You Leave Me With a Dangerous Taste
Twenty-Five
It seems like all I did with Jack was either watch TV or discover something sexual, but I can assure that this was not the case. For a bigger portion of time since I met Alex, yes, I didn’t really do much with him. I was too busy being with Alex to remember the person I had dated since sophomore year. But I had had a sudden realization that I couldn’t just leave Jack in the dark. He might not have known about anything, but I didn’t need him getting suspicious
Ever since I got a reminder what my relationship was like with him, I made sure to spend more time with him as well. I needed to make sure that he wouldn’t get second thoughts and cancel our wedding. I wouldn’t know how to deal with that.
So, when Jack suggested we go on a date to celebrate the start of my new career, I said yes without hesitation. I told Alex I couldn’t stay over late night despite the fact I often did that day every week. It sure came as a blow to him, but I didn’t tell him anything about the fact that Jack and I were going on a date. A little white lie was all that was needed. I just told him I was doing something with my family; Jack was technically family.
That evening, I was wearing my nearly-purple velvet dress I had gotten as a gift from Alex the night I lost my virginity, the rose necklace hanging delicately from my neck. I nearly contemplated if I should wear the new shoes as well or not. But that was too risky. I could still lie my way around the dress and the necklace; the pasta sauce fiasco, and something I either got from my brother or something I found lying around. Showing up in shoes that cost more than Jack’s monthly salary? Not so much. It was so tempting, though.
“You know, I’m so happy you’re not so busy anymore,” Jack whispered, holding one of my hands in his on the table while we were waiting for our food to arrive.
If he hadn’t proposed already, I would have thought he would be doing it now. We rarely went out on dates, often opting on staying the night in. When we did go out, however, we conserved money. We didn’t just go out to fancy restaurants, we’d often go to chains that had so many restaurants all over the country and way lower prices. We just didn’t have the luxury of doing more. But now we were at one of the better restaurants in town. How we were going to pay for it, I wasn't sure.
“You can thank Alex for that,” I winked, giving him a half lie. Jack just thought it meant that Alex wasn’t as busy anymore, I knew it was because I found out about Alex’s feelings and needed to give him some space.
“He’s actually quite nice,” Jack agreed.
But before he could finish his thought and make it even more ironic, the waitress came up with our drinks. She looked a little concerned as she put down the bottle on the empty table right beside us first.
“I’m sorry I forgot to ask earlier,” she gave us a quick smile that confirmed her slight discomfort, “sir, but can I see some ID?”
“Oh yeah, sure,” Jack gave her a nod and reached into the pocket of his suit jacket. He pulled out the small card of plastic casually and handed it to her. She looked over the details before thanking him and giving it back.
Then her eyes fell on me. I quickly realized she wanted to see mine as well. So, I started scrambling around in my bag. I was nearly afraid that I had forgotten it at home or something. Of course, I could get out of it saying that I was just going to drink water, but then Jack would seem suspicious as well. Although, we could say that this was our first date and I had lied about my age, but the engagement ring on my finger would give it all away.
Luckily, I remembered I had stuffed it in a small pocket that was meant to hold my phone the last time I had gone out to buy something I legally didn’t have access to due to my age. Letting out a small sigh of relief, I pulled it out and handed it to her with a bright smile, hoping that would apologize enough for it taking so long.
Not much later, I got to put my ID back in my bag and our glasses were filled with champagne. Jack and I stayed silent the entire time she was still around our table, putting down the bottle on our table. When she finally did leave, we both let out a breath we were holding.
“These things still work?” I laughed quietly so nobody would hear us.
“I know right? It was worth the money. I still have a baby face on this fake! Why did they ever think we were already of age?” He chuckled along with me, happily taking a sip from the flute.
We had gotten these fake IDs back in high school in our senior year. Since they hadn’t ‘expired’ yet, we never had the need to get new ones. Sure, they were a little expensive, but we were the only ones that had never been caught out of our friends, especially when they were being overused in high school. It was quite a good investment.
