The restaurant was symptomatic of excessive upper-class wealth. It was a small and intimate venue, with perhaps only ten tables artfully decorated with vases and centrepieces. The portions were roughly the size of my pinky finger, and the patrons wee almost exclusively old white men. Most of them were wearing golfing shirts, clearly arriving after a long day on the green.
I hated it.
But I'd asked Knight to set me up on this date—had practically begged him—and it was what I wanted. It was. Just maybe, preferably, a cute, low-key street food dinner in the city rather than a garish nightmare of tiny steaks and weird relishes. I was cultured in the entitled, selfish way that rich people could be, but not in the genuinely-enjoy-the-finer-things-in-life kind of way.
It seemed that whoever Knight had set me up with did not share a similar opinion. Or maybe he was just trying to make me comfortable, to impress me; I could give this guy the benefit of the doubt.
I stood at the entrance and dragged my hands down my black dress. It was tight, but classy. Conservative, but with a slit down the thigh that was a little bit flirty. The perfect first date dress, paired with a pair of white sneakers that sat just on the borderline of acceptable for a venue such as this. I hoped that this guy was worth dressing up for; I even had a seductive streak of makeup on my eyelids in a smoky style.
The pretty waitress at the entrance was giving me an odd look, as if wondering why I was loitering at the doorway. I inhaled deeply and strutted forward to meet the hostess and smiled sweetly at her. "Good evening—" I read her name tag "—Madeleine. I'm here to meet someone? I believe a reservation was made under the name Aster."
Knight had told me two things about the guy I was going out with tonight. Firstly, his surname was Aster. Secondly, I was sure to have an exciting and eventful night. Exciting and eventful was exactly what I needed to drive Jace Hartley from my mind.
Madeleine raised an eyebrow. "Aster?"
I looked down at my phone to check the text message from Knight. Check in under the name Aster. "Yes?" I hedged. Her tone wasn't one of clarification, but of disbelief. It was, quite frankly, very weird.
But Madeleine just shrugged slightly and pasted on a friendly serving smile. There was still something hard in the set of her jaw, but it wasn't betrayed by her voice when she said, "No problem, I'll show you to your table."
Two menus in hand, Madeleine led the way to an intimate booth in the darkened back corner of the restaurant, her full-bodied and glossy ponytail swishing from side to side like a shampoo commercial as she walked. I followed behind her, clutching at my handbag protectively. I usually liked first dates; I was narcissistic enough that I very much enjoyed chitchat about myself and my interests, and honest enough to admit it. But something about this date was already strange, slightly off, and the guy hadn't even shown up yet.
I settled myself into my seat, listening intently as Madeleine rattled off the specials and offered drinks for while I waited. I kindly declined her offer, hoping that Aster would show up soon; sitting alone was deeply uncomfortable, and it made me ever more grateful for the invention of the mobile phone.
Madeleine smiled. "Just let me know if you need anything, and when your guest arrives, I'll drop by for your drink order."
"Thank you," I said.
She made her way back to the hostess stand. I went to pull my phone out of my pocket, but before my attention was properly grabbed by my Instagram notifications, I saw Madeleine making eyes at another pretty young waitress behind the bar. The girl—a stunning strawberry blonde girl with a dear-in-the-headlights expression—was giving Madeleine the classic cease and desist look, which faded into something like horror when a boy walked through the front doors. The boy was cute; curly brown hair, a sharp jaw, pretty eyes, every pore oozing excessive wealth and confidence. He strutted a little bit, ever so full of himself, but then again, so was I, so I could hardly hold it against him. I saw his gaze fall on Madeleine, and the imperceptible widening of his eyes, but I looked down at my phone rapidly, not wanting to be caught staring, despite my desperation to watch the girls' faces carefully.
When I risked a sneaky glance upwards, I saw Madeleine—her smile so obviously feigned—with the boy following behind her, his expression schooled into a welcoming and pleasant smile.
"So what would you crazy kids like to drink?" asked Madeleine cheerfully. She was, at most, a year or two older than us, but she was also shaking slightly.
"Um, just a water, thank you." I said.
"No problem!" she said shrilly. She turned to the cute boy. "And you?"
"Could I please have an iced coffee?" he said. Beautiful manners? Check.
As Madeleine walked away, following the pretty girl behind the bar, I turned to the cute boy taking his seat beside me. I laughed nervously. "Man, that was weird."
The boy's apologetic frown was charming, polished. "I'm sorry about that," he said, and his voice was smooth and contrite. "Madeleine used to go out with my brother. It, uh, didn't end well. She wasn't supposed to be working tonight."
I looked over at Madeleine, the rigid lines of her body betraying her anger as she confided in the pretty girl with rapid fire veracity. "Well, that's unfortunate. I'm Lena, by the way. I'm friends with Knight."
"Tommy," he said. "Also friends with Knight."
I smiled at him, a little flirtatious, coy. "There's a guy at my school called Tommy," I said. "I have a good track record with Tommy's."
His returning smile was winning. "Well, that's a lot of pressure to put on a guy. I would hate to ruin your record." Beautiful banter? Check.
I looked coquettishly through my eyelashes. "I guess it's time for you to turn on the charm, then, isn't it?" His hand was outstretched on the table, and I ran my finger over the skin of his wrist lightly, absently.
Tommy looked as if he'd just wandered into a candy shop. Damn, I was so good at this. "And what is it that a girl like you finds charming?" he asked.
