Forever And Never

After finishing planning everything out on Friday, the day of the one month anniversary date finally came and it was at last time for me to leave. August had insisted that we take his car there, that he should be the one to drive since he'd asked me to go out on the date, and because he didn't know where I lived I'd decided to drive to his apartment and from there we could take his car to the restaurant. It was simple enough plan, and once we'd finalized all of the details we decided on meeting at his apartment around seven.
Due to Hayden's warning to stay inside only a few weeks ago, I'd said nothing about the date to neither him nor our mother who was away on a business trip until the 16th of December. I wouldn't put it past Hayden to be paranoid enough to force me to miss the date, but it turned out that he wasn't even home that Saturday night when the outing was planned. He'd left in the afternoon with some friends to go somewhere and had told me that he would probably make it back a little late, giving me plenty of time to leave, go on the date, and then come home without him even knowing I'd gone anywhere.
So, after showering, applying my makeup, straightening my hair, and putting on my dress and sandals I'd picked out, I grabbed my car keys from my bag as was ready to leave, choosing to leave behind my cell phone and the rest of my belongings so I wouldn't have to carry them. After locking my bedroom door from the inside just in case Hayden came home early, he would think I was in my room asleep, I left my house in my car driving through the suburbs towards the Briar apartments.
I arrived a few minutes before seven, parking in a vacant space in front of the building which housed his apartment. It had been a little over a month since I'd been there, when I'd finally admitted my feelings for August, and now here we were again. After parking and turning off my car I noticed August leaning against the railing of the stairs leading to his apartment, waiting for me casually with his hands in his pockets. He was wearing a regular tuxedo with black pants and a jacket, a white colored undershirt, and a black tie. It fit him perfectly, as if it had been made especially for him, and I was thankful that I'd wore the white dress I'd chosen because I may have underdressed if I hadn't.
He walked forward, off the sidewalk, and onto the gravel of the parking lot, opening my door for me and offering a hand for me to take. I grabbed his hand lightly and stood from the driver's seat, standing on the rocky gravel beneath us before grabbing my keys and closing the door. Once I had locked the doors I turned back to August and smiled girlishly, feeling excitement about the upcoming date bubble in my stomach. He grinned in return and after a second brought his hand from behind his back to reveal a white rose, the same kind he'd given me the Monday after we started dating.
"Thank you," I said as I took the rose in my hands and brought it to my face, smelling the beautiful fragrance lightly. He smiled at me warmly and after a second asked, "Are you ready to go?" I nodded, holding the rose and my keys in one hand while he took my other and led me to a red car parked a few spaces to the left of mine. I'd never seen the car before, and didn't know if it belonged to him or anything like that, but chose not to think about it and focus in him. He opened the passenger door for me and I got in as gracefully as I could, setting my car keys and the rose in one of the drink holders while he closed the door and walked around to the driver's side to get in. Once in the car, he dug his car keys from his pocket and started the car, driving out of the parking lot of the apartments and onto the main road.
The restaurant August had planned for us to go to was about fifteen minutes away in the downtown area where all the big buildings and businesses were located and I would find, once we arrived, that it wasn't just any average restaurant we were going to but one of the fanciest, most expensive places in the entire town. After the drive there, in which I discovered that August tended to drive incredibly fast, I stared at the building in shock that he'd decided on such a ritzy place for our one month anniversary. Not that I minded, but I would have expected a regular average-priced restaurant for such a small occasion.
August parked the car, got out quickly, and opened the passenger door for me to get out, taking my hand as I stood leaving my rose and keys inside. After locking his car, he took my hand in his and we walked to the entrance of the building. Inside, the main room of the restaurant was filled with round tables covered with white table cloths and a single white candle burning softly in the center. The area was dimly lit with small lights all around and couples in fancy dresses and suits either sat at the tables eating their dinners and talking, or dancing slowly in front of a red velvet stage to the right of the entrance. There was a clearing in front of the small stage where people could dance, and a thin woman in a long red dress with short black hair and a small band of three or four men played behind her while she sang a slow, jazz song.
