to spend the money on a cab, so we walked to the restaurant. I thought it was a stupid idea, but he insisted it would be fine. I could always burn a few extra calories, but I’d rather spend a few extra dollars for convenience.
Hand in hand, we reached the restaurant without any problems and had a nice meal. We had a table near the window so we could see the ships in the harbor. Palm trees swayed in the wind, and the water glistened from the light of the moon.
The restaurant specialized in seafood, which was one of my favorite things to eat. I ordered mahi mahi along with a glass of wine the waiter recommended. Jacob ordered a seafood platter, and of course, calamari. It was his favorite thing to eat. If any restaurant had it, he always ordered it.
The candle in the middle of the table flickered and cast a romantic aura in the dimly lit restaurant. Other couples surrounded us, vacationing just the way we were. Our relationship had changed over the last few days, and I could feel that in the air. We were getting closer, our friendship solidifying. For a while, I lost faith in our relationship, but now, I was starting to believe in it again.
Jacob wasn’t as relaxed as he had been a few moments ago. He started to shift his weight repeatedly in his seat, touch his hair, and check his watch. He checked it five times in two minutes.
“Have somewhere to be?” I teased.
“What?” he asked with a flinch.
“You keep looking at your watch…” I pointed at his wrist on the table.
“Oh.” He placed his hand under the table where I couldn’t see it. “We’re on vacation, so I’m not sure why I brought it.” He chuckled awkwardly, and it turned into a cough. He grabbed his wine and downed it like water.
I raised an eyebrow, unsure why he was acting so peculiar. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat then looked across the restaurant.
Was he going to propose to me? Was that possible? He’d been so distant for the past few weeks I wasn’t sure if I could believe that. Our relationship had been in a deep rut. If I noticed it, so did he. But why else would he be acting weird?
By the time we were done with dinner, it was completely dark outside. The light blues that touched the edge of the horizon had completely disappeared. The red and orange clouds had vanished under a blanket of darkness. Now, the water was an infinite black pool that reached out to nowhere the eye could follow.
Jacob paid for the meal and we left, hand in hand. I was eager to get back to the hotel and considered calling for a cab. Walking in the dark was just stupid, even if we were together.
“I’m going to call a cab.” I pulled out my phone.
“Wait.” He pulled me farther toward the dock where the enormous ships bounced in the harbor. “Let’s take a look at this.”
“I don’t think we’re supposed to go over there.”
“We aren’t going to break in to the ships,” he said with a laugh. “We’re just looking.”
“Uh…I still don’t think we should go somewhere we don’t belong.” I turned back to my phone. “Just let me call a cab.”
He pulled my hand down so I couldn’t see the screen. “Call a cab later. Come on, I want to see this.” He grabbed my hand again and pulled me along.
Since he was in a good mood and I didn’t want to ruin the progress we made, I let him get his way. “I didn’t know you cared so much about ships. We have a dock in New York, you know.”
“Yeah, but it smells really bad. Like old fish. Here, it’s clean. It always smells like palm trees.” He stopped at every ship and stared at the side, looking at the names of each one. “Maybe we can get a boat someday.”
“Maybe.” Or a jet ski. Those were manageable.
He pulled me farther into the docking area, stepping away from the streetlamps that lit the pathway. We were completely cast in shadows, and I felt a shiver creep up my spine. It had nothing to do with the weather because it was humid as hell. “Jacob, I really think we should go back.”
“Wow. Look at that military ship up ahead. Do you think that’s a US vessel?”
“Uh…” Even when I squinted, I couldn’t tell. “Probably. Now let’s go.”
“Come