Best Thing on the Internet

Spencer Reid

It is 6:45 when I show up to the restaurant. I called ahead a few hours earlier to make sure they had a table for two. The Shores is a fancier restaurant. It's not too fancy where each meal is in the triple digits, but it is a nice atmosphere. I tell the waitress my name and she says my table will be ready in a few minutes. I took a seat down in their waiting area, pulling out my phone to see if Elizabeth texted me. I hear the door to the restaurant open so my head shoots up. That is when I see Elizabeth. She is looking around the waiting area until we make eye contact, and I just see her face light up. She smiles as she makes her way over to me. As she gets closer, I notice she smiles with the tip of her tongue pressed between her teeth. I quickly stand up and wave a little wave.

"Hi Spencer," she said as she nodded her head. "It's nice to finally meet you." Her voice is just as cute as she is, beautiful even.

"You too. Our table isn't ready yet, so please, have a seat," I say as I gesture to the seat next to the one I was in. I sit back down as she does. I look over to her then down to my hands. She lets out a light chuckle. Even that is cute.

"How was your nap?" She asks to break the silence. I just look over at her confused. "The one you took when you got home. I know it was a while ago, but.."

"Oh, yeah. It was good. I feel well rested."

"Good. That's good."

"Yeah," I realize at this moment that my conversational skills are very poor.

"Have you ever been here before?" She asks. I like how she is trying to keep the conversation going.

"No, have you?"

"No, but I looked up the menu and it looks...good."

"Spencer Reid?" I hear my name ring out in the waiting area. Both of your heads shoot up to look at the hostess. We stand up in unison and head over to her.

"Reid," I hear Elizabeth whisper to herself. I turn my head towards her. She just looks at me with doe eyes. "You never told me your last name. Reid. It is a good, strong name."

"Here is your table, your waitress will be with you soon," the hostess said as she stopped at a table. I pull the chair that is facing away from the door out for Elizabeth to sit. She thanks me and takes her seat. I take mine and open the menu to look through it. I use my finger and quickly scan the menu, reading all of it. I look up at Elizabeth who is just staring at me in awe.

"Did you just read the whole menu that fast?"

"The subconscious mind can actually process up to 20,000 words per minute. It is pretty fascinating if you think about it. The human mind..." I stop myself before I embarrass myself too badly. I just nod my head. "Yeah, I read the whole menu that fast." We sit there in silence for a second before she pipes up.

"The human mind what?" She asked, looking interested.

"What?"

"You said the human mind then stopped yourself. I would like to hear about it," she said, closing her menu and putting it onto the table. I just smiled at her and continuing talking about how amazing the human mind was, only stopping to tell the waitress that we both would like a water.

"The human mind is really an amazing machine if we can unlock its full potential," I finish my rant and she gives me an impressed nod.

"I now understand why you have three doctorates," she is the opposite of everyone I meet. Nobody really wants to hear me talk about all the knowledge I have, but she does. If I can read her correctly, she looks impressed with me and wants to learn more. The waitress comes back with our waters and asks if we know what we want to order. I nod at Elizabeth to go first.

"I'll just have the half caesar salad please," she said as she handed the waitress back her menu. I just look over at her.

"Would you like to add protein to that?" The waitress asks her.

"Oh, I'm okay. Thank you," she said as she looked back over to me to order. I look at her another second before looking up to the waitress.

"I am sorry, I still need another minute. You can help another table and come back," I say to the waitress and she just nods, walking away from the table. I then lean in to Elizabeth. "You know you can get whatever you want, not just the cheapest thing. I asked you out, I am going to pay."

"I know. It's just... I am not very hungry," she said. I could tell she was lying by the way she avoided eye contact with me.

"Do you want to go somewhere else?"

"No! No, I like it here, unless you want to go somewhere else, then that is totally okay with me," she said, looking like she is panicking a little bit. "Whatever you want to do."

"Do you want to eat a little tiny $20 salad? Honestly?" I ask her. Her eyes soften a little bit as she just shakes her head. I nod and stand up from my chair. "Let's go. There is a diner just down the way that has pretty good food." She smiles and stands up. She reaches into her purse and pulls out a $20, setting it onto the table. I just look at her confused.

"I feel bad for leaving her without a tip," I just nod as she turns away from the table. I look at the $20 bill as we walk off. I pull out my wallet and grab a $20, putting it into my pocket. I will sneak it to her one way or another later. Elizabeth thanks the waitress as we walk out. I race a little and open the door for Elizabeth. She thanks me again as we walk out.

"It's walking distance if you want to walk," I say to her. She just does her cute little smile. We start walking down the road in silence.

"So, Dr. Spencer Reid," She breaks the silence as she looks up at me. I laugh a little at her use of my full title.

"Just Spencer is fine."

"Okay, Just Spencer."

"You're a smartass," I laugh at her again. She is making me so comfortable just being around her. I don't know how she does it.

"I am, but I want you to tell me, what do you do at the FBI?"

"I am a profiler," she just looks up confused at me. "By investigating a crime scene, a profiler may make educated guesses as to various aspects of the Unsub; race, age, mental state, social standing, things like that."

"Unsub?"

"Unknown subject. The bad guy."

"Gotcha. So basically you look for any details regular police would overlook?

"Exactly."

"Is that how you knew I thought that restaurant was too expensive for what it is?" She asked, her voice is a little awkward.

"I'm sorry about that I just thought–"

"Spencer. It was a good idea and I am really appreciative that you thought about that, I just don't need an expensive date. I don't really need much," she interrupted me. "But I am expecting ice cream at the end of this date."

"Of course."