'Can I get you anything else?' The waitress looked from one of us to the other.
'Nope. I think we’re good to go.' I said. With one last smile, she left.
'Wow. Does this ever look excellent.' Haley smiled at her meal, then at me. 'Thanks, Andi.' She picked off the little sprig of mint leaf.
'Anytime.'
Not another word was spoken as we both dug into our meals, swapping bites, and closing our eyes in utter delight. The service was superb, the food divine, and the night perfect. I couldn’t have written it better myself.
Finally, empty plates sat before us both. The waitress was back in a flash, almost as if she’d been watching us to see when we’d finish.
'Dessert, ladies?' Haley looked at me with hope in her eyes. I nodded at her.
'Chocolate-raspberry mousse, please?' she asked, the excitement of a child shining in her eyes. God, she was so adorable.
'Ma’am?' Blinking rapidly, I looked up at the waitress’s expectant face.
'Oh, sorry. I’ll have the banana gelato, please.' With a smile, she was gone, only to return with a few friends moments later.
I heard the clapping from the other side of the restaurant, and grinned as I knew what was coming. I glanced down at my watch, happy to see they were right on time, then up at Haley. She look confused as she tried to look around the place to see where the noise was coming from. It got louder and louder until ten waiters and waitresses stood around our table, clapping their hands, our waitress standing in front with Haley’s mousse in her hands, a single lit candle in it.
Haley shook her head, for the first time turning completely red.
'No,' I smiled, loving her embarrassment at such direct attention. The wait staff began to sing Happy Birthday in harmony with each other. I was impressed; it actually sounded great. Even though Haley looked like she wanted to hide under the table, I could tell she was enjoying it.
They finished their song, all the guys giving her a kiss on the cheek as they walked by, wishing her a happy birthday. I just about died laughing at that. I had no idea they’d do that, but Haley didn’t seem to mind.
When everyone le
ft, she grabbed her spoon, pointing it at me accusingly. I just laughed and began to eat my gelato.
We ate our dessert, and I glanced at my watch again.
'Oh, we have to go. Are you done?' I asked, looking up just in time to see Haley trying to get every single last drop of mousse with her spoon.
I grinned. 'Why don’t you lick it?' She looked at me, then around, then back at the dessert dish. With an evil look, she stuck her finger into the glass dish, and ran it all over the inside, catching all those stubborn bits that her spoon just couldn’t catch. Closing her eyes in pleasure as she stuck the finger in her mouth, the smiling at me.
'Yum.' I shook my head.
'You are an absolute nut, you know that, Haley?' She nodded.
'That I do.'
Our waitress had put our ticket on the table in the little leather binder. Haley swiped it off the table. I just stared at her.
'Ha! I am not about to let you pay for this.' She opened the binder to see a piece of paper that simply said, 'Thank you, and please come again.' She looked at me, confused.
'Why don’t you put that down, and let me give you your present?'
'You mean this wasn’t enough of one? And what’s up with this?' She flashed the paper at me.
'Ah, the wonders of the credit card numbers.' She glared at me. 'It’s all taken care of, Haley, so get over it.'
'Thank you.'
'You’re welcome. Happy birthday.' I reached into the inside pocket of my jacket, and took out the long envelope I had stashed in there. 'Here.' I put it on the table in front of her. 'You’ve got to make this snappy.'
'Okay.' She grabbed it, ripping into the paper, and pulling the humorous card out. Reading it, she laughed. 'Ha ha. You’re an old hag, too, I hope you know.' I smiled. A smaller envelope was inside, and she took it, setting the card down. With a drawn brow, she opened it, and pulled the two tickets out. As she read them, her eyes got huge, and her mouth fell.
'She’s having a Fourth of July concert?' she whispered, looking back at the tickets. 'And, oh my god! How did you get backstage passes for Linda? I had no idea she even did that!' She stood from her chair, grabbing me from mine, and tugging me to her. Nearly having the breath knocked, then squeezed out of me, I hugged her back, so happy she liked it.
'I got you two so you could take someone with you.' She pulled back from me staring down at them again.
'Third row back, center,' It hit her what I had said. 'Take someone with me? Are you kidding me? Andi, there is no ‘someone’. It’s you or no one.' I had hoped she’d say that. I wanted so badly to experience that concert with her.
'Well, the option is there, okay?' She nodded, then grabbed me in another bone-crushing hug.
'Thank you, thank you, thank you.'
'You’re welcome. Come on, woman. We have to get out of here.'
We hurried through the restaurant, and to my glee, the customers were telling her happy birthday as we passed. She took all in stride, being her usual gracious, charming self. At the door, she turned and gave them all a huge bow.
In the car, I turned to her.
'Okay, turn away from me.' She did as told, and I took the sleep mask from my jacket pocket, tying the black, satin ties behind her head.
'Oh, Andi. I had no idea you were into the kinky.' I grinned.
'You have no idea. Can you see?'
'No. Not really.'
'Good. Now just sit back and relax.'
'Is this going to hurt?' she asked.
'Maybe. Especially if you peek.'
I got the car started, and the heat going strong, as it was really cold in the car, and outside, and I figured it would be best to get her warmed up now.
As I drove, I glanced over at her, and saw that she was resting her head against the back of the seat, the slightest bit of a smile on her face. She looked so relaxed and peaceful, and utterly beautiful. As we had eaten dinner, I had watched her, the way she moved, the way she spoke and her expressions. How was it fair that one woman could be so beautiful and kind, yet intelligent and talented all at the same time? It wasn’t fair.
I cleared my thoughts as I knew I’d start going into dangerous territory, and concentrated on the road. We had just had another storm this morning, so the streets were slick. I was so glad it wasn’t snowing now.
Just up ahead I saw all the lights, as well as our mode of transport, and began to get excited.
I pulled the Jeep up next to the carriage, always in awe at the sheer size of the Clydesdales. Turning to Haley, I quickly untied her blindfold, and shoved it back into the inside pocket of my coat. She opened her eyes, pushing some hair out of her face, her eyes stopping when she saw the horses. In fact, they grew huge.
'Wow,' she breathed.
'Come on.' I opened my door, and hurried around to the carriage. The driver was waiting for us. He was in a tuxedo, but you could barely see that beneath the layers he wore.
'Good evening, Haley.' He smiled at my friend. 'Happy birthday, and watch your step.' He helped her into the convertible carriage, and then me. I sat in the seat next to her, where we were shoulder to shoulder in the narrow space.
'Where are we?' she asked, looking around.
'Crowsbend,' I said, reaching beneath the seat. Bingo. I brought out the thermos. 'Hot chocolate?' She grinned, her breath coming out in white puffs.