"Wow…" I murmured in amazement was we made our way to our table, glancing around at everything as we were seated at a table a few feet from the stage and dance floor and were handed the menus. August smiled where he sat across from me and I spoke, "You really didn't have to go all out like this."
"I wanted to make you happy," He replied as he leaned forward and put his left hand on the table for me to take which I did as he continued, "I'm sure is isn't easy dealing with everything… like the OCD and all of that." I smiled and nodded slightly, not wanting to admit how right he was, and he returned it with his blue eyes shining beautifully in the low light. I loved him with all of my heart, and the thought that this could be the night when he would finally kiss me and show how much he cared for me too made the excited feeling form in my stomach once again.
Knowing how much planning August had put into this, I wasn't at all surprised with how fantastic the night turned out to be. He managed to put aside more of his apprehensions about touching me and we were closer than we had ever been before. I could sense hints of hesitation a lot of the time, and I knew that even if he was pushing himself he was still uncomfortable with it all. Regardless, we were still able to have a good night.
Our dinner came a few minutes after we ordered it and we both ate, talking and joking lightly as we listened to the slow music of the band and the woman singing. He asked me more questions about my life, about my brother and my mom and I told him about my dad and how my mom got her job. He listened intently to every story and seemed interested in knowing about it all, and when I'd finished telling him about the aspects of my life I was compelled to ask my own questions: "I remember you telling me about your Aunt; what's she like?"
"She's really nice… and she inherited a lot of money when my uncle died," August explained surprising me when he actually answered the question since he had a tendency to avoid topics involving his personal life. "She mentioned recently that I'll be inheriting her fortune when she dies."
"She sounds like a really great person," I replied with a smile as I remembered him telling me that she sent him money every month to support himself and live on his own in the apartment. I was happy that he had some sort of relative out there who cared for him, even if she did live in a different country.
Once both August and I had finished eating our meals, he asked if I wanted to dance and I accepted with a smile and took his hand as he stood from his seat, my heart racing as I looked into his crystal eyes. He returned my smile as I stood from my chair and followed him to the small dance floor in front of the stage. We danced closely to the slow music the band played, his arm around my waist and my hand on his shoulder. I could still feel space between us, though it was only a few inches, but the fact that he was letting me closer than he ever had before made me forget about the space.
"Are you having a good time?" He asked quietly as he glanced down at me, our faces closer than they had ever been before. The distance between us was so small that I has having a hard time forming words, and I stumbled to reply to his question: "It's amazing… I'm having a great time." A beautiful smile found its way to his face, and I thought that he would do it right then and there. I thought he would lean down and finally kiss me, finally show me how much he cares and make all my sadness disappear. Instead, he simply looked into my eyes with that same smile.
After a few songs worth of dancing, we made our way back to our table which had been cleared of the empty dishes and sat back down, conversing lightly for a while before the waiter came along and August asked for the check. The waiter, a young guy with blonde hair wearing black slacks, a white button-up shirt and a dark red vest, soon returned and handed him the small slip of paper with the price of our food on it.
As the waiter waited patiently, August reached into his pocket a pulled out a silver credit card, looking at it briefly before handing it to the guy. the waiter in turn half-smiled and walked away quickly to the back of the restaurant. He smiled at me as we waited for his return, and once the guy came back with the recite August verified it with a quick scribble of a signature and took back the card, slipping it into his pocket where it had come from. I wondered silently about the credit card, assuming that it had to have been from his aunt. If he had a credit card that he wasn't paying for, then why didn't he use it to pay for a nicer apartment then he currently lived in?
"Are you ready?" He asked after a second of silence, pulling me from my thoughts and back to reality. I nodded to him and stood up from my seat, watching as August pulled a few dollars from his pocket and laid them on the table to tip the waiter then took my hand and we walked towards the exit of the restaurant, into the chilly December air, and toward his car to make our way back to his house.