The Closest Thing We Have To Magic

The next two days passed by fairly quickly. Shay and I, and the other dancers, were continuously working to our maximum at the dance rehearsals. Every night I would collapse on my bed exhausted of the strenuous dancing from that day. Kishaya had told us the next few weeks would involve the dancers dancing at their highest potential to receive the best movie footage the director could get.

I had barely seen Nick since the party at his cabin. Both of us had been so busy with our schedules the most we could do was text and call each other late at night. Our calls were usually cut short due to the circumstances and resolved to texting. But I could tell Nick was as eager as I was for our date tonight. Smiling, I remembered last night’s short, but sweet, phone call.

“Hey beautiful”

I smiled. He was definitely a smooth talker with girls. “Hey.”

“How was your day?”

“Could have been better. Kishaya worked us so hard. I’m absolutely exhausted right now. Sleep is my drug right now.”

“Hopefully you won’t fall asleep on Saturday” Nick teased.

“That’s my motivation to get through the day. I’m looking forward to tomorrow night.”

“Well that’s good to hear.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you. What’s the dress code?”

He hesitated. “You didn’t by any change bring a dress with you here did you?”

I raised my eyebrows. “A dress? Is it that formal?”

“Well….kind of.”

“I think I brought one. It’s somewhere stuffed at the bottom of my suitcase, but yes I do have one. I’ll wear it tomorrow.”

“Great” he said relieved. “What does it look like?” he slyly added.

“Nuh uh. You’ll have to see it tomorrow.”

“ Not even a hint?”

“Nope.”

He sighed. In the background I could hear his mother calling for him and his brothers for dinner. “Cady I’m sorry but I have to go now.”

“It’s okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He quickly told me goodbye and hung up the phone.

Sighing, I glanced at the clock. My eyes bugged out when I saw the time. It was already 5:30 and Nick was picking me up at 6:30. Reminiscing on memories certainly took up quite some time. I texted Shay to come on over to help me get ready and two minutes later she was sitting next to me.

“I can’t believe you gave me one hour to get you ready.” Shay exclaimed digging through my suitcase.

“One hour’s plenty.” I scoffed. “The green dress is the one I’m wearing. It’s the only one I brought with me.”

Shay pulled the dress I pointed out and laid it on my bed. I had bought the dress at the mall for my winter formal last year and had decided to bring it with me to Canada just in case. It was a forest green spaghetti strap dress that fell mid thigh. Sparkles layered throughout the whole dress giving it a shimmer from every view.

“Woah.” Shay murmered. “That’s hot. I’m borrowing this sometime.”

Shay shoved me into my small bathroom and ordered me to change. I pulled the dress carefully over my head and adjusted it onto my body. My chest wasn’t my prized possession, but I had enough to barely fill this dress out. I took the ponytail out of my hair and yelled for Shay to come into the bathroom.

“What are you doing to my hair?” Taking the brush from my counter I started taking the knots out of my hair.

Shay revealed a curling iron that she had plugged in while I was changing. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll make you all glamorous and gorgeous so when he see’s you he won’t know what the hell hit him.”

I chuckled. “Fine, but don’t do anything too extravagant.”

Twenty minutes later after mindless chatter Shay had finally finished. I started to turn around to look what she had done but Shay had other ideas. “No!” she exclaimed. “I have to do your makeup before you get to look.”

An exasperated sigh escaped from my mouth. “Don’t make me look like a freak.”

Ten more minutes later I was staring at myself in the mirror. Shay had done wonders with my hair. She had put it in a half up half down hairstyle and curled the ends of the ponytail and the ends of bottom half. My face looked natural with the makeup she used. Mineral foundation covered the little pimples I had and my eyes popped out on my face. Eyeliner and mascara traced my eyes making my dark brown eyes stand out on my face.

I turned to Shay and stared at her. “I. Love. You.”

Shay grinned. “I know.”

I laughed and started walking out of the bathroom. My black heels were just slipped on when a knock came at the door. I threw Shay a nervous look before opening the door.

Nick was standing there with his hands in his pockets of his simple black slacks and white button up shirt. His hair was somehow naturally kept in perfect curls. He grinned as soon as he saw me.

“Hey there.” He paused for a moment before adding, “ You look really pretty.”

I tried to smile sweetly while replying, “Thanks. You don’t look too bad yourself.”

Shay left my cabin before whispering good luck to me. I thanked her for getting me ready and turned to Nick.

“So, where are we going?”

He shook his head. “Nope, you wouldn’t tell me what you were wearing tonight, so I don’t tell you where we’re going.” He chuckled at the irritation on my face. “Don’t worry; you’ll manage for ten minutes. Don’t let that pretty face of yours change.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well how do we get to wherever we’re going?”

“Just a little further and you’ll see. Sorry, I’m making you walk in heels.” Nick apologized.

Instead of going the normal route to his cabin, we took a turn and were at the exit of the movie set. Waiting just outside of the entrance/exit was a small black car with Big Rob standing next to it.
Nick led me inside the car and I gingerly sat down. It looked brand new, a 2009 car most likely. Big Rob got into the driver’s seat. Clicking some buttons, he enabled a small transparent door to appear in between the front row of seats to the back.

“Nice car. New car?” I commented. My fingers grazed over the plush seats feeling the softness and I took a whiff of the new car smell that lingered in the air.

“Yup. It’s the new family car. Something wrong was with the other car we had.”

We ended up making small talk on the rest of the car ride there. Nick still wouldn’t budge telling me where we were going. His excuse was I boggle with his mind, he boggles with mine. Fifteen minutes later we came to a slow stop.

