a birthday wish ~*(DECLAN)

[VICTORIA MOLLY HAGAN]

The garden of Master Nobu was silent except for the springs of water and fish splashing about. The tall tree's blocked out the blistering sun as Master Nobu watched his student. Victoria was in a handstand position, she was perfectly balanced. She had been in that position for nearly an hour. Finally when the sand timer ran out, Victoria relaxed her position and sat down on the ground. The blood rushed from her head to the rest of her body. She was dizzy only slightly, Since she had been doing that for the past week she was use to it. When her body felt fine Victoria's eyes focused on her teacher. Master Nobu rose gracefully and she did as well. Victoria bowed low to her Master Nobu and he gave a the same low bow back. Normally he didnt do that to his students unless he greatly respected them. Victoria had been taught by him for about ten years, exceeding the levels quickly. She loved to learn new styles of fighting, the studied many types. She was learning Brazilian jujitsu at the moment, Victoria was also a black belt in Karate.

Victoria and Master Nobu walked back into his Martial Art's school which taught a number of fighting styles. She gave him a nod again as she headed for the locker room. When she got in no one was there, she frowned and felt alone.  She shrugged though and stripped out of her white robe she practiced in. She walked over to the showers and turned on the hot water. The water felt good on her stiff muscles, she let the water run until they were all loose. Victoria got out and wrapped a towel around her. She walked over to her locker and got out her clean clothes. Once she was done drying off she put on her lace undergarments and slipped on her tight strapless pearl silk dress. She but black stiletto heels on that had the texture of silk as well. Victoria then went to the bathroom and put on her make up. When she was done she put on a necklace was a small pearl on the end. It was real and her father gave it to her just before he died. She has worn it many times and always carries it with her.

Today was Victoria's birthday and her mother wasn't even going to be here to see it. She and her husband had planned a vacation in Las Vegas. When she told her mother about her birthday she said it had 'slipped her mind'. Victoria didn't even care anymore, her mother wasn't even her more. She had died,figuratively, a long time ago when her father passed. No, it wasn't even that. It was when she married her new young husband. Victoria hate him for that with a burning passion. He even tried to pull a move on her until she twisted his arm behind his back quicker than he could comprehend. She threatened him if he did that again she would 'accidentally' break his arm. She wouldn't tell her mother, not because she didn't want to hurt her feelings but because her mother wouldn't believe her. She would tell Victoria how she's trying to ruin her only happiness.  For Victoria she stopped caring about what her mother did. She was just an empty shell of her beautiful caring mother she use to be. 

Victoria shook her head to clear her thoughts and packed up her things. She slung her gym bag around her shoulder and headed out the door. She past Master Nobu on the way out and he gave her a warm smile. He would have come but he had a funeral to attend to that evening. He was more of a parent than her mother was, if she got married he would be the one walk her down the isle. Victoria got into her Mercedes and started off to the restaurant.  The forty minute drive was long enough to dry her hair. When she parked her car she threw up her hair into a tight pony tail. Victoria took a deep breath and got out of her car. She walked elegantly to the front entrance were a doorman opened the door for her. She gave him a brilliant smile which left him dazed, she couldn't help but giggle at that. When she entered the restaurant there was a tall lady at the check in podium."Table for one, Cobrian."[/color] She said to the woman. The woman looked surprised at the name, Victoria was the sole owner of her fathers wealthy real estate company. The woman motioned her to follow as she led Victoria to a two seated table. It was elegant and she nodded in thanks to her escort. Victoria sat down and looked around, wishing she really didn't have to be home.  

[declan]

Dine and dash. Declan had always wanted to try it, and for the first time in his life he finally got the balls to try it. He wasn't completely broke, but he sure as hell didn't have the kind of money for all that fancy schmancy elegant dining at the Dine D'Aphrodite. Which is why he came up with the dine and dash idea. He had seen it once on a That 70's Show episode, and it made him laugh until he couldn't breathe. Nervous? Yes. But Declan loved trying new things. And this was definitely a new experience for him. The only thing he regretted about his plan was that he didn't have a date. But that might be a good thing - he didn't want to get a girl in trouble if he got caught.

