16
Ralph was already seated when she walked into the Love forever QSR that afternoon. She had turned him down the first time he'd asked her for lunch, as she'd been really busy with her piece and had been surprised when he called her out again.
He was going through some files when she walked over to his table and his head jerked up on seeing her.
"Hi."
"Hi." She replied and he closed the files to gesture to the seat opposite him.
"Do have a seat."
"Thanks."
"What would you like to have?" He asked as she was seating.
"It's okay."
"It'll be my treat, so you don't have to worry." He said.
"I'm really okay."
"We'll like to make an order." He called out and a waiter, who she happened to know, rushed over to their table.
"A medium sized hamburger and sandwich with a glass of milk. Sol..."
She couldn't turn him down publicly and she was hungry too, anyway."
"I'll go with the same, if you don't mind." She replied and he turned back to the waiter.
"That will be all."
"Understood." He said and turned to Sol. "You're not here with your cute friend today."
"She's hanging out with someone else."
He smiled. "She must be having fun. I’ll get you your food right away."
"Thank you."
"You must be a regular here." Ralph said, after the waiter had left.
"Yes...My friend loves this place. This place is quite famous in this neighborhood."
"Really? Orion's was the most popular when I was in school."
She was as surprised. ”You went to school here?"
"Yes, I was an economics major. I graduated two years ago."
"I see." She replied and he lowered his eyes to his phone as she took out an envelope from her jacket.
She cleared her throat made him raise his head before she passed the envelope to him.
"I'm really sorry about last time...I put in an estimated amount, so it should be fine." She said and he shocked her by passing the envelope back to her.
"It's really fine." He replied and she passed the envelope to him again. "It's okay, you keep it."
He returned the envelope to her and she sighed before picking it up. He made to obstruct her by using his hands but she had them crossed over each other and pinned down before stretching to slip the envelope in his pocket.
She returned to sit and he looked disappointed with himself.
"This isn't why I asked to see you."
"Sorry?" She asked. She had thought he had called her out for the money. If that wasn't the reason... Then why...She was about asking when the waiter walked over to serve their meal.
"Here's your food...Enjoy."
"Thank you." She smiled up to him before turning to see Ralph was working his fingers in his wrists. "What's wrong?"
"You're really strong. Do you work out?"
"Oh, I major in sculpture. I always work with clay so I have a lot of strength in my hands."
"I see." He replied and took out the envelope before he passed it to her. "Just buy me this meal. That's enough."
She shook her head. The damage she had caused that night couldn't be crossed out by buying him burgers and a sandwich.
"I wouldn't feel comfortable with that."
He looked around to think. "Then buy me coffee too."
"I'll buy dessert too." She said and he nodded.
"You must have enjoyed the movie Jennie." Scott, Jennie's date told her as they walked out of the theater that afternoon, few meters from the Love forever QSR.
"Yes, it was fun. It was much better than I expected. I want to watch it again with my friend."
"Your friend?" He paused before asking. "It's not a guy, right?"
She smiled. "It's a girl of course. Her name is Sol. She's been my bestie since middle school...I think she'll enjoy it too. I'll watch it with her."
"Then, Jennie, watch it again with me next time."
"Okay, but you didn't seem to enjoy it as much as I did."
"It wasn't what I expected though."
"What do you mean?" She turned to him as they turned down the corner.
"I thought it would be about romance, but it was about friendship."
"Oh, friendship?...I felt that it was clearly about love, but I guess you could have seen it that way. Still it was good."
"If you're hungry, should we go eat?" He asked as her smile widened. He always seemed to know when she was hungry.
"Yes, I'm really hungry. Let's have lunch at Love forever."
"I said I'd buy. Why did you pay?" Sol asked as they walked out of the QSR.
"Well, I didn't think it'd be enough to repay me." He replied.
"Then, if you could send me your account details..."
He stopped to face her. "Can you pay next time? I'd like to see you again."
"Why?"
"It was fun hearing about your projects."
"That's strange. I'm not really a smooth talker." She replied.
"No, I really enjoyed listening to you. Where are you headed now?"
"I'm taking a cab at the intersection just couple of meters from here."
"I'll come with you." He said.
"No, I can go by myself."
"You ate three plates of spaghetti?" Scott asked
"I eat quite a lot." Jennie laughed and halted on sighting Sol not far off. "Hey, it's Sol. She's the friend I told you about." Her smile suddenly faded to a frown on seeing an unfamiliar guy next to her. "Who's that next to her?"
Scott seemed to notice the jealous expression on her face. "Why don't you try calling her?"
"No, it's fine."
"You two must be really close." He said.
"Yes. Let's go."
"Aren't we having lunch?"
"Let's go somewhere else." She replied.
Tahti was working late on her piece later that night at the sculpture studio C.
Despite her uncompleted work, she was able to picture on what her piece would look like right after.
"I'm so hungry." She muttered as she reached for her phone. It was a couple of minutes after ten and Demir had still not contacted her.
She sighed as she dropped her phone. It terribly sucked, as she wondered if he didn't care about her or he was just teasing her.
She dropped her pencil and closed her drawing book.
Her stomach rumbled as she rose, wondering what she’d have for dinner that night.
She plugged earbuds into her ears as she dragged herself out of the studio and music flooded her ears, refueling her with strength to go home.
She was passing by the studio B as she headed out of school when her eyes caught a spark in the studio. Curious to know who had also stayed back to work, she slowly headed over to see Demir on a welding helmet working on a metallic piece.
So he was there.
Now that he was in her sight, she found it even difficult to take her eyes off him. But how did he find it easy to concentrate on working on his piece after they'd shared a kiss the previous night?
His phone rang and she went to hide herself as he dropped his helmet and walked over to fetch his phone.
"Hey Stella...I knew it was you...Hang on, I'll be there soon." She heard him say as he packed up before he walked out of the studio.
She sadly peeked out to look at his receding back. He hadn't texted her all and now he was going over to meet someone else. Was she that less important in his mind?
Her mind went back to the girl who had called? Who was she? She wondered as she walked out of her hiding.
Well, she could just find out for herself.
"Stella." Demir called as he walked towards a brunette, standing in front of the school theater hall.
Tahti bit her lower lip in the darkness as she watched her smile, finding it difficult to believe she had been so crazy to follow him to meet his friend.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." He smiled.
"It's okay. Should we get something to drink?" Stella asked.
"Sure. Let’s go." He replied and she slid an arm into his, before she led him away and Tahti couldn't help but wonder who she was to make Demir smile like that.
"You're pathetic, Tahti Lee. You're acting like a stalker." She said to herself, and walked towards the school convenience store, to get something for dinner.
