|
|
Post by Stu on Jan 17, 2012 2:44:47 GMT -5
Stu was working out front tonight, which he didn't always like. He liked the afternoon crowd, the quiet regulars who had all gotten to know each other and be friends. The night crowd was definitely more of a crowd for his younger bartenders. Unfortunately, none of them were available tonight. Luckily for him, it looked like a slow night.
He was leaning against the door to the kitchen, where he could see down the hall to the bathroom, which was open, and housed Nathalia, putting on make up. Or more of it, as far as he could see. at the same time, he could keep an eye on the bar.
"You're already a bombshell, Nathalia. I don't know why you're fretting."
He'd come to look over her like something of a father figure. He knew she didn't really have one.. and he would have known even if she didn't tell him. "Just remember to owl me if you need a ride home or something, will you?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Nathalia Webb on Jan 17, 2012 2:50:27 GMT -5
The more Nathalia thought about tonight, the worse of an idea it seemed. She was thinking this very thought as she stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, smiling indulgently when her boss, and friend, complimented her. "Because I'm a girl. It's what we do."
She made a fool out of herself last time she spent any time at all with Hayden. An absolute fool... and she really didn't want to repeat it. It was a little late to back out of the thing now.
She sighed, locking a gaze with Stu's reflection in the mirror.
There was nothing more she could do to herself to primp and get ready. She was even nervous. She definitely didn't miss this about dating in school. The butterflies and the over thinking... it was all miserable business.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hayden Ferrera on Jan 18, 2012 16:00:53 GMT -5
Hayden would lie if he said he wasn't nervous. He was looking forward to his date tonight with Nathalia. It had been awhile since he really did the whole dating scene. Before he left, he made sure to take one more quick glance in the mirror to make sure nothing was out of place. Sighing, Hayden left his apartment and made his way toward Stu's.
He made one stop on his way to pick Nathalia up. Picking up a single red rose, he tried to calm his nerves. Dinner was taken care of, it was just the fact of he was actually going out with a girl. Hayden thought for a moment that Nathalia might be completely out of his league, but he pushed those thoughts aside, he would be okay.
Arriving at Stu's Hayden swallowed just as he entered. Luckily the place wasn't full yet was the thought in his mind as he made his way inside.
|
|
|
|
Post by Nathalia Webb on Jan 20, 2012 2:42:54 GMT -5
Stu was still leaning in the doorway when he heard the door open, and he leaned back to see who walked into his fine establishment. His eyes took Hayden in, and he smiled, looking back to Nathalia, hidden in the bathroom still.
"Hmmm. There is a gentleman here with a rose. I should go intervene."
"What?" Nathalia dropped her eyeliner into her bag, nestled in the sink. "Don't you dare," she told the bar owner, giving him a look as she came to stand by him.
He gave her a little nudge, though it was forceful, and she almost stumbled out, standing now behind the bar, and more than a little caught off guard.
Throwing a dirty look over her shoulder, she gave Hayden something of an uncertain smile. "Hi."
|
|
|
|
Post by Hayden Ferrera on Feb 1, 2012 12:59:25 GMT -5
It was a bit obvious as to why Hayden was there. Thankfully there wasn't that many people there yet. As Nathalia came closer to him, he felt even more nervous. He wasn't this nervous on his first mission as an auror. Somehow she could make him feel like he was about to go battle a dozen deatheaters on his own.
A light smile spread on his face as she approached him. "Hi," he replied back to her not even concerned with Stu being there. "You look great." It was a little apparent that he was a little nervous but he tried to be as confident as he could. He held out the rose to her. "I thought you might like this."
|
|
|
|
Post by Nathalia Webb on Feb 3, 2012 13:57:32 GMT -5
She was thirty seconds into this date, and already so thrown off tht she wasn't sure she was going to get her feet on solid ground for the rest of the night. She took the rose from him, trying to decide just how to handle this, when Stu came up and took the flower, promising to put it in a vase. And then he was gone, leaving Hayden and Nathalia alone. It was way too quiet.
"Thank you," she said at last, realizing just how terrible she was at this going on dates thing. She didn't mean to, but she was probably making this really hard for him, too. "Sorry. Er.... You look dashing, as well. And thanks for the... Rose."
Smooth, Nat. "We should head out, yes?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Hayden Ferrera on Feb 6, 2012 22:50:59 GMT -5
It made Hayden feel a little more confident that Nathalia seemed as nervous as he was. His smile turned a little brighter.
"Thank you. I'm glad you liked it."
He still felt like he was about go off and fight a dozen death eaters on his own. Putting his nervousness aside, he offered Nathalia his arm. "I'm pretty sure you're going to like where we're going. Of course we'll have to apparate there, but that won't be a problem." There was an almost mysterious like smile on Hayden's face that said he was up to something. The date was figured out around a comment she had made before and he hoped that what he had planned out was to her liking.
