Love and Secrecy

“Sir.”

I stirred from my phone screen in a state of confusion.

“Huh?”

The waiter stood over me imposingly, holding a crystal pitcher out towards my glass. If his outfit was any indicator, I knew I was painfully under-dressed. Normally, this wasn’t the kind of restaurant I’d ever find myself in. Just looking at the other cars I saw getting chauffeured I knew that this was really going to hurt my wallet. I brought it up once looking for sushi restaurants and before I knew it, with a little Googling, it was Emily’s next adventure.

“Would you like some more water?” He asked, smiling back down, amused by my startled reaction.

“Yeah, yeah… sure.” My voice slurring. Who wants an empty glass, of course I’d want water!

“Another beer?”

Another beer did sound good, but…

“No, no… I’m waiting for someone,” I laughed. “I don’t wanna get drunk before she gets here.”

I looked towards the waiter before Emily took my gaze as she entered through the doors.

I was dumbstruck instantly, and the waiter followed my gaze to the door.

“Aha… want me to catch her?”

Before I could respond, my hand shot up into the air. Her wandering eyes caught my hand and a smile instantly flashed across her face, sending butterflies through my chest.

“Ah, never-mind,” the sharp waiter remarked. “Now about that beer...”

I snorted, my mood instantly elevated. “Yes, I think I can have one more, now.”

The waiter departed while my eyes still locked on to a giddy Emily crossing between the tables.

“Hey cutie!~” She smugly smirked. She wasn’t the kind of person who was afraid to dress… risque. I had no idea what she was wearing, but I could see through most of it and that was really heating me up. It didn’t take long before a hardened lump formed up against my pants.

“No you.” Yep, dork, I know. Nerdy was her favorite part.

Emily looked down at beer and then quickly raised her chin, still wearing her smug smile.

“Already drunk… wow... Without me?”

I lifted my hands and shrugged as I returned a smug grin back.

“Crap, I forgot to ask for one more~”

Emily’s head tilted tilted even further back and her eyes rolled. I loved it.

I watched her as she sat down and unfolded the napkin into her lap. Before I met Emily, I had never felt this way about anyone before. Watching her every move filled me with joy. Her every expression. Her every smile.

I didn’t want to lose that. It gave my life more meaning than I could ever imagine before.

“So... how was your appointment?” She said, playing with the chopsticks. She wasn’t an expert yet.

“Oh you know, another prescription, another dollar - as usual.”

Emily looked towards me, one side of her lips lifting into a cautious smile.

“Well, is it a good one? Last time you said it was a little blurry,” I could see her concern leaking through.

“Nope, this one is good. Really good. You look more beautiful than usual~”

Emily’s head threw back so hard it looked like she had taken a punch. Slowly she turned back with a smile.

“Oh my god, Tyler. That’s so sweet but at the same time, I’m a little offended?”

I laughed, “It’s not your fault, it’s my damn eyes.”

Emily was losing it, I was definitely killing it tonight. I thought for a while, and then slowly leaned back into my seat.

“There was some good news, though,” I quietly let out.

Emily’s eyes lit up and latched onto me.

Her eyes widened, **** to hear, I could almost feel the excitement building up inside her.

“Good… news?”

Emily was always supportive, always consoling me. She put on the airs that it didn’t matter either way. Sight or no sight, she was going to love me. Her reaction, however, was telling. She was just about as invested as I was.

“What is it?”

Playing with my napkin nervously, I continued, “Well, they said there is one treatment. It’s a trial. Could be a permanent fix, maybe even restore my vision completely.”

Emily gasped. I lifted my eyes, catching a sight that truly hit me. Emily was tearing up, her face turning a cherry red, her eyes tearing.

“T-that’s amazing, honey.”

I looked up and away as her joy took away my breath and watered my eyes, tilting upwards trying to keep tears from falling through my lashes.

“Yeah, it’s… pretty good news,” my voice shook.

Emily grabbed my hand and pulled it to the table.

“Is that why you brought me here? Are we celebrating?”

Taking a deep breath, trying to hold myself together, I pulled back to face her.

“Yes. I’m going to do it.”

Emily turned her head all around, processing the news, her breath deepening into an excited cry. Heads around the restaurant turned, but you could tell, she was crying tears of happiness.

After taking a while to calm down, we settled for dinner. We talked her day, my work week, her work week – it was like it never happened. It was like the news didn’t feel real – we couldn’t even approach it. After a while, however, it couldn’t be avoided… we had to talk it over.

“So, this treatment… what is it... exactly?”

I took a deep breath.

“Well, it’s like a new type of Lasik.”

I lied. The treatment wasn’t ‘like Lasik’ – it was something many people didn’t even want to entertain, accept, or stomach. My hope was that I wouldn’t even have to explain, but I knew it wasn’t going to work out that way. In her eyes, the real treatment might even – disgust her.

“Lasik? They can shoot your eyes with lasers and fix it? What’s so different about it?”

Emily wasn’t that dumb, and I knew it.

“Well it’s not just lasers. It’s aaa... treatment that where they damage the eyes with the laser and use stem cells to heal them.”

Her face lit up with disapproval instantly, “That does not sound safe. Are you sure you want to be a lab rat for that kind of treatment? Could you wait for it to be… I don’t know… more like, approved?”

My head shook, “Not for me. These trials have several rounds, it could be years before this is officially approved for everyone. It’s not like I have much to lose, Emily. Failed treatment or not… it’s just not… you know.”

Emily shrunk down into her seat a bit and contemplated herself, pouting.

“I get it.” She paused, but a smirk quickly swiped her face. “When are you doing it?”

The timeline was carefully thought out, I didn’t want Emily seeing me healing, whatever that looks like.

“In a week… Friday.”

Emily frowned, “Oh no! I’m going with my team on that trip Thursday… can it wait until I got back? Can we do it earlier?”

I shrugged, “I’ll be fine. There weren’t... many appointments that I could do. The remaining surgeries are all schedule over those two weeks.”

Hearing this, all she could do was put her face in her palms before running them out through her hair – she was not happy.

Leaning back, she conceded, “Fine. Fine. We’ll talk about this more later though. And you better keep keep me updated!”

I nodded. “Yes, yes. I’ll keep you in the loop.”

More and more lies.

“Well~” She teased. “We don’t know how this will go~ We’ll need to make sure you get to see plenty of me…” She pushed out her chest, teasing her breasts out of her jacket and through her partial transparent shirt. “...just in case~”

My brows furrowed while I slowly nodded, “Definitely… can you spend the night, tonight?”

Emily smiled and grabbed the inside of my thigh, causing me to straighten out my back, “How could I say no now?”