First Date

The restaurant appeared before them on the road, and Ava's breath caught in her throat at the sight of it, unprepared for what her eyes were showing her.

"You didn't mention you were taking me to Umi." she said, sounding pleasantly shocked. She took care to ensure that her tone of voice didn't cross that fine line between genuine surprise, and ungratefulness. "A meal here costs more than most people earn in a month!"

"You've discovered my secret." He dropped his choice down lower, before whispering. "I'm not most people."

That earnt him a little apprehensive laugh, which quickly dissolved into a smile. "So I'm beginning to discover. Tell me Mr Not Most People, how did you manage to get us in? This place is next to impossible to get a table at. You did get us a table didn't you, we're not like, gate-crashing or anything like that are we? How'd you pull it off?"

Knowing he'd already impressed his date, Dagaz resisted the urge to brag by telling her he knew the owner. "Just lucky I guess." he told her.

"Some luck," she said, not quite believing him, but not wanting to press any further and risk spoiling the mood. Instead, she made light of it. "I'll have to get you to buy me a Lottery ticket later."

He looked at her questionably before he realised she was joking. "Well, you never know do you. Not sure my luck would stretch that far. I think I've used all of my good karma on the getting the best restaurant in town, and the prettiest women in my arm to accompany me to it." Ava blushed brightly, the blood rush accentuating the dark freckles on her nose and making them stand out even more against her fair skin. Tucking a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear, she planted a kiss on his cheek.

Dagaz pulled the car up outside the main entrance smoothly, and after opening the passenger door to help his date out, threw the keys to the Valet with a nod, not bothering to say anything. He knew his car would be fine. Unbeknownst to Ava, he was in fact a regular at this establishment, and knew most of the staff very well indeed, was on a first name basis with many of them. He tipped spectacularly, and they knew to look after him by now. His car would be cleaned, polished and returned to him without a mark.

When he'd called ahead earlier to book the table, he had called the favour he'd been owed he had stressed the fact that he didn't want anyone to make a big fuss when he arrived. Said favour had come about via introducing the owner of the establishment to his (current) wife, who now swore that she was the love of his life — the fact he'd also said the exact same thing about his previous 4 wives not withstanding.

Dagaz had in fact left instructions with the staff requesting them to act like he was completely unknown to them. He honestly couldn't say why he'd done it, but he thought it may have had something to do with him not wanting Ava to feel like she was under scrutiny. She wasn't used to much attention from what he gathered, and despite her dreams of stardom he suspected that she may very well have bolted if the spotlight was cast on her with no warning.

So, like a pair of regular Joes they made their way to the main doors, and waited to be seated. The Maître d greeted them with a warm smile and an impressively strong French accent, and escorted them to their table with a flourish that to the discerning eye spoke volumes about his skill at his craft. Handing them a wine menu, he left them for a few moments as they pursued the selection on offer, safe in the knowledge that despite the strange request that had been asked if him, the gentleman he'd just seated with intimately familiar with the selection on offer.

Dagaz, seeing the complete look of horror on Ava's face as she began to read the selection — it could have been shock at the prices or possibly just because she had no idea what was a good choice to order — took pity on her by stepping in subtly to ordered a bottle of red. Perhaps not the wisest choice as he had no idea what meal they may end up ordering, but he could always order a white as the evening went on he decided.

"A bottle of the Haut-Brion Rouge if you would. The 1989, tonight I think."

A few moments passed whilst the bottle was fetched. "An excellent selection Sir, would you care to sample?"

Giving his consent with a small nod, Dagaz waited whilst the waiter retrieved the bottle and poured a small sample for his approval. Satisfied with his selection, Dagaz nodded and gave his consent for it to be poured into each of their glasses. Raising it to his nose, he savoured the aroma. Deep hints of plum undercut with the faintest hints of blueberries, vanilla and tobacco. Little did Ava know that he had actually made this selection hours agai when he'd arrange the table, knowing full well that a wine if this calibre needed ample time to breathe before consumption. He must remember to order another few bottle for his private collection he though, it truly was delicious

"To our first date. Cheers." They clinked their glasses together with a faint ting, and both drank deeply, not out of thirst but from nerves.

