Nice to Meet You

Chapter 11

"Hey Tom!" Bruce cheerfully greeted the old man as he walked into his pub. He walked behind the counter and wrapped his arms around him, giving him a big kiss on the cheek. "Paul?" he chuckled as he hugged him back, "What has gotten into you?" He looked at Bruce and saw that he had a glow to his face, a smile that was 10 miles away, and a twinkle in his eyes that he hadn't seen in years. "Love. Love has gotten into me. I'm in love Tom. And she loves me back. And it's great, it's wonderful, it's everything I could have ever wanted." he laughed as he grabbed the old man again, twirling him around and giving him another kiss. Tom couldn't help but laugh. "I don't think I have ever seen you this happy." Bruce sat down on a stack of crates that Tom had behind the bar, "I don't think I've ever been this happy. Monica is the best thing that has happened to me. I woke up this morning and just stared at her sleeping for an hour, I couldn't stop myself. She's so beautiful and perfect." Tom chuckled, "Well, that's a bit creepy Son. Staring at someone while they're sleeping...that's border line obsessive." "But I am obsessed with her. She's my everything. She's my reason to breathe, my reason to live..my heart beats because of her. I see colors that I hadn't know existed before. Everything smells better. Everything looks better. Even you, you old ugly bastard, you are beautiful!" Tom laughed as he went to smack Bruce in the arm. He loved seeing him so happy. He had his Son back. Bruce settled back down on the crates. "Could I ask you a favor?" Tom smiled at Bruce. He wasn't one to ask for favors, so he knew whatever it was he wanted to ask was important. "Of course." "Monica and I are going over to her place to meet her parents for lunch, afterward, I want to bring her back to the pub and do something special for her. Could you close early and leave it for the two of us?" Tom knew that whatever Bruce had in mind, it was important. "Of course, I had planned on going home early anyway. Have fun and please tell Monica I said hi." Bruce jumped up from where he was sitting and wrapped his arms around Tom. "Thank you Dad. I love you. I'm going upstairs to wake my love up."
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Monica could tell Bruce was nervous. "Love, please, I promise you my Mum and Dad are going to love you." Bruce gave her an awkward smile. "I just hope they think I'm good enough for you, that's all. I don't know what I'd do if they don't like me." Monica looked at Bruce, she could see that his insecurities were coming back, she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss, "Please, listen to me, I don't care what anyone thinks, I love you. I think you're perfect. I adore you and no-one is going to stop me from being with you." Bruce let out a sigh, "I'm sorry, I'm being silly, that's all. Let's head out before they think we decided to skip out."
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"I honestly think my Mum was trying to flirt with you!" Monica laughed as they walked back to Bruce's flat. Bruce blushed, her parents had gotten along very well with him, and her Mum did pay extra attention to him, it made him uncomfortable, but he loved the family dynamic that Monica had. They welcomed him as family and had already known everything about him. Bruce wasn't used to having so much attention on him, but he saw that Monica was happy that her family loved him. Her Dad had even offered him a job as his personal assistant when he found out he was Austin Hartley's grandson. Bruce at first declined, but Mr. McNeal had insisted, and told him he could work his own hours. "Your family is great. I see where you get it from." he blushed as he looked at Monica. He stopped in front of Tom's and grabbed her hand, "I have something to show you." Monica looked at him, a confused look on her face, "What is it?" Bruce gave her a goofy smile as he opened up the doors to the bar with his set of keys. "Give me your hand darling, and close your eyes." She did as she was told and was led inside. Bruce let out a nervous breath, "OK, go ahead and open them." Monica slowly opened them up and couldn't believe what she was seeing. There were candles and roses everywhere, rose petals adorned the bar and the pool table. There was an ice bucket with a bottle of champagne. Monica felt her eyes begin to tear up, she turned to Bruce and saw that he was standing behind her, his hands in his pockets, "Do....do you like it? I know the setting isn't the best but..." his words were cut off by Monica wrapping herself into his arms and kissing him deeply. "I love it. I can't believe you did all of this for me." Bruce looked around, "I had Tom set it up while we were at your parents." he turned to Monica, "Do you really like it?" She nodded, kissing him again. Bruce grabbed her hand and pulled her to a booth."We have all night to do what we want. The only thing is...we have to order take out. All of this romantic stuff I set up" he waved his hand about the place, "and I can't make my girl a decent romantic meal." Monica wrapped her hand around Bruce's, "Anything you do for me is romantic. You can make Chinese take-out romantic." He smiled, "Well, I'm glad you think that, because they're on their way."