Chapter 34 — Date Night
Jude’s POV:
Sean and Wade left soon after Natasha had agreed to go on a date with me. I was super ecstatic and couldn’t stop grinning. I kept running different ideas through my head.
A candlelight dinner? Nah too cliché.
Should I cook for her? Nah too old
Book a nice table at a restaurant with the whole city’s view? Corny.
I kicked the couch in frustration, I kept dismissing one idea after the other. I had to make it extra special to win her back but what could I do?
I glanced at Natasha who was cooking lunch, I just had a few hours to decide and make the necessary arrangements. I was beginning to panic now. I did what any person in my state would do. I went to my room and switched on my laptop. I went on google and typed, ‘Date ideas’
A lot of links popped up.
Creative Date Ideas: Good fun cheap dates. I rolled my eyes at it.
Top 10: First Date Ideas from AskMen. I contemplated this one thinking that it was my first date with Natasha. I clicked the link and crossed my fingers hoping this link would be my savior.
I sighed in frustration as it wasn’t of any help to me because it had one cheesy idea after another. I wanted to do something different. Isn’t there something I could do to surprise Natasha and make her feel special?
Natasha came in the room and I snapped the laptop shut and looked up.
“Why the frown?”
“Nothing” I said flippantly.
“Is everything alright?”
“Yep”
“Ok, lunch is ready, let's eat?”
“Yeah I will be there in a minute”
“Ok”
As soon as she left the room I called up Wade and then conferenced Sean on the call.
“Don’t tell me you got yourself in trouble already!” said Sean.
“No!”
“Dude you better not have blown it up for yourself!” said Wade.
“Thanks guys for your confidence in me now will you shut up and listen?”
“Go ahead”
“I don't know what to do for the date!”
“You’ll figure something out” said Wade.
“But I can’t! All I can think of are cheesy ideas!”
“Like?”
“Dinner and a movie”
“Lame”
“I’ll cook for her”
“Nah”
“Book a restaurant with the city view?”
“Seriously?”
“Help me!”
All three of us were silent as we all contemplated what to do when suddenly Wade yelled, “Damn almost got hit by a truck! I am hanging up now figure this out before you get me killed Jude!” and he hung up while Sean laughed.
“Thanks guys for all your help” I said moodily and hung up.
I went out to see that Natasha had laid out the table and was waiting patiently for me. She looked up and smiled at me.
“Lunch is served!”
“Smells good”
She beamed at me and we ate in silence. As we were finishing our lunch, Natasha spoke up, “I am going to visit mum today”
“That’s great, do you want me to drive you there?”
“If it's not a problem.”
“Not at all”
“Great we’ll leave in an hour?”
“Yeah”
“Cool”
“Hey, Natasha, what does your mom like?”
She frowned at me, “What do you mean?”
“I mean does she like chocolates? Ice cream? Painting? Reading?
Writing?”
“Oh she loves chocolates, she loves marshmallows the most. She loves chocolate chip ice cream, she loves painting and she tries to even now. She loves reading romance novels. Whenever she had spare time she was either reading or painting or maybe embroidering.”
I looked at her and smiled, she had this beautiful glow over her face when she spoke about her mother.
“Ok I need to go somewhere you get dressed so then we can visit your mother quickly then we have our date” I said winking and she giggled.
“Alright come soon”
“Aww are you going to miss me?”
She surprised me by saying, “maybe”
I grinned and left soon.
Natasha’s POV:
I practically skipped to the room humming a tune. I went to my closet and picked out a white summer dress to wear and went to shower quickly.
Jude had asked me out on a date! Yay I yelled out loud. I kept thinking about how he had gone down on his knee and asked me out the conventional way.
I wondered what he would plan for us. Knowing him he would probably plan a movie and dinner. Or maybe a long drive after dinner to the outskirts of town that would be cute.
I got out and blow dried my hair while sweeping my flicks to the side. I was still thinking about what Jude was going to plan while applying my make up when my phone rang. I glanced and saw that it was Jude.
“Hello?”
“Are you done yet?”
“Almost”
“Ok come out quick once you’re done. I am here”
I quickly put the finishing touches on my makeup, grabbed my bag, and walked out into the living room. I wore my shoes and quickly checked if we had left any lights on and whether I had put the gas off.
After satisfying myself that nothing was amiss I walked out.
“Where had you gone?”
“Umm just making some arrangements for our date” he smiled.
The drive to the nursing home was a pleasant one. We spoke a little and sometimes sat in a companionable silence. I was excited thinking about what Jude must have planned for us and couldn’t wait for the night!
When we got there Jude asked me to go ahead while he parked the car. I went inside and my heart stopped when my mom turned towards me and said, “Natasha!”
I stopped breathing, afraid that if I moved this moment would be gone and mom would forget who I was.
The head matron turned to me and smiled, “I was about to call you, she is having another lucid moment. You are really lucky Natasha!”
I stepped forward, not trusting myself to speak s my throat constricted with tears. I went forward and hugged her.
