Chapter 13
After taking a brief nap to help with her jet lag, Sydney woke up just in time for dinner. When she shuffled into the kitchen, still slightly groggy, she found her parents and sister waiting for her. Of course they immediately wanted to know how her trip was and she told them. “I won five thousand dollars.”
“You’re kidding!” her mother gasped.
Sydney shook her head. “No, I wasn’t really gambling at all… I mean I played a slot machine for a little bit and won like ten dollars my first night there, but I wasn’t planning on doing it again, you know? Then last night Michael sorta talked me into it and gave me twenty bucks to bet…and I lost almost all of it and was about to give up when he told me to pull the thing one last time…so I did and I won,” she said, shrugging slightly.
“Boy I hope you paid him the twenty dollars back,” Nadia laughed.
“Well actually I’m going to use the money to-” She stopped herself short of revealing that she was going to buy a townhouse that hopefully they both would live in. Quickly, she changed directions in what she was saying “t-to buy a present for him… Just something small,” she added with a nervous laugh.
“Don’t you think you should give him more than just something small since, really, if it hadn’t been for him you wouldn’t have won at all,” her father pointed out.
“Well I tried to give him half right after I won, but he refused,” Sydney told him. Immediately after collecting her winnings she had tried to share, but Michael said he didn’t want any; it was her money, he said. “I am going to use it to help me find an apartment or townhouse or something,” Sydney continued. “True, it’s not much; but it’s definitely a help.
“That sounds very sensible,” her father said with a smile. “So how was the rest of your trip? Anything exciting?”
“Oh no, not really,” she lied easily. “I didn’t hang out with the rest of the group too much; I just sat by the pool and read.”
With this, Nadia made a coughing noise that suspiciously sounded like, “loser,” but Sydney ignored it. “Michael’s friends… well, they’re not very nice people,” she continued.
“That’s a shame; I hope they didn’t ruin the trip for you,” her mother said sympathetically.
“Trust me, Mom, the five thousand dollars more than made up for that,” Sydney laughed.
“Well yes I suppose it would,” Irina smiled.
~*~
The following day, after Sydney awoke from sleeping in late, she parked herself in front of the television, wanting to soak up as much total relaxation as possible before starting her full time job, which would inevitably be very stressful. As she was sinking further into the sofa cushions, Michael called to schedule their date that evening. He offered a movie for their get-together, but Sydney refused; she wanted their first date to be something memorable and while a movie was a legitimate first date option, it was typically for two people still trying to get to know one another, not for two who had known each other their whole lives. Instead, she suggested a fancy restaurant where they would dress to impress and the meal would be on her, or, rather, on Las Vegas.
Sydney immediately called the restaurant of her choice for reservations, but since it was a Saturday night, the restaurant was very full. The only time slot available was five-thirty and while that was slightly earlier than she would have hoped, it was better than not going at all. It did however give her a limited amount of time to get ready, so immediately after informing Michael of their dinner hour, she ran upstairs to shower.
“Look at you all fancy…hot date?” Nadia asked when she glanced into her elder sister’s room and spotted her slipping into a “little black dress.”
“Not exactly… I’m taking Michael out to dinner, you know as a thank you for him contributing to my five thousand dollar win,” Sydney explained.
“Oh,” Nadia said, her face falling slightly. “Then why are you getting so dressed up?”
“Well I didn’t want to just take him to McDonalds; we’re having a nice dinner.”
“Whatever. Seems to me like you guys should just have sex and get it over with,” Nadia said matter-of-factly.
“Nadia!” Sydney screeched, horrified that her sister was even remotely close to guessing the truth about what happened in Vegas.
“What? It’s true. What guys and girls are best friends with each other? Um, none. You should at least be friends with benefits; its not like you’re getting any someplace else.”
“Thank you for that assessment,” Sydney said dryly. “Now please go away.”
Twenty minutes later, she walked downstairs, fully ready to go, and was unfortunately spotted by her parents, who asked the same questions as Nadia about her plans for that evening. Once again she explained she was taking Michael out to dinner. Her parents also seemed skeptical of why she was dressed so nicely, but they said nothing about it and simply wished her a nice evening.
“Well aren’t you looking beautiful this evening,” Michael smiled as Sydney approached his car. “Did you escape your parents?”
“Nah they caught me, but I told them I was taking you out in celebration of winning five thousand dollars, which isn’t entirely a lie,” she winked at him.
“Devious; I like it,” he smiled. “Too bad it won’t work every time.”
“Well hopefully I can move out as soon as possible,” she smiled at him. “Tomorrow I’m going to look in the paper for ideas and maybe we can go visit some places this week.”
“Sounds like a plan,” he smiled at her.
Despite the fact that the restaurant they chose was very crowded, Sydney and Michael managed to have a very nice evening together. The held hands across the table, giggled softly together, and even shared a delicious desert. As promised, Sydney paid their check, though she noticed it was very difficult for Michael to watch her do this, since he, the gentlemen, was used to paying.
As they were walking back to Michael’s car at the conclusion of their meal, Michael slipped his arm around Sydney’s waist and gave her hip a gentle squeeze. “So I’d say that was a pretty good first date for us…as husband and wife,” he laughed softly.
“I happen to agree,” she smiled. Then she began to giggle. “I keep forgetting that we’re married…is that wrong?”
“No I forget too,” he laughed. Then, he leaned down and gave her a sweet kiss goodnight, knowing that they couldn’t do it outside Sydney’s parent’s home. “Want to have dinner with me…every other night this week?”
“Well I would…but that might get a little suspicious,” she told him.
“Good point. How about every other night?” he offered.
“Deal.”