Declan stood in his bedroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, staring into his closet. He had no idea what to wear. Something fancy, of course, but he didn't know where his good clothes were. With a sigh, he dried off and pulled on a pair of boxers before he walked over to his hamper and dug down near the bottom. And surprise surprise, his good suit was down there. Damn. He was going to have to do laundry quick. He really should have gotten them dry cleaned, but again with the no money thing. Not for that kind of thing anyway. He pulled his suit from the depths of the hamper and walked around to the other side of his apartment, where he started up a load of laundry. It would take about an hour. Longer than he wanted to wait.

In the meantime he hung out in the living room, the tv on quietly while he did some push up and crunches. Declan was a fitness nerd. And since he couldn't go for a run and risk sweat and B.O., he stuck with small scale stuff to pass the time. Once the dryer beeped, signaling his clothes were ready, he jumped up and ran to get them. He was running late on his schedule. He pulled on the clothes that were still warm from the dryer, a nice pair of black pants, a white shirt and a black jacket. Looking through his small selection of ties, he decided on a regular black one that went well with the rest of the outfit. He sprayed on some cologne, made sure his hair still looked good, grabbed his keys and headed out the door.

It didn't take him too long to get to the restaurant, and he sat for about five minutes in the car eyeing the place down. He was going to need a plan. Did he want to get just a table for one? It was the only other option he had. He got out of his car and made his way inside where he was greeted by a rather tall woman. He glanced into the restaurant for a second, about to tell the woman he just needed a table for one when he spotted a rather beautiful girl in a rather beautiful dress at a table alone. And from the looks of the table, she was eating alone as well. He jumped at the opportunity. "I'm meeting a woman here, the one at that table," he said, pointing to the girl. The lady made a face and crossed her arms. "That woman is by herself. She asked for a table for one." Declan nodded, ready with a reply. "I know. But I'm here to surprise her. It's her birthday today, and I'm a friend of hers." He said, praying to God she believed the birthday story. He had no idea if it was actually her birthday or not, but the lady seemed to believe him. "Alright, go ahead then."

Declan flashed her one of his trademark grins and he saw a small blush on her cheeks. Bam. He walked casually into the restaurant and up to the girl's table. There was another chair there, just nothing set up for another person. He placed his hands on the back of the chair and smiled at the girl. She was even more beautiful up close. "Please don't tell me such a beautiful woman such as yourself is eating here alone? That's almost a crime." Please God let her be a friendly one. And not another Faylinn. That had been a problem getting her to be somewhat civil with him, he really didn't have the time to persuade this one into being nice to him. And if she was the stand-offish type?

Good question. He would probably make a dash into the bathroom and try to sneak out a window before that one tall woman could track him down and call the cops. She had already been suspicious enough of him. After thinking about his approach, Declan decided he should have acted like he actually knew this woman. It might have been more believable that way. But then he might have gotten slapped by her. Good lord what had he gotten himself into?

[/size]

[VICTORIA MOLLY HAGAN]

Victoria loved going to dine d'aphrodite, it was her favorite restaurant. She was a regular customer there, the waiters new her by name and so did everyone else. Everyone else besides the new hostess, people said that she wasn't really friendly. She acted nice though, obviously it was her job to welcome people. But behind the charade she was a stuck up bitch. This was just second hand information so Victoria didn't really know. But she was good friends with a lot of people here and she didn't think they would lie to her like that. Victoria was a very valuable customer, she was always hosting dinners here for her co-workers. She usually did a charity dinner here every month as well. Victoria was big on raising money for charity, she wants to help as many people as she can. She runs marathons to raise man, walk-a-thons, and she volunteers at the hospital when she has free time. She felt as though she was trying to make up for when she tried to kill herself. Victoria wasn't really religious, but she felt she had to help as many people as she could. 

Looking around she saw a couple to her right, they were holding hands and she couldn't help but smile at them. They could be no more than in their mid twenties. There meals were untouched, the girl was talking and the guy was looking at her with so much love and adoration. She felt a surge of envy, why couldn't someone look at her like that. But nevertheless she was happy for them, they were young and in love. Once her parents looked like that, but that was so long ago when everything was picture perfect. Goes to show how fast a picture like that can be destroyed. Her attention then turned to a family  sitting at a table a couple tables down from her. There was the mother, the father and four children. It looked as though they only came here once every now and them as a treat. The kids were acting up,  they giggled and they smiled. The mother was trying to calm them down and it took a couple minutes but she did. Victoria smiled at the happy family, again the envy was back. Why was everyone she looked at a painful reminder of what she didn't have.

