Sincerely, Dr. Cruz

Twenty One: Dinner

Chapter Twenty One: Dinner (Neal’s POV)
Providence, Rhode Island

It was nice of Reina to allow me to join her brother and her friends for dinner, although I felt like it was a bit forced.

Not that she didn’t want me to go. She just hadn’t thought of the idea… Right?

It wasn’t that important anyway. I pulled up into her driveway, going over how stupid this might all turn out to be. Would it not be really awkward for me to just join in on their dinner? Then again, Reina was the one who extended an invitation. Maybe I should stop worrying, yeah?

That didn’t happen. I rang the doorbell and anxiety washed over me again. Neither had I overdressed nor had I underdressed. I would be fine. I felt my nerves calm down yet again.

Then Reina opened the door.

A new type of nervousness overtook me, and I couldn’t process how amazing—beautiful—amazingly beautiful Reina looked. I then realized that I was just awkwardly staring at her.

“Hi.” I managed to spit out and she slowly let on a sheepish smile. “Hey, sorry.” She  said. “Travis is still getting ready. SOMEONE TAKES FOREVER.” She yelled the last part, obviously attempting to catch Travis’s attention.

“I would say that I’m not in a rush, but I believe dinner was set for 7, so I can’t exactly say that.” I said, and Reina responded with a short, sweet laugh. “How about we go sit in the car and Travis can lock the door on his way out?” She suggested.

She obviously just wanted shotgun.

“That’s fine by me.”

We both walked over to the car, and I took the time to appreciate Reina’s outfit. It fit her perfectly, and was obviously quite different than seeing her in loose fitting clothes all the time. Maybe it was because she’s so small. I opened the door for her, allowing her to sit before closing it. I then got in and turned on the AC to warm up the car.

“You look amazing.” I blurted without thinking. My nervousness increased tremendously.

“Oh, um… thanks. You look really nice too.” Reina said, a faint trace of pick highlighting her cheecks.

“I uh—” Travis getting into the car cut me off.

“Shall we?” He asked. I just nodded and started the car, noting Reina rolling her eyes before she began.

“You know Travis, if you hadn’t taken years to get ready, we wouldn’t have been in this mess in the first place.”

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The restaurant was posh. It wasn’t exceedingly fancy, but it wasn’t shabby either. It was a perfect place for a formal dinner.

I followed Reina and Travis in, not wanting to draw too much attention to myself once we got to the table.

“Reina!” Jaya squealed as she went on to hug Reina. “I assume you’re her brother Travis?”

“That would be me.” Travis said, extending his hand to Jaya. She shook it firmly before her eyes finally fell on me.

“Neal? It’s nice seeing you here. Reina, I thought—”

“I had some car issues and Neal was nice enough to help me out. I figured inviting to dinner wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Is that alright?”

“Oh no that’s totally okay!” Jaya said, smiling to me and making her way back to her seat. Travis sat next to Armando, whilst Reina next to whom I presumed to be Jaya’s sister. That left me smack in between Reina and Travis.