"This is incredible." She took another sip. "I'm not usually a red drinker, too easy to ruin a dress if you spill it."

"Why do you think I went with a red shirt." he said, making a joke of the situation. He didn't need to be supernatural to know she was on edge, and he desperately wanted her to relax so that she could enjoy herself. He watched her drain her glass with a gulp before opening her menu and taking a look. He resisted the urge to say any thing about how she should take her time to savour the body of the wine, and instead simply poured her a second glass and waited for the **** to work its calming magic.

Being as petite as Ava was, the wine didn't take long to affect her. Weirdly, she'd seemed to have handled the scotch they had drunk previously much better. She was far away from being intoxicated, but she was taking the first merry steps to being there. Perusing the menu, he peeked his eyes over the top.

"See anything you fancy?"

Having been absorbed in her own thoughts, she nearly dropped the menu from her hands at the sound of his voice. "Um, what?"

"I said, do you see anything that catches your fancy. On the menu.'

"Oh. The menu. Yeah. Let me see... " Without a doubt, she hadn't even looked at a single thing on it, Dagaz was convinced of that. She'd been so absorbed in whatever had been occupying her mind thay her selection of food had obviously been pushed to one side. "Umm, anything you'd recommend? It all looks so good to be honest."

Like a deck hand throwing out a life rope to a drowning passenger, he suggested a few of his favourite choices from the menu. He had no idea of any of them would suit her tastes - come to think of it he didn't have the faintest idea of her tastes in food — but he did known what he suggested would be delicious. He'd dined here enough times to not only know the menu fairly well, having sampled a vast selection of the sumptuous dishes the establishment had to offer, but to also have the utmost faith in the chefs that prepared them.

"Well I'm going to go with the steak I think, can't beat a classic. The Ribeye here is divine apparently." It truly was to die for too. He had no idea exactly what they did to it in the kitchen, but they somehow managed to elevate the flavours of the relatively simple cut of meat to unheard of levels of culinary splendour.

"I'd kill for a steak too, but I daren't. Red meat goes straight to my thighs," she said regretful. "I'd be working it off for a week."

Over the background chatter filling the restaurant, and the soft music being piped in from discretely hidden speakers in the walls, Ava didn't quite hear him murner that he was sure he could help her work it off the calories, which may have been for the best. She spent her time searching the menu for an alternative that wouldn't end up giving her a fat ass, and finally settled on the fish. As they gave their choices, Dagaz secured a bottle of white whine to accompany the bottle of red already gracing their table. It simple wouldn't do fo Ava to done in fish with red wine, perish the very thought!

Whilst they waited, Dagaz was secure in the knowledge that their order would be bumped high up the list of priorities in the kitchen (he tipped stupendously, and would continue to do so provided he was well cared for), he stoked the fire of conversation with his date.

"So, is this place everything you'd expected it to be?

"Are you kidding? It's amazing. I feel like the luckiest person in the world right now." She covered her hand with her face in embarrassment. "God, did that sound as corny as I think it did?"

Reaching out across the table, he took her hands in his, bringing them gently down as he uncovered her face and looked into her eyes "Nope, not corny. Never corny. Relax. You don't have to impress me, you know that right?"

Her fingers slowly interlaced with his, until the pair of them were holding hands across the distance of the table. Dagaz's thumb brushed the back of her hand, and she could feel little shocks of pleasure as his skin touched her own. Either by the comforting motion, or perhaps even unconsciously obeying his request to calm down, surprisingly she did. Her breathing slowed, her pulse calmed, and she felt herself begin to relax into the moment and simply enjoy herself.

"So," he asked, a little upset with himself at having had to interuo the moment they were sharing," I still don't know that much about you Ava, and I'd very much like for that to change. You mentioned you were an actress. Anything I might have seen you in?" The fact that he wasn't really a moviegoer was irrelevant, he had asked the question simply to bring the topic of conversation around to one that he felt would be more comfortable to her.

"Probably not, I'm still trying to catch a break." She paused, thinking of if she had done anything he might be familiar with. "Have you seen the last Agent Provocateur commercial? Dagaz shook his head. "Well, that was me. I'm not surprised you don't recognise me from it to be honest, my fave was only on screen for like a couple of seconds. They focused on other things, if you catch my drift?"

