It was a clear night when a man in casual slacks and a baby blue button-up shirt was heading to the local Chinese restaurant. The reason why he was there was that his 'good friend' set him up for a blind date.
'She's nice! You'll like her, trust me,' Riley bickered, trying to convince Alex to meet this girl.
'Will you at least tell me this so-called "nice girl's" name?' Alex asked, slowly giving in after hearing his good mate's sick, hoarse voice for over 15 minutes.
'Fine. Her name is Cassie,' Riley stopped for a brief second, checking his new 'iPhone X' which I personally thought it wasn't worth the thousand dollars.
'Have I seen her-' 'Of course not! Why would I call it a blind date if I knew you've seen her?' he stops again, just this time in front of my face and looking up at me with his 'death glare' that just looks like puppy eyes.
'Ok, ok. Chill out dude, I was just wondering!' I put my hand up in defeat, backing off and getting my personal space back.
'Friday night, 7 pm. It's at the Yum Cha down 45th street, I think its 225 west. You know where it is!' Riley ran off, just catching the address of the restaurant.
Alex sighs in defeat as he recalls the memory.
'Here goes nothing,' he says, walking into the restaurant. Within the depths of the restaurant, he hears some traditional Chinese song playing, with the sounds of chatter drowning the nice music.
'Hi, do you have a reservation?' A waitress asks, smiling cheerfully whilst carrying two menus.
'Actually, yeah. I think it's under "Alex"?' Alex replies sheepishly, pretending to look at his phone.
'Alex Reyes?' She confirms. He nods and the waitress ushers Alex to his table, where a woman about the same age as Alex is already sitting at the table.
'Here is your table and your menus. If you're ready to order, try to catch my attention – my name is Mei – or enjoy the Yum Cha!' Mei bows and goes off to another table that is ready to order.
'Thank you,' Alex replies under his breath, even though Mei is a long way out of earshot. It's a habit he has picked up while he has been at these 'fancy' restaurants.
A silence donned over the table, with Alex looking around and Cassie looking at Alex, taking in his features and planning something, quite 'absurd'.
'So, did Riley send you here?' Cassie asks, breaking the silence between them.
'Hmm? Oh, yeah. Yeah, he did,' Alex quickly replies, trying to hide the fact that he was surprised by the sudden question.
'I'm Cassie. You're Alex, right?'
'Yes, the one and only.' A sudden rush of confidence runs within Alex, which allows him to ask questions like he was an extrovert, which in reality, he's the complete opposite.
~
'Are you two ready to order, or are you going to choose the Yum Cha?' Mei comes back after what seemed like two minutes (it was actually a good 15 minutes).
'Uh..., we'll uh, what do you want to do Cas? Yum Cha or order?' Alex faces Cassie and takes a moment to see what Cassie looks like.
"Electric blue eyes, brown hair, soft pink lips, a cute nose. This girl is down-pat adorable." Alex lists down her features, silencing the world around him.
'Alex! Hey Alex?' Cassie breaks Alex out of his trance, gaining his attention. 'I decided on doing the Yum Cha while you were so focused on my face.' The comeback that Cassie threw made heat rush to Alex's cheeks, making her laugh a little.
'Would you like dumplings?'
~~
After a full table of bamboo steamer baskets and a huge bill ($60 for 5 things is quite a lot), Alex and Cassie get the smallest yet most life-changing dessert – a fortune cookie.
'Let's open ours while we're here!' Cas suggests. Over the past 45 or so minutes, Cassie and Alex got to know each other and now they're like friends who have known each other for a decade.
'Yeah sure,' Alex flashes a small smile, cracking his fortune cookie and leaving the paper flipped over so that he can read his fortune privately.
'Since when did fortune cookies taste so good?' Cassie asks, talking with her mouth stuffed with almost the entire cookie. Not very lady-like to the normal eye, but Alex clearly doesn't mind.
'Dunno! They taste like those Catholic Eucharist's to me. Like cardboard, but with cream,' examining the cookie, Alex decided to give the other half to Cassie, who took the cookie gladly.
'I'm reading my fortune now, go on and read yours to yourself.'
Alex reluctantly flips over his paper, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Your life is in danger. Say nothing to anyone. You must leave immediately and never return. Repeat: say nothing."
Alex is beyond confused. Danger? Why would it be in danger...? A faint spark of thought crossed his mind.
'I, I have to leave. I lost track of time and my mother needs me back home,' he lied, and in a flash Alex was out of the restaurant, fishing out a ten and twenty dollar bill at the table.
'Keys, keys, keys, KEYS!' Alex muttered to himself.
'Damn it, where are my keys...?'
'Looking for this, young boy?' a man asked, holding Alex's lost car keys.
'Yes sir, please can I have them back?' pleads Alex, trying to hide his problematic shakiness.
'Yeah sure, here. Also, here's a plane ticket. I don't need it no more,' he gave Alex a plane ticket to Sydney that was due to leave in 5 hours.
'Thank you, thank you so much!' Alex drove off, with one hand holding the ticket and the other on the steering wheel, getting home as quick as possible.
~~
Within record time, Alex was waiting by the gate, with the plane already boarding people in business class.
15 minutes later, Alex is on the plane and waiting for lift off. A note awaits by Alex's pale blue seat. It reads;
'Enjoy the flight while you can.'
The flight was shortened from flying for an hour and a half to only a mere thirty minutes.
The plane was shot down by an anonymous organisation and the motivation was unknown.
Epilogue;
Riley heard the news, a plane that was shot down had his friend Alex in it. According to local news, the shooter has not been found, nor his location. It has been called a terrorist act since the police and investigators cannot find any trace of the suspect.
A huge funeral was held for the fallen, with Cas not forgotten.
Only what she knows is that she has deadly accuracy.
YOU ARE READING
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