This whole evening just consisted of thrills.
“We’re almost 21, though. Soon these won’t be necessary anymore.” I smirked, nudging his leg with my foot. Maybe I wasn’t wearing my new fancy heels, but these old ones made Jack stare at my legs just as much.
“That will be great. I won’t feel a little guilty anymore.” He grinned, putting down the glass again.
“You’ll feel the worst when you’re 21 already and I won’t be yet.”
“We’ll just have to only drink what we have at home those few months then.” He shrugged, trying to compromise so I would feel better. “But one thing’s for sure, we can’t get married until both of us are 21. It will suck if everybody drinks around us and we can only have sodas.”
“Tell that to our moms,” I rolled my eyes. Despite my mom constantly getting distracted while we were looking for inspiration, she was quite set on having it be soon. It was like she was looking forward to it more than I was. But she was an over-enthusiastic person.
“They might force a specific venue on us, but they can’t do that with the date,” Jack shook his head. “We can make any weird choices work, but we’re going to choose the date that’s going to be special to us for the rest of our lives. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure of it.”
I giggled softly, drinking some of the champagne as well. The last couple of times our parents had been around and giving us suggestions, Jack just wouldn’t stand up for us. He wanted to please our moms and didn’t want to get into anything with my dad. I was quite insisting on the things I didn’t want, but it was difficult to stand my ground if I didn’t have any support on my side.
“I’m being serious!’ Jack whined, knowing exactly why I was making fun of him.
“Okay, you can tell them the thing that will affect the entire wedding. It will change the color scheme, the flower arrangements, the type of dresses, the venue, even the food.” I joked to scare him a little.
“You know what? We’ll just choose the year, they can choose the season,” Jack brushed it off, leaning back in his chair and looking a bit afraid of what was to come.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure I’m the only one hated by both of our families,” I assured him, rubbing my thumb over his hand.
“No, no,” he sighed and picked up our interlocked hands, placing one soft kiss on my hand. “I don’t care. I’ll do anything to make sure that our wedding day will be the way we want it, not how our parents want it. They had their day, now it’s ours.”
And once again he had proven that he was way too good for me. I didn’t deserve him one bit.
Ever since I got a reminder what my relationship was like with him, I made sure to spend more time with him as well. I needed to make sure that he wouldn’t get second thoughts and cancel our wedding. I wouldn’t know how to deal with that.
So, when Jack suggested we go on a date to celebrate the start of my new career, I said yes without hesitation. I told Alex I couldn’t stay over late night despite the fact I often did that day every week. It sure came as a blow to him, but I didn’t tell him anything about the fact that Jack and I were going on a date. A little white lie was all that was needed. I just told him I was doing something with my family; Jack was technically family.
That evening, I was wearing my nearly-purple velvet dress I had gotten as a gift from Alex the night I lost my virginity, the rose necklace hanging delicately from my neck. I nearly contemplated if I should wear the new shoes as well or not. But that was too risky. I could still lie my way around the dress and the necklace; the pasta sauce fiasco, and something I either got from my brother or something I found lying around. Showing up in shoes that cost more than Jack’s monthly salary? Not so much. It was so tempting, though.
“You know, I’m so happy you’re not so busy anymore,” Jack whispered, holding one of my hands in his on the table while we were waiting for our food to arrive.
If he hadn’t proposed already, I would have thought he would be doing it now. We rarely went out on dates, often opting on staying the night in. When we did go out, however, we conserved money. We didn’t just go out to fancy restaurants, we’d often go to chains that had so many restaurants all over the country and way lower prices. We just didn’t have the luxury of doing more. But now we were at one of the better restaurants in town. How we were going to pay for it, I wasn't sure.
“You can thank Alex for that,” I winked, giving him a half lie. Jack just thought it meant that Alex wasn’t as busy anymore, I knew it was because I found out about Alex’s feelings and needed to give him some space.
“He’s actually quite nice,” Jack agreed.
