Sadie's First Date

I ran my hand through my hair one last time making sure it was in place and took a deep breath before stepping into the dimly lit restaurant. I started towards the hostess stand, hoping to be directed to the table where he would be waiting for me. That's when I saw him. He looked perfect. His dark hair was perfectly tousled and a few strands hung down over one eye. His dark eyes were focused on the glass of merlot sitting in front of him. His facial hair framed those sexy lips perfectly. I held my breath and began to walk towards the table.

His eyes stayed focused on the glass but a small half smile graced his face as I approached. "Sorry I'm late." I said sheepishly, biting my bottom lip. "Some things never change." He shook his head and sighed. "I'm sorry." I repeated. I sat down in the chair meant for me and waited. He looked towards the door, still not really acknowledging me.

We hadn't seen each other in exactly one month and four days. Obviously Aiden was still mad that I had chosen to go to the police academy eight hours away rather than stay in our small home town and become the perfect dainty house wife he always wanted me to be. It was too dangerous. He didn't want this life for me. He wanted to protect me, which I couldn't help but admire.

He had proposed before I left and I had told him no. Well to be fair, it was more of a "not yet" than a flat out "no". In any event, he wasn't pleased and we hadn't seen each other much since. My whole town was against my choice. I was too clumsy to take on the job I was aiming for. I tripped over air. Imagine me, a Cop! It was laughable. No one understood it.

Aiden and I were not only high school sweethearts, but childhood sweethearts. We were an epic love story that was told at every town function and even talked about among locals in the grocery stores. "Oh, there goes Aiden and Sadie. Our local love birds." The funniest thing about it though was that Aiden and I had never even been on a real date. Everything we had ever done together had been done with friends or family. We had never been alone anywhere.

Still, everyone just knew that we would get married and live that perfect fairy tale life. Maybe have a few perfect kids of our own. Me, the happy doting house wife. Aiden the strong, hard working, and protective husband. Everything would be.. perfect. It was said that Aiden had loved me since the day he laid eyes on me. That love was more than reciprocated but I just wasn't ready yet. Or at least I hadn't been when he had asked me to marry him. I was hoping tonight would be the night. Now, I was ready.

I sat across from him waiting for him to say something. Anything. Surely he hadn't come all of this way to just ignore me. My stomach swarmed with fluttering butterflies. The waitress came to our table with her note pad ready. "You ready to order, Sweetheart?" She asked. I hadn't even taken a glance at the menu yet, but I didn't need to. I always ordered the same thing at Italian restaurants. "Two plates of the chicken parmesan." He said. "Salad for both. Still good on the breadsticks." I glanced at the bread basket. It was still folded up neatly. I nodded my approval towards the waitress who smiled and headed towards the kitchen. I took a minute to admire the set up.

The white linen table cloth hung delicately over our table. There was a small vase of fresh cut red roses in the center accompanied by two small flickering candles. Off to the side was a big vase full of pink and purple daisies. My absolute favorite flower. A card was placed lovingly on the front and I didn't have to move it to make out what it said. "A bouquet of Oopsie Daisies for my sweetest, most clumsy Sadie." Adorable. Leave it Aiden to include my clumsiness into a romantic evening and still make my heart skip a few beats. I smiled.

"It's beautiful here." I said. I had never been to a restaurant this nice. I couldn't imagine a better restaurant for our first date. Aiden looked around the room but still said nothing. He picked up his glass and took a swig of the red wine inside. "So..." I began. "What should we talk about?" His eyes flashed towards the front door. "Why are you late?" He asked in barely more than a whisper. "I said I was sorry." I replied. "Traffic was terrible. There was an accident." "Why are you always late?" He whispered again. I looked down at my hands sitting folded in my lap. "I don't know, Aiden."

"I don't really have a good answer. I'm not good with time management? I'm clumsy. I'm not good with words. I'm not perfect, Aiden." I sighed. "None of this ever bothered you before. Why now?" He took another swig of wine as the waitress approached. She set our plates down in front of us. "Careful, it's hot." She smiled. "Thank you." I said. Aiden flashed his perfect smile at her. "Enjoy." she said.

