurant didn’t lose any element of its charm. Massive chandeliers hung from the ceiling, illuminating the stone walls and the engraved designs throughout.
“Have you ever been here before?” I asked after finding my way back to his gaze.
“No, actually I haven’t. But I have a good friend that came here once to propose to his fiancée,” he said. “I guess it’ll be a first time for both of us.”
“What a nice place to get proposed to,” I said. “Lucky girl.”
“I’m lucky getting to take you here.”
I knew I was blushing again and there was nothing I could do to stop it. He was so charming. I brought my smile into my menu as I lifted it up, immediately noting its clean and professional layout and the meal options. And the prices.
I'd never even seen a menu this expensive. I was fairly sure just sitting at a table cost money.
“Let’s split the bill,” I said more sheepishly than I’d intended. There was an uneasy feeling of guilt that I had been unable to push out from my chest since arriving at the fancy entrance and the menu had only heightened the sentiment to an uncomfortable level.
Jacob shook his head. “Nope. Dinner’s on me.”
“I don’t know if I feel right about that,” I said. “This place is, well, it’s beyond incredible. And the valet. It can’t be cheap.”