Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Chapter 23: Night Out

“Aki!” Mom called from downstairs. “Are you up? Nick’s here to see you!”

“I’m up.” I answered from my bed where I was finishing off my homework.

Nick’s smiling face appeared at my doorway and before long, I was engulfed in a bear hug. “Aki! How are you today? Does your head still hurt?” He gushed all at once.

“Nick, calm down! I’m fine.” I moved out of his embrace. “I’m fine, okay. Don’t worry.”

“You know I care about you, Aki. You matter to me.”

Because you matter. Ethan’s words reverberated through my mind. Why did I just compare them anyway?

“Alright, no more stressful thoughts.” Nick smiled that innocent smile—the smile I grew up seeing—of his that has the entire female population of our school, except me, falling at his feet. “Hey, want to go out for dinner tonight? Mom got two free dinner passes at that new French restaurant that opened last year, next to the clinic. Call it a… recovery gift from me.”

“Délicieux? Wow! Count me in. I’ve been dying to go there for ages!” I said, excited. “But wait, isn’t that place really expensive?”

“Don’t worry about the expenses. They gave a special discount coupon to the doctors at the clinic. Mom has work so she gave it to me.” Nick asked. “I'll pick you up at 7?”

“Sure! I’m so excited!” And I was. But I wished I could go on a date with Ethan like this. Too bad it was a small town and everybody knew everybody around here and I didn’t want to risk being seen with my teacher, especially now that the entire town knew my secret.

“Mom, this really isn’t necessary,” I whined. “It’s just me and Nick.”

“And a fancy French restaurant! Hell has to freeze over a thousand times before I let you wear jeans and a top to such a fancy venue!” Did I mention how dramatic mom can get sometimes? But I guess you guys just found that out. Oh! And she loved dressing me up like her personal little Barbie. I was sure she probably cursed Dad every day for not passing over his blond hair to me.

Currently, I was sitting on a revolving chair with my back to the mirror, while my mother burned my hair with a curling iron and turned my skull into a Frankenstein lookalike with bobby pins.

“All done! Ah, don’t you look lovely! You should dress up more often.” Yeah and why not turn into a Queen Bee while I'm at it? Huffing at my own sarcasm, I turned my chair towards the mirror… and stared.

Holy shit, I looked like Barbie!

A very red haired Barbie…

Well, I guess I should give my mom some credit for her transformation skills. My hair was in light curls around my head, with tiny black pearl pins arranged in the shape of a hair band. For makeup, I had some black eyeliner, a touch of blush and dark cherry lipstick, matte finish. The dress I wore was a black sleeveless lace dress with a plunging V neckline that stopped just between my breasts and went to just above my knees. I also had a long red coat on to keep me warm. And I wore a pair of black pearl teardrop earrings and a bracelet for jewelry, paired with red heels.

Yes, you heard that right. How did I know to wear heels, you asked? Well that was thanks to my mom and countless business parties that I was forced to attend.

A car honked from the driveway.

“Looks like your date is here! And look, seven o’ clock on the dot.” Mom sounded far too excited to be healthy. I groaned. Not again!

By the time I reached downstairs, dad and Nick were having a nice chat and mom was gushing about how handsome he looked. And he did. In a charcoal colored jacket, black jeans and a steel colored shirt. His brown hair was neatly combed and looked a bit wet from a shower or hair gel, I could never tell. No wonder he was one of the most wanted boys at school.

Nick looked up as soon as my heels clicked on one of the wooden stairs and froze. Mom had indeed done a wonderful job. I was truly lucky to have such wonderful parents.

Escaping my mom’s clutches was difficult since she insisted we have a photo session, just like a prom night. But after about ten clicks and a warning that I won’t be going anymore if she clicked that damn camera another time, we were in Nick’s car, or his mother’s I should say, on our way to Délicieux.

The drive was short, about 10 minutes. Nick’s mom, Silvia D’Sena, had already made reservations in her name, so as soon as we arrived, we were escorted to our reserved seats at the back of the restaurant, a window seat giving clear view of the lake outside right beside the entrance, which was decorated with tiny fairy lights. Though Nick did take his sweet time at the reception, flaunting his French speaking skills to the woman behind the desk. Too bad I had taken Spanish instead of French.

“So… what would you like to order, beautiful?” Nick smiled at me.

“You tell me. I can hardly read the menu and it’s in English!” I said, looking at the menu in horror. What the hell does Croquet Madame mean? Isn’t that the name of a lady?

