[Edited] Chapter 15: The Thing With The Blues!

Scott:

Mr. and Mrs. Taylor...

Why did this same thing kept on repeating in my mind?

Nova walked out of the door and I followed her. 

I heard her soft gasp which made me smile. 

The Blues was an indoor and an outdoor restaurant. The waiter led us outside through the back door, to a massive circular garden. 

There were total twelve gazebos in all, arranged in a circular shape, at the outline of the garden with a huge distance between each gazebo, giving everyone their privacy. A small fountain was in the middle of the garden. 

The waiter led us to a gazebo, which had vanilla curtains over the four poles; with a matching table and two chairs in the middle of it.

I looked back at Nova to see her smiling, with a sparkle in her eyes. 

The waiter left us alone to bring the menu. 

I led Nova to the chair and pulled it out for her to sit. 

She smiled and lowered herself onto the chair and mumbled a soft 'Thank you'. I sat on the other chair opposite her.

She looked and smiled at me. "Thank you for all these..."

I looked up at her and said, "You're welcome but the date is not over yet." I winked at her.

"So... that means there are more surprises?" She asked curiously.

"Maybe... maybe not." I shrugged casually.

She looked at me and tilted her head as if she was studying me. But then, shook her head and pouted.

"I thought girls loved surprises..." I said to her.

The waiter returned with the menu and left us to decide our order.

She sipped her water and said, "Yes, we do..."

"So why the pout?" I said, questioning her.

She looked at me with a smile and said, "Girls love surprises but we hate waiting for them."

"Ah..."

She just smiled and shook her head at my expression.

"So... have you decided on your order?" I asked her.

"Yep. Pizza."

"Pizza?" I looked at her, surprised.

"Why not?" She shrugged.

"I just thought girls just ate salads or something like that in front of guys," I said to her.

"Like I told you before; I'm starving... and I love pizza." She said, licking her lips. 

I chuckled.

The waiter arrived and we ordered a large pizza.

I looked at her and asked, "Wine?"

She shook her head and said, "No... no. I'm never drinking again. I do really weird things when I'm drunk."

I chuckled. The waiter left and soon came back with our pizza.

We started eating, while talking about random things.

"If you had a pet, it would be?" I asked her.

"A dog. Mostly a pug," she said, thinking out loud.

"And you would name it?"

She thought for a few minutes and then she smiled, "Blue..."

I started coughing, and trying hard to swallow the pizza. 

"Really? Blue?" I asked her once the pizza was down my throat.

"Why not? It's a really good name." She said, defensively.

"Boy! You really love blue... don't you?" I asked, amused.

She laughed, "Yeah, I do. God! I'm really weird."

"Naah... weird is a strong word. I'd say different." I said, carefully choosing my words.

"Oh please. Now - different just feels like a code for weird!" She giggled.

"So... what bout you? Pets?" She asked.

"I haven't really thought bout it. I had a hamster growing up. He was a real troublemaker!" I said, smiling at the memory.

"Hamster? What was his name?" She asked, curiously.

"Um... it was actually Sam's. I don't remember the name. The hamster was a girl. Sam named her something with the letter C and Y. I never called her by that name... it was too girly for me." I shrugged.

"So... if you didn't called her by that name; what did you call her?" She asked me, tilting her head slightly.

"Hamster." I said confidently.

She choked on the water she was drinking and then after a few seconds she composed herself and asked, "You called you hamster -Hamster? Really?"

"Why not? I always used to get confused with the pet names so I named her Hamster. Hence whenever I saw her, I didn't had to remember her name. 'Cause I... I just... you know... used to call her Hamster!" I said defensively.

"Okay... now the name 'Blue' doesn't sound so weird!" She giggled.

"Very funny!" I said sarcastically. "Wait! I remember. Sam named the hamster Cheeky," I said, suddenly remembering her name.

"Cheeky?" She asked.

"Yup. Cheeky." I confirmed.

"Still, Cheeky's still better than naming her Hamster," she said, teasingly.

"Can we forget bout all these?" I pouted.

"Forget bout what?" She winked at me.

As soon as we finished our pizza, the waiter came and took our plates.

I looked at Nova and said, "Time for you next surprise!"

"You don't have to do that-" She started to talk but stopped when the waiter placed the desert in front of us. 

As the waiter left, Nova looked up at me, "Chocolate cake! You remembered?"

"Of course I remember," I smiled at the memory of our first morning together, her bringing me the breakfast in my room.

"The Blues has the best chocolate cake in this whole area," I said to her. "That's why I brought you here."

She looked up at me still in shock and said, "Thank you so much. I... I... I don't even know what to say." She took a deep breath and said, "You're really amazing, you know that, right?"

I smiled at her. "Come on... taste it."

She picked up the fork, cut a piece of cake and tasted it.

"OhMyGodIt'sSoFreakingGood!" She moaned in appreciation.

I quickly took a bite and made a sound in approval. 

