Before Lizzie could respond to Robert's comment or David could chastise, Robert raised his two fingers and a waiter immediately walked over to their table.
"Can I start everyone off with drinks?" he asked, smiling at all the occupants at the table.
"Yes," Robert said, "We'll have a bottle of your best wine... preferably red." Robert quickly glanced at Lizzie. " Do you drink red wine?" he asked her.
"Yes."
The waiter nodded and headed off to the kitchens.
"So," Ruth cleared her throat and grinned nervously, obviously eager to change the subject from the awkward gaffe made by her husband. "How did you two meet?"
"Mom, I told you already," David said.
"I know, I know, but I'd like to hear it from Lizzie."
"Well, we met through a dating app."
"You mean, through the computer?" Robert asked skeptically.
"Yes, your stepson was one of the few good ones I talked to. We hit it off right away and after meeting, our relationship just grew from there." Lizzie turned to looked deeply into David's eyes at that point.
Underneath the table, he reached his hand to touch hers, and lifted it up to place a light kiss. If Lizzie was a shy and awkward girl, she would be heavily embarrassed. But what was there to be ashamed about? She had the adoration of a wonderful man and from what she could tell from this first meeting, she had the approval of his parents. This was a girl's biggest dream come true. Almost perfect.
So she felt no embarrassment in placing her head on his shoulder briefly in acknowledgement of their blossoming relationship.
" How wonderful, "Ruth gushed. " Lizzie, you must come to our home sometime and I'll cook for you my famous risotto…with a cuban spin of course."
Lizzie smiled, a feeling of pure elation coursing through her at this warm welcome and approval. "I'd love to."
The rest of the dinner went rather well, with David��s parents telling her embarrassing but adorable stories from his childhood- including his hatred of eating tomatoes, the various scrapes he'd get himself into, and his shared love of football with his mother.
David and his mother immediately invited Lizzie to go to a Giants game once the season began and though Lizzie stated her lack of knowledge about sports, Ruth quickly pointed out how it was an event to welcome her to the family and that she would be a huge fan in no time.
At the end of the evening, David volunteered to take Lizzie home and after hugs and feather kisses were given, the young couple were finally alone.
"So, what did you think of them?" he asked, making a point to walk slowly.
Lizzie matched his pace. "They're great, David. Your mom is so sweet and your step dad is nice."
He smiled. "I'm glad you guys got along. I know that my dad will love you once he meets you."
Though Lizzie thought she shouldn't, Robert's comment about David's ex-girlfriend stuck with her, and she was eager for clarification on what he meant.
So she cleared her throat, her mind racing with how she can bring up the subject delicately. " It's so easy to get along with your mom. She's a total sweetheart. She seemed totally impressed with what I do for a living and what I studied."
"She sees that as a relief considering what happened in the past," David said.
"Oh? " Lizzie asked.
David stopped and turned to face her. " You're trying to find out about my ex, right?" He smirked. "I think I know you pretty well by now, Elizabeth Garcia, to know when you are trying to be slick and get information," he joked.
Lizzie put up her hands in mock defense. "Yeah, you totally got me. Since your stepdad dropped that bomb at dinner, I've been curious. You just don't talk about her much."
"You don't talk about your exes either."
"It's never really come up but I have no problem talking about them," she said.
David turned and continued walking. "It's your lucky day, 'cause I have no problem talking about her either."
Lizzie didn't respond.
Taking that as a cue to continue, David said, " I dated my ex for about three years. Mom didn't like her the minute she met her. She thought that she was… ugh, too low-class and uneducated. She didn't come from a good family and had a hard childhood growing up. Mom never approved of the clothes she wore, saying they were too low cut so my mom never invited her to any of our favorite restaurants and always hated when I took her as my date for family weddings because of the clothing she chose."
"Ok… was she a bad person?" Lizzie asked, hoping that there was a deeper reason for Ruth's dislike rather than her looks.
" I didn't think so. We always had a good time together and I think I was attracted to her because she was a bad girl of sorts. When I was younger, I kind of liked that. You know��� breaking away from the mold, trying to piss off my parents because I was stupid, young, and rebellious. I thought I was over that, but for some reason, I was twenty- five years old and attracted to her." He sighed and ran a hand over his face, shaking his head. " I was so taken in with her that I even asked her to move in with me after only six months. I was crazy."
Lizzie grabbed his hand. " We've all done crazy things sometimes." Though secretly, she wondered how this nice, down-to-Earth, professional guy with intelligence and so many similarities to her can fall for someone like the person that he just described. But she had to remember, that opposites attract.
