Ready or not... [Closed, For Amelie]

[under_the_radar]

Daniel feels both under and over dressed when he pulls up outside the restaurant they'd agreed to meet at. He'd gone to his sister for fashion advice but she'd laughed him out of her room when he'd told her about who he was meeting. Daniel had sighed and gone with his instincts for comfort over formality.

He sat in the car for a few minutes and tugged at his collar and cuffs. "Okay. This is going to be not awkward at all. You're going to be cool and calm and it's going to be fun." He told himself. Of course, talking to himself like that wasn't at all cool but he couldn't be bothered to police his eccentricities right now.

He looked over at the passenger seat and picked up the carefully wrapped package before getting out of the car, taking a deep breath and pushing the door open to the restaurant.

Comments

[ameliecoombs]

She hadn't been sure how to dress either. It's been a long time since she went on a date - a date, rather than just ending up unfortunately drunk in some frat boy's dorm, and she's forgotten how to do this. Weird, for a society girl, that she can't even pick a dress to wear to a date, but this is different. She knows how to dress for one of Violet's parties, for any of the town's many events, even for drunk college parties, but this is a date with a Thornton, and that's a curve ball. She can't ask Aoife for help because it's a date with a Thornton, and that's still a secret she's keeping to herself, so eventually she picks up a blouse and a skirt and hopes he wasn't expecting something more fancy.

The restaurant is practically empty when she gets there, which is a relief. She's not ashamed of what she's doing or who she's meeting, but The Cove has a tendency to be everywhere, and even if Violet has disappeared, she's not sure how to rest of the town will take it. On the one hand, she doesn't care, and on the other, it's hard to shake a lifetime of being manipulated into a Coombs girl.

Amelie picks a table in the corner and sits quietly, smoothing out her skirt and selecting a wine. It's white, because she prefers it even if she knows she's not meant to, and she orders ice in it as an extra fuck you to her mother. She tries not to be nervous, tells herself that she's ever had any problem talking to Daniel before, and waits patiently.

[under_the_radar]

He spots her from the door. She stands out even in the corner and Daniel knows he’s smiling goofily but he can’t help himself.

The maître d approaches him and Daniel points to Amelie and is led over to the table.

“Hi.” He says. A great opening line, he knows. “I’m late. You’re perfect.” He said and he didn’t correct himself. She was.

Sitting down, he swings the bag containing her gift around behind him so she doesn’t see it. The wine she picked was one of his favourites and he waits for the waiter to serve him and takes a sip. “This is really nice. I hate red.”

[ameliecoombs]

She knows the blunt way he talks sometimes isn't intentional, how he seems to blurt out whatever he's thinking before he can stop himself, but she loves it. It's a right side better than the way the Coombs are taught to weigh every syllable before speaking, to carefully think about where and when to best place a direct hit or a quiet nudge.

She nods and takes a sip of her own wine. "Mother was always big on trying to make me like red, it never took."

[under_the_radar]

"Same with my father. He has this huge collection in the cellar and he used to take on tours to point out really expensive bottles and tell us where they come from and everything. I could just never bring myself to like it. Tastes like vinegar." He said. "I can't tell you how many plants I've killed by tipping it away into a convenient plant pot when he was trying to educate us." Daniel raised his glass to her and grinned. "Plus it rubs him up the wrong way and that just never seems to get old."

[ameliecoombs]

She laughs, a real laugh, not the society laughs that she's used to using on dates with the men her mother would approve of. This is nice.

"Well, I don't know about such a flagrant waste of alcohol, despite the taste, but I applaud the effort all the same."

[under_the_radar]

Her genuine laugh and grin makes him smile. "It could be worse. Don't ask me what I did with the tequila collection."

The waiter chose that moment to interrupt and take their orders for food. Daniel being Daniel ordered his usual carb loaded cheese fest of a pasta dish and grins encouragingly at her. He's long since learned that society women don't eat properly on dates. "I know...It's gross. I can't help it though. Indulgence is fine every now and again, right?"

[ameliecoombs]

"Well now you're going to have to tell me about the tequila collection."

She listens to him order and grins back, happy that he doesn't ask her to order a salad or a glass of fucking water. She's not exactly a heavy eater, never has been, but she's spent too many nights in restaurants with men (or her mother for that matter) ordering a salad for her that she might scream. She orders lamb and takes another large sip of wine. "I love a little indulgence. Tell me the story."

[under_the_radar]

"It's actually not that funny. Well, it was to me at the time but I was eighteen. Everything's funny at that age." Daniel said smiling at her and leaning forward conspiratorially. "James, Demetri and I were sent to visit this old dowager and her daughters. I think Father was trying to marry Demetri off to one of them." He rolled his eyes. She'd understand being presented like some prize horse or something. "Anyway, one of the girls was really into her drink and she knew all about tequila in particular. Had this collection of really rare bottles. Of course, Father didn't want to be outdone so he started researching all the good stuff. Spent a fortune." He paused for a sip of his wine and smiled. "He wasn't there when they were delivered so Demetri and I took all the really old bottles and steamed the labels off them, slapped them on bottles of cheap nasty stuff from the grocery store and then set them all up in the cellar. The old woman and her daughters were invited to stay a month or so later on some kind of business or something, but it was really so that Father could show off." He said, waving a hand dismissively. "Anyway they were taking a tour of the house and cellar and I could see the girl looking over the bottles and inspecting them really closely, frowning because she knew they were all wrong. Father was just pontificating over how rare and special they were and she was stifling a laugh the whole time. It was great to watch."

Daniel sat back and grinned. "Later, she found me and Demetri in the cellar and we all got drunk on the expensive stuff. Absolutely worth everything second of trouble I got into for that."