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Post by Alice on Aug 11, 2006 22:13:55 GMT -5
Waiting until Frederick had finished writing down Ambrose's order, Alice then said with a pleasant smile, "I think I will have the cream of asparagus soup with two slices of focaccia bread and a glass of sparkling water."
A few moments later, after Sky had placed his order and Frederick had whisked their menus away, Alice glanced around the table, all too aware of the heavy silence that seemed to be hovering over the lot of them. With a silent sigh, Alice glanced out of the corner of her eye at Sky; she should really have known better than to have actually thought that he was ready to take this kind of step. While she wasn't entirely convinced that he wasn't ready to move on from whatever he had had with Christine, she did know that it was too soon for him to try to be friends with her and her date. Still, she was determined that this night not be a total waste. Somehow, she was going to make the evening at least semi-pleasant for everyone. But how? Where to begin? What topics to discuss? To avoid? Who to address first? Her eyes trailing down to her lap and landing on her white dress, Alice finally decided that when all else failed, one could never go wrong with compliments. Lifting her gaze to meet Christine's, she smiled softly as she said, "Christine, that dress you're wearing, it's quite beautiful and unique. It looks as though it was made especially for you."
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Post by Chris Strongheart on Aug 11, 2006 22:18:41 GMT -5
Christine's eyes blinked and she looked confused for a moment, but only for a moment. "Thank you," she said politely. "My father sent it to me several days ago. It was a dress he had made for his late wife that she never got a chance to wear. It meant a lot to him so I chose to wear it." Her voice caught for a moment, having heard the story about her father's late wife and how much she behaved like her.
She cleared her throat. "And your dress is quite lovely as well," she said quietly.
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Post by Alice on Aug 11, 2006 22:31:06 GMT -5
At the mention of Christine's father's late wife, Alice winced, momentarily reminded of her own mother's death. Quickly pushing back the memories, she smiled brightly as she said, "Thank you; it was a gift from my grandfather." Pausing to see if either Sky or Ambrose would either contribute something to the weak conversation or start a new one, Alice then continued with a fond smile when neither seemed willing to speak, "He and I are very close and he's easily one of my best friends. In fact," at this she turned to Sky and said, her eyes lighting up brightly, "he's a great deal like you. I think you would like him very much if you met him."
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Post by Chris Strongheart on Aug 11, 2006 22:34:59 GMT -5
Alice's simple comment made Christine's heart wrench again. This was starting to be a night she was starting to regret. Maybe she could make the lame excuse of haivn to powder her nose and slip out. She'd apologize to Sky when he got back...
She just couldn't stand sitting there, and having her heart shatter. She quickly picked up her napkin and dabbed her eyes. Hopefully no-one caught her moment of weakness, and if they did, misconstrued it for tears from talking about her family.
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Post by Sky on Aug 11, 2006 22:45:03 GMT -5
Seeing how hard Alice was trying to get a conversation started, Sky mentally resolved to put more effort than he had been putting into treating her as she deserved to be treated. Gritting his teeth as he glanced surreptitiously at Ambrose, Sky knew that no matter how much the other man's presence was irritating him, he would just have to suck it up and deal for the evening. Perhaps in a few days he could pull Christine aside and express his concerns about her dating such a lowlife, but until then, Alice and her needs were what ought to be occupying his thoughts because she was his date. Not Christine.
Giving Alice a warm smile, Sky reached over and lightly patted her hand as he said, "I'm sure I would too." As his gaze drifted back across the table at Christine and Ambrose, Sky felt the familiar stirrings of annoyance rising up in him once again. Fighting to keep his composure, Sky quickly averted his gaze from them as he struggled to find something else to focus his attention on - to give him a temporary escape. His ears finally noticing the sound of a small orchestra playing, Sky cast his eyes over to where a few couples were dancing as they waited for their dinner to be served. Knowing that this was his way out, his opportunity to get his mind off of Christine, Sky turned to Alice and asked, as he offered her his hand, "Would you care to dance?"