Witty retorts, dark hair that turns gold in the sunlight, an innocent mind that he was desperate to disguise, a hug in a dark alcove... "Guys who know how to be charming without asking for an instruction manual," I said, winking to undercut the insult. But I couldn't help but think of the effortless charm of a different guy. "I have faith in you, Tommy Aster. Be creative."
"A girl who likes to lay down a challenge," said Tommy. "Exactly my kind of girl."
I was a girl who loved to lay down a challenge, but I was coming to realise that the only challenges that really sent my heart racing and my pulse leaping were the ones put down for an entirely different boy. I didn't say that, though. Instead, I merely said, "Well, then, you're going to have a fun night."
Tommy tilted his head slightly, examining me languidly. "Somehow, I don't doubt it. I guess I'll have to thank Cole later." He traced his hand over the edge of the table. "You know, I was really surprised when Cole reached out to me."
"Why is that?"
"Well, I mean, Cole is great guy, don't get me wrong. Very funny. But we were never super tight or anything. Ran in completely different crowds. I was just surprised, and now, extremely thankful—" he grabbed my hand "—that he reached out."
I laughed, but the sound was slightly hollow. "That is surprising." And strange. Knight might not be close to any of his friends from his old life anymore, but to reach out to a guy he had barely interacted with in school seemed... well, odd. And something about it struck an incorrect chord in my mind.
This was only confirmed when Madeleine poured our jug of ordered water over Tommy Aster's head.
"Shit!" Tommy screeched.
I covered my laughter with my hand. He looked like a drowned cat, dripping and disgruntled, while Madeleine was perfectly put together; sleek and smug. "Whoops," she deadpanned. "I didn't see you there."
I mean, I had an off feeling about the guy, but I still rather liked him. It didn't make two litres of water dripping from expensive clothing any less funny. Tommy's frown was frustrated and angry, but not surprised. Man, his brother must've really done a number on this girl.
The other patrons of the restaurant looked flabbergasted; ten tables worth of eyes turned towards the drama. I ducked my head slightly, because really, I didn't want to be roped into all of this. Though, admittedly, I kind of thrived off this shit. The pretty girl behind the bar had her head buried in her hands, but I could still see that she was grinning from ear to ear with amusement. For an expensive restaurant, it was certainly not the turn of events I'd expected. But Knight had promised me exciting and eventful, and it was certainly living up to his promises.
"Geez, Madeleine," said Tommy, ringing out the edge of his jacket.
"That was for Valerie," said Madeleine, pointing at the girl behind the bar. She waved cheerfully. "And because you're a dick!"
Well, that certainly wasn't the disgraced ex of the brother story Tommy had told me. "Valerie?" I asked him, with a raised eyebrow.
Madeleine looked at me with sympathy. "Oh? Didn't Tommy tell you? He cheated on his beautiful girlfriend of two years with her best friend. And has now taken you to her place of work on a date. What a dick, right?" She seemed to be greatly enjoying passing on this information to me.
And a complete lack of morals? Check.
Tommy looked down with a downcast expression. "You guys weren't supposed to be working tonight," he muttered.
"There's lots of restaurants, Tommy. Pick a new one," said Madeleine. And, with far less anger than the last time, she said, "Now, you two crazy kids have fun."
As she walked away, I looked sceptically at Tommy. "The best friend? Really?"
He sighed. "It was a mistake I will regret every day for the rest of my life."
I grabbed his wrist with mock sympathy, the fabric beneath my fingers damp from the well-deserved water attack. I hoped Madeleine wouldn't be fired for her stunt. "Did you ever try... just, not sleeping her?"
"You'd be surprised how often I've received that advice."
I nodded. "Yeah, okay. I hope you know that I'll be going now."
Tommy smiled wryly. "So being a wanker is a bit of a red flag for you, huh?"
I stood up. "Babe, it's the entire fire brigade."
"That was her opinion too," he said, gesturing with a heartbroken sadness towards Valerie. She just pulled a funny face at him, making Madeleine, who was back to her station at the hostess stand, laugh.
"Shocker."
Tommy looked down into his napkin with dejection, but I wasn't sufficiently done with him tonight. I still had to fit ripping Knight's balls off into my night. I strolled towards the exit, passing by Madeleine as I went. "I hope you won't be fired for that."
She smirked. "My dad owns the joint. And shares my opinions on Tommy Aster."
With a nod of thanks, I stepped out into the breezy night. The weather was brisk and bracing, and I wrapped my arms around myself as I called the Uber. Ted will pick you up in 6 minutes. I would effectively be an ice block by that time, but I was definitely not waiting in the restaurant with wankbitch Tommy the cheater.
In the meantime, I called Knight. "Why hello, Ms Montez. How may I help you?"
"By setting me up with a guy who isn't a human pitstain?" I said sweetly.
Knight was laughing. "Not a fan of Aster, huh?"
"He cheated on his girlfriend! Of two years! With the best friend!"
"I didn't think that would come up," Knight admitted. "Very glad it did. I thought you'd be driven away by his generally annoying personality. But that definitely works better."
"Why would an annoying personality drive me away? I'm still friends with you."
"Hurtful. And uncalled for."
"Why couldn't you set me up with a nice guy?" I demanded.
"All I'm saying. Hartley would never."
I growled lightly and hung up. Knight was, undoubtedly, the worst. He was definitely going to lose best friend privileges. But he had gotten one thing right.
Hartley would never.