Victoria glanced around for her waiter and then she caught sight of him. His name was Henry, he was tall and blonde, very handsome. But he was a good friend of hers, she would never consider him anything more than a friend. Victoria smiled at him as he approached her."Hello hello, what can I get you to drink ." He asked. Victoria thought about it, she was debating on an alcoholic beverage or not. Quickly she made up her mind though."A glass of red wine would be amazing." She said giving him a dazzling smile. Henry was dazed for a quick second but then nodded and went off to go get it. Her gaze drifted off until the fell upon a guy near the entrance, he was talking with the hostess. He was startlingly handsome, dressed very nicely in a suit. She was quite taken a back of how attractive he was. Quickly she glanced away, not wanting him to see her staring. Victoria wasn't the kind of girl who dated, her life was far to busy for that. She was the kind of girl that met nice guys but never really go to know them enough. It's not that she didn't like them, she just didn't like them enough.

Her thoughts were interrupted as someone stood in front of her. She thought it was Henry, but when she looked up she realized it was the guy that was talking to the hostess. His presence was quite breath taking, there seemed to be something different about him. Her mouth fell open slightly at what he said to her. She gave him a smile though, already liking his personality. She noticed that the hostess was glaring at him,with something of a smug look on her face. He must have said that he knew her, and now the hostess was waiting for him to be rejected. Victoria gave him a charming smile. "Well I'm not alone now."[/color] Victoria said smiling "Please sit."[/color] She didn't know why she had wanted him to dine with her. Victoria had never done anything like this, it was so out of the ordinary for her. "I'm Victoria,"[/color] She said "What brings you here? Trying to get a free meal off a lonely girl?"[/color] Victoria was curious to see what he would say,because obviously she was only joking with the guy.

[declan]

This situation was making Declan rather stressed. In order for the lady back at the entrance to go away, the girl in front of him had to act pleasant enough for him to pretend he knew her. This had been such a bad idea. He obviously hadn't thought this through at all and now he was going to pay for it. You couldn't just dine and dash at a fancy restaurant without having the plan thought out perfectly. He could be so stupid sometimes. But just as he was thinking about going with the bathroom window plan, the girl smiled up at him and offered him a chair. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Really? Could be be so lucky?

Quickly replacing his disbelief with a smile, he nodded at her. Victoria. That was such a beautiful name, perfect for a beautiful woman. "Pleasure to meet you, Victoria. I'm Declan."

[/b] He pulled out that chair and took a seat, straightening his tie as he did so. "What brings you here? Trying to get a free meal off a lonely girl?" His jaw dropped again. He could tell she was joking, but it was like she saw right through him. But he couldn't let her see that. He struggled to get his smile back in place and forced a chuckle. "Of course not, I was just in the mood for some good food and saw you sitting alone so I came over."[/b] He was going to pay for this. Thank God he had a credit card on him.

Just then a waiter approached the table, setting a glass of red wine down. He blinked and turned to Declan, obviously surprised Victoria wasn't alone. Well, he was here, he might as well make the most of it. He flashed a smile and motioned towards the glass of wine. "May I have one of those as well?"[/b] The waiter nodded and turned to go get him a glass. He was going to have to pick up a second job in order to pay for the credit card bill he was going to get after tonight. He didn't want to take advantage of Victoria, so he was going to do the gentlemanly thing and pay for the bill.

Leaning forward, Declan smiled at her again. "I have to admit though, you ruined my plans,"[/b] he said joking, "In all honesty I was going to dine and dash. But then I saw you and felt like you could use some company."[/b] He hoped she wouldn't take offense to any of that, especially his plan to cheat out the restaurant. "I, uh,"[/b] he paused to clear his throat, "I told the lady at the front that I was coming to surprise you for your birthday. So, happy birthday!"[/b] He still had no idea if it was actually her birthday; it was entirely possible.[/blockquote][/size]

( occ: wow, it's really short and sucky, i'm sorry! i just woke up xD )