My mother let me skip school with no reprocussions-- she said that, technically, I was doing homework. Emphasis on doing. I blushed a bright red when she said that and prayed to God Josh couldn't hear her through the phone, but I doubted it as his car speakers were blasting some rock band song. To my surprise, though, right as we were pulling up to the restaurant, his speakers suddenly switched to gentle tune. He scowled and shut off the music.
"What was that?" I asked, reaching for the knob to turn the music back on. Josh swatted my hand away.
"Nothing. Come on, let's go," he said. Josh turned off the car and lept out of the Mini Cooper at lightening speed. Before I could even unbuckle my seatbelt, he had opened the side door for me, looking grumpy. I gave him a weird look.
"What?" he asked defensively. When I didn't say anything, he rolled his eyes "Hurry up, Prude."
Yeesh, for a second there I thought he could actually manage to be a gentleman. With a sigh, I undid my seatbelt, grabbed my purse, and slammed the car door shut. Stuffing his hands into his pocket, Josh walked out in front of me, leading me toward the nearby restaurant. After the plague, not a ton of restaurants survived in my town but this one-- owned by the son of what used to be the best cook in town-- still managed to keep swimming, a popular resort for the richest kids in town whose parents had left them loads upon loads of money in their wills. Josh was one of those kids.
"Look, Josh, I can't afford to--" Josh walked over and pressed a finger to my lips. Oh crap. My heart sped up as he removed his finger and smirked that stupid, confident smirk that made me want to equally melt and smack him at the same time.
"Listen here Prude, I'm paying," he said. I grumbled a little at the stupid pet name, but he simply laughed and waltzed toward the door, holding it open this one in that arrogant way. I saw what he was doing. As I walked through the door, I pushed back my shyness and mustered all of my courage to look him in the eyes and say:
"Hey Mr. Player, I'm not so easily played." This statement, however simple, made his beautiful blue eyes widen in both shock and what I suppose was admiration at my ballsy-ness. Trying my best to keep the faux-confidence, I pranced through the door while throwing my long blonde hair behind my shoulder, but unfortunately a stair stood in my way, causing me to trip and fall into the restaurant. Inside, I heard a few of the diners laugh. Great. So much for smooth and confident. Behind me, I heard Josh laughing, but not his mean laugh-- it was a light hearted almost charming laugh, as if he had just watched the cutest cat video in the world. Soon enough, I was being lifted like a rag doll from the ground, making me blush even harder. I tucked my chin into my chest.
"Whatever," I mumbled. Great going, Adira! Why couldn't I just keep my confidence for once? Why was I always so clumsy and stupid?
Josh went foreword and asked for a private table far off the the other people. I breathed a sigh of relief. I hated being laughed at in public, so this private table, no matter how much of a weird situation with Josh of all people, sounded like heaven. The waitor took us to a back room far off from the others but near the kitchen. The blinds were drawn to keep the area permenantly dark and candle light flickered on the table. I rolled my eyes. How cheesy.
After the waitress had left and we were seated (Josh, of course, pulled out the chair for me), Josh drummed his fingers on the table and looked at me exprectantly. I smirked.
"Is this were you take all the girls to get in their pants? I'm not so easy. The only reason I'll ever sleep with you is because it's government mandated," I said blantantly. I was still angry about tripping into the restaurant, as well as not so happy with this stupid romantic act. I wasn't like Josh's other girls. I was going to save myself until marriage-- which, considering I was legally married to Josh now, was still true. Josh reached into his pocket calmly, as if not hearing my snipe.
"Adira, I told you earlier that's not what this was about. I just wanted to talk about our baby," he pulled a box from his pocket as he spoke. Whoa. It was Tiffany blue, probably from the only Tiffany left in the world in New York, granting that it was new. When I saw him wipe the dust from it, I figured it wasn't new. What was he doing? Was he going to propose to me? What would I say? My mind started to rush with the possibilities and my palms heated up as sweat formed on my brow. I wasn't sure what to do. I wasn't sure if I was ready for any of this, he just started acting nice to me. And maybe it was all an act? But still, he seemed to calm and genunine, unlike anything I had seen before from him.
"What is that?" I asked, pointing at the box. Josh looked at it with a little smile.
"It's for our baby," he said, opening it. While I did give a sigh of relief, my heart also sunk a little. Oh. He wasn't going to propose to me.
"What would a baby do with jewlery?" I asked, looking at the contents carefully. Josh showed the box to me, showing a little gold cross that was tiny enough to only fit around the neck of a small child or baby.
