Betrayal, Broken Trust and More Lies

Date

We drove for a while without saying a word. I don't remember ever being so nervous in front of someone in my life. There was that time I interviewed for my job and felt like I was going to pass out. I asked the secretary for a cup of water to calm my nerves and she happily obliged. Although the water was warm and tasted like nickel, It helped because I stopped panicking about the interview and focused on the disgusting water.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts and decided I was going to pretend to be a confident woman for once.

"Where are we going?" I asked in a voice barely above a whisper. So much for being confident.

"I'm taking you to one of my restaurants to grab a quick bite and then home since it's a weekday and you work tomorrow." He gave me a quick smile and held my gaze for far to long. I shifted uncomfortably and broke our eye contact. I wanted him to concentrate on the road and I needed a moment to compose myself. I wasn't sure how I was going to make it, sitting across from him, for the whole night.

We arrived downtown and parked in front of a beautiful restaurant that was mostly made of steel and windows. The path leading up to the entrance was lined with large lit steel fire pits and The restaurant was a perfect mix of modern and cozy with rich brown colours, dark wood and black marble.

The atmosphere was energetic yet comfortable. I immediately felt at ease and looked around in awe.  Jake tugged on my jacket to get my attention and told me to follow him.

We were lead to the back of the restaurant, far away from the bar, where it was a bit more quiet. The hostess was polite and made an honest attempt at not flirting or ogle Jake. I truly appreciated her and made a mental note to tip her on the way out.

Jake took the Menus from her and passed one my way. Shortly after, a young handsome waiter came to our table to take our orders. Him, unlike the waitress, was openly trying to flirt with him and I leaned back and watched it unfold.

I knew Jake was into women but wasn't sure if he liked men as well. He was never spotted out with any females and this might have been the reason why. Maybe he was hiding a secret lover from the rest of the world.

Jake gave our orders and politely shut down his advances.

"What are you smirking at?" He took his napkin and threw it at me.

"Is that anyway to treat a lady?" I asked while I threw it back at him.

"If you see one let me know" he replied and chuckled to himself after gauging if I was upset at his comment.

"Ouch, well there's definitely not going to be a second date if you keep this up" I stated and immediately became mortified at my statement. I can't believe I just called this a date.

"Oh, there will be a second date" he gave me a playful smirk and focused his attention at the waiter bringing the drinks to our table. He quickly ordered another round and we began the normal small talk.

After the third drink I was finally loosening up and began having fun. Jake had an amazing laugh and an even better smile. I can't believe I thought he was a miserable person.

"So you can tell me that it's none of my business" his face turned serious, " but you wanna talk about what happened with you and your ex"

"Well you pretty much saw what happened" I shrugged not really wanting to sour my mood, "he was hooking up with his best friend the whole time we were together and I was too stupid to see it"

"I wouldn't say you're stupid. Far from it. I do believe you're a kind person who sees the good in people and, sometimes, people like that take advantage of someone like you" he reached out and took my hand.  The minute he touched me I felt the same butterflies I felt earlier. My whole body tingled from his touch.

"Thank you" was all I could muster and excused myself to the bathroom. I took the long way around and found the hostess, slipping her a twenty. It wasn't much but I hoped she appreciated it nonetheless.

When I got back to the table he already paid the bill and stood up, helping me with my jacket. We made our way out and stopped in front of his car.

Before letting me in, Jake stepped forward and I found myself being pressed against his vehicle. He placed his hand under my chin and lifted my face up, his lips meeting mine. I felt like everything around us disappeared. I could only feel him. I don't remember ever feeling this way before.

He pulled me into him and opened the passenger door.

"After you" he gave me a big smile and I couldn't help but to smile back. For the first time in weeks, was actually feeling happy.