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Post by Alice on Aug 11, 2006 22:50:00 GMT -5
Turning to Christine and Ambrose, Alice asked, her brows furrowed, as she took Sky's hand, "You don't mind, do you? I mean, I hate for us to just up and abandon you two . . ."
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Post by Chris Strongheart on Aug 11, 2006 22:50:12 GMT -5
Ambrose looked about ready to make the same offer to his date, but taking one look at his companion, decided against it. The girl just didn't have that spark of life - something he didn't find missing too much.
Christine kept her gaze focused on everything but her dining companions. She just had no desire to continue this game anymore.
"It's fine," Ambrose answered for Christine, not caring what her feelings on the matter were.
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Post by Alice on Aug 11, 2006 23:06:30 GMT -5
Hesitating for a moment more, Alice then nodded slightly as she rose from her seat and allowed Sky to guide her away from the table. Once they had made their way over to the dancing area, slowly getting in-time with the music, Alice tilted her head up to look him in the face as she began to speak. But something in his expression made the words die on her lips and instead, she turned her attention to his chest. So much for an evening out with 'friends,' as Sky had so described it when he had asked her out on this date. Christine and Ambrose were not his friends - not by a long shot. Sighing mentally, Alice knew in reality, Ambrose was Sky's enemy - simply because of the fact that he was with Christine.
It was a humiliating thing to accept - that she was second best in Sky's eyes. That he was, in all likelihood, only with her because he couldn't have who he really wanted. She was his consolation prize. As Alice turned this last thought over and over in her head, she felt her hurt and humiliation begin to boil into a fine temper. But always the lady, Alice kept it carefully concealed beneath the surface of her smooth, alabaster skin. Instead of throwing a fit as other, less-cultured girls would, Alice instead said softly, "You needn't try to hide it from me any longer, Sky. I know that you really want to be here with Christine. I tried to tell myself that I was okay with it; that because I like you as much as I do, I could wait for you to get over her. But that's just not who I am. I am a good person and I have a lot to offer in a relationship; I cannot be second best. Only fools allow them to be that and Sky, I am no fool." Lifting her eyes to meet Sky's, she continued, "But I have my pride and so I'm not going to walk out on this dinner and neither are you. You're going to sit through this with me and then when the night is over, you and I can go our separate ways because obviously, you're not ready to commit to me. And that's all right. I can't make you want me and as frustrating as that is, it's life and I accept it."
Finishing her fine little speech, Alice slipped her arm into the crook of his and gently tugged on his arm, signaling to him that it was time to return to their table.
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Post by Chris Strongheart on Aug 12, 2006 6:00:37 GMT -5
Christine just studied the contents of the glass of water she had asked a waiter in passing for. Wine usually got her sleepy, especially if she had too much of it, and she had a feeling one of the two men would be carrying her back to Red Fountain if she drank as much as she wanted to numb the pain she felt. She still couldn't believe she had let Sky talk her into this.
Ambrose was silently seething that the damn ex-werewolf was really messing up everything. She was supposed to be his - and that ex-werewolf just couldn't let go.
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Post by Sky on Aug 12, 2006 11:58:13 GMT -5
Momentarily stunned by Alice's speech - at being called out - Sky froze in place before he slowly shook his head and said weakly, "No, Al, please don't think that; you're not second best. I . . . I know it may seem that way, but from the bottom of my heart, I . . . I think we have the start of something good. Really good." Wanting to talk to her some more, to make her understand the situation he was in, Sky pulled her back onto the dance floor and then continued, "I can't lie. Tonight is . . . hard. More than hard. It's torture. And I know that probably makes me look like I'm still hung up on Christine but . . . but I've accepted that she and I are the past. Now, I just need some time to . . . to grow accustomed to it. I mean, we were together on and off for a long time and I can't just get over that in a couple weeks. I can't just suddenly go from being in a relationship with her to being comfortable seeing her with other guys." In a pleading tone, he finished, "But that doesn't mean that I don't want to be with you or that my heart hasn't fallen for you. Please, believe me. Please . . . just give me another chance. Let me show you that it's you that I want to be with."