"Yeah, but I should've known better. I started to see her for what she really was two years later. " He shoved his hands into his pockets and shook his head. " She tried to pit me against my mom, saying that my mom treated her like a child behind my back, which I thought she did, but it turned out to be a lie after I confronted my mom about it. I had never gotten into fights with my mom about anything until I met her. I even stopped speaking to her because of Jessica for two months. My whole family was against my ex but I didn't listen. I was completely blinded. She was so convincing and knew how to play me well."
Lizzie nodded, trying her best to be as quiet and supportive as possible. It wasn't difficult to do since she could obviously see the pain that talking about her caused him.
" Jessica didn't trust me. She always thought I was cheating on her when it was the last thing I'd do." His hands immediately came out of his pockets and he made a slashing motion with his hands, as if cutting out the bullshit of Jessica's accusations away and reiterating how ridiculous it all sounded.
Though Lizzie wanted to believe and trust David, there was always an inkling of doubt whenever a man presented that topic as a main reason for a breakup. She needed to dig deeper. " Why would she think that, though? Did she make something up out of thin air?"
Instead of David taking the question as an insult and a signal of Lizzie's doubts, he merely continued on with his story, " I ran into a REALLY old girlfriend from college at the grocery store once with Jessica and afterwards, she completely flipped out, saying she saw signs of flirting which really weren't there. That girl was married, for God's sake, and was showing us pics of her kids." He sighed in frustration. " After that, I broke up with her. She completely embarrassed me in that supermarket and I was tired of being accused of something that was so off-base. I really saw that she was seeing whatever she wanted to see and after that and me breaking up with her, I reevaluated all the crap she was saying about my mother."
He chuckled. " The minute she was out of my life, I rebuilt my relationship back with my mom."
By this time, the couple stopped walking as Lizzie's apartment complex loomed over them. David turned to face her and took her hands in his. " I didn't want to talk about this so soon, especially after you and my parents got along so well." He brushed his hand over her cheek. " I was nervous, to be honest. You are so different than Jessica and I knew there was a high chance you'd get along with my mother and she would like you…but there is always that doubt."
Lizzie smiled, leaning into his touch. " To be honest, I was nervous too, scared actually. I…really wanted your mom to like me."
"I did too," he said. "And you know what?" David leaned in closer and whispered in her ear, " I don't even have to call my mom later to know that she adores you."
Lizzie felt nothing less than elation at his words. Between the combination of his breath tickling her ear and the relief and completeness she felt at being accepted by who was obviously the most important person in David's life, she felt as if she was on Cloud Nine.
"And I really like her," she said, " I would love to see more of her and maybe meet the rest of your family." It was bold for her to say that, but she felt so comfortable with David and they fit so well together that anything she learned before from stupid relationship advice books about "playing the game" and "not letting him know about your feelings too soon" flew out the window with her and seemed like such shallow, stupid advice.
David was above that crap and he was a grown and mature man who knew exactly what he wanted and wasn't afraid to show it. So how could she not respond to that by showing him the same? That girl Jessica was a fool to mess things up with David like that… but in the end, it was her gain.
David's eyes sparkled with excitement and he finally leaned in to kiss her. It was a good and proper kiss, just like at the park on their second date, and Lizzie moaned softly as he deepenedit, making her arms travel around his neck as if the intensity of the kiss was keeping her from standing up straight.
It almost was. Lizzie didn't know if she could ever last days, weeks, or years without kissing David. It was the most exhilarating experience she ever had. Finally, when David pulled away from their embrace, it was to take her face in his hands and say, " I'm so happy to hear you say that. I definitely can't wait to show you off to my family. But I'd also love to meet yours, to find out everything about you. I can't get enough of you, Lizzie."
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, opening them only once he exhaled. "I've fallen in love with you. I know it's too soon but I've never felt this way before. Not with Jessica, not with anyone."
Lizzie was floored. The ground almost fell from under her with the weight of David's words. He loved her. There. He said it. It was out there. Looking deeply into his eyes, she knew that David wasn't one to throw out that word casually. This was a declaration, just like in the countless romance novels and movies she'd seen. This was a huge step. He made a commitment with those words and Lizzie couldn't do less than give him the same commitment.
"I love you too, David," she breathed, standing on her tiptoes to place a gentle kiss on his forehead. " I don't think I've ever loved any man as much as I love you right now."
Lizzie knew she would remember that moment forever, as her and the future love of her life stood facing each other in the emptying streets of the city, staring into each other's eyes with so much love as the brightly lit New York City skyline shone all around them.