Understanding Teenagers

36: Fancy Date

Giselle's POV

On a particularly rainy Valentine's Evening, I sat in my car which was parked at Original Luigi's. I sat there watching Ricky taking his girl on a date to the very first place he took me. My heart was heavy. Why did I still care so much? My brain told me to move on, but my heart was a different story. Perhaps I should've listened to my brain as I watched them eat their pizza and laugh. If only I knew what they were discussing. They seemed to be having quite a conversation. I don't ever recall me and Ricky talking this much.

Buzz! It was my phone getting a new text message from Ava. "You sure you don't want to join me and Sara on our friend date tonight?"

At this point, I really wanted to. "No, need some time alone. Thanks though."

"You better not be stalking Ricky tonight. Leave him alone."

Liam's POV

Leah didn't live far from us. In fact, she lived a couple blocks away in a nice and fancy apartment. Texting her, I informed her that I had arrived and was waiting. If it were still raining, I would've walked her to the car with my umbrella. About a minute later, she walked out looking absolutely stunning. Her hair was ironed straight down, her skin was glowing, her makeup looked like a professional had fixed it, not to mention she wore the most perfect red dress with high heels. Never had I ever seen a girl walk with such confidence.

"Hello Liam," she greeted me with a hug. "You're looking well tonight." She took a moment to check me out. "Not going to lie, meeting you at Starbucks, I never thought you could look this charming." I opened the door and let her in. This was the first time I had worn a suit this nice before. The only time I ever really wore a suit was my prom. Once we were in the car, we took off.

"So I never been to Del Val before," I commented. "I'm assuming it's a fancy restaurant?"

She smiled and tapped my shoulder. "Not only is it fancy, but it's also romantic. Believe it or not, this place opened up last year on Valentine's Day. If we're lucky, we can get a free meal. But that's only if we're the thousandth customer."

"It's that popular of a place?"

"You have no idea."

As I drove to Del Val, I found myself a little nervous. Here I was in the car with a gorgeous and sexy woman about my age. During our ride there we mostly talked about the weather and how it was raining earlier that evening. Thankfully, Del Val was only about six minutes away from her apartment. As soon as we walked in, My eyes could not believe how fancy and nice this place really was. The lights were dimmed, elevator music played in the background, and the entire restaurant smelled of intoxicating perfume that my nose wanted more of. Leah was smart enough to have made reservations and within the minute we arrived, we were seated our table and looked at our menus.

"This place reminds me of 'Ms. Doubtfire.' You ever see that movie?"

She laughed hysterically. "How does this place remind you of 'Ms. Doubtfire.' I mean I loved the movie and all, but what the hell are you talking about?"

"You remember towards the end of the movie when Robin William's Character went to that restaurant and he got invited by two parties for the exact same night. His boss and his ex-wife. He kept changing in the bathroom from his regular self to Ms. Doubtfire."

With a smile on her face, she responded. "Oh my gosh! I remember that. But I'm not seeing how this restaurant relates. But I love Robin Williams. That man is a genius. The world is going to be a sad place when he dies." She took a sip of her water.

"Oh captain, my captain."

With water still in her mouth, she swallowed and spoke. I remember 'Dead Poet's Society.' That movie was depressing. Hated how he got fired in the end. To be honest, his best movie was 'Hook.' Always been a fan of Peter Pan."

"The Disney Version gave me nightmares as a kid."

With more water in her mouth, she found herself spitting it out and laughing again. "That movie gave you nightmares? You must really hate Disney." There was a blank look on my face. "You know because Grey's Anatomy is on ABC which is owned by Disney.

With the conversation about Robin Williams and Disney continuing, our waiter came in a quick twenty minutes later asking if we were ready to order. To my surprise, we were. I ordered the Sliced Meatball with Spiced Tuna while Leah ordered the Spiced American Soup with a hint of Lemon. As we waited for our order to arrive, the conversation took a new turn.

"What is it that you do for a living Leah that allows you to come to Starbucks every evening and read the paper?"

"Such glamour at Starbucks" she chuckled. "I actually work for Green Tree Corporation as a marketing and social media consultant. I'm basically in charge of marketing through social media."

My eyes lightened up. "Doesn't Green Tree own a bunch of restaurants?"

"In fact, they own about thirty different restaurants. And because of me, they own the last two restaurants from the latest acquisition. Believe it or not, we're in the middle of a deal with this restaurant."

"Wow," I could barely speak. "You must love your job."

"Oh my gosh, I love it." She started getting passionate about what she was saying. "The pay is amazing. Last week, I was able to buy an apartment in Manhattan and flip it. A freakin' restaurant ended up buying the place and gave me twenty percent of the share. I've made such great friends throughout my career. I can't tell you the places we've all been to. Japan, Italy, Spain, India, and next month we're going to Germany. Although, that's mostly a business trip. Japan was also a business trip, but still." She slowed down and took a breath. "I'm talking too much, aren't I? Please, tell me what you do. I'm sure it's just as exciting."

Everything she told me was a lot to take in. There was no way her life could be that great. It almost seemed as if she had everything figured out and together. She was beautiful and flawless. Although, she had to have some flaws. For whatever reason, I was a little uncomfortable to share what my job was.

"I actually work for Mid Mills Publishing. I was hired towards the end of the summer to write a Young Adult Novel. It's going to save the company." I wish I had more to say.

She stared at me blankly like she had seen a ghost. "Shit. You seriously work for Mid Mills. With Doug Piper and Dou... Doug... Doug Piper." My head nodded as she found herself coughing. "Damn wow. How do I say this? Doug Piper is my grandfather."

That's quite a twist. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Remember to comment, vote, and share.

Next Chapter: Ava and Sara go on a friend date.

Do Liam and Leah seem like a good couple?