But before he could finish his thought and make it even more ironic, the waitress came up with our drinks. She looked a little concerned as she put down the bottle on the empty table right beside us first.
“I’m sorry I forgot to ask earlier,” she gave us a quick smile that confirmed her slight discomfort, “sir, but can I see some ID?”
“Oh yeah, sure,” Jack gave her a nod and reached into the pocket of his suit jacket. He pulled out the small card of plastic casually and handed it to her. She looked over the details before thanking him and giving it back.
Then her eyes fell on me. I quickly realized she wanted to see mine as well. So, I started scrambling around in my bag. I was nearly afraid that I had forgotten it at home or something. Of course, I could get out of it saying that I was just going to drink water, but then Jack would seem suspicious as well. Although, we could say that this was our first date and I had lied about my age, but the engagement ring on my finger would give it all away.
Luckily, I remembered I had stuffed it in a small pocket that was meant to hold my phone the last time I had gone out to buy something I legally didn’t have access to due to my age. Letting out a small sigh of relief, I pulled it out and handed it to her with a bright smile, hoping that would apologize enough for it taking so long.
Not much later, I got to put my ID back in my bag and our glasses were filled with champagne. Jack and I stayed silent the entire time she was still around our table, putting down the bottle on our table. When she finally did leave, we both let out a breath we were holding.
“These things still work?” I laughed quietly so nobody would hear us.
“I know right? It was worth the money. I still have a baby face on this fake! Why did they ever think we were already of age?” He chuckled along with me, happily taking a sip from the flute.
We had gotten these fake IDs back in high school in our senior year. Since they hadn’t ‘expired’ yet, we never had the need to get new ones. Sure, they were a little expensive, but we were the only ones that had never been caught out of our friends, especially when they were being overused in high school. It was quite a good investment.
This whole evening just consisted of thrills.
“We’re almost 21, though. Soon these won’t be necessary anymore.” I smirked, nudging his leg with my foot. Maybe I wasn’t wearing my new fancy heels, but these old ones made Jack stare at my legs just as much.
“That will be great. I won’t feel a little guilty anymore.” He grinned, putting down the glass again.
“You’ll feel the worst when you’re 21 already and I won’t be yet.”
“We’ll just have to only drink what we have at home those few months then.” He shrugged, trying to compromise so I would feel better. “But one thing’s for sure, we can’t get married until both of us are 21. It will suck if everybody drinks around us and we can only have sodas.”
“Tell that to our moms,” I rolled my eyes. Despite my mom constantly getting distracted while we were looking for inspiration, she was quite set on having it be soon. It was like she was looking forward to it more than I was. But she was an over-enthusiastic person.
“They might force a specific venue on us, but they can’t do that with the date,” Jack shook his head. “We can make any weird choices work, but we’re going to choose the date that’s going to be special to us for the rest of our lives. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure of it.”
I giggled softly, drinking some of the champagne as well. The last couple of times our parents had been around and giving us suggestions, Jack just wouldn’t stand up for us. He wanted to please our moms and didn’t want to get into anything with my dad. I was quite insisting on the things I didn’t want, but it was difficult to stand my ground if I didn’t have any support on my side.
“I’m being serious!’ Jack whined, knowing exactly why I was making fun of him.
“Okay, you can tell them the thing that will affect the entire wedding. It will change the color scheme, the flower arrangements, the type of dresses, the venue, even the food.” I joked to scare him a little.
“You know what? We’ll just choose the year, they can choose the season,” Jack brushed it off, leaning back in his chair and looking a bit afraid of what was to come.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure I’m the only one hated by both of our families,” I assured him, rubbing my thumb over his hand.
“No, no,” he sighed and picked up our interlocked hands, placing one soft kiss on my hand. “I don’t care. I’ll do anything to make sure that our wedding day will be the way we want it, not how our parents want it. They had their day, now it’s ours.”
And once again he had proven that he was way too good for me. I didn’t deserve him one bit.