Saturday 14th February
After leaving Cody's restaurant, Oliver did some shopping, buying some new glassware and crockery, which he had been meaning to replace all the ones that he had gotten rid of, namely the ones that had been bought as part of a set with Arden. Then, Oliver headed home to have a shower and do his usual Saturday routine of catching up with all the household chores and tidying, then relaxing into playing some puzzle and mystery games on a game console whilst voice chatting with Kara, who was raving about her latest trashy TV show, as well as the true crime documentary they had been binge watching together.
When it drew closer to the evening, Oliver gussied himself up. Originally, he had an outfit already planned out and freshly ironed, a navy blue patterned shirt that was smart-casual for the event, and he was not going to pair it with a tie. However, Oliver couldn't help but think back to last night and how Cody had undone his tie. So he opted for another shirt that would match well with a tie.
And now, Oliver couldn't stop thinking about Cody cooking. He supposed that a lot of people found it attractive if someone cooked for them, but that wasn't what Oliver was so focused on. It wasn't even seeing how impressively Cody could multi-task and cook multiple orders at a time since Oliver knew that Cody could multi-task anyway as he sang and played fast and complicated guitar riffs with ease. No, it was how strictly Cody followed all of the cooking procedures. Oliver himself wasn't versed in this area, but he knew the basics. He wondered why he never dated a chef before. He had been with other partners who had to follow strict rules, including a student lawyer, but he couldn't exactly watch them work, not like how Cody's restaurant is set up with customers able to watch the chefs cook, with nothing to hide. In the eyes of Oliver, nothing was more attractive than someone who was upright and principled.
When he was dressed, Oliver left his apartment and took the bus to the steakhouse. Though Oliver and Cody lived only minutes away from each other, and Oliver could have gotten a lift with Cody, they wanted to get their own way there, as suggested by Cody. Apparently, arriving separately would make it seem more like a date, meeting at the restaurant instead.
Oliver arrived at the restaurant; his nose was greeted with the smell of steak and wine. He told the host his name and was guided to his reserved table and offered a drink as he waited for the other member of his party. Oliver opted for water for the moment and waited, having arrived early as he did everything in his life. Around him, the tables were filled with other couples celebrating Valentine's Day, some having spent their lives together, others only just begun.
Oliver read the drinks menu, though he already knew what he was going to order; it was a mint cocktail, a couple, a few, maybe throughout the course of the evening, depending on how much or if Cody decided he was going to drink.
And so he waited.
He watched as other tables got their food, having a nosy and trying to guess what they were so he could decide on what to order, and then catching someone else ordering the mint cocktail. It seemed that they had changed it since he was last here, but so long as it had mint in it, Oliver didn't particularly care for the change. He was just glad they had it in stock.
And he waited some more.
The waitress came by again; enough time had passed that she felt it necessary to ask if Oliver wanted to order a drink or at least check up on everything. Oliver thanked her; he was fine with water for now.
He continued to wait.
Oliver checked the time. Cody was half an hour late. So, Oliver texted him, wondering if he somehow got the time wrong or if it got busy at work, and so he was running late. Another possibility was that Cody had accidentally fallen asleep when he had gotten home because of how little sleep he got last night due to Oliver's efforts, and Oliver wouldn't blame him for it.
Oliver waited.
No response. Oliver checked his phone, and it appeared that Cody had been online in the last thirty minutes after he had finished work.
Oliver waited.
He had been here almost an hour now. He had seen couples arrive after him, dine and drink and pay and leave. And he was still sitting there alone. No Cody. No response from Cody. Oliver tried calling, but it didn't even go to voice-message; instead, the robotic voice on the line stated that the phone was not in use. What did that mean? Had something happened to Cody's phone? Did something happen to Cody?
And Oliver waited.
However, he was more anxious now, more so because more waiters came by to check up on him, either out of sympathy that he had been stood up or because Oliver had been sitting at the table for over an hour and not ordered anything, a waste of a customer. Perhaps it was for both reasons. The nearby tables of couples also looked at him with pitying looks, a few offering him to sit with them instead of alone, but Oliver politely declined. Instead, he called Kara, telling her the situation.