After finishing our desert, I took Nova by the hands and led her towards the fountain in the middle of the garden. I turned her towards me and held my hands on her hips and pulled her closer. 

She rested her hands on my shoulder.

"What are you doing?" She said, looking around.

I just winked at her. At that very moment, Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars blasted through the speakers situated on the borders of the garden, between every two gazebos. 

Paying the manager to play this song was this so worth the smile I got to see on her face.

I slowly started swaying us to the beat of the music. Her cheeks reddened but she smiled and started moving her hips on her own. I started singing along, with a voice that can only be heard by both of us. She looked up at me, smiled and bit her lower lip, her cheeks flushed. 

She rested her head on my right shoulder, her left hand around my neck and her right hand placed on my chest. I lowered my head to her ears and started singing softly to her.

Cause you're amazing,

Just the way you are...

She looked up when the song ended and smiled at me. I smiled back. I whispered to her, "Did I mention how beautiful you look in this dress?"

She smiled, "I don't recall you saying anything like that..."

"Sometimes I wish I had a doctor with me all the time... because I always forget to breathe whenever I see you."

She looked up at me, her cheeks redden. She bit her lip and mumbled, "You really know how to make a girl blush..."

I looked straight into her eyes and said, "You make me wanna know how to make a girl blush..." 

She looked up at me and hugged me tightly. After a few minute, she pulled back. I took her hand and led her back to the table.

"Mr. and Mrs. Taylor?" The waiter interrupted us.

"Yes..." Nova said. Much to my surprise.

"Your bill," the waiter placed it before us.

I took out my wallet and paid the bill. I looked up at Nova to see her frowning. 

"Next time, I'm paying..." She said, confidently.

"So... you mean to say that there's gonna be a second fake date?" I grinned at her.

She looked surprised but then just smiled, "Yeah... there's gonna be a second fake date."

I took her hand and led her inside. As we walked through the reception, Nova stopped and turned towards the receptionist. The previous receptionist was gone and was now replaced by a guy. 

Nova asked him, "Where's Katrina?"

He looked up, "I think she's in the locker room... do you have a message for her or are you willing to wait here till she arrives?"

She looked back at me, "Can we wait here for few minutes, I really need to talk to her."

I smiled and nodded. The receptionist handed us two bags, filled with our previous clothes and said, "Thank you for coming to The Blues..."

Nova mumbled welcome. After few minutes, the previous receptionist or Katrina walked out of the locker room and headed towards us, smiling warmly.

Nova hugged her, "Thank you for today..."

"It's no problem. I'm glad you enjoyed the evening," Katrina smiled.

Nova took the bag given by the receptionist and removed her purse from it. She searched her purse and took out a card and handed it to her.

"It's my number," Nova said to her.

"Um... thanks" Katrina said, confused.

"Um... you said before you wanna work as a make-up artist right?" Nova asked. 

She nodded. 

"Um... well... my mum is Valentina Acker-Stark." Katrina gasped.

"Yeah, I know... she's pretty famous," Nova chuckled.

"Anyway, she coming to Manchester soon for a fashion show and she's looking for a new make-up artist, since the old one retired recently. Anyway... I know it's a tough job and you probably would have to travel a lot. So if you don't want to accept... I totally understand. I just wanted to offer you a proposal... so what do you say?" Nova asked, looking at her.

Katrina looked as if she would burst from happiness right now. 

She squeaked and hugged Nova tightly.

"Oh my God! Thank you, thank you, thank you," she screamed.

"I'll take that as a yes..." Nova said and smiled at her.

"Call me tomorrow morning, you'll have the job." Nova said.

Katrina smiled widely. 

Nova took my hand and turned towards the door waving back at Katrina.

Once we're out of the restaurant, I looked back at Nova and said, "You're really different... aren't you?"

She opened her mouth to reply but I placed my index finger on her lips shushing her, "And no... different's not a code for weird." I said, rolling my eyes. 

She giggled.

We walked towards her diner to get back at the car which is parked in the garage next to it.

We drove back to the apartment. 

Reaching the building, I opened the car door for her and led her inside.

Why does it feel like, I don't want this day to end?

I looked back at Nova to see her matching my expression. She looked up at me and smiled.

We quietly entered the elevator and reached our floor. Nova walked in front of me and removed the keys from her purse and turned towards the door. I took this as my opportunity and placed my arms on her waist and pressed her closer to me, her back to my chest.

I placed a kiss under her ears, I felt her breathing fastens and she shivered. I turned my lips to her ears and whispered, "You know... there's still one thing we haven't done yet."

"And what's that?" She whispered back huskily; looking at me with hooded eyes.

I slowly turned her around and pressed her against the door, my lips few inches from her, my hands tightened at her waist, her hands over the collar of my shirt, her cheeks flushed, lips parted and eyes darkened. I slowly started placing kisses on her jawline, she moaned in response, my heartbeat matching hers. 

My kisses slowly making their way upwards, to her ears. I bit her earlobe playfully as she whimpered. That's when I whispered:

"A goodnight kiss..."

***