He sounded as if he was a bit hesitant, and so was I. Because while I really liked Jeremy in this hour that we’d spent together, I would need to make him understand that we would never be more than friends. Never....

"Hello," Aaron said waving his hand in front of me. "Are you still here?"

"Oh,” I opened my eyes and wondered when John Legend’s voice had changed to Beyoncé’s. “I must’ve drifted off to sleep. I don’t know why; I wasn’t sleepy.”

“I don’t know if you were asleep or not, but whatever you were thinking or dreaming about, it sure had you smiling.”

My response: I only lowered my eyes, though I kept my smile. How could I not? Reliving those first moments with Jeremy, remembering how I’d said never...and now, two years later, my never had turned into something that I hoped would become a forever.

I shook my head, a little surprised at myself for having that thought. Already, it felt a bit like a whirlwind, from friendship to the L word in just two months. But we were still far from the M word, especially since who knew what would happen after graduation?

The thought of that made me a bit sad, but I pushed it out of my head when the valet opened the door. Happy thoughts, only happy thoughts. This was going to be a week of celebration and I wanted to stay in this mode.

I thanked the valet, then waited for Aaron as he got his ticket from the attendant. As Aaron opened the restaurant’s door for me, I said, “I told Jeremy this was place was too expensive. We’re college kids.”

“For just a few more hours.” Aaron grinned. “We’re about to enter the real world.”

I stepped into the restaurant and if the real world was going to be anything like this, I was all in. Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, it felt much later because the mahogany paneled walls darkened the room. There were plenty of lights, though, from the chandeliers that hung everywhere. Very Crescent City.

Aaron spoke to the hostess.

“Oh yes,” she said as if she’d been expecting us. “Right this way.”

We followed her through the room that really could have been anyone’s living room with the heavy burgundy drapes at the windows and the mismatched cushioned chairs at the tables. All of it was perfect for the ambience. Though the restaurant was Sunday afternoon crowded with tourists and natives alike, the chatter was much softer than say, the McDonald’s across town with half the people.

“Right in here,” the hostess said.

I was confused when the hostess stopped in front of room and pushed open the door. Why was she taking me to a room?

But I followed her, stepping inside. And my confusion was compounded.

I blinked to make sure I was seeing what I saw. The room was a little dark because of the same wall paneling as out front, and I had fallen asleep in the Aaron’s truck, so maybe there was some residual fog in my brain.