What About My Forever?

Chapter 21 Date Night

Dwayne's POV

The sound of her laugh brings out my smile, even if it is a nervous one. "So why would you need to talk to me? I am fine, as I told you. You're amazing and saved me from a bad fall that could have turned into something so bad. I will be forever grateful for that. Thank you.. Again," she declares as I cleared my throat, now feeling the nervousness hitting me again, as if it was last night on the subway or the night in the bar all over again.

"Well, I thought we had a nice little conversation for the minute that it lasted during both encounters, and I was hoping that maybe we could do it again.. But longer this time. Maybe even have a second dance, or a drink and meal. I hear that's what people do when they want to get to know each other. Strange, right?" I say, sarcastically smiling to myself even though I feel like I am sounding like an i***t, or at least feeling like it. My eyes nervously bounce to the people around us, just worried about what she might think.

Especially since I can barely find the words in my brain that feels completely fogged at that moment. I shake my head and pinch the bridge of my nose before her sweet giggle hits my ears letting me know she appreciated something I said. My hand goes down to my side, allowing my eyes to lock with hers as her soft words come out but sounding more confused than anything else. "Wait.. Like a date? You.. Want to ask me.. On a date?"

My chuckle escapes my lips before taking a step closer to her, "Yes, that is exactly what I would want.. I don't know why you would sound so surprised. Because I would love to take you out on a date sometime, and I am sure that I am not the only one." I say clarifying as the look of shock shifts into something sad, and I don't know why. Maybe this is nothing she would have wanted or has someone already. That thought makes me feel bad because I never even asked if that was the case, and she probably thinks I am being insane or stalker-ish with this unexpected interaction.

"Well.. You know.. Unless you are taken, and I am now overstepping boundaries? I am not the person to do those things and if that is the case then let me know and I can back off." I added as I watched her head shake. "No, I am not taken.. And honestly, I don't think you would really want to waste your time with me. I promise it will not be worth it. There are many other amazing candidates for your attention and affections out there."

My eyebrows furrow as I think about what she just said. "You shouldn't say such things about yourself... Nor me, because I don't think for one second that it would be a waste of MY time." I hear her huffing out, which intrigues me as to why she would react like that about herself. "Well, you should," she states before I have a chance to finish my thoughts. "Well, I won't. Can you just give me one night to prove that to you?" I ask, as she looks reluctant, but I am not giving in. "I swear I am not a bad guy. If that is what you think," I say as she instantly shakes her head. "No, I don't think that at all and haven't thought that about you for one second.. I just don't want to waste your time when you have someone better coming your way... But maybe this would help with that, since you helped me last night." She says this as if she is convincing herself and maybe didn't mean to say that out loud.

"Alright.. When?" She asks as I get excited about the fact that she will give me the chance that I had been hoping for since the moment I met her. With the excitement and nervousness building quite quickly, I asked "How about this steak house at 7pm tonight.. Are you alright with that?" I make sure she knows which one I was talking about by pointing across the street at the great steak house that sits there on the corner.

Hopefully, this will make her feel like she is on neutral territory with this place, since she obviously knows this area by being here. Her eyes bounce all over my features before she nods. I do the same right before stating. "By the way my name is Dwayne. I never got the chance to tell you that last night." Her smile grows as she nods then bites her bottom lip when thinking about that, which is enticing me more than I thought I would be by that small action.

"Interesting. I don't think I have ever heard that name before. Well, it is nice to officially meet you, Dwayne.. And I will see you tonight.. Over there." She says before pointing at the same restaurant that I have already pinpointed, causing my smile to grow as I add. "At 7." She nods and agrees, "At 7.. Have a great rest of your day, Dwayne." I smiled while nodding with her before I replied, "You too, Louise." I started backing away as I saw her smiling at me and doing the same before waving and turning away.

I followed suit by turning around just as she had and jogging back to my friends, but it is hard to hide anything that has happened over there, since I can't even put away the smile that is now plastered on my face. "So she said yes? To a date, I am assuming?" There is no point in denying anything when it comes to them, because they will just poke and prod until they get the answers that they seek, so I just nod my head and go straight back to my mug that I had left.

The coffee is definitely cold now, but nothing can make this day bad when I just got to see her again, as if us seeing one another might have been meant to be. Not to mention the fact that I get to see her again tonight, a type of redemption. So nothing can bring me down this morning. I'm now ready to get this shift on with so I can get to this date tonight. The night and end of my shift couldn't come any faster.

---------------Many Hours Later---------------

I couldn't be more excited about this date and I have no idea why. I have a feeling deep within me, telling me that it is the first day of the rest of my life. Which is the same feeling I got when I started my training program for being a firefighter, so I remember this feeling quite vividly. I know how ridiculous that sounds when I say it to myself, but that doesn't take the feelings away, no matter how impossible or silly it might be when said out loud.

Nervously, I fixed the collar of my shirt, wanting something to help ease my mind and something to do with my fidgeting hands, just so I wouldn't be so anxious. It didn't exactly work, so I sat at the table of the restaurant just waiting for Louise to join me. I am a little early still, but that doesn't ease my mind, which seems to be running non-stop, wondering if she will actually show. My eyes are glued to the door just hoping she doesn't change her mind about this date.

That is until a clearing of a throat sounds besides me. I glance to the side to see a pretty young woman, our waitress, who is holding her booklet in her hand. "Would you like to order something to drink while you wait for your date to arrive?" She asks as I nod, since I was thinking about just that. "Yes, I think that will help ease my mind. A bottle of your best red... and, of course, two glasses," I requested as she nodded and wrote my small order down as she walked away. When she got out of my line of sight, my orbs locked on something incredible.. I see her.

Louise looks stunning, as if instantly she has put a spell on me. I don't know if it is my mind playing a trick on me or just the lighting of the room, but she looks radiating as if she is glowing while she talks to the hostess. Her big and beautiful smile emerges as she laughs while saying something more to the hostess, who is now laughing as well. They talk for another moment before directing her towards me. I watched her eyes move across the room until the land on me, stunning me in place.

She is wearing a beautiful black dress that hugs her every curve down to her thighs, as if it was made for just this, and maybe it was. It has short sleeves but a V-cut neckline, showing some cleavage. Her hair is down, draping over her, letting the curls bounce with every move she makes, just as the trimming on the bottom of the dress is. The heels she sports make her seem so much taller, but the walk she makes with them has a importance to them, as if she is on a mission. A mission to get to me.

Her enticing smile grows the instant our eyes lock, as if she was just as excited about this as I am. The closer she gets, the more details I can see in my favorite feature, her gorgeous eyes. They sparkle, like fireworks in the sky. "Dwayne.. You showed?" She says with a tinge of surprise but mostly humor in her tone. "Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world." I respond instantly as her smile turns face-splitting.

"You flatter me." She states shyly as I instantly stand. "Where are my manners?" I declare feeling silly about getting lost in her beauty and not being a polite gentleman. I walked around her and to her chair as I pulled it out for her with the hostess walking away and the waitress coming back to our table with our bottle and glasses in hand. Noticably my heart skips a beat when she smiles back at me as I take in her sweet aroma while she sits as I slowly push her in.

The waitress pours our glasses for us as she places them on the table. "I hope you don't mind, I ordered us a bottle, but if you want something else, feel free to get it." I declared as she instantly shook her head. "No, this is perfect. Thank you, though." The waitress smiles, then leaves the table as the comfortable silence takes over. "I don't know how you would ever think that I wouldn't show for this." I say playfully to her as she smirks before shaking her head.

"I honestly didn't know when I had heard about the fire on the outskirts of town. I was half expecting for you to either call and cancel because of being too busy, being late or not showing at all." She states understandably. "No.. I have the rest of the night off. If they do need me, I will be a last resort. But let's hope it doesn't come to that, since I don't want anything to interrupt this." I try to explain and ease her mind as she smiles and nods. "I hope that doesn't happen either. Now tell me about your day. I am sure it was more exciting than mine."

I wave her comment off as I scoff, "No, I haven't done too much today, just routine stuff really. Lots of restocking and cleaning, testing equipment and so on. When getting home, I had some time for catch up on my cleaning around the house. So I can reassure that there was nothing exciting about it." I declared as she laughs before saying, "You know, some people really enjoy the mundane things in life." I smiled thinking about that. "Are you apart of that crowd? Loving the mundane?" I asked as she laughs.

"Yes, I am quite boring when you get down to the main details of my personality. Occasionally, I like to do something different and exciting just to learn something new, but for the most part, I would be happy as a clam just staying home and doing the mundane over much else." She answers as I laugh with her. "Well I don't always have a lot of open time so when I do, I just love being home and spending my free time doing the mundane as well. There is sometimes far too much excitement in my life that I need the mundane to help even things out for myself. So it sounds like we are just two peas in a pod."

Humming out is all I hear from her before she replies, "Maybe." I take a drink of my wine before our eyes are locking once again. "So do you like to travel when you're feeling like doing something exciting or different in your life instead of just the mundane?" She smiles when thinking about that, "Yes actually.. How about you?" She asks me as I nod with her, "I love learning about new cultures, whether it comes to the food, drinks, architecture, even religions.. It's very interesting to me."

"Me too. I love all the different cultures as well, learning as much as I can from my travels.. Maybe we are two peas in a pod." she says as I chuckle, "You sound so surprised. Maybe if you give me more chances to show you who I am, then we will find out more that we share." Her smile grows with her eyes lighting up under the candlelight as she hums out, "Maybe." The waitress finds her way over to us before clearing her throat once again. "Sorry for interrupting the conversation, but are you ready to order?" we both nod and giving her our order and oddly enough it's the same causing the waitress to laugh as we share another shy smile while watching the waitress leave.

"So Louise.. Are you from the area?" I asked as she shook her head instantly. "No.. moved here a couple months ago actually." she says as I smile big, "Lucky I found you then, maybe I can show you around to more places so you can really get to know the culture here as well." She bites her bottom lip with her eyes still glued to mine. "Maybe... So Dwayne.. Are you from here?" I nod my head as I swallow the drink I took before replying. "Yes, I am from the town over but it is so much smaller than this city that we had to come here for almost anything we needed. So yes still considered a local."

"How did you decide to become a firefighter?" She asks as I get a little sad when thinking about that. "My father was the chief for many years and inspired me to follow in his shoes, besides the fact that I wanted to do something that actually had meaning, helping people in any way that I could." Her smile grows as she softly retorts, "me too. That's what I always wanted for my life as well." My smile won't even waver because of how well this date is going. We really see eye to eye on many things and getting along splendidly.