“Mom!”
“Oh my baby, you have grown up into such a beautiful young lady!” she stared at me while I drank in every detail of hers greedily.
“Momma do you know why you are here?”
She nodded and smiled sadly, “I know baby. I am so sorry you have to go through so much alone”
“Don’t be, I am alright. In fact, I am getting married soon!” I had to say it to reassure my mother. As if on cue Jude walked in with his arms laden with a huge basket that had a lot of gift wrapped things in it. I looked up at him in confusion.
“Mom this is Jude my fiancé”
My mom looked at him appreciatively and said, “he is handsome Nats!”
“Jude’s eyes widened in surprise, “Is she- does she remember you?”
“Yes my dear I am having a lucid moment”
“Oh. Well we got you some things!”
My mom looked as delighted as a child would when it was presented with a lot of presents on his birthday.
“For me?”
“Yep”
I looked at Jude completely speechless. So this is what he had been up to when he had left this afternoon.
He kept the humongous basket in front of while handing her separate basket that had an assortment of chocolates and cakes. I could see a lot of marshmallows. My mom squealed like a child and tore open a packet and offered some to Jude and I. she then opened another bag to see two tubs of chocolate chip ice cream.
I looked over her head at Jude and mouthed ‘thank you.’
He shrugged it off and encouraged my mom to open her gifts. There were at least a dozen romance novels and painting books. There was a huge set of paints and paint brushes of different sizes. There was a set of pencils, erasers, and sharpeners.
There were also a few embroidery books and different threads and needles along with cloths of different colors. My mom was ecstatic!
She kept everything aside and exclaimed, “Its lovely! Oh God it’s so lovely! Thank you so much Jude!” my mom pulled him into a tight hug and kissed him on the forehead.
“You’re welcome mom!”
I beamed at him; he had just called my mom ‘mom.’ I wanted to grab him right there and kiss him senseless. My mom and he kept chattering about our wedding plans. Mom had a dozens of questions to ask him.
He answered them all patiently. We had been sitting there for almost 2 hours. “You take care of my daughter Jude.”
“I will mom”
“Ok call the head matron, I want to share with the rest”
“Oh you don’t need to. I bought some stuff for everyone!”
Mom turned to me and said, “He’s a keeper Natasha, don’t you let go of him!”
Before I could speak up Jude did, “don’t worry I won’t let go of her” and he smiled at me. I felt warm all over and I smiled back.
My mom hugged us both and kissed us both on our forehead. Then she felt tired and she wanted to lie down. Soon she was asleep. I started crying knowing that there was a tremendous possibility that that when she would wake up she would not remember me.
Jude held me close, and stroked my hair as I cried. “Nats, at least you know that she loves you.”
I nodded and he held me till I stopped crying. He looked around but there was no tissue and he wasn’t carrying a handkerchief. He picked up his shirt giving me a glimpse of his perfect abs and wiped the snot from my nose.
I stared at him and then the shirt while he shrugged and stood up.
He held out his hand to me and I took it. We walked out and I said goodbye to the matron who thanked us for all the gifts.
We walked out hand in hand and I turned to Jude and said, ‘that was the best date ever!”
“That was not your date! Are you crazy I have something much better planned for the night!”
“What? This was not it?”
“Nope”
“Then what is it?”
“I am not telling!”
“Please!”
“Nope so now you go on while I actually go to make arrangements for our date this time”
I smiled at him and couldn’t help but feel lucky as he drove me home. He dropped me and told me to be ready to have the time of my life. I just grinned and went inside to get ready for my date. My hair was already done all I had to do was pick out a dress and re do my make up.
I went inside and contemplated on what to wear. I picked out an olive green dress. It was simple and classy and ended just above my knees. I was going to wear golden heels with those and matching gold hoops.
I stood behind and looked at my choice. I was pretty pleased with my choice and proceeded to redo my makeup. I was going for a golden nude look. I was ready in an hour and wished that Jude would show up soon.
The anticipation was building and I was nervous. I mean it was my first date with Jude. What were we going to do? I would even accept the cliché dinner and movie date. What he had done for my mom was so sweet!
I was finally beginning to believe that he really cared about me. That whatever Sean and Wade had seen in his eyes for me had been true. I was beside myself with excitement and glanced at the watch.
The time was moving really slow!
I wanted to call Jude and tell him that he didn’t need to do anything extra special he had already made the day special for me.
I sighed and switched don the TV it had been over an hour and Jude had still not come. I began to panic, had he changed his mind? Had something come up? Had something gone wrong? I took a deep breath to try and calm myself.
He would be here soon I told myself. He had to be here soon! I mean how much time does it take to make these arrangements? Well, to be fair he had been gone for an hour and a half.
I continued surfing the channel and stopped at the one showing Disney’s Aladdin. The song ‘a whole new world’ was playing. I sighed dreamily as I saw Aladdin take Jasmine on a magic carpet ride. This was my favorite song of all time!