He did. His own focus was drawn to the 'other things'. It was no surprise she'd managed to find work as an underwear model, with a rack like that and and ass that good. She looked even better out of the lingerie he recalled.

"Anyway, that was probably the biggest thing I've done so far. But that was ages ago, and that pay was trash believe it or not. Cheapskates only paid 200 bucks for the shoot. That didn't even cover my rent." she added sadly.

At the mention of rent, Dagaz thought it would be a good time to enquire about where she lived. Ava spent a good few moments avoiding the question, then another few as she unsuccessfully tried to manoeuvre the conversation in a different direction. Eventually though, she found herself unable to avoid answering.

"I, uh, I'm..." Dagaz gave her time, not wishing to push for an answer too hard now she'd begun. "I kinda live in, well it's not permanent, you know...."

Eventually, she told him that she'd not been making enough money to afford to keep the crummy 1 bed apartment she'd been renting in the rough part of town. Being left with ****, she'd taken to having to sleep in her car for the past 2 months, which during the summer hadn't been the worst — at least she'd been warm enough at night, even if she hadn't felt particularly safe parked up — but with the winter months approaching fast she was worried. The dress she had on, and a couple of pairs of jeans and strappy tops were the only clothing she'd managed to hold on to, everything else she'd owned had ended up being sold to buy food.

"Well, that's easy enough to fix," he told her, earning himself a questioning look that seemed to say 'Oh, it's that easy is it?' Well to him, the solution was that simple. "You can stay my place until you get yourself back in your feet, its easily big enough for both of us."

"What!? No, you can't do that. You hardly know me." She protested, she flustered, but feeling Dagaz's hands on her own, she eventually began to listen to his idea.

Their food arrived, and he suggested that she think over his proposal whilst they ate. Between bites, he listed many of the beneficial reason why her moving into his home would be a sensible idea, and the more he suggested it, the more receptive she seemed to become.

"I suppose you're right." she told him. "It would let me save some cash. I could even buy some warmer clothes for the winter maybe."

"The new wardrobe's on me, remember?" he reminded her.

"You were serious about that earlier?" Her eyes went wide in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Sure. You need new clothes, I almost ruined your one dress so I consider it good karma. As for staying with me, you’ve seen size of the place, there's more than enough room." He wasn't trying to brag, simply stating the fact.

"Won't it be weird for you though, a good looking guy like you probably values his space. Won't your girlfriend mind?" No sooner had the word left her mouth than she realised that she'd asked. The question with all the subtlety of a steamroller. "Too direct? she asked laughing, trying to cover her bluntness with a touch of humor.

Luckily, Dagaz was a land who appreciated the direct approach. "Just about right, if you ask me. No girlfriend. Or wife, if you were curious. I'm a single man. And yourself? You can't honestly sit there and tell me someone stunning as yourself is unattached." The bluntness in his voice now mirrored her own.

Ava very nearly chocked on the mouthful of fish she was chewing. Sputtering, she managed to wash it down with a mouthful of water. Wiping tears from her eyes, she eventually caught her breath. Enquiring if she was OK, Dagaz smiled at her reply.

"You really think I'm stunning?"

"A poor choice of words perhaps. Radient may suit better. Heavenly, does that work?" He showered her with compliments.

"But why?"

He was truly taken aback. Did she truly not see it? Was she that blinded to her own looks, or had she simply been beaten down by the asshole casting agents in the industry so often that she doubted her own worth. Either way it was a grave injustice he could not comprehend, let alone tolerate to continue.

"Have you seen you? You are the most unique woman I've ever had the pleasure of taking to diner. Next to you, every other woman in this room — no scrap that, this town — pales in comparison, and it is my absolute pleasure to ensure that you’re informed of that fact. And it is a fact. If you don't believe me, go into the bathroom, take a good, long look at yourself in the mirror. You, Ava La-vure, are practically Angelic."

Silence descended, but not an awkward one. The pair of them simply smiled at each other across the dining table as they finished their meals, both excited at having declared their feelings for each other, and wondering where the evening may take them.

Notes:

As always though, if you've enjoyed what you've read, please, please leave me comments and feedback. If I don't know what works for you guys, I can't adapt.