"It was mine when I was a baby, my parents gave it to me when I was born. It's been passed down a few times now, I think it used to be my mother's. Anyway, I outgrew it when I was six, but my parents made sure to mention it in my will. I never thought I would have kids but," he shrugged "I guess now I kind of have to. Anyway, I want you to keep a hold of it, in case I'm not around." I took the box from him, unsure of how to respond. Part of me was glad to have the nice gift-- it would be a great thing for my child to hav, regardless of whether or not they knew their father-- but on the same token, a little part of me felt sad. As much as I hated Josh, I would still feel horrible to have the only guy I ever slept with (once I did that, of course) leave me after I got pregnant. Sadly, I handed the box back to him. He furrowed his brow, looking confused.
"Is something wrong? Do you not like it?" he asked genuninely, looking down at the cross. I shook my head, staring at the plate in front of me. Before Josh could ask anymore questions, the waitor arrived. I looked down at my menu and skimmed over the options, looking for the most filling yet meat free meal.
"I would like the eggplant lasagna," I said, handing my menu to the waitor "And a rasberry tea."
"I would like a steak, rare, with the mashed potatoes as a side," ordered Josh "With a coke." After that, the waitor left, and Josh smirked at me.
"What?" I asked defensively. Josh shook his head and laughed in astonishment.
"Eggplant? Yeesh, you're a girl," he said with a laugh. I turned bright red. What was he saying? "I mean, you might as well have ordered a salad." I gasped and frowned at him. I am not one of those girls-- yes, I may not be super skinny, but at least I wasn't trying to be something I'm not.
"For you're information, I'm a vegetarian. Also, I was planning on asking you for your potatoes," I looked away, refusing to meet his stupid eyes "And besides, why should I care. I'm never going to be skinny like Crystal." At this, Josh stopped laughing. I looked at him curiously.
"Are you serious? You're probably a hundred pounds when wet," he said. At this, he leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of his ice water. I rolled my eyes.
"I'm a hundred and six, thank you very much," I grumbled. Josh laughed again, only this time it wasn't so condescending.
"See what I mean? Besides," he sipped the water again, as if mocking me "If you were more than that, you might have boobs." At this, I grabbed a roll from the bread basket and threw it at him. Josh laughed and held up his hands.
"Okay, that was a cheap shot, I surrender!" he laughed. At this, I couldn't even help but giggle. Josh picked up the bread from the ground and bit into it. I wrinkled my nose.
"Ew! That's gross," I stated, sounding, unfortunately, like the kind of girl I tried not to be. Josh bit in it again.
"What? I survived the Great Plague. I'm invincible," he said with his mouth full. I couldn't help but laugh at how riduculous he sounded. He laughed too. When he finished chewing, we both looked at each other a moment in silence, causing me to blush and look into my lap.
"You know," said Josh, softly for once "You're cute when you blush. I've always had a thing for shy girls." At this, I didn't know what to say, and the irony of this made us both laugh. I covered my face with my hands. Lord. Here he was trying to be nice and I didn't know what to say. I hid in my hands as the awkward silence grew, and soon Josh's hands were over mine.
"Hey," he said "Don't do that, I want to see your face." He talked so gently that, for a second, I could imagine to him talking to a child like that, a little girl or boy who had just cried over something stupid and wouldn't look at their daddy. But then I remembered he wouldn't even be around for that part, and all of my happiness seemed to flutter out the window. I pulled my hands away from him, and turned my face so I wouldn't have to meet his eyes. He stared at me and I could see him from my peripheral vision, looking confused and somewhat sad. I sighed and met his eyes.
"Something wrong?" he asked. I bit my lip.
"No, I'm fine," I lied. Josh blinked, looking confused and concerned at the same time. I almost felt bad. Almost.
At this time, the food came, much to my happiness. We ate in silence for a few minutes-- although I did hold true to my promise and steal a few potatoes, making him laugh and break the tension-- and soon enough we were done. As I re-applied my lipstick, Josh figured out the tip on his phone. Once we were paid, we exited the restaurant into the warm, breezy.
"I have an idea," said Josh at last. I looked up at him with an eyebrow cocked, as if to say "what now?" This could not be good. His eyes sparkeled with michief and I wanted to verbally groan. He probably was going to say something sexual, something about going back to his place, and a fight was sure to break out when I refused. Instead, he shocked me by saying.
"Let's go get a puppy."