“Where are we?” I asked craning my neck to see through the window.

“Not so fast.” Nick said. He took his hands and gently placed them over my eyes. We stepped out of the car and I slightly wobbled a bit from shoes.

“What are you doing? Nick, I’m wearing heels. I’m going to FALL.” I warned him.

“No you won’t. I’ll catch you if you do.” He assured me.

I daintily started taking baby steps in the direction straight ahead. “Almost there…” he whispered into my ear. “Okay, stop now.”

He removed his hands from his face and I slowly opened my eyes. In front of me was a castle-like restaurant with lights lit up everywhere. Red and orange lights shimmered in the dark night setting a fiery glow to it. The restaurant was magnificent with a royal look to it. At the top in fancy lettering was the name Aimer le Château.

I turned my face towards Nick and gaped at him. “We’re eating here tonight?”

Nick smiled when he saw the utmost shock on my face. “Yup. Do you like it?”

“Uh huh” I said nodding my head up and down dazed.

“Come on.” He took my hand and walked me inside the restaurant. It was even more beautiful inside. Tables were located about two feet apart from each other with each a single candle lighting up the area. Prestigious silverware was placed on the table. Couples were scattered around the restaurant enjoying their own paradise with their loved ones.

Nick gave his name to the waiter who immediately escorted us to the back of the restaurant. He took us to a secluded area with a small booth replicating the tables up front. The waiter motioned us to sit down and handed the menus.

“This place is beautiful” I said gazing around.

Nick grinned. “I’m glad you like it.” We spent the next few minutes debating what to eat before finally placing our orders.

“So,” Nick said after ordering “I want to learn more about you. It’s not fair that you’re a fan and know everything about me and I know very little about you.”

“Well, what do you want to know?” I asked playing with the silk napkins.

“Everything. Family, likes, dislikes, favorite music, friends, really anything.”

I thought quietly for a minute before answering. “Well I was born April 14, 1994 in Cincinnati, Ohio. My family’s heritage is somewhat Italian which explains my looks. I have a little sister named Belle who’s only a year younger than me, she’s 14 now. Both my parent’s work, and they can get pretty irritating sometimes, but they’re the best parents ever. My best friend is Caitlin; I met her in 7th grade on the first day of middle school. We’ve been best friends ever since. I used to play tennis competitively, I’m playing for just fun now. Favorite music runs from Disney to Rihanna and T-Pain. I love mostly any music. Likes and dislikes vary. I love the romantic kind of guy and I absolutely hate bugs. They scare me. And I really don’t like any sweets like ice cream. But chocolate is okay. But other than that, I’m pretty much open to anything.”

Nick nodded taking in the whole lot of information I had just given him. “That’s pretty cool. Wait did you say you don’t like ice cream? And how long did you play tennis?”

“Since I was about 7. I started taking piano at about that age too. And the taste of frozen cold food on my teeth doesn’t sound very appealing.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Really? Well your loss. You’ve been playing piano and tennis for 8 years? Impressive. You’ll have to play the piano for my family sometime.”

I shook my head. “I don’t do well with audiences. Ever.”

He snickered. “I wouldn’t expect that from a dancer.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I haven’t been dancing for that long. I may have mentioned that when I first met you. But I really like it, so I’m glad I’m here now.”

Our dinner arrived and we picked up our conversation right where it left off. We talked about random things from my piano lessons to his playground at his old elementary school. Nick ordered a simple chocolate cake for us to share for desert. He handed me a spoon to start eating.

“I can’t believe you don’t like ice cream. I’ve never heard of that before” He said offering me a bite of the cake.

I swallowed the delicious cake. It was rich of chocolate and sugar and tasted wonderful. “I just don’t like cold food. Or anything cold for that matter. I’d rather be in California for Christmas instead of having a white Christmas.”

“Still crazy” he muttered.

I giggled and took another bite of the cake. As soon as we had finished, the waiter came and laid the bill on the table. I tried to take a peek at the price but Nick snatched it away when he saw my eyes land on the bill.

“I’m the gentleman. I pay.” He reminded me. I let that one slide; it was our first date and it had gone completely well so far and I didn’t want any memory of us arguing sketched in my brain.

We walked back to the car where Big Rob was waiting for us. He had also eaten dinner there watching for anybody who had the idea of disturbing us. Our drive home was in comfortable silence while I was remembering everything that we had talked about over our dinner. The car dropped us back at the entrance to the movie set before parking it with the rest of the cast and crew’s cars. By the time we had reached my cabin, it was almost 9pm. Not too late, not too early.

The view of my cabin door less than two feet away sadly reminded me the date was almost over. The memory of the night of our first kiss replayed in my mind while standing there. A smile stretched on my face from the memory.

Nick copied the smile on my face. “Your smile’s contagious. What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing. Just remembering.”

He chuckled. “I’ll let it slide.” Waiting for a moment, he quietly added “I really had a great time tonight.”

“So did I.” I agreed softly.

“Well, I’m glad. I was a little nervous you wouldn’t like where I was taking you tonight.” He admitted.

“No need to worry. Over all, I’m pretty impressed Jonas. You do know how to treat a girl right” I teased.

He smiled ever so slightly before moving his hands to cup my face. I started to lean in and finally caught his lips. His lips were so soft, moving gently that I didn’t want it to stop. The butterflies once again appeared in my stomach as my lips moved slowly with his. My head was going dizzy as I started to lose air and reluctantly pulled away.

“Thanks for an amazing night.” I said softly. “I really loved it.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you tomorrow Cady.” He whispered before planting a soft kiss on my cheek.