Everyday I was at work I was getting closer and closer to something that could possibly be useful to MS sufferers everywhere. I just hoped it would work out.

I looked at the clock in the dashboard, relieved to see that I was on time. Work had gone over today, and I had only thirty minutes to get ready once I got home. My hair was still slightly damp, but I knew it would dry at the restaurant. I was taking her to her favorite place in the world to eat, Landlocked Sea. According to Haley they had the best crab cakes anywhere this side of Maine.

I slowly made my way down the driveway. I hadn’t shoveled off yet, and nearly had to put the Jeep in 4-wheel drive. But, finally I was on my way, and feeling good about what I had planned.

The drive to her place took a bit longer than usual, so I tried to hurry as fast as I could. I had a schedule to keep.

I reached my hand out, knocked on the door, which was opened immediately.

"Damn. Were you waiting by the door?" I asked with a grin. Haley smiled.

"Well, you know."

"So, anyway. Hi!" My smile was huge, pretty much from ear to ear.

"Hello. Aren’t you the happy clam?" Haley asked, a matching smile on her face. I nodded.

"Yup." I looked at her, noting the thick sweater, black khakis and peacoat. "You look nice and warm."

"I am. Per your orders. So, what’s on your mind, Miss Andi?"

I shook my head. "Not yet. Come on."

Haley pulled her door shut, and followed me to the Jeep. As we drove, we were both silent, but when Haley got the notion of where we were headed, she began to perk up.

"Wait, wait, are we, is it," I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. "It is!" I smiled over at her.

"Well, it is your favorite place to eat."

"Oh, yeah? And how do you know that?"

"A little birdie told me." I parked and pulled the emergency break.

"And what was this little birdie’s name?" Haley put her hand on my back as we walked to the building, our breath coming out in white puffs.

"Um, Tweety?" She grinned at me, her hand rubbing small circles in my back. The contact felt good. I never saw myself as much for affection, but like so many things, that had changed.

I opened the door to the restaurant, and we were met with a lobby loaded with people waiting for tables on a Friday night.

"Oh my god." Haley muttered.

"No worries." I headed up to the hostess, told her my name, and with a bright smile, she called for the waitress that had been put aside especially for us. The young girl led us toward the back of the place to a more isolated, quiet table. I smiled as I saw the balloons that had been put up all around it, tied to the chairs and the table leg.

"Oh, Andi." I heard chuckled behind me. "No one knows it’s a birthday or anything." I grinned back at her.

We were seated, and our waitress smiled as us both. "What can I get you ladies to drink?"

"Well," Haley glanced at me. "Since I’m not the one driving, I’ll have a glass of white."

"Okay. And for you, ma’am?"

"A virgin strawberry daiquiri."

"Good choices. I’ll be right back." I watched her hurry through the maze of tables toward the kitchen, then turned to Haley, who was already looking at me.

"This is really nice, Andi." I sat back in the comfortable chair, and grinned.

"I’m glad you like it."

We sat in silence for a moment. I stared at the candle that was lit in the center of our table, watching as the flame bounced around from the unfelt movement of air currents.

"You do know what they say, don’t you?" I looked up at Haley, her voice surprising me.

"What’s that?"

"The way to a woman’s heart is her stomach?"

"I thought that was a man’s heart?"

She shrugged, sitting back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest.

"Well, true, but I’m known as quite the food slut." I chuckled.

"Is that so?"

"That is so."

"Here you are, ladies." The waitress sat a huge frozen drink in front of me, and a glass of wine in front of Haley. "Are you ready to order yet?" I looked at Haley.

"I’d like the crab cakes, please."

"Alright. What kind of vegetable did you want with that?"

"New potatoes, please."

"Ma’am?" She turned to me.

"The smoked salmon, please."

"Okay. Coming right up." She smiled sweetly, and left us again.

"Nice girl." Haley said, watching her as she hurried away.

"Yes." I agreed. "I would never want to a waitress. Hard work."

"No, kidding. I did it very briefly in college." I looked at Haley.

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah. It sucked."

"I bet you were good at it, though." I grabbed my drink, thankful that I didn’t get one with alcohol in it. With the sheer size of this thing, I would have been under the table halfway through it.

