Lust in LA

1

I guess that's why I didn't notice him at first.
Mateo, that is.

Mateo is one of the younger chefs that work in the kitchen.
Whenever I go back there to grab something or he passes me food, he always gives me subtle compliments or addresses me as Mi Amor.
As adorable as this is, I just couldn't hear him through all the other sweet nothings being thrown at me by the rest of the guys.

But now that winter hit and our usual rush left for the holidays, time seems a little slower, our kitchen a little quieter, and his voice, a little louder.

"Cuchara, please."

Let me throw this in here, my Spanish is not that great.
Despite my Boricua background and last name being Calderón, only 1 year of high school Spanish stuck.
The rest are just phrases I picked up throughout the years.

"What?"
"Cuchara please", he says again in his charming accent.
"What is that?"
"Spoon," "Spoon please."
"Oh." Honestly, why didn't he just say that from the beginning?

I hand him the spoon through the window.

"Gracias, mi amor."
"De nada", I respond like I didn't just have that fumble.

Mateo looks like he can be one of those hot Spanish singers you always see in ads. You know the ones laying on their sides, showing their muscles, somehow always caught wearing wet white tees.
I can't see much of his body through the chef uniform but he seems to be pretty ripped.

He's older than me by 8 years, which is the main reason I never paid too much attention to him.
The other, is obviously because I have a boyfriend.

"Tonight, cerveza?" he comes back to the window and asks me.
What the hell does that mean?

"Cerveza?"
"Yeah," he starts to play charades acting out a sort of drinking action, "cerveza, drink".

Tonight is the Lala Lust Annual Christmas Party.

"Oh, uh, no, I don't know," he seems unusually excited at the thought of me drinking.
Not that I don't want to drink or anything it's just that,
"I'm too young" I tell him.

I guess he didn't know since everyone who works in the back is now standing at the window.
Except for Manuel, one of the dishwashers. He doesn't care for much.

They all start speaking amongst each other in Spanish and giggling like they're coming up with some evil plan.

"La Niña de Lust", they say agreeing with one another, putting emphasis on the niña.

Is that a new nickname?
Sounds pretty sexual if you ask me.

But between the rambling of how young I am, the air carried a soft whisper, "Niña Bonita".

Mateo.

"Alright, alright, maybe" I say, avoiding eye contact and brushing them off. The name's starting to get old fast.
I was already planning on drinking, I just didn't think people were expecting me to.
Especially Mateo, who's looking kind of cute today (not that it matters).
And what was up with the Niña Bonita nickname?

"Y tu novio?"
This I understood. But why did he care if my boyfriend was coming?

I'm allowed to bring one guest so I obviously invited Josh.
Things like this aren't really his scene but since he just recently switched to night shifts he can't make it anyways.

"No, he works."

Their increasingly good mood is becoming really annoying.
I'm about to just not go anymore.