Leading Nathalia out of Stu's, he stopped just as they walked out. "Ready for this?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Nathalia Webb on Feb 6, 2012 23:08:31 GMT -5
Nathalia, naturally, was absolutely clueless about what was going on here. She still felt like he was setting her up for some kind of fall, and it bothered her that she didn't know what was planned. For as spontaneous as she was, she was quickly discovering that she very much liked to be in control of things.
So when he asked her if she was ready, she laughed and shook her head, answering him in all honesty. "Goodness, no. I feel like you're about to throw me in a den of angry hippogriffs." Humor, of course, could mask her nerves, and she hoped he wasn't catching on that in some weird way, she was downright terrified of being in such unfamiliar territory. But Godric, something in that smile of his said that she could trust him.
She took a deep breath. "But let's go for it."
|
|
|
|
Post by Hayden Ferrera on Feb 6, 2012 23:16:10 GMT -5
Hayden laughed at her comment. "You'll have fun, I promise. Just relax and trust me. You have to promise me to keep your eyes closed until I say you can open them however, even after we get there, it's a surprise."
He smiled at her one more time before he took in a deep breath and held onto her as he apparated them both. The lights of Rome shined in one of the alleyways. He apparated to a place he knew no one would see them appear or disappear.
Leading her out of the alleyway, Hayden smiled as the Colosseum came into view. "You can open your eyes now," he said softly.
|
|
|
|
Post by Nathalia Webb on Feb 6, 2012 23:29:18 GMT -5
Nathalia's eyebrows went up. "You want me to close my eyes?" She did not see this going well, and bit her lip.
"Okay, okay," she said after a moment. She was in this now, and she knew Hayden wouldn't do anything to hurt her physically. Past that, she could manage. She took a bigger leap of faith than Hayden could realize he was asking of her, and closed her eyes.
She felt the pull at her belly button, as well as an unfamiliar and almost exciting feel of his arms around her, as they apparated, and she let him lead her to wherever it was they were going.
Eyes closed, she noted that the air felt crisper, drier, even.
When she opened her eyes, it was definitely not what she expected. "Oh God."
She was jerked back to that night he walked her home from Stu's, that night she mentioned that she wanted to see Italy. Hayden had clearly paid attention, and her eyes found his quickly. "Hayden, this...." She trailed off, unable to tell him that hands down, this was the most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done for her.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hayden Ferrera on Feb 7, 2012 9:47:41 GMT -5
The expression on Nathalia's face when she opened her eyes was something Hayden was hoping for. A boyish grin appeared on his face as his confidence grew. "I figured I could take you somewhere I knew you wanted to go." Without thinking, Hayden squeezed her hand.
"There's a restaurant not too far from here that is amazing." Of course he paid attention to what she said. He picked up on the small details and he thought that if he brought her here, it would show her that he was serious. Hayden really did like Nathalia and wanted to take things a little slower. He was going to treat her the way she deserved to be treated and not like some girl for the night.
|
|
|
|
Post by Nathalia Webb on Feb 7, 2012 14:36:57 GMT -5
Hayden was either incredibly smooth, or had impeccable instincts. Maybe both, but what Nathalia saw before her eyes both terrified her and lowered her guard at the same time. Hayden, suddenly, had an in.
Nathalia simply nodded, motioning that she was fine with the restaurant, wherever it was, and she was inclined to ask, "Did you find this restaurant when you were working here?" Because despite what she may have acted like, Nathalia paid attention, too.
She was definitely not standing on metaphorically solid ground, but he made her smile, and Nathalia was a firm believer in the immortal words of Marilyn Monroe- if you could make a girl smile and laugh, you could make her do anything.
"Thanks for this... I would have been fine with te hot Panini, you know."
|
|
|
|
Post by Hayden Ferrera on Feb 7, 2012 16:39:40 GMT -5
"I did actually. This is one of the places my parents love to go to. My father always spoke about how good the food was, so when I came here on my own I tried it myself. It was just as amazing as my parents said it was." Hayden was glad that Nathalia also listened. He was sure she probably could read him a lot better than she thought she could if some of her walls came down.
"As for the Hot Panini, we could have gone there, but I figured you deserved something else than just the usual." There was a smile that grew on Hayden's face that was rarely ever seen. It said a lot about that particular moment. "Plus, you spoke about how you wanted to visit Italy, so I figured why not make the first date a sneak peak at the country?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Nathalia Webb on Feb 8, 2012 0:50:52 GMT -5
There was so much wrapped up in this one conversation that she didn't know what to respond to. The fact that he remembered she wanted to see Italy, the fact that he thought she deserved better than the average date, or what.
So she went with a safe defense, smiling lightly at him. "The first date? That's awfully presumptuous of you, isn't it?" She didn't bother to tell him that she didn't really do second dates. Though, to be technical, she didn't really do first dates, either. She kept the question in a teasing tone.
