Fast Food
Summary:
Angela and Fareeha go out for lunch.
Angela was tired. Too tired to even function properly. She'd decided to spend her lunch holed up in her office with her personal coffee maker. It was almost empty. Which simply wouldn't do if she wanted to get through the rest of her shift awake. She spent a good five minutes looking at the last cup's worth of coffee inside of the glass pot. Waiting for it to magically refill with the liquid energy.
She entertained getting someone to refill the pot. The receptionist was her first choice, but that didn't seem very fair to her, since she never shared any of it with her. Still sitting in her plush office chair, she checked her appointment schedule and found that there were still several more patients to see after her designated lunch hour where she had no appointments.
She rolled over to her coffee pot and refilled her cup while still sitting down. It probably wasn't the safest thing to do, but Angela didn't really care at the moment.
She sipped at her warm beverage for a minute before her receptionist called.
Taking another sip to prepare herself to have an intelligible conversation, Angela answered the phone, "Dr. Ziegler."
"Yes, Dr. Ziegler, there's a Fareeha Amari here to see you? She says you agreed to have lunch with her today?" Angela didn't know why, but anything her receptionist said sounded like a question or a suggestion.
Angela pulled the phone away from her face as she checked her desk for any sticky notes she'd left herself to remind her of the agreement. Her cheeks tinged pink when she found it in the corner of her computer screen. She remembered choosing the bright neon pink color and sticking it on her monitor to make sure that she didn't forget.
Damn.
"Dr. Ziegler?"
Angela sighed at herself, maybe eating would help her wake up. "Yes, I'll be right there."
She downed her coffee in the next few moments before she made herself get up. Her entire body throbbed, her coat felt constricting, her stethoscope heavy around her neck, and her watch felt like it was bruising her wrist.
She refilled her coffee pot and started it up with a practiced ease before she shed her coat and stethoscope and left them on her desk. The watch was removed as well, but it was shoved into a drawer, the rooms had their own clock, so it wasn't like she needed one of her own. It was just more convenient to look at her wrist when counting than the wall clock.
She hurried out of her office, her messy ponytail bouncing behind her. She gave the nurses she passed a brief smile in greeting as she headed to the front desk.
She opened the door and found Fareeha shuffling nervously in the lobby.
"Sorry that took so long, I wanted to make sure I had a pot of coffee ready when I got back." Angela greeted.
"Don't worry about it, I was almost afraid you had forgotten." Fareeha laughed as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
Angela laughed awkwardly before she cleared her throat. "So, lunch?"
"Oh, right!" Fareeha dug into her pants pocket and pulled out a menu. "I went to this really great German fast food place that opened up near here recently." The menu read, Lichtstark Fressen in bold red letters.
Angela giggled, while the title could mean "fast food" it also meant "eat light". German food was not something Angela would consider "light".
Fareeha stuffed the menu back into her pocket, an embarrassed blush tinging her cheeks. "What? Was it dumb of me to suggest a German place? Do you not eat German food? I thought… I did some searching for Swiss fast food but, I only found chains that were not specific to Switzerland. So I researched some more, and I asked Reinhardt what you liked, and he suggested German food and maybe I should have realized, of course Rein would choose a German place-"
Angela placed a comforting hand on Fareeha's shoulder to stop her nervous rambling. "It's alright. The name of the restaurant is funny, not you trying to do something special." Angela smiled warmly, "This really means a lot to me."
Fareeha smiled brightly and placed a hand on top of the one Angela had on her shoulder. "It's nothing. Just figured I'd do something nice for the good doctor."
They shared a smile and enjoyed the closeness for longer than what could be called "friendly", before Fareeha blinked and the moment was broken.
"Let's go get some food!"
The restaurant was cozy, there was some quiet music playing filled with accordions and mandolins. It made the small establishment bright and cheerful. The people were wearing green aprons behind the counter. There were baked goods in a display case, and a chalkboard menu on a stand in front of it.
Angela felt a weird sense of nostalgia, which was odd because as far as she could remember, she'd never experienced a German restaurant before. It was probably the music.
One of the servers at the counter smiled warmly at them, "Welcome to the best German fast food place in town! What can I get for you?" Angela mentally snorted, it was easiest to be the best when you were the only one.
"Could you give us a few seconds? This is my friend's first time here." Fareeha answered pleasantly.
The server laughed, "Alright, take your time!" before busying themselves with something behind the counter.
Angela looked over the choices, nothing really seemed familiar to her. She didn't realize she let out a tired sigh until Fareeha subtly bumped her shoulder with her own.
Looking up at the slightly taller woman, Angela raised a questioning brow.
"You wanna go somewhere else?"
Fareeha seemed a little worried, Angela wasn't sure why until she registered that she'd just sighed.
"No, I'm just tired today. Sorry, Fareeha."
The taller woman smiled, relieved, "Thank goodness…I mean. Wait. Sorry you're tired. Oh no, I'm messing this up."
