A Crazy Thing Called Love (Harry Sytles Fanfic.)

45

"Montecito is nice."

Harry

The car ride to the restaurant has been completely silent. It's not uncomfortable but I can clearly see how nervous Carmen is. And rightfully so, but she's driving me a little bit crazy. She's been fidgeting constantly, picking at her nails or bouncing her knee or fiddling with every single button in my car. Every single one.

"Can you relax," I say finally, putting my hand over hers and bringing it to my lap so she stops changing the radio station.

"No," she says simply. She chews on a nail from her free hand and shakes her head. "Maybe we should just go home."

"Carmen."

"I'm not ready for this. No, it's not okay. Harry, we need to go home."

"Carmen, you're going to be fine," I assure her, squeezing her hand. "I know its scary, but you have to do this."

"I can't!"

"Yes you can. And I'm going to be there the whole time so even if you can't, I'll help you through it." I pull into a parking spot at the restaurant and turn the car off, turning towards Carmen who is still chewing on her nail. She stares at the building with wide eyes. "Carmen, you can do this."

"What if I can't?" she whispers. Her wide eyes look to me and I try to give her a reassuring smile.

"You can. Just take a breath and let's go inside."

"Do you think she's already in there?"

"Why don't we go find out."

Carmen takes a shaky breath and I step out of the car, waiting for a moment before going to get her out of the car myself. When I open the door she doesn't move, though. Not until I actually take her hand and pull her out of the car. She stays close to me when we walk inside and when I give the name for the reservation she grabs my hand so tight I feel like it might fall off.

"Is that her?" I whisper, nodding towards the table the hostess is taking us to. Carmen takes another deep breath and nods her hand. The woman sitting in the booth has blonde hair like Carmen, fair skin with dark eyes and dark makeup. She's wearing an expensive looking blouse with a diamond necklace and she seems to be fidgeting as much as Carmen is.

"I can't," Carmen says suddenly. She spins around and starts walking away, but her hand is still in mine and I'm not letting her leave.

"Baby, you need to do this," I tell her. She shakes her head. "Yes, you do. There's a reason you agreed to it and I know you're scared but that's okay. I'm going to be right here and as soon as you start feeling weird we can go. But you need to at least talk to her."

"Harry, you're not hearing me. I can't do this."

"Maybe not. But either way you're already here, so why not get a free meal out of it?"

One corner of her mouth twitches and I know she's trying not to smile. After a moment she sighs and nods her head, letting me pull her back towards the table where the hostess is still waiting. She gives us a weird smile and I approach the table first, Carmen's hand held tightly in mine. Her mother, Gale, looks up at us and her expression reminds me of Carmen, her wide eyes and scared expression and an almost smile.

"Hi," she says. She stands and I pull Carmen from her position hiding behind me so she's at least half exposed. "I'm Gale, Carmen's mother."

"Harry," I say, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you. Are you dating my daughter?"

"Umm...no," I decide. I'm not about to try to explain that. "We're just friends." Gale nods and her eyes wander to Carmen, a shy smile fighting its way onto her face.