Then, to get the focus off of herself, she turned the conversation back to him. "How... uhm..."
Merlin, that smile he was giving her made her cheeks flush. "How did your parents find it? You aren't Italian, are you?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Hayden Ferrera on Feb 8, 2012 20:26:38 GMT -5
There was a light flush to Hayden's cheeks when Nathalia said that it was presumptuous of him to call it a first date. He did hear the teasing in her tone, but the conversation he and Roland had popped back into his mind. He was going to have to show her that he wasn't going to treat her like all the other guys did. She deserved more than what she expected and Hayden was going to show her that one way or another.
"Well, we'll see what you say about that after tonight, hm?" For probably the first time, he showed her his joking side. He was more like that around Roland, Liam, and Sheena than others.
"Part of my family is Italian, yes. Majority of the family lived here before moving over to England. It's one reason my father likes to come back here and visit from time to time. He likes seeing where our family comes from. My parents found this place when they were on a mission together. They were actually partners when they first started as aurors. Mum said that they were here in Rome and one night father just asked her out and took her to dinner. She said that this was where they had their first date and it's become a place we go to when we come to Rome."
|
|
|
|
Post by Nathalia Webb on Feb 14, 2012 13:00:05 GMT -5
Nat nodded along with his story, feeling a flush in her cheeks that was so unfamiliar to her. This was more than she would have ever expected someone to do for her. It was huge in a lot of ways- a grand gesture that showed he paid attention when she spoke. The ironic part was that she couldn't remember if she told him why she wanted to see Italy.
"My dads Italian," she said, finding a common ground with Hayden. "At least, that's what I'm told. He bailed on my mom before I was born. Always wondered what his life was like though, you know?"
She glanced back at him and wondered what it was like to have both parents, still in love. Or to be in that relationship. It just sounded like something in a book. Something not real.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hayden Ferrera on Feb 14, 2012 16:33:54 GMT -5
"I'm sorry," he said as she mentioned that her father bailed on her mother. Hayden couldn't imagine life without his dad. His dad taught him pretty much everything he knew. "I can understand that. Although the good thing is, is that you can learn about the culture. After you know a little bit about the culture, you know them in a way, although it's a small way. Plus, I bet you probably take after him in some way." He attempted to find a way to comfort her. He didn't blame her for wanting to know.
"And tonight, you get to have authentic Italian food. Also, I called in a favor or two and there's another surprise after dinner. You'll just have to trust me." Hayden smiled the smile that said he was up to something and he led her to the restaurant. He gave his name and they were led to their table. Hayden pulled out Nathalia's chair for her.
|
|
|
|
Post by Nathalia Webb on Feb 16, 2012 15:42:26 GMT -5
Nathalia's eyes were back on Hayden instantly. "I'm not a huge fan of surprises," she told him, her voice quiet, as though she wasn't altogether sure of herself or the situation. He didn't know what he was asking of her by asking her to trust him. It was a little thing really, trusting him about the surprise later, but Nathalia didn't really like not being in control or entirely across a situation. Knowing there was some unknown coming later made her anxious. But at this point, she didn't really have a choice, and she knew that Hayden wasn't going to hurt her. At least not yet.
Once they were inside and Hayden gave his name, they were shown to a able and seated and she realized that she had been spending all of her time with the wrong kinds of guys. He was already treating her very differently. Narrowing her eyes, she leaned forward a little. There had to be something. "Do you have a girlfriend, Hayden?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Hayden Ferrera on Feb 17, 2012 0:18:36 GMT -5
"I know you're not a fan of surprises," he said still with a knowing look in his eyes. "However, you'll get used to them eventually, as long as they're good ones that is." Hayden was aware that Nathalia wouldn't be a huge fan of surprises, but that was okay. He was still going to surprise her.
Once they were both seated and she leaned forward a little, Hayden looked at her with a raised eyebrow. At her question, he shook his head. "I do not have a girlfriend." He looked down for a moment, almost shyly then he remembered his confidence. "I haven't had one since school," he said a little quieter.
|
|
|
|
Post by Nathalia Webb on Feb 18, 2012 3:11:32 GMT -5
The blonde's eyebrows went up. Was that his way of saying he was going to keep surprising her? He'd gone and done that twice now, insinuating that he was going to be a reoccurring presence in her future. Her first thought was to say it was presumptuous and arrogant... but if she'd shut herself up for just a moment, she would realize, too, that she kind of liked the fact that he wasn't backing down. She'd underestimated him.
She was about to question the validity of his relationship status when he added that he hadn't had a girlfriend in a long time... somehow, unbelievable though that was with how incredibly smooth he was, she saw the sincerity in his features and believed him. "No girlfriend. Okay. What's the catch then? There's got to be something wrong with you." For the first time, Nathalia smiled to show that she was at least half joking, definitely teasing him. "I mean, so far, you've been amazing. So when do I get to see the other side?"
|
|
