Hinata gave the bartender her card to open the tab. Sipping on her royal flush, she kept her eyes on the newcomers coming through the door. She was a little early, but she would rather be early than late. Hinata didn't believe in being fashionably late. She swirled the little black straw in her pink drink, why did I agree to a blind date?
Her sister Hanabi had set her up with her boyfriend's friend, Naruto. Hinata thought Konohamaru was a nice guy and he had said his friend was like an older brother. Hinata hadn't gone out on a date for a long time, and she really couldn't think of an excuse. Plus, maybe it'll be good. Hanabi wouldn't show her a picture of Naruto, just said he would be wearing orange. Orange…definitely won't miss that.
Hinata perked up as she saw a handsome red-haired man enter. He was in a basic black pants and a white button up. He was elegant and tall, with light green eyes. Even the hostess he was talking to seemed to swoon. Hinata quickly turned back to her drink, as he started walking towards the bar. He sat, leaving an empty stool in between them. Aw, couldn't Hanabi have mixed up orange with red? Hinata giggled to herself, taking another sip.
"Rum and coke, please." she heard him say, handing the bartender his card. Oh man, even his voice is nice. Hinata sighed, keeping her eye on the door for something orange.
"Hello gorgeous," a brown-haired man said, taking the seat between Hinata and the red-haired stranger. Hinata gave him a quick, uncomfortable smile, and turned to stare at her drink.
"I noticed you sitting here by yourself, maybe you needed some company," the man said, staring at her.
Hinata inwardly cringed. She hated when guys tried to pick girls up at the bar, so cliché. She looked at him, and offered an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry, I'm actually waiting for someone." The brown-haired man frowned.
"Of course you are. Sure." he said sarcastically, "Let me guess, boyfriend right? Tch." Hinata rolled her eyes. Men. The man scoffed and walked away. Hinata shook her head, and was surprised when the bartender gave her a basket of fries.
"Some guys are annoying. Take this on the house." she said, flashing a big smile. Hinata blinked in surprise.
"T-thank you so much. That's so nice of you!" Hinata said, beaming at the bartender. She took a glance at her name tag, Anko. She would have to remember to tip her a lot.
"So, between us girls, you really waiting on your boyfriend?"
"O-oh. Not boyfriend, actually a blind date." Hinata said, noticing the red-haired man turn his head towards her.
"Ooh, how fun! Good luck!" Anko said, as she nodded her head towards the opposite end of the bar, heading over to help those customers.
Hinata turned to look at the red-head and found him looking back at her. She could feel a blush forming from his gaze. He broke the eye contact and cleared his throat, and then moved to the seat in between them.
"Are you…are you Sakura?" he asked, looking back at her. Hinata blinked.
"N-no. My name's Hinata."
"Oh. Sorry to bother you," he said, proceeding to take another gulp of his drink.
"A-are you on a blind date too?" she asked, low key wishing she was this Sakura girl.
"Yes. My brother set it up. I have no idea what she looks like. All I know was that she's wearing pink. I thought maybe he might've confused pink with blue," he said glancing over at Hinata's dress. She blushed a little more, kind of happy Hanabi made her buy this dress for the date. It was a calf-length light-blue dress, even though the length was modest, the dress was skin tight and sleeveless. Classy, yet sexy Hanabi had declared.
"Ah. I thought when you came in my sister had confused orange with red." Hinata said, with a slight giggle.
"Hmm...Unfortunately not", the stranger said, making eye contact yet again. Hinata felt her body start to get warm.
"Very unfortunate," she agreed. They sat there for a couple minutes sipping their drinks in silence before he spoke.
"Why do you need a blind date?" Hinata turned to him in surprise.
"Sorry, I just don't see why a woman who looks like you needs help finding a date."
"O-oh. Well, I could say the same thing about you," Hinata said, earning a small smirk from him.
"I just work too much. I'm not really the type to go to clubs or parties to meet people nor do I have the time. So my brother suggested this and I figured, why not," the red-haired man said, shrugging. Hinata nodded in understanding.
"I'm also not into parties. I'm a nurse and it's just been crazy shifts, so even when I have the time, I prefer to sleep," she said, with a little laugh. The red-head chuckled.
"A nurse…hmm can't imagine all the things you see," he said, turning his body to face her. Hinata grinned at him.
"Trust me, you don't want to know. What about you? What do you do?" The red-haired man took another sip of his drink, with a thoughtful face.
"I…I take care the investments and other things so a company. Have you heard of Sabaku Technologies?" he asked. Hinata nodded, one of the largest technological innovation companies in the country. Of course she had heard of them.
"Oh, so you're like their finance advisor or something?"
"Yeah, something like that…My dad kind of pushed me into it and now I just can't get rid of him. He works for the company too, he's a little higher up than me."
"Oh I get that. My dad is neurosurgeon, and he's been pushing me to do more than be a nurse. But right now, I feel pretty content with where I'm at," Hinata said, offering an empathetic smile.
"Neurosurgeon? That's crazy. As long as you like your life, that's all that matters." the red-haired man said. Hinata nodded, pushing her fries between them, so he could take some too.
"Ah, thanks," he said, grabbing some. They talked for the next ten minutes about their siblings and more about their fathers. Hinata told him about the time at work, when they found out a patient was addicted to pharmaceutical drugs, so they had to take the Percocet away from her, and the patient had chased Hinata around the hospital for them. The stranger had laughed a hearty laugh at that, causing Hinata to lightly slap his arm, insisting she was scared for her life, causing him to laugh a little bit more.
They were having a good time, when something bright caught Hinata's eyes. There was a woman in a short, Barbie-pink, skin-tight dress, with a very deep v. She had bright red lipstick on, as well as large hoops, with crystals on them.
"Oh." Hinata said, interrupting Gaara's story about how his sister had locked him out of his own apartment so she could meet up with her boyfriend their father disapproved of. His back was facing the entrance, so he hadn't seen anything.
"Um…I think your date's here. You said pink right?" Hinata said, trying to keep the dismayed tone out of her voice. Gaara turned around to look at what she was looking at. He turned back to Hinata with a sigh.
"Well…I guess…this is it. It was nice talking to you, Hinata, right?" She nodded and gave him a smile as he got up to go. Oh wait!
"W-wait. I never got your name," she said, wanting to remember her bar friend.
"Oh, Gaara Sabaku. It was nice meeting you." Giving her a small wink, he walked towards the pink lady. Hinata blinked. G-Gaara S-Sabaku! Hinata felt her mouth open slightly as she realized she had just talked to the son of the man who owned Sabaku Technologies. Finance advisor? More like future CEO...she thought as she grabbed the last bit of fries. She sighed, as she looked back at Gaara leading his date to their table. Well, at least he was really nice for being filthy rich. I hope he has a good date, she thought. Wait a second, Hinata looked at the time on her phone. 8:38. Ughh, her date was more than half an hour late. Just great.