“Alright then, I’ll order for you,” the waitress made a perfect entry and started speaking in French and Nick spoke to her in the same language, making me look wide-eyed at them. Way to impress me Nick, just you wait to till I drag you to a Spanish restaurant! And why were they speaking French anyway? Did Nick’s vocab impress them a bit too much?

As Nick was ordering, I took my time admiring the place. It was pretty cool with cream colored walls and huge, ornate chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The furniture looked like mahogany with leather seats. The windows were draped with floor length, peach colored silk curtains and the tables contained tissues, cutlery and a basket of fresh, fragrant red roses. There weren't many people around, six to seven guests in total, but the ones present wore such elaborate clothes that it made me feel underdressed.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Nick took a look around as well.

“Please tell me you didn’t just order Calamari. I hate squid!” I exclaimed. The only fish I was comfortable with were salmon and carp, and occasionally tilapia.

“Well… then I’ll reveal the mystery to you and tell you that I ordered Gougère which is a light cheese pastry, for starters, Poulet à la bretonne, which is Brittany cider Chicken, simmered with navy beans, beets, and bacon, in apple cider and Tarte Normande or apple tart for desert.” He spoke the French names fluently. Damn! Now I was jealous. I couldn’t speak Spanish with that much fluency.

Dinner was delicious. The best French dinner I ever had, although my French cuisine was limited to macaroons and baguettes. But it was after dinner that things started to go downhill.

It was about 8:30 p.m. and we were waiting for the waitress to bring the bill when I glanced outside the window and saw a car come to a stop outside the restaurant and Dylan step out of it… with a brunette haired woman. My breath caught, it was the same woman I saw hugging Ethan. Funny how I always found her outside the window, when I least expected it. And how did Dylan manage to get his hands on her? Wasn’t Ethan supposed to be protecting her?

This time though, her face was visible. As far as I could see from under the knee length faux fur coat, she wore a knee-length, figure-hugging, purple dress with her hair in a neat top knot. She only wore dangling diamond earrings as jewelry and she looked stunning. I couldn't see her eyes yet but her facial structure looked oddly familiar… like I’d seen her somewhere before but couldn’t place where. But what was the brunette doing anyway, dating Dylan and Ethan at the same time?

When I turned back to Nick, he looked pale. “What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” I asked him, worried. “Is the bill too high? I can share—”

“No, no!” He looked mortified. “I paid it already, it’s just that… I have a bit of a headache. I’m fine. Come on, let’s go home.” He got up quickly, his motions a bit jerky.

“Nick are you really okay?” I followed him as he walked out the restaurant, leaving whatever change he had received as tip for the waitress.

“Yeah, sure.” He said when we were out the door and in the parking lot. “Why don’t you wait here while I go get the car?”

I nodded my head and waited patiently while Nick went off to fetch the car.

*

*

*

The parking lot was nearly empty except for three shadows. One woman standing near the entrance of the restaurant, the other near a car and the third well-hidden in a corner alley.

“So it’s going according to plan?” The man hidden in the alleyway said into the Bluetooth device fitted to his ear. He couldn’t risk being seen via the phone light.

“Yes,” came the reply from the other end. “But we have to move fast. Tonight was a minor success. Thursday is Thanksgiving. Whatever is going down, goes down Thursday night.”

“Agreed.”

Now all they could do was wait for the right opportunity. Hopefully, it'd come sooner than later.

*

*

*

Nick stopped the car in front of me and opened the passenger’s door for me.

He had a Bluetooth device fixed to his left ear. I pointed to it and he showed me his phone on the dashboard. It was his mom.

“Yeah, we’re leaving right now. I can make it in 5 minutes if I drive real fast. Okay. Copy that.” He turned towards me. “You won’t mind if we drive real fast, right? There’s an emergency at the hospital and mom needs to get there ASAP.”

“No…” I said immediately, “…drive as fast as you have to. We live only a block away, I can walk home.”

Nick agreed and stepped on the accelerator. Maybe this was why he looked sick, his mom must have texted him. Someone could get critical if his mom didn't reach the hospital on time.

But before we sped out of the driveway, I had one last glimpse of the restaurant and of the brunette girl who seemed to be double timing both devils.

She was looking straight at me, her expression blank. Her face glowing in the light of the overhanging chandeliers. She looked beautiful, no doubt about that, but this time, one thing stood out the most about her. One thing that had me gasping in realization. It was her eyes. A beautiful, clear forest green. Eyes that was so familiar to me that I’d recognize them from miles away.

Ethan’s eyes.