I twirl my straw around in my glass, both bored and starting to feel pity for myself. A feeling I genuinely hate, no matter who it's for. Now, sympathy was much better to me because sympathy was more caring where-as pity was more looking down on in my embarrassment I've begun to feel is far worse than the self-pity though.
"Are you ready to order?" A voice pulls me out of my thoughts for the fourth or fifth time that night, honestly, I've lost track already. I look up to see the nice waitress, Iris was her name. She is a beautiful girl, dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and makeup done to perfection. Whenever I come here I specifically request to be put in her section, and try to only come when she's working.
"Not yet Iris," I sigh, "Could I have a little more time please? I'm still waiting for my date." My shoulders slump slightly, an action I immediately regret although it was involuntary. She puts her hand on my shoulder in a comforting gesture, "Alright. I'll be back soon." She assures, but she pauses before she goes and leans in closer to me. "But the guys a jerk for making you wait so long girl, you don't deserve that kind of treatment." Her look is sympathetic, and I wish once more than we could be friends outside of this restaurant but I doubt my family would allow it. "Thank you, Iris." I offer her a small smile as I thank her.
I've been in private schools where your money dictates your status my entire life, whereas Iris has been in public schools where your personality dictates your status. She's so kind that I imagine she must be popular, and I wish I was more like her. My family is quite high up on the social ladder, and if my mother knew we were friends she'd likely not allow me back alone. She dislikes when I socialize with people who have less money than we do, I know she does but I don't care. Iris is one of the only girls to treat me kindly and with respect of her own will, and not just because my family is loaded or because it's her job. She goes out of her way to make time for conversation with me, something she doesn't usually do for other customers. I know, I've kept an eye out to see if she really was so nice or if she was just being nice because she worked here.
She periodically checks back and refills my drink as the minute's tick by, stopping to have quick chats with me as well which I am grateful for. I can feel the eyes of nearly everyone in the upscale diner on me, just knowing that I'd been stood up. I've been waiting for like two hours at this point, and if he was going to come he'd be here by now. There is no excuse for being two hours late, though I probably would have accepted it if only he had bothered to be here.
Finally, I make the decision that enough is enough and it's time for me to go while I still have my dignity. I bite my lip as I turn to look for Iris, ready to flag her down so I could pay for my drinks, thankful now that I had stuck with soda and water. I had a feeling I would still be driving myself home. As I'm glancing around I see movement out of the corner of my eye and I swivel back around only to be met with a total stranger standing behind the back of the other chair.
"Sorry I'm so late, babe, traffic is crazy right now." He loudly announces, "I had to make a trip to Starling for work today and have only just made it back." He slides into the seat with an apologetic look and whispers quietly to me, "I'm Cisco. Just go with it, yeah? Whoever didn't bother to show up is a dick." And I find myself giggling at his words, realizing he was completely right. I'd only gone out with Michael because my mother insisted that he was a good match for me. She was wrong, but I didn't know how to tell her that and after all, he was quite charming when he wanted to be. Which was when he was around certain people, otherwise he was kind of a scumbag.
"You have no idea." I reply softly, with a real smile.
Iris is already by our table, having saw the whole thing go down. She's seen my date before, so she knows this guy isn't him. "Hey Cisco," she greets and I raise an eyebrow, realizing she knew him. "Hey Iris." He nods his head in greeting.
"Should