After I opened the door and let Elijah in, I turned to my side and gave a quick glance to the girls, which was met with ear-to-ear smiles and whispers of good luck.

When I turned back to Elijah, his signature amused smirk was plastered on his face. He gave a charming nod and a quick introduction. The girls were practically swooning behind me.

If only he knew what I had gone through this afternoon to prepare for this moment.

He, on the other hand, looked effortlessly put together. He was smoldering, yet perfectly composed.

Of course, he was! He must have been on hundreds of dates already! That just makes me wonder even more. What does he see in me?

Next thing I know, my train of thought is broken when he wraps his arm around my shoulder, his hand resting on my upper arm. "Well, it was nice meeting all of you, but I think its time we head out. What do you think?"

He looked down at me and all I could muster was one syllable. "Okay." Pathetic. I sounded like a mouse. Even I was expecting more confidence in my response.

He gently squeezed my arm as we walked down the steps, which was surprisingly comforting. I didn't expect physical contact to ease my nerves, let alone my mind. It was almost as if I relaxed in his embrace.

All of my worries and fears for the night were no longer in the forefront of my mind.

That was when I began to examine him more closely. When I first met him, he was wearing casual preppy clothes. A simple Yale T-shirt, straight-fit khaki-colored Levi dockers, and a pair of blue converse. He looked like a student. A gorgeous, winsome student, but a student nonetheless.

Now, he looked like a million bucks. Literally. If I had to guess, I would say his suit was custom made by some European designer whose name I couldn't pronounce.

"So, aren't you the least bit curious as to where we're going for dinner?" He interrupted my thoughts once again.

"Personally, I'm more curious as to why you want to have dinner with me." I don't know where I got this sudden burst of courage, but I'm glad I mustered it up.

Well, now it's out there. The silence was deafening. I wanted to look up at his face to try and get a sense of what he was thinking, but I was too nervous. Did I just blow it? I just blew it, didn't I?

I was just about to stop and ask him again, hopefully in a more demanding voice, but he beat me to it.

"Well, we're here!" He sounded excited, almost enthusiastic. His face lit up as he opened the door for me.

"Here?" The Union League Cafe. He led me into the elegant restaurant with his hand on the small of my back. I was already self-conscious enough in this sumptuous environment, but the location of his hand was all I could focus on. It was so intimate. It felt like he was protecting me, almost shielding me. He could tell I felt out of place.

This place is gorgeous! It must be so expensive. This is certainly not the type of place one frequents on a college student's budget.

The host led us to a small table in a more private, dimly lit room. After he pulled out my chair, and we were both seated, the host began to list tonight's specials.

Everything was in French. I've never even eaten at a French restaurant before. I barely understood a word he said. I looked across from me with wide eyes, biting my lip. Elijah was looking at the host intently, taking in everything he said without any trouble. He speaks French. I am really out of my element.

"Your waiter will be with you any moment, Mr. Hudson. If you need anything, anything at all, just nod over to Gregory and he will assist you."

I looked to my right, and in the corner of the room stood a busboy who looked to be around our age. He kept glancing over at us, alert, seemingly ready to jump at Elijah's every beck and call.

Who is this guy? I was adding everything up in my mind. His suit, this restaurant, the excessive attention...

"Do you see anything that you would like?" My thoughts were interrupted again. I realized that I was staring at the menu. It is obvious that I have no idea what I'm reading.

"Sorry, I took Spanish in high school! I can only interpret so much!"

Once again, the amused smirk returned to his face.

"How about I help you out. We don't want you eating escargot thinking you ordered chicken."

My face scrunched up into a cringe. Definitely unattractive, I know, but I couldn't help it.

"Escargot. That means snails. I know that much!" He chuckled at my response.

I smiled and looked down at the menu, trying my best to pick out something reminiscent of chicken, Pollo in Spanish. I'm hoping my fluency in one of the romance languages will assist me.

"What is in this dish?" I point at the first main course that sticks out.