After about fifteen minutes, Kara came in, rushing over in such a hurry that she almost knocked the chair over, swearing loudly, and everyone looked at her and then at her casual oversized t-shirt and jogging bottoms.
"Well, what are we having?" she asked, sliding her chair forward to the table.
Oliver smiled softly, glad that she was not bringing up Cody or the fact that he had been stood up.
Kara glared at the menu, wincing and then swearing. "Yeah... a steakhouse isn't exactly very vegan, is it?"
"There are vegan options-"
Kara made a disgusted face. "Why is it all peas and asparagus? And all the potatoes come in some dairy-based sauce too!"
"You know, I think it shouldn't be allowed for such picky eaters to become vegans," Oliver teased.
Kara stook her tongue out.
They both finally ordered; Oliver a steak and veg, Kara a bowl of chips, and then two cocktails each. Tonight was now for drinking, it seemed, rather than eating, with Kara planning on having her proper dinner at the chippy below her flat. Whilst Oliver attempted to enjoy the evening with his best friend, who rushed over to accompany him in her lazy day clothes with food stains, he continued to check his phone in case Cody had seen his message.
He had not. Nor had he been online.
"I'm sure he just fell asleep," Kara reassured him as they paid the bill, or rather Oliver did, wanting to treat Kara and repay her, though it was just two drinks and a bowl of chips.
"Hmmm...." was the only response Oliver could muster on the topic. It was fine. It was perhaps for the best that his first date with Cody was not at the restaurant he had frequented with his ex-boyfriend Arden, with the reservation for their Valentine's Day to celebrate.
As they left the restaurant, Oliver's phone buzzed with a notification. In haste, he fumbled his phone, only to find that it was a message from Zeke asking how dinner was going with an underlying tone of teasing, followed by emojis of the suggestive kind.
Oliver replied, stating that Cody didn't show up and he went with Kara instead.
Eventually, Zeke replied with sincere condolences, followed by jokes about Cody having just overslept.
Whilst everyone else seemed to be sure that Cody was just busy at work or asleep, Oliver's anxiety and self-doubt loomed in with the possibility that Cody had purposefully stood him up. That he had not wanted to come. It was silly. After last night and this morning, it was clear that Cody was just as interested as he was, yet Oliver's low self-esteem could not help but put it at the top of the list of reasons why Cody hadn't shown up, paired with Cody's reputation of one-night stands. Cody had already gotten what he wanted last night; why did he need to go on the date now?
"Do you wanna pop by his workplace?" asked Kara. "Though I don't know when it shuts. Or we could go back to yours; he lives across the road from you, right?"
Oliver shook his head. "Let's go to yours."
Kara frowned and took Oliver's hand. "He probably just fell asleep."
"And when he wakes, he owes a very big apology," Oliver attempted to joke. "But I want to enjoy this night." He squeezed Kara's hand back. "Valentine's Day is supposed to be spent with those you love and care about, so I think it is better spent with my best friend than with someone I've known for a month."
Kara did not argue or speak on the topic again, so they headed over to her place, getting her usual order of vegan cheesy chips, gravy, and mushy peas. As they settled in on the sofa, snuggling under a blanket, Oliver tried to focus on the new romantic period piece drama Kara had been fixating on, but he was bombarded with messages, not from Cody, but from the rest of the band.
It seemed that Zeke had told everyone else what had happened.
Note to self, don't tell Zeke secrets. He will either tell everyone or tease you relentlessly with it.
Zeke, Rheanna, Darren, and Sasha's responses ranged from sincere to joking, but all four just dismissed Cody's absence as him falling asleep, overworking, or losing his phone and getting lost and forgetting the place to meet up.
Oliver eventually turned off his phone when it got close to midnight, feeling it now unlikely that he would be seeing Cody anytime soon.
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Fool In The Rain by Led Zeppelin
[The band plays, Kara on drums, Darren on bass, Rheanna on keys, Zeke recording the performance, Sasha being generally supportive by just being present, and Oliver at the controls, ready to act if anything needs fixing.
And they all wait expectantly for the vocals and guitar to come in. They're late. When it reaches the chorus, Darren and Rheanna begin to sing to recover the song, though neither of them are as familiar with the lyrics as Cody was.
Where was Cody?]