31

Marie

"So really if I want to I always could move back home but I like it here. It's also really nice to be a somewhat foreigner plus the ladies love the British accent" Karter says smirking at me.

"I'm sure they do buddy." I say taking a bite of my sandwich.

Karter opened his mouth to say something but my phone had started ringing. I picked it up to see Nina's caller ID. I answer immediately.

"Hello?" I ask.

"M! I haven't seen you in a week. Did you die or something?"

"Nope very much alive. I'm sorry, I've been busy."

"Yeah with Karter for sure." I can tell she's smirking on the other side.

"Yeah yeah shut up."

"The two of you have officially been going out now right? Since Saturday?"

"Yeah I guess. Nothing official yet though." I try not to take Karter's name as he's in the office with me.

"Well obviously he won't start calling you his girlfriend in a week. Baby steps M. Baby steps." Nina says.

"Yeah I know." I say.

"What happened on Saturday that made him change his mind?"

"Well...I'll tell you later? I'm actually having lunch with him" I say in a whisper tone so Karter doesn't hear me but he did. I can see him smirking at me.

"Ohhh. Don't let me ruin the fun. It's good that he's there. Josh and I want to invite the two of you over tomorrow night. For a double date."

"No. No. No. Absolutely not Nina."

"But why?"

"I know you and Josh very well."

"Come on please? Discuss it with Karter and lemme know?"

I let out a sigh, "Fine I will."

"Okay I'll talk to you later have fun with our boss. Byee."

I smile,"Byee." And she hangs up.

"What was all the no no no about?" Karter asks once I set my phone aside.

"Well Nina and Josh want us to come over for dinner tomorrow. A double date thing." I say.

"Us as in you and I?"

"Yup."

Karter smiles, "Well that's nice. It'll be fun."

"I told her that I would text her if we decide to come."

"If? You don't want to go."

"I love them both but they embarrass me a lot, they're like my parents. I don't know if I want to take you."

Karter chuckles, "You've met my friends too. How bad can it possibly be?

I shrug, "I don't know."

"To be fair you've met my friends on several occasions while I barely talked to Nina and Josh for 5 minutes. It'll be nice."

"Fine. I'll text her" I say giving up and Karter smiles at me.

Karter and I will be there (: -M

Almost immediately I get an answer,

Ninaaaaa : Great! Be there by 8!

The next day right after work I hop in the shower. I put on a white full sleeved flowy dress that fell to my knees. It was a perfect summer dress. Today I decided to put on white flats that I had actually gotten with the dress. So no heels which is very unusual to come from me. I curl my hair a little to give it some extra volume. By the time I was fully ready it was 7:25, Karter must be coming soon.

Exactly after five minutes there was a knock on my door, I opened it to see Karter standing there smiling at me. "Hello Gorgeous" he says and leans in to peck my lips.

"Hi handsome" I smile once he pulls away.

"Shall we get going?" Karter asks.

"Yes, let's go."

We walk to his car hand in hand and he opens the door for me. I notice a bottle of expensive wine sitting in a bag on the seat.

Once Karter gets in the car I ask, "Wine?"

"Yup. It's polite thing to do." He says.

"Cause you're so polite!" I joke.

"Haha very funny. I want to make a good impression. I don't want Nina to think of me as her tyrant of a boss but someone her best friend is seeing." Karter says.

I smile and place my hand on top of his, "Don't worry."

I knock on the door with Karter beside me. Nina opened the door smiling at us.

"Hey guys. Come on in." She says.

We step inside and Nina hugs me and shakes Karter's hand.

"This is for you." Karter says handing her the bottle of wine.

"You shouldn't have. Thank you Mr. Allan." Nina smiles.

"Please just call me Karter." He smiles.

"Okay, Karter." Nina smiles at him.

At that very moment Josh steps out into the living room, he greets Karter first, "I'm Josh. Pleasure to meet you."

"Karter. And likewise" Karter smiles.

"Hey M!" Josh smiles at me and embraces me in a hug.

"How about you two boys chat while M and I get dinner along?" Nina suggests.

Both the boys nod as Nina and I walk into the kitchen.

"You and Karter seem very happy." Nina says nudging me slightly once we're in the kitchen.

"Yeah I guess" I smile.

"So what made Karter change his mind about the whole "no dating" thing?"

"He's been through a lot. I don't blame him for having so many walls. His friends thought it was time for him to move on." I say.

"Move on? What happened?"

"He lost his wife a few months after Millie was born."

Nina's face softened, "Oh. That's horrible."

"Yeah."

"How is Millie though?"

"She's a wonderful, bright kid. Very into cartoons." I chuckle.

"And she likes you?" Nina asks.

"Yeah she does actually." I say.

"That's good then. Come on we should get going before the boys die of hunger or something." Nina says and I nod.

We place the food on the table and ask the boys to come join us.

Karter and I take a seat beside each other while Nina and Josh sit in front of us.

"So how did you two meet?" Karter asks Nina and Josh.

"Well I was 17 in my senior year when Josh's parents moved next door to me. He was a college student so he wasn't around much. But then we met and I like to think of it as love at first sight. For our first few months we had to do a little sneaking around as it was basically illegal until I wasn't 18 even though we were only 3 years apart. So we've been together ever since. " Nina smiles at Josh. Honestly if you would I ask me to define relationship goals it'll be Nina and Josh. For sure.

"So Karter do you have any family in the US or..?" Josh asks.

"Actually I don't. Mostly friends. My family is all settled in different parts of England" Karter smiles.

The rest of the dinner was spent talking about our families and interests and Karter said that the next dinner should be held at his house to which Josh and Nina agreed.

Overall the night was good and it's safe to say that Karter and everyone got along perfectly.