The Dreamwalker

Dinner date

Adrian POV

I was a nervous wreck about the dinner with Jennifer and I couldn’t understand why. We’ve spent time together and she knew about my past more than anyone I’ve previously met. I was comfortable with her so I could not understand why I was filled with trepidation. It was almost time for me to go pick her up. I chose to wear black chinos, black dress shoes, a forest green button-up and a black dinner jacket. This may sound shallow but I wanted to look good for her.

When I got to my front door there was a package laying on my doorstep with no labels or anything of the kind. I wanted to open it but then I’m going to be late for Jennifer so I just placed it on my kitchen counter and left to get my date.

I knocked on her door and stood there waiting in anticipation to see her beautiful face. When she opened the door and I saw her I was completely blown away. She was wearing a red dress that hugged every piece of her body. The dress ended just above her knees and she looked ethereal. Her hair was curled and pulled up on one side. “I look okay?” She asked and her voice was laced with uncertainty. “You look more than okay love. If we were dating, I’d have to fight off a lot of suiters.” I stepped closer to her and gave her a peck on the cheek. My lips tingled where they touched her skin. She blushed and said, “Thank you Adrian. You do not look half bad yourself.”

As she closed the door I asked her if she had her keys jokingly. She held up her hand and jingled them in front of my face. I chuckled at her. “I don’t mind you sleeping over at my place, so if you forgot your keys I wouldn’t mind at all.” She looked amused by my statement.

I led her to my Porsche that was parked on my spot and opened the door for her. I haven’t had a chance to drive the car yet and it still smelled like a new car should. As I got in behind the wheel I saw her admiring the car. “I guess a guy who has lived as long as you, you have driven all sorts of cars. Expensive cars.” I thought about it for a while before I answered. “No not really. I will buy a car every time I have to move to a new city and will only drive that one until I have to move on to the next.” “How… how regularly do you have to move?” Her voice laced with sadness. “Every twenty years or so. Otherwise people get suspicious of me not aging.” Her features relaxed a bit and she almost looked relieved.

Getting at the restaurant, I quickly got out and walked around while the valet opened the door for Jennifer. The valet looked her up and down and I wanted to punch his teeth down his throat. I stepped up between them and grabbed her by the waist pulling her close to my body. “I know she is a gorgeous woman, but if I catch you shamelessly checking my woman out again, you won’t live long enough to beg for mercy!” A myriad of emotions played across the valet’s face. First shock, then embarrassment and ended in fear. “I apologise sir. Your girlfriend is just the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” My grip got tighter around Jennifer’s tiny waist. I shoved the keys into the guy’s chest a little too forcibly that he had to take a step back but he managed to catch the keys before they fell to the ground. “Just go and park my car and if there is a single scratch on it, you can kiss your job goodbye.”

Without another glance at the valet I took Jennifer’s tiny hand and led her to the entrance. The hostess greeted us with a smile. “Name?” She asked with a friendly tone. “Black.” I replied. “Oh! Mister Black, please let me show you to your table.” She was pulling out all the stops. When I left the hospital, I started looking for new investment opportunities. Casa Del Sol’s name came up a few times and I did some research on them. Even had my lawyer get in contact theirs and they were willing to make a deal happen but I wanted to check them out for myself. I guess the current owner informed our hostess that I was coming here tonight.

The hostess led us to a secluded area where there is minimal foot traffic. We took our seats and the young lady informed us that our waiter will be with us shortly. This made me relax a bit as I didn’t want to get into a fight here tonight with any other guy that will be checking Jennifer out.

“Jennifer, I must apologise for my actions out front. I don’t know what came over me. I know you are not my woman, but that guy was being disrespectful gawking at you like that.” “I get that, and thank you.” She leaned closer, taking my hand and giving it a light squeeze while smiling warmly at me.

“I have a question for you Adrian.” She looked at me thoughtfully.

“You can ask me anything and I will try my best to answer truthfully.” And just then I realised that I will honestly answer any question she would have about my past.

She looked at me with a smile. “Why do you insist on calling me by my full name and not my nickname?”

I thought about it for a second. “Jennifer is your name is it not?”

“Yes it is.” She replied quickly.

“Then I don’t see why I should call you by your nickname.” 

She raised an eyebrow at me, “Then why do you sometimes call me ‘love’?”

“Uhm, you picked up on that huh?” I started to feel flustered. “Well, I would say it is a name of endearment but it is not a nickname.”

“Okay.” Satisfied with my answer she went back to scanning her menu.

After a few minutes, we gave our orders to the waiter and the rest of the dinner’s conversation flowed easily between us. She has a brilliant head on her shoulders and I was in awe of her beautiful mind. Why she was still single I had no idea so I just had to ask.

“How come you are still single?” I asked just as our dessert drinks arrived.

She shrugged at my question but still haven’t given me a reply. I waited for two whole minutes before she finally said something.

“I guess the reason I’m still single is that the guys who took me out on dates before didn’t challenge me intellectually. The conversations were extremely boring and I can’t see myself settling for a guy just because his only endearing quality was that he hit the gym 6 days a week.”

“That’s a very honest answer Jennifer. Thank you for telling me.” I said with a smile.

Jenna POV

I didn’t really think that Adrian would ask me why I’m still single but there it is. I feel so comfortable being in his company and our conversations do not run into dead-ends. He really looked pleased with my answer. Our dinner conversation flowed easily and it was almost coming to an end, which made me feel sad. As if Adrian sensed my change in mood, he took my hand in his.

“Is everything alright love?” I gave him a small smile. “Yes it is. I really enjoyed our dinner and I just realized that it is almost over.” He was still holding my hand and gently rubbing my knuckles with his thumb. “Well, if that’s the way you feel, we can do this anytime you like and if you want to, I’d love to get to know you better.” “Adrian, are you asking me what I think you are asking?” “It depends on what you think I’m asking”, he said with a wink and added, “I’m not asking you to be my girlfriend right away, I think that I need to prove myself to you first, but I really want to get to know you better if you let me.”

My head was spinning with everything that he said or maybe it was the wine. I’ve never had a guy show this much interest in me and I honestly didn’t know what to do so I just said the first thing that popped into my head. “I have never had a date leading to this moment we are having but if I’m being honest, I would love to spend more time with you and I really appreciate that we can take this slow.” He gave me a warm smile and squeezed my hand that he was still holding one more time before letting it go.

“Well, this has been an interesting evening. Thank you for spending it with me love.” Adrian gave me one of the sweetest smiles ever and I almost forgot how to breathe. Yes, this has been an interesting evening indeed.