He looked towards the door again before unwrapping his silverware from the red cloth napkin and dipping into his pasta. I was too scared to reach for my own fork. Nothing really even smelled appealing right now. Maybe it was the fact that I felt I had let Aiden down again, or maybe I was getting sick. The air just smelled sickeningly sweet to me. "I'm sorry, Aiden." I said again. Would I be saying this all night? Nothing felt right. Things were never this tense between Aiden and I. Had I hurt him that much?

I had never felt more awkward than I did right now watching him cut into the chicken and take bite after bite, never even acknowledging that I had joined him at the table. I didn't feel like eating. I could barely swallow my own spit over the lump in my throat. I could feel my tears threatening to surge forward. "Stop ignoring me." I whispered. He took another bite, chewing the chicken carefully. Stop it, Aiden." I spoke louder. He twirled the pasta around his fork and took another bite. "Aiden!" I yelled this time.

My rolled up napkin of silverware fell to the floor. Aiden looked down at it. His eyes glanced to where I was sitting. He looked around at the other couples enjoying their meals and then bent down to pick it up. He set it down on the table and took one more swig of wine. He wiped his face with his own napkin and reached into his jacket pocket to pull out a small blue velvet box. The box had a silver trim around it. He opened it up and looked inside, I could see tears in his eyes.

"I'm done waiting, Sadie." He set the box on the table, it was still open. I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. The ring inside was perfect. It was a princess cut diamond on a white gold band. I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. My eyes over flowed and I began to sob quietly at the table. "Goodbye, Sadie." Aiden sighed. His phone began to vibrate. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. "Hello?" He said. I reached for my wine glass that had been sitting all night long without so much as a single sip missing from it.

"What?!" He said. My jaw dropped in horror. What was happening? I reached for my wine glass again. "Is she ok? Where is she?!" My forehead crinkled up in confusion. My hand would not grasp the wine glass. Aiden screamed and crumpled to the floor with his head in his hands. What was going on? Everyone was looking at us. I jumped up out of my chair, trying to help him up. My hands went through his. I couldn't touch him. He jumped up and ran out the door. I followed. He ran quickly down two roads, never even stopping to take a breath.

I could see red and blue lights flashing ahead. There were cops and first responders standing around the scene of an accident. One woman was sitting on the ground sobbing silently as paramedics tried to wipe the blood from her head. She had a few deep scratches on her forehead and arms. The car she was sitting by had a busted up wind shield and a dent on the hood. There was a white sheet on the ground. It was clearly covering a body.

"Are you Aiden?" asked one of the cops. Aiden nodded. "What's going on?" I asked. No one would answer me. Why was everyone ignoring me?! The cop gently pulled the sheet back and Aiden and I both screamed. I looked down at my face. My eyes were open. The side of my head was caved in and my mouth was leaking blood. Aiden fell to the ground. Suddenly, I remembered it all.

Aiden had called to take me out on our real first date. We were going to be ok after all. I was so excited! I had spent the whole day getting ready for it. I had bought the new dress I was wearing. It was dark blue, Aiden's favorite color. I had went to the salon to get my hair and nails done, something I never did. I even had gotten my makeup professionally done. Tonight would be perfect. From the curls on my head to the stilettos on my feet. It was all perfection. Those stilettos would literally be the death of me.

Why had I done it? I was so clumsy. I knew better! I had parked my car, so excited to see him for the first time in a month. The cross walk lights were flashing telling me not to go, but I was running across the street anyways, too excited to wait. That's when my foot hit the ground wrong, snapping my ankle to the side. I almost fell to the ground. It was dark. I was wearing a dark dress. She must not have seen me. The last thing I remember is the woman's face as she hit me, sending my body toppling over the front of her car. The wind shield smashed. My head hit hard. Then everything went black.