I hummed along with the song when I heard the car being pulled in the driveway. I jumped up in excitement and then immediately sat down.
Play it cool, I told myself and continued watching Aladdin and Jasmine’s duet. The door opened and I looked to see Jude standing there looking breathtakingly handsome. Apparently he had gone shopping and dressed outside and come.
He wore a sky blue shirt with a black linen jacket and dark blue jeans. He looked adorable. The blue shirt brought the baby blue of his eyes. He had the ‘just out of bed look’ for his hair. He looked absolutely yummilicious. He had even shaved and I could smell his perfume even from this distance.
It wasn’t overpowering but pleasant. I got up with a smile and walked towards him as his eyes raked over me. He smiled appreciatively and when he looked into my eyes well his eyes had changed to a stormy blue.
I walked up to him, and he bent down and picked up a huge basket of flowers. I gasped as I took in their pretty purple color.
“Oh wow!”
“You love flowers don’t you?”
“Yes”
“I bought you these, they won't die as long as you take care of them.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look carefully the basket is filled with mud. This is not just a bouquet, you will always have flowers from our first date as long as you take care of them”
“Jude I-” I couldn’t speak, tears were pooling in my eyes. He stepped forward and placed the basket in my hands and kissed my temple.
“Thank you”
“You’re welcome”
“Well shall we leave?”
“As soon as I keep these flowers”
I walked into the kitchen and placed the basket on the counter. I looked at them lovingly once and kissed a flower and went out. Jude was waiting patiently. I grabbed my golden clutch and walked out.
He held the door for me and I sat down and put on my seat belt.
“So where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise!”
“Oh come on! The suspense is killing me!”
“Don’t be so dramatic”
“Please”
“No so be quiet and quit pestering me!”
I stuck my tongue out at him and giggled when he did the same while scrunching up his nose.
“So” he said clearing his throat, “what kind of music do you like?”
“Pop, romantic”
He looked relieved and drove on in silence. Suddenly he stopped at a street and removed a black satin handkerchief.
“What’s that?”
“Umm I am afraid I need to blindfold you”
“What? Why?”
“It's necessary in order for me to surprise you.”
“Okaaaay,” I said, still doubtful. He tied it over my eyes and then continued driving. In just a few minutes he stopped the car again and got out.
“Do not touch your blindfold!”
“I won’t” I said smiling.
“Well ok” he said coming over to my side and opening the door. He took my hand and guided me to wherever we were going.
“Ok now you need to climb four stairs”
“Ok” I said trying not to stumble.
Wherever we were, the place was eerily quiet.
Finally we reached wherever Jude wanted us to. He stepped behind me and took off my blindfold. I opened my eyes slowly and gasped.
“Oh my God!” I yelled and my voice echoed. We were standing in an aquarium. The whole aquarium was empty except for us.
“Oh my God Jude!” I said in a hushed voice, “how did you manage this?”
“Well what the Smiths want the Smiths get” he said winking at me.
We both looked around at different fish and then we stopped for a long time at the dolphins’ tank. They were my favorite fish. I turned around to see a small table with plates and glasses had been set up.
“Oh Jude are we eating here?”
“Yes m’lady,” he said bowing.
I squealed in excitement and walked up to the table and stared at the spread in front of us. There was roast chicken, chicken in coconut milk, rice cooked in herbs and my favorite cranberry juice.
We sat there eating in silence. I felt like I was under the sea with all these creatures looking up on us. It was a scene right out of a Disney movie and I half expected these creatures to start singing and dancing a la Disney style.
I started when suddenly heard music and actually for a moment thought that the fish were singing when I realized it was a beautiful song that I loved very much. It was unchained melody.
“Lonely rivers flow to the sea to the sea To the open arms of the sea Lonely rivers sigh wait for me wait for me I’ll be coming home wait for me”
We had just finished dinner and Jude held out his hand in silent permission. I took his hand and we danced. He held me close as I lay my head on his shoulder and he rested his chin on my head.
I looked up as the song got over and said, “Thank you for the best date ever!”
“You’re welcome” he said smiling.
“Am I forgiven?” he asked.
“Almost” I said and laughed when he pouted, “yes you are forgiven”
He glanced at his watch and groaned, “we will have to leave soon I only had permission for three hours”
I started as I realized how quickly three hours had passed. We collected our belongings and I went over to look at the dolphins once more before leaving.
Jude and I walked out hand in hand. He held the door once more for me and we proceeded towards home. I was beginning to get butterflies in my stomach as we neared home. What would Jude expect when we went home? A goodnight kiss or something more?
I wish I had thought about this before and called Sean to ask his advice but now I had no idea what to do.
I gulped as we neared home.
Jude’s POV:
I licked my lips nervously as we neared home. What was she expecting? A goodnight kiss or something more?
Normally when I had gone out on a date I would drop the girls and kiss them goodnight and would leave. But Natasha was coming with me so what was expected of me? I ran a hair through my head in frustration.
I glanced to see Natasha look as nervous as I felt. Whatever were we going to do?