Old habits die hard

It went just as every other beginning to date night goes:

We get ready (my lovely Henry waits until after I take my solid hour and fifteen minutes to primp, and THEN takes his half hour to forty-five minutes to get ready instead of us both getting ready together... Always), we get in the car before deciding where we want to go to eat, an argument ensues about whether we go to a fast-food joint, an expensive steakhouse where we only order water and salads because that’s all we can afford as just-out-of-college graduates, or if we go to Olde Joes - our normal outing venue. After our argument where we inevitably pick our familiar venue, it takes Henry an extra fifteen minutes to find the *perfect* parking spot. Those fifteen minutes cause a line to form, where we are now stuck waiting at the end of it instead of already having a table my poor feet can rest at since I stupidly picked my flashiest pair of heels instead of comfier shoes.

Eventually we are seated with a beautiful view of the parking lot, paired with our table being surrounded by drunk college students, extremely loud families with tiny children that like to run everywhere, and a couple who decide to make some sort of scene.

You guys. This is EVERY date night we ever have.

Anyways, Henry, who is a gentleman, pulled my seat out so I could sit, and he pushed my chair in. I surveyed the entertainment we had for tonight: an unruly family of five with two toddlers who were already fidgety even though they were sat down at the same time as us and a baby who was still too small to be in one of those child seats, a middle-aged couple who refused to look up at each other, and a student with their food untouched and pushed aside while they stared at their textbook with the familiar expression of confusion I knew too well and was glad to be over with.

Sally, our waiter, came up to our table and gave us her weekly exhausted smile.

“Hey, sugars. Sorry Alanah gave you menus, she’s new. Will you be having the usual?” The usual being Henry ordering a rum and coke while I get the cocktail of the day, and our food choices of a barbecue burger for Henry and a rib rack for myself. We nod, Sally nodded right back, and she reached to take our menus.

”Actually… I think I’m gonna try a new food item this week, Sally” Henry sheepishly muttered as he pulled his menu closer to his body. Sally and I shared a look.

“Henry. Are you sure?” I asked. “You know what happens when you try new things.” Henry rolled his eyes and shot me a look. He then looked back to Sally.

”I’d really like to try something new.” Sally gave a nod, took my menu, and scurried away to prepare our drinks. Henry went back to his phone, and I went back to people-watching.

The toddlers were reaching for silverware as the parents, clearly not prepared for their children in the wild, continually pushed the silverware farther seemingly unreachable into the middle of the table. The student was using their silverware to try and make some sort of diagram, food still untouched. And back at the couple, they were now leaned in towards one another in some sort of heated discussion, seemingly cutting and biting their food for emphasis.

I myself sighed and closed my eyes, exhaustion from the day slowly sending me into a zen state.

CLASH

BANG

SMASH

SHRIEK

I awoke to a catastrophic horror film! The spaghetti-stained toddlers had ripped the entire table cloth from their table in some sort of collusion against their parents, pieces of glass were thrown everywhere from the impact of the fall. I aimed my gaze back at the student, who was just as confused as I am.

Looking back at Henry, he was staring at the couple. I looked back at them, realizing that was where most of the noise was coming from.

“JERRY, YOU DON’T DO ANYTHING FOR ME AND YOU HAVEN’T FOR 20 YEARS”

”DENISE, YOU PICKED THE RESTAURANT TONIGHT. YOU PICKED MY CLOTHES. YOU PICKED OUR CHILDREN’S NAMES AND COLLEGES. I CAN’T DO ANYTHING FOR YOU.”

”YOU PICKED YOUR MISTRESS”

”YOU KNOW THATS DIFFERENT, DENISE. SHE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS”

I was so mesmerized by this argument unfolding, I didn’t notice Denise’s arms.

”WELL, JERRY. JUST LIKE YOU PICKED YOUR MISTRESS, I’M PICKING HOW LARGE YOUR BILL WILL BE TONIGHT!” And with that, her hands now on each corner of her end of the tablecloth, she yanked her side of the tablecloth up with as much force as she could. Before I could see the aftermath, Henry’s body was rammed into mine, sending my chair backwards and my head right into the cement ground.

Once again, I was lost in a sea of darkness, unable to open my eyes but could hear the chaos of the restaurant. Sally was screaming at Alanah to assist her, the parents were yelling at probably their toddlers to come back to their table, and the couple were still arguing. I could hear Henry calling my name, but I couldn’t respond until I felt a large jolt of cold air.

I tried to sit right up but my position in the chair kept me on the ground. Instead, what I saw made me go white.

Sticking out of Henry’s shoulder. Was a knife.

“Eliza, thank god you’re alright!”

“Henry. You… what? What the hell is happening?”

”I have no idea, I’m pretty sure an ambulance is on it’s way. You should lay back down, your chair’s legs broke after I jumped in front of you.”

”Henry.“ Kneeling on top of me, he tried to bend down to kiss me but I put my hand on his non bleeding shoulder. He gave me a quizzical look, looked down at his shoulder, and just stared. It took a minute or two, but we were both mesmerized by this piece of silver protruding from my boyfriend’s body.

“It’s… it’s not that bad,” he said as he shook off the confusion.

“Henry? That’s a knife. Sticking out of your shoulder.“

”Yeah… yeeeeeeah.”

“Are we really gonna sit here and wait for police and ambulances?”

”Eliza. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got some serious debt. I don’t wanna pay for this doctor visit. Do you?” I attempted to nod, but searing pain shot through my entire head. I felt his hand reach out to let me rest my head on it… the hand that wasn’t connected to the bleeding shoulder.

Looking past Henry, all the kitchen staff had come out to subdue the still fighting couple - which had gotten violent and equally matched - and I could see the police and ambulance lights flashing on the wall, as I was still on the ground.

Henry and I looked back at each other once more and smiled, knowing this was a date night we would and could NEVER forget.