As he stared down into her skeptical eyes, waiting in nervous anticipation for her response, Sky's thoughts drifted back to what he had just finished saying. Was it all a lie? Alice probably thought so, but . . . it wasn't. Not all of it. True, he knew that he had more than just a few lingering feelings for Christine, but that didn't mean that he hadn't developed a growing affection for Alice. No, he hadn't been lying, Sky tried to convince himself. He did like Alice and he did want to be with her; she made his life easy. She was soft and ladylike, which would please his mother, but she still had a humorous, bold side that delighted him. Spending his life with her would be a breeze. A piece of cake. No more stress. No more having his mother pestering him about his choice of girlfriend. It would be good.
As he slowly cast his gaze back around the dining area, Sky's heart twisted when his eyes landed on Christine sitting at the table with Ambrose. With a mental sigh, he wondered mournfully why he had no problem convincing his head that Alice was the one he should be with but couldn't for the life of him convince his heart.
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Post by Alice on Aug 12, 2006 12:08:26 GMT -5
Giving Sky a faint smile before resting her head against his shoulder, Alice said, "I want to believe you, Sky; I do. Because I think we could work, too. But . . . only if you get over Christine. And you obviously haven't done that. I can't hold that against you; Christine is a very nice person and I imagine that any man would be hard-pressed to just move on from her. But like I said, I need someone who's going to want me. Only me. I still want to be with you - to see where our relationship could go - but only after you've ended things once and for all with her - including emotionally. Which is why for now, perhaps we should stick to being friends. Good friends. And who knows, perhaps one day you'll wake up and realize that you feel for me what you still feel for Christine now. Until then," at this Alice leaned up and gave him a light kiss on the cheek before flashing him a brilliant smile, "let's eat, hmm?"
Guiding Sky back to the table, Alice again took her seat as she said apologetically to Ambrose and Christine, "I hope we didn't keep you two waiting too long."
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Post by Chris Strongheart on Aug 12, 2006 13:10:13 GMT -5
"No, it's okay, we weren't waiting long," Christine answered softly, her voice a little weak. She was tempted to pull her vanishing act now, but she just didn't have the heart at the moment. Her blue eyes were focused on her glass of water she had in her hands. Focus on something other than the happy couple.
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Post by Sky on Aug 12, 2006 13:32:07 GMT -5
Grateful that at that moment the food arrived, Sky tried his hand at starting up a conversation. "The food looks delicious and it smells great too . . . uh . . . you know they say that each meal should be a full sensory experience. That is, to be fully satisfied, the food has to not only taste good, but look good as well." Picking up his fork, Sky nodded as he said with a forced smile, "I buy it."
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Post by Chris Strongheart on Aug 13, 2006 5:52:01 GMT -5
Christine merely picked at her food, a sign that something was bothering her. She only did this once before and that was when she was having dinner with Sky and Alice in Sky's home with his mother present.
Ambrose, on the other hand, had a fairly healthy appetite, and was almost tempted to steal a few things off his date's plate, but decided against it since her "ex" was sitting right there.
Christine placed her fork down and picked up her glass of wine and sipped it slowly. She was sure everything was delicious - it just tasted bland to her due to her lack of appetite.
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Post by Sky on Aug 13, 2006 18:20:42 GMT -5
When his comment failed to elicit a response, Sky fell silent and turned his attention back to the dish in front of him. So much for a pleasant evening - or even a pseudo-pleasant one. He wasn't entirely sure what he had expected out of the night, but it sure wasn't this. Well, perhaps that wasn't entirely true because, in his mind, he knew he had had a fuzzy envisioning of the four of them sitting down together, exchanging polite pleasantries - just as any acquaintances would do. But tonight . . . beyond Alice's few attempts at conversation and the lame topic of food he had tried to discuss, no one was talking. At all.
God, he would be glad when the night was done because this definitely had to top the list of the stupidest ideas he had ever had.
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