California Sunshine

“I’m calling it off!”

Ana has been in her closet for the past two hours trying to dig up some sort of outfit that would be decent enough for a date with a handsome British guy. She is now currently sitting on her floor with heaps of clothes all around her exactly in the same boat that she started.

“Oh really now?” Jess warily replies.

“Yes, REALLY.”

“…And now what is your reason?” Jess tiredly asks. Ana had already been going back and forth, coming up with a million and one excuses not to go on the date tonight.

“Isn’t it obvious? I have nothing to wear.” Ana throws her hands up in mock defeat.

“Kind of a strange statement coming from a person with a MOUNTAIN of clothes right in front of her.” Jess says monotonously.

“Ughhh," Ana groans, "There is just no way I'll be able to impress this guy! He probably has EVERYTHING… Including girls way cooler and prettier than I am.”

“Oh come off it!” Jess replies. “The only impression I got from him earlier today was that he is a really nice guy. AND that he seemed really into you. Just give him a shot.”

“I just don’t think I am ready... Not since--- Adam.” Ana's head falls slightly. She hates admitting to others that she isn’t over it yet. It is hard enough to admit it to herself.

Jess takes a moment to look at her sister at that. “Alright, I will give it to you straight here. Adam was a DOUCHE-BAG, a real L-7 weenie to be fair” Ana laughs at her sister's 'Sandlot' reference. “And some guys are going to be. But not all of them. The best thing you can do is to just keep putting yourself out there. Keep trying. When the timing is right it’ll all work out.” She pauses for a moment and lets that sink in with her sister, “Plus, I will literally sit on you and give you a noogie like I used to until you agree to go.”

Ana’s face drops at that. “You wouldn’t.”

The next thing she knew Jess was charging at her with an evil grin on her face.


Doorbell rings

“Oh Ana, I do believe your amore has arrived,” Jess says from the bottom of the stairs.

“Oh shut it, you.” Ana replies with a scowl on her face as she makes her way down the stairs, dressed in a simple floral sundress and a jean jacket. “I can’t believe you ACTUALLY sat on me. You are the biggest ASS.”

“I am the biggest ass, or I have the biggest ass?” Jess teases.

“Both. That really hurt.” Ana says and then makes her way to the door. Nerves like fireworks on the 4th of July as she opens it. Here goes nothing. She thinks to herself.

However, the guy standing on the other side of the door is not Harry, and appears to have his hands full of a pizza box and several other bags. Ed looks back at Ana expectantly.

“Hey there, a little help?” He asks her.

“Oh…yeah, sure.” Ana tries to hide the disappointment on her face. Maybe he isn't actually coming afterall.

Upon hearing Ed’s voice, Jessica comes to the door to investigate. “Babe, what are you doing here? And why did you ring the doorbell?” For Ed has had a key for a long time now.

“Well, it is challenging to turn the door handle when your arms are filled with pizza and other goodies for your lovely girlfriend, isn’t it?”

All of a sudden, as if it were on cue, one of his bags splits open from the bottom and couple of big bags of Dove chocolates and other assortments make their way to the ground.

As Ana bends down to help pick up the scattered goods, Ed continues; “I figured I’d come surprise you while Ana is on her date. However, I was hoping for a smoother entrance than this,” A sheepish grin on his face emerging.

At this point, Jess smiles from ear to ear, “I have THE sweetest boyfriend.” She says and leans over Ana’s still hunched-over body and kisses him. Causing Ana to look up in horror.

“Seriously guys? Can it wait until I am not literally right in between ya’ll?” She says in disgust.

“Absolutely not kid, can not wait another second,” Ed replies with a grin and then kisses Jess again.

“You guys suck,” Ana says while crawling out from underneath them.

As Ed pulls away from Jess, still smiling, he asks, “So where is my fellow Brit anyhow?”

Ana opens her mouth to answer, but a male voice responds before she has a chance, “Well if you are referring to me, I suppose this is where I make my entrance.”

Everyone turns in the direction of the voice and sees Harry walking up the pathway, dressed in black pants, shirt, and a long green peacoat. Not to mention, his luscious locks still ablaze on his head. Ed is the first to talk, “Ahh ‘ello mate!” He says joyously, “Glad you could finally join us!”