Before Angela could ask what she was messing up, the server returned. "Did you figure something out?"
Angela smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, I'm afraid I don't know what I want."
The server perked immediately, "Well, I personally love the dumplings. I mean, they aren't called that on the menu, authenticity and all that, but that is essentially what it is. They are sweeter and lighter than most of the things on the menu."
Fareeha chuckled, "I tried them last time, they're pretty good."
"Well alright then. Looks like I'm having dumplings for lunch." Angela hadn't meant for it to be funny, but the other two laughed anyway.
Fareeha ordered the same thing as well. "If you like something, why spend money on something you might not like?" She explained when Angela sent her a curious look.
"Are you two together?" The server asked.
Angela was used to the many phrases servers used to ask if the bill was separate or not. Fareeha, poor sweet Fareeha, was not. Before Angela could get her tired mind to function and answer that, yes, their order was together, Fareeha answered for them.
"Oh, no. We're just friends. But, I mean…I'd like to be?" Fareeha answered as she turned to the hunched over doctor. "Angela?"
She tried to contain her laughter, she really did. While she was flustered about Fareeha's impromptu confession, that Fareeha didn't know the server was asking about their order was too cute.
"I, uh….I meant your order? But, I hope things turn out for the best?" the amused server answered with a smile.
"Oh."
Fareeha's single word was the last straw. Angela erupted with laughter. It shouldn't have been as funny as it was, but she had reached that plateau of tired where everything was hysterically funny. The other patrons peered around their tables and booths, but Angela paid them no mind. A few breathless moments later, she managed to control herself.
Fareeha's entire face, neck, and ears were darkened with a blush. Her lips were pressed into a thin line as she tried not to make even more of a fool of herself.
"Yes, the order's together." Angela answered finally. She paid for their meals to compensate her laughing at Fareeha's mistake.
They found a booth and sat down to wait. The two of them silent.
Angela reached her hand across the table in silent offering, Fareeha looked up and gave a relieved smile as she held Angela's hand.
"So…you'd like for us to be together?" Angela prompted.
Fareeha's face immediately darkened again. "Forget what I said. I was just confused by his question. He could have asked if our order was together."
Angela hummed in disappointment. "Oh, really? That's too bad."
"What? Why?"
Angela had no idea where this confidence was coming from, she was probably too tired to be embarrassed.
"I was hoping you were going to ask me out. But, if you just want to be friends that's fine too."
Fareeha's jaw went slack as her mouth opened in disbelief. She recovered quickly. "You want to…" She straightened in her seat and tightened her hold on the doctor's hand slightly, "Angela, will you go out with me?"
Angela smiled warmly, "I'd love to."
Fareeha did a fist pump before she could stop herself, but quickly started thanking Angela. She fidgeted in her seat with excitement, still holding Angela's hand.
"I promise you won't regret this! I'm going to be the best girlfriend ever! I'll make sure you have flowers and all the nice chocolates your heart desires! And we can go on dates and hold hands when we walk and…and…other stuff." Fareeha averted her eyes as her free hand touched her lips for a moment, obviously thinking about all the kisses they could share now.
When their order was called, Fareeha nearly skipped to go pick it up. The server gave Angela a thumb's up when Fareeha turned her back and raised a brow.
Angela smiled and nodded ever so slightly.
He gave a bright smile of his own before he returned to helping the next customer.
They enjoyed their lunch and talked about all the places they could go on dates and how nice it would be to finally be able to hold the other's hand like they'd always wanted to.
They ate their dumplings and Fareeha commented on how much better they were than last time.
They regretted not getting anything to drink afterwards though. No matter how good they were, they were still dumplings.
They ordered some coffee and spent a few minutes more sipping their beverages and chatting, their feet hesitantly intertwining under the table.
When they finished, they exited the restaurant, hands linked together.
When they arrived at Angela's clinic, Fareeha took a steadying breath. She stared hopefully into Angela's eyes before her gaze flicked down to her lips and then back up again. "Can I?"
Feeling playful, Angela teased, "Don't you think you're moving a little fast?"
Fareeha's eyes widened before Angela giggled.
"Relax, I was only playing. Please Fareeha, will you kiss me?" the doctor batted her blue eyes mockingly.
"Well," Fareeha stretched the word like she was considering it, "Since you asked so nicely."
They both laughed, their cheeks pink. Fareeha hesitantly leaned down and Angela closed her eyes in preparation.
The doctor was surprised when she felt a pair of warm lips pressed against her cheek. She opened her eyes to find Fareeha pulling away. Angela barely noticed the other woman's blush because her smile was so bright, it was nearly blinding.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Fareeha offered.
"You'd better." Angela warned mischievously. Fareeha laughed happily as she waved Angela inside, holding the door open for her. They waved goodbye to each other through the glass door before Fareeha headed down the street.
Angela continued her shift with a spring in her step, she didn't even pour another cup of coffee the rest of her shift.