"Poulet Aux Cêpes. That's basically chicken with mushrooms."

Wow. Just hearing him speak French gave me tingles. Who knew that chicken and mushrooms could sound so alluring?

"Okay, I think I'll have that."

"Are you sure? I can read through and explain them all if you'd like. Would you like me to translate the appetizers and salads?"

"No, thank you. I'm more than happy with the chicken." I don't want to be an expensive date. I already have a feeling that this night is going to be costly with the way Elijah is so ready to splurge on dinner.

Before I begin to worry about money, I am interrupted by the waiter. This is becoming a routine!

"Good evening. May I start by offering  you this complimentary Plateau Du Mareyeur?" As he says this, a huge tray of clams, oysters, and shrimp is brought to our table. I look down at the menu, searching for something that looks like what he just said. Wow. $41.00 and they are serving this to us free of charge? Seriously, who is the person sitting across from me, responding as if this were at all normal?

"Can I get you anything to drink?"

"No, thank you. I am fine with water." I was quick to answer. Too quick. I caught Elijah giving me a concerned look before he turned to the waiter and said, "Water is fine. Actually, I believe we are ready to order. One Poulet Aux Cêpes, and for myself, an order of the Carré D'agneau a la Broche, please."

I'm glad he ordered for me. One, because I realized that I love to hear him speak French. Two, because I did not even want to try to pronounce my dish. I would have butchered it.

"So, we didn't exactly get a chance to talk yet. I want to start off by saying how beautiful you look tonight."

"As opposed to..."

"Oh! God, I did not mean that you don't look beautiful all the time, because you definitely do. I was just -"

"Don't worry! I'm just kidding." I cut him off with my laughter. Jeez! He was scrambling. To be honest, it was kind of reassuring. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who's nervous.

"Thank you for the compliment. You look very handsome yourself. I love your suit. It's very business-like." Great, he's probably going to name a famous designer, who I've never heard of, and I'm going to get embarrassed.

"Really? Thank you. This is my first date, so I didn't really know what to wear. I got this for interviews, which is why its business-like, but this is definitely a way better use for it. And, I see we're matching. It seems like we have similar taste!"

"Actually, I just borrowed this dress from one of my roommates." That was a face-palm moment. I should've just agreed and moved on. Now it sounds like I don't even have date clothes. I keep making myself look so naive and inexperienced- wait.

"Did you just say that this is your first date?" He looked at me and his face got red. I never thought I would see the slick and openly flirtatious Elijah Hudson like this. He looked so... so similar to how I feel.

"Yes. Why, did I mess up already?" I cannot believe this.

"No. No way." I was absolutely flabbergasted. He was so composed, even cocky, while he was asking me out and picking me up. He is definitely a natural. But still, this is just too unbelievable to be true.

"I just can't believe that you've never been on a date before." I was shaking my head in disbelief. "I would never have thought that."

He looked satisfied with my answer. It was cute how I was the one reassuring him. It seemed like the roles had been reversed.

↞↠

By the time our main courses arrived, we were discussing our families. I told him about my mom, leaving out a few unnecessary details.

Then I asked him about his family.

"Well..." He seemed nervous, even embarrassed. "My family is, well, have you ever heard of 20th Century Fox?"

Oh. My. Gosh.

"Yes. Who hasn't?" I gave a light chuckle. I was trying to downplay the situation that I anticipated was about to get a lot more complicated.

"Hah. Yeah, well, my great-grandfather kind of founded it." He seemed scared of my reaction, almost as if he was ashamed of his family history.

"Wow. That's really cool!"

He seemed relieved with my answer.

"Why were you so nervous to tell me?"

"Well, whenever people find out, they start acting really weird around me. They either treat me like I'm some sort of royalty, or they hate my guts. I don't really know why, but I try to avoid people knowing who I am as much as possible."

"Then why did you tell me?"

"Because I trust you. I want you to know the truth. I don't want to start a relationship based on secrets." I smiled at him and blushed in response.