“Good to see you folks, I feel like it has been ages” he says with a grin. Then he looks at Ana and adds somewhat sheepishly, “Hi Ana. You ready?”

“Yeah let me grab my pur--- OH--- no it’s happening.” At that moment her foot slips on the bag that is still on the ground causing Ana to fall into Ed and knocking all of his things back out of his hands. Smooth

Can she not stay standing around this guy? Seriously.

“Are you okay?” She hears in response from both Harry and Jess and sees hands to help her up in front of her.

She grabs one of them blindly. “Thanks, I’ll just— 2 seconds.” She replies not wanting to look at the stupid smirk on Harry’s face, and turns back inside.

-----

“All I am saying is that you certainly know how to make an entrance” Harry said jokingly.

“Oh shut it,” She replied playfully, "I couldn't help it!"

They had been in the car for about 10 minutes now and whatever easiness in conversation that Ana had had with him earlier on, just wasn’t making an appearance so far tonight. Ana had been psyching herself out so much that her nerves were totally shot. She couldn’t formulate a proper sentence or even anything remotely interesting. If Harry noticed though, he didn’t say anything. He just continued asking questions and making jokes here and there. The most Ana could muster out was a few girlish giggles.

…GIGGLES. She had never felt so lame.

After a couple more minutes of this though, Ana started to let out a few small sentences in feeble attempts to get her nerve back, “So where do pop stars go on dates in Los Angeles, California?”

“Well I can’t speak for all pop stars, but I can tell you that we are almost to our destination.”

“Doesn’t answer my question,” Ana responded defiantly.

Harry grinned, “Well I suppose you will just have to wait and see.” The secrecy of it started to make Ana feel nervous about it. She knew she should just relax, but what if she didn't belong where he was taking her? She hoped she would be adequate enough.

About 30 seconds later, Ana’s nervousness shot to a whole other level as she saw where they were pulling in. A grand and “glorious” Ritz-Carlton hotel stood before them. Ana had never stayed at a Ritz Carlton before but she obviously had heard about them being a “luxury.” And from what she was seeing, it wasn’t disappointing it’s reputation. Everything on the exterior already seemed sleek and luxurious. Not to mention the people that were walking in and out were dressed in a way that oozed sophistication. Only a little fancier than Ana’s little sun dress. But that was the least of her worries at the moment.

“So why are we pulling into a hotel?” She asked suspiciously. Was he really taking her to his hotel room already on the first date? ...Really?

Harry seemed to catch her suspicion, “Oh relax, we aren’t going up to a room,” he said with a smile, “There happens to be a lovely restaurant on the first floor, and THAT is where we are going to.”

Oh Ana sighed with relief before she could stop, “I gotta admit, I wasn’t sure what your intentions were.”

“Ever so forward as always Ana!” Harry teased. “I am clearly much too prude for that.”

“Yeah yeah, I’m sure you are. Prude is actually the first word that comes to mind when I think of you” Ana said. And as Harry laughed, she started feeling relieved that the easiness was starting to come back little bit by little bit.

As they pulled up, a man dressed up in a tuxedo approached Harry’s side of the car as he rolled down his window. “Good evening sir! Valet for you and the young lady tonight?”

“Yes thank you mate,” Harry said with a blinding smile. He was actually charming to everyone.

“The pleasure is all mine,” the valet responded, smile never leaving his face, and then walked over to Ana’s side of the car to open the door for her. “Madame” he said as he smiled at her.

Ana thanked him sheepishly and then walked over to where Harry stood waiting for her. He held out his arm for Ana to loop hers through it. She did just that and they walked arm in arm up to the doorway. Once they approached the door, two doormen grabbed a handle of each door and opened them simultaneously giving the two of them a double door entrance.

Once inside, Ana noticed the restaurant was filled with more people that were dressed as if they were going to the Oscars. Women were in anything from ritzy dress suits to long ball gowns. And let’s not even get started on the “ice” that glittered their wrists, necks, and ears. These people were a different kind of animal for sure.

Despite the large lump that was forming in Ana’s throat, she tried to focus on how polite and chivalrous Harry was being towards her, a characteristic she hasn’t seen in most guys these days. When they were headed towards the table, he made sure to hold her chair out for her first before he went to sit down in his own. And that was only the beginning of it, so Ana discovered. He also took her jacket and hung it on the back of her chair. He oozed chivalry, as if the term was named after him himself!

