Nick stood leaning on his sink wrapped only in a towel.  He swiped his hand over the steam on the mirror to clear a spot so he could see his face.  He only had a couple of hours left to get ready and it seemed like it would not be enough time for him to prepare.  He had dark circles under his eyes making it apparent he’d hardly slept the night before.

Of the girls he’d dated off the dating website, not many of them had impressed him enough for a second date to happen. And Jess, well Jess was just an accident that it got to a second date.  Nick ran his hands through his wet hair as he remembered the dream that had him tossing and turning the night before.

It was the same dream he had every night before a second date and a few times before the initial first date.  He was sitting across from a woman with red hair; her piercing green eyes seemed to see into his very soul.  There were cards in between them on the table and without looking the woman talked about the cards. 

“You will never find love; you have chosen your path already.  You are doomed to roam this planet alone in this life and the next.”  She spoke the words, never breaking eye contact with him.  The rest of the night he would only see her eyes staring at him, invading any other dream he might have. 

Nick rubbed his eyes trying to shake the image of the woman’s intense gaze.  He dried his hair before moving into the bedroom to decide on his clothes and finally get dressed.  He was determined not to let the memory of that woman and her words haunt him and ruin this date.  Tonight would be perfect he kept telling himself.

He knew he left early but with everything that happened the last couple of weeks and on previous second dates, Nick wanted to try to be prepared.   He arrived at the restaurant and sighed in frustration when he was informed that they did not have a reservation for a Nick Carter.  He knew he made the reservation; he called that day after he met Veronica and they agreed to a dinner date.  He wanted to make sure he got the reservation before he told her definitively where they would be going.

He was still standing in front of the hostess stand, hands on his waist, when Veronica entered the restaurant.

“Hello Nick,” she said as she snaked her arms around his waist.  “I’ve never been here before,” She smiled up at him but most have noticed his concerned face.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, dropping her arms.

“They lost my reservation,” He sighed.  “They were able to find us a table though.” He shrugged. “They are just getting it ready now.”

“Well that’s not so bad.” She smiled and Nick started feeling better.  Maybe this wouldn’t be the start to a horrible evening like he’d imagined when he first heard the news.

“Mr. Carter,” The hostess said as she came back. “If you and your guest will follow me,” She turned and started walking towards the back of the restaurant.   Nick groaned internally as he noticed the table sandwiched between the small area that lead to the restrooms and the kitchen.

“This is fine,” Veronica spoke up taking a seat at the table.

Nick looked at the hostess and tried to smile.  “Thanks,” He muttered before taking his seat.  He looked at Veronica who sat smiling at him.

“I am sorry,” He apologized.  “This table is the worst table possible.” He watched as several servers walked by them on their way towards the kitchen.

Veronica reached her hand across the table and took his hand.  “Nick, we are here, we are sitting. Let’s just ignore the traffic and focus on each other.”  Her smile made Nick smile in return. She was right after all.

“Yes, let’s.” He returned her smile and hoped this was a good sign on how the rest of the date was going to be. 

“Hello,” a young woman came to the table.  “My name is Patty and I will be your server this evening. Would you like to see our wine list?”

Nick nodded and took the list from the server deciding on a Shiraz.  Veronica held her hand up when Nick tried to offer her the list.  “No thanks,” She said politely declining.  “I’ll have a diet coke,” she told the server.

They sat waiting for the drinks, the silence between them was not uncomfortable but he really should start talking.

“So, how is your job going?” He asked.

Veronica smiled and nodded.  “It’s going. I have a few co-workers that get on my nerves, but we all have one of those right?”

Nick thought about it.  The guys and he would have little arguments every now and then but they were like family, it was to be expected.   He shrugged as a response to her comment.   Their beverages arrived and Nick asked for a water to sip as he didn’t want to drink all of his wine before dinner.

He glanced at his menu and Veronica followed suit.  “Everything looks so good.” She spoke from behind her menu. 

Nick had to agree, the selections were varied and each looked as appetizing as the next.  “I know I don’t know what I’m going to have.”

“I think I am going to have the salmon with garlic mashed potatoes,” Veronica decided as she put her menu down. 

Nick glanced back at his menu and decided he would play it safe tonight, nothing outrageous for dinner that might make him sick.  “I think I am going to stick with the sirloin.”  He smiled and put his menu down, knocking over his wine glass in the process.  Wine flew straight onto Veronica’s chest; Nick stared at her chest in shock.  When his eyes ventured to her face she was red, from anger or embarrassment he couldn’t tell.

“I’m so sorry,” He started to say; leaning across the table he started dabbing the wine off her chest with his napkin.

“No, no,” Veronica stopped him and pushed his hand away. “I will take care of this, thanks.” She smirked at him and dabbed her own chest.  Nick pulled his napkin away feeling incredibly stupid for spilling his wine on her.  He set his napkin down on the table.

“Is there anything I can do?” He asked. 

“No, it’s okay.” She laughed.  “Now I’m glad I didn’t wear my favorite top.”  Nick looked at her upset that she was laughing about the situation.  

“Nick, no, don’t make that face.  This is my bad luck shirt I swear.  I thought by wearing it to dinner tonight my luck would change when wearing it because I liked you so much.”  She smiled and continued to dab her chest.

Nick started to relax, sitting back on his seat.  He grabbed the napkin off the table. “Oh shit,” she yelled out dropping the napkin on the floor and stamping on it.  In his haste to put his napkin down he did not realize he’d set it right on top of a lit candle.  “Dammit,” he muttered to himself when the fire was out.  What else could go wrong on this date? Frankly, he was still surprised that Veronica was still sitting across from him smiling.

“Nick, relax.  This can’t be your first time at a nice restaurant with a girl. Really, you don’t have to work hard to impress me, just relax.” A small chuckle escaped her lips and he nodded.  Yes, relax.

The server came back and when she saw the napkin and Veronica’s shirt she gasped slightly.  “Do you need some soda water?” she asked as she picked up the napkin.  Nick blew out the candle on the table and smiled awkwardly at the woman.  He mouthed ‘sorry’ to her. 

“That would be great,” Veronica replied about the soda water.  The woman took their order before she left, coming back with the water in which Veronica started to dab onto her shirt.

Nick sat back in his seat and watched as she cleaned her shirt, there was no conversation between the two of them.  Nick hoped their dinner would arrive soon to alleviate some of the awkwardness.