Wow. That made me feel really good. He thinks I'm actually worth starting a relationship with.

We spoke nonstop throughout dinner. I was amazed as I'd listened to all of the stories of trips he had taken and all of the volunteering he had done.

By the time we finished, it felt like I had grown up with him. I've never had that type of connection with anyone, let alone a person who grew up well off. Very well off.

When our dishes were cleared, the waiter came by again to ask us if we were interested in having dessert.

I was still reluctant to spend more money, but Elijah was excited to have me try his all-time favorite dessert.

"Do you mind if we share? I'm not sure how much more I can eat!" I was full from all of the food, but I also did not want to seem like I was ready to spend his money.

"Absolutely. Whatever you want." With that, he turned to the waiter and ordered a Dôme Caramel, whatever that is.

Next thing I knew, I was being served a delicious-looking dome of chocolate and caramel mousse over a chocolate biscuit topped with caramel sauce.

We both dipped in with our spoons and he watched me with anticipation as I took the first bite.

"Wow!" That was all I could say. It took me a moment to gather my thoughts. I had already reloaded my spoon when I said, "I think that is the best dessert I have ever had in my entire life!"

"What did I tell you? This is my absolute favorite! It's even better than the Crème Brûlée that I had in Paris the-"

"The first time you went to the Eiffel Tower?"

"Yes. Exactly." He had a mesmerized look on his face. From his stories, I gathered that he's not used to people actually listening to what he has to say. I wanted to show him that I was taking everything in. That I cared.

I looked down and my heart dropped when I saw that we were all out of the caramel-dome-whatchamacallit.

I realized that Elijah saw the disappointment in my face. He, too, was paying attention. "Would you like to split another one?"

It felt like he read my mind.

↞↠

As we were walking back from the restaurant, Elijah told me he had something else planned for the evening. He began to lead me through the campus, his arm around my waist, until we reached a gorgeous courtyard.

I was expecting something extravagant and over the top, but this was absolutely perfect.

"This is the Branford courtyard. It's one of my favorite spots on campus, especially at night."

"It's beautiful." I had seen the courtyard in the daylight, but it felt completely different under the glow of Harkness Tower.

We walked around the courtyard until we reached a bench. I sat down and leaned my head against his shoulder. It was getting chilly, so I tried to pull my dress further down my legs. He noticed.

"Here. Why don't you take my jacket?"

As he wrapped the jacket of his suit around my shoulders, I began to giggle.

He looked at me with a smirk, which was still amused, yet not as cocky as before. He then started to chuckle as well. "What's so funny?"

"Its just that, this is just as romantic as the movies always make it out to be, even though it's the most cliche thing that has ever happened to me." We both started laughing at how lovey-dove we must look right now.

We were both having a wonderful time sitting and admiring the beautiful architecture around us, but, of course, I have to go and ruin the moment by regrettably saying something completely random and stupid.

"I'm surprised you don't have a wing or a hall named after you!" He just looked down at me for a moment and then burst into hysterical laughter. I followed along, glad that my comment didn't upset him. Actually, his reaction was quite the contrary. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer.

"So, now that we got to know each other better, is it okay if I start calling you Hudson?"

He took in a sharp breath and let it out in a sigh as if he was contemplating something very important.

"Sorry to break it to you," He looked down at me and smirked, "but you're not a friend."

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Ahhhhhh! I keep getting more and more excited as I write each chapter. This one was a monster, but I couldn't help myself! I wanted to give you guys a full account of the long-awaited first date, and, well, here it is!

I would like to thank you all for your continued love and support! I am proud to announce that Sara-ology has finally reached 400 reads! Woo-hoo! I truly appreciate each and every one of you!

I would love to hear what you thought of Sara and Elijah's date! Were you surprised to find out that it was a first for both of them? I bet you were!

Thank you all so much for taking the time to vote and comment on my work! I love reading and responding to your comments, so keep 'em coming! I'm excited to see what you guys think!

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Well...