"Eh, I did okay." She shrugged. "Tips were always decent." Haley sipped from her wine.

"Why did you only do it briefly?"

"Because it sucked." I laughed. "And because my scholarship came through, you know, the living expenses."

"Oh, I see how it is. You try to make this seem so pitiful, when you only needed to do it briefly." I stirred my drink with the straw, taking the little plastic sword out of it, biting the pieces of fruit off of it.

"Yeah, but is sounds better the pitiful way."

I shook my head, chuckling. "You, my friend, are a nut."

"Here you are, ladies." The waitress brought our salads, covered with the yummy house dressing.

There was silence as we both dug into the food. I, for one, hadn’t eaten all day, save for the bagel I’d grabbed earlier in the morning. And as for Haley, who I knew had eaten a well-balanced breakfast, as well as lunch, she was just a food slut.

"I love their salad." Haley hummed, happily munching on her greens.

I glanced at my watch. Must keep on schedule.

"What time is it?"

"Nearly seven-thirty."

Haley finished her food, and pushed the plate away, smiling at me. I looked at her.

"Yes?"

"Okay. I’m ready for more." I chuckled, pushing my own salad away. She looked at it, the bit I’d left. "You’re not going to finish that? How dare you leave such a great salad to go to waste."

"Well, if I finish my salad, there’s no way I can finish my salmon."

"Wuss." She grabbed the plate, and began to chow down. I shook my head, astounded.

"Are you pregnant, or something?" she laughed.

"Yeah, right. Aren’t there certain physical conditions that need to be met for that?"

"Oh yes, virginal one." She grinned.

"Salmon?" The waitress, who seemed to just appear, placed my dinner in front of me. "Careful. The plate is hot. And crab cakes." Haley was grins from ear to ear.

"Thank you." She smiled at us.

"Can I get you anything else?" The waitress looked from one of us to the other.

"Nope. I think we’re good to go." I said. With one last smile, she left.

"Wow. Does this ever look excellent." Haley smiled at her meal, then at me. "Thanks, Andi." She picked off the little sprig of mint leaf.

"Anytime."

Not another word was spoken as we both dug into our meals, swapping bites, and closing our eyes in utter delight. The service was superb, the food divine, and the night perfect. I couldn’t have written it better myself.

Finally, empty plates sat before us both. The waitress was back in a flash, almost as if she’d been watching us to see when we’d finish.

"Dessert, ladies?" Haley looked at me with hope in her eyes. I nodded at her.

"Chocolate-raspberry mousse, please?" she asked, the excitement of a child shining in her eyes. God, she was so adorable.

"Ma’am?" Blinking rapidly, I looked up at the waitress’s expectant face.

"Oh, sorry. I’ll have the banana gelato, please." With a smile, she was gone, only to return with a few friends moments later.

I heard the clapping from the other side of the restaurant, and grinned as I knew what was coming. I glanced down at my watch, happy to see they were right on time, then up at Haley. She look confused as she tried to look around the place to see where the noise was coming from. It got louder and louder until ten waiters and waitresses stood around our table, clapping their hands, our waitress standing in front with Haley’s mousse in her hands, a single lit candle in it.

Haley shook her head, for the first time turning completely red.

"No," I smiled, loving her embarrassment at such direct attention. The wait staff began to sing Happy Birthday in harmony with each other. I was impressed; it actually sounded great. Even though Haley looked like she wanted to hide under the table, I could tell she was enjoying it.

They finished their song, all the guys giving her a kiss on the cheek as they walked by, wishing her a happy birthday. I just about died laughing at that. I had no idea they’d do that, but Haley didn’t seem to mind.

When everyone le

ft, she grabbed her spoon, pointing it at me accusingly. I just laughed and began to eat my gelato.

We ate our dessert, and I glanced at my watch again.

"Oh, we have to go. Are you done?" I asked, looking up just in time to see Haley trying to get every single last drop of mousse with her spoon.

I grinned. "Why don’t you lick it?" She looked at me, then around, then back at the dessert dish. With an evil look, she stuck her finger into the glass dish, and ran it all over the inside, catching all those stubborn bits that her spoon just couldn’t catch. Closing her eyes in pleasure as she stuck the finger in her mouth, the smiling at me.