“So I must say, I am feeling slightly under-dressed for the occasion,” Ana said once they were both sat at the table, feelings of inadequacy creeping through her. “I guess I should have expected a 5 star restaurant coming from you.” She said as she continued to look around at all of the glamorous folks.

“Well I think you look great,” Harry replied and then added so quiet it was almost under his breath; “Beautiful even.” Ana caught it though, and just stared back at him, Not knowing how to respond. This caused both of them to blush a fierce shade of red.

“Sorry, was that too much? I am not still accustomed to the whole dating thing again. It has been a while for me.” Harry said sheepishly.

Ana snorted, “Really? –I find that hard to believe coming from a handsome pop star such as yourself” She cringed, mentally kicking herself for calling him handsome. He clearly already knows that he is.

Harry shrugged, “I guess I'm just a pretty busy handsome pop star." He replied with a smirk and gave Ana a pointed look. "Besides, there just haven't been people worth making time for."

“Well goodness, I’m honored to be one of the few!” Ana joked back at him. “To be honest though, this is my first time in a long time as well.”

“Oh come off it! A pretty girl like you must have guys chasing you left and right! At least that’s how it would be in England, for sure.” Harry teased.

Ana felt a small pang at his words, only one that mattered she thought to herself.

“Sadly the guys around me just haven’t quite lived up to par yet.” What she said was partially true, they didn’t quite live up to him. Truth was, Ana had had quite a few potential suitors come her way. And she consistently compared them all to Adam.

EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

She hated that she did that, but she couldn’t help it. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t let him go.

“Sounds like you are a tough fish to catch,” Harry said flirtatiously.

Ana smirked back at him, “I guess I just know what I am looking for."

A small beat of silence passed before Harry spoke again, “So what are you looking for on the menu? I personally heard the Peking Duck is ravishing.” He said while starting to scan the menu.

Ana let out a laugh, "Nice segway! But do they have steak?" She said while starting to scan the menu as well. "I could totally go for some Stea---Oh yikes that’s expensive!” Ana blurted out without being able to control it. “Maybe I won't actually, it’s a little out of my price range.” She said honestly.

Harry rolled his eyes at her words. “Do you really think I’d ask to take you out then not pay for it? I’m insulted. Genuinely.” He put a hand to his chest to accentuate his hurt.

“But it’s like 50 dollars—For a slab of meat!”

“Slab of delicious meat” Harry replied while wagging his eyebrows at her. Ana only playfully glared at him in return causing Harry to laugh, “But in all seriousness, please do not worry about the money. Let me treat you.”

Ana felt something stir inside of her. It had been a long time since a guy had treated her this nice. Not even Adam. He was being so sincere to her that she felt she couldn’t turn him down. Maybe it was a part of his British charm.

“Okay. Well thank you.” Ana replied while turning her eyes back to her menu. “So I gotta ask, is this the kind of life you live all the time?”

Harry looked at her quizzically, “What do you mean?”

“I mean all the glitz and glamour! Five-star restaurants, valet parking, $50 steaks! I mean, sure it’s all very lovely and I’m glad you are giving me an opportunity to experience it all, but I think there's gotta be more adventures in life than just really expensive dinners."

Harry paused at her words, seeming to be mulling them over, “You like adventures, huh?” was all he said. Ana just nodded and waited for him to speak again.

Harry then looked at his watch quick and appeared to have an epiphany as he stood up and reached his hand out towards Ana, “I have an idea, come on.” He said with a small smile.

“What are you doi--” Ana started

“Just trust me,” he interrupted with a devilish grin. Ana skeptically took his hand as she too stood up.

“Excuse me Sir and Madam. Is this a bad time? Do you want me to just come back to take your orders then?” The waiter had just walked up to their table looking slightly confused at seeing them start to walk away.

Harry continued to look at Ana, same grin on his face while responding, “Thanks, but you won't need to come back. We will have two filet mignons please. We will just be stepping out to the car.”

“Sounds good, I’ll put that order right in, sir.” The waiter responded as he walked towards the kitchen.

However, Harry’s eyes never left Ana’s as his eyebrows shot up, “Hopefully we will be back in time for them,” he said while tugging her by the arm out of the restaurant and towards the hotel. "Follow me!"