Chapter twenty-one : Lucifer

I finally had Everly for a night, I mean for our first dinner together. When I'd got off my car I'd heard a laugh and I knew who it was. There she was kneeling on the ground with a dog in front of her. And that laugh was the purest thing I'd heard. The dog was all over her and her face had that beautiful smile. She loved dogs, that meant one thing common.

"Lucifer, where should I put this?" She asked picking up the bag in her lap.

"What is that?"

"It's your jacket, I forgot to return it the last time. Also I'm sorry I didn't wash it, I didn't have any idea about the washing instructions."

"Glad you didn't." I smiled, then picking up the bag I threw it on the back seat. She looked at me in disbelief and I shrugged in return.

We finally pulled up in front of the restaurants. I got out and then helped her, she rolled her eyes and I smiled. I put my hand on the small of her back and guided her inside. I liked how she was getting comfortable to my touch and not flinching away from it. I looked down at her and she was looking around her in awe. She liked it.

"Mr. Adler," the receptionist smiled, "Mr. Williams will join you shortly."

"Not shortly, here I am." John came striding toward me, "Lucifer welcome to the White Avenue".

The White Avenue was one of the restaurants I'd invested in, rather the first restaurant I invested in. John had visited our company a few years back looking for an investor for his restaurant. He seemed like a man driven by his will and I decided to take the risk, and it paid me off. The man was able to take it to new heights, he was more than happy and I'd made enough profit to think about investing in the restaurant business.

"You brought a date with you?" His wife, Lyla joined him too.

I felt Everly shift beside me and I wrapped my arm around her waist. "Lyla and John, this is Everly. Everly they are the owner of this beautiful place." I said.

"Nice to meet you." She said softly.

"We are glad to meet you. So how did you guys–" his wife began.

"They're here to have dinner honey. We should not keep them waiting. Here I'll take you to your table." John said.

"That'll be good. Good evening Layla."

After a short ride in the elevator we reached my usual table, the table where I usually dined alone but today I had Everly with me. John left us alone a few minutes later and I finally had her for myself. "This place is beautiful." She looked around her.

Yes it was and also this table offered the best view. The restaurant wasn't just a typical one, its interior was more inclined toward the traditional and ethnic side, which was something new. "Thank you for bringing me here." She smiled.

"Thank you for coming here with me," I smiled back.

We sat in silence for a moment when Everly broke it, "Actually Lucifer, I wanted to apologize for what I said to you the first time we came across each other." She said.

Our first meeting started playing in my head and lips curled up, "It's okay. To be honest I liked that. You spoke whatever was on your mind without any filter. That was one of the first things that attracted me to you."

I saw the colour hit her cheeks and she continued, "I also wanted to thank you for everything you did for me. You helped me when I had no one. So for that–" from the pocket of her jacket she produced a small box, "I got you a small present." She put it in the middle of the table.

I stared down at the box, she actually got me a gift. I'd got many presents but this, this was something different. My Everly had gotten me a gift for the first time. It meant she thought about me and for the moment that was enough for me. "Mind if I open it now?"

She shook her head. I reached for the box and then tore off the wrapping paper. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. It was a black box, I opened it to reveal the contents inside. It was a pair of cufflinks and they were just the way I liked.

"I saw you wearing cufflinks back at the hotel so I thought I'd get you a pair. They're not expensive like yours but they totally match your style. I guess." She said.

I looked up at her and saw she was nervously waiting for my reply because I'd been quiet for long, "They're beautiful." I said, she visibly relaxed and her smile was back. "Can you put them for me?"

"Huh? But I don't know," she stammered.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you." I shifted the box to her side and then took off my cufflinks. I extended my arm to her, "Here, pick one of them." Then I guided her step by step to put them. I enjoyed seeing her small hands fumbling with the cufflink. The first was a little difficult considering she wasn't able to latch on the toggle but the second was a piece of cake. She leaned back in her seat and then observed my sleeves, "They look nice. Do you like them?"

"Yes I do." I brought up my hand and straightened the sleeve, then looking her in the eye I kissed it, the colour on the cheeks was back, "I love them."

The food soon arrived. I waited until she took her first bite, waiting for her approval. One thing I knew for sure was Everly loved food. My little Everly was a foodie and I planned on catering to it. "Delicious." She smiled and then I started eating. Over the food we talked about a lot of stuff. I got to know that she'd be graduating early from her university. Something I already knew. She told me how she dreamt of having a dog and her first meeting with Casper. I also got to know that she was bibliophile. What struck me the most was her approach to life. Even though she didn't tell me but I knew she grew up in foster care. I knew her struggles. I knew how she struggled to make the ends meet in the early years. I knew all about her but knew nothing at all. She might've been telling me all of this stuff but I was aware about the wall around her. She must have put her trust in someone and got it broken, I understood how it felt. And I wanted her to know that she could learn to trust again. I wanted to tell her so many things but tonight was not the right time. She'd tell me one day, I was certain. I just had to be patient and wait for her to get there.

After the main course we had our dessert, to which her reaction was the cutest. I really wanted to eat her up putting my dessert aside. We finally got up when she'd returned from her visit to heaven after she'd had the 'godly' dessert. And all I could think about were other ways of sending her there again. I shook my head to clear my mind. This wasn't the time to think about that stuff.

After saying our good byes to John and Lyla, I drove her back to her place. The ride seemed to end within seconds. When we got there she turned to me, "Thank you Lucifer I had a lot of fun." I wanted the time to stop because I didn't want her to leave.

I almost forgot, "Everly about the watch you gave me. Did you want to get it repaired?"

She narrowed her eyes at me because I looked into the box in the first place, then started, "Yes I did. But it's too old and some of its parts are not available in the market. I contacted a dealer about it but never heard from him again."

That was good at least she won't be mad, I dug into my inside jacket pocket and took out the box and pushed it to her on the dashboard. She looked at me and then at the box and hesitantly reached for it. Opening the box she stared at the watch and then snapped her head to me, "It works. Lucifer it works, look its hands are moving. It is working." She was literally jumping in her seat. "Thank you, thank you so much. I'm so grateful you did that. Thank you so very much." Her eyes were beaming with joy and so was my heart.

We sat there in the car, she was looking at her watch and I was looking at her. And then it was time, "I should get going now. Thank you again for everything."

"You don't have to thank me for anything sweetheart." I caressed her cheek.

She turned her face away, "Good night,"

"You won't invite me to your house?" I asked. I was not sure why I asked her that but I did. She turned to me and her face was covered with uncertainty. I sighed, wrong move, "It's okay love I was just kidding anyway. Now off you go." I smiled.

She nodded, opened the door and then got out. I heard her steps getting farther and farther and it was time for me to leave too. Before I could start the engine I heard a knock at the window. Everly opened the door and then leaned down, "Would you like to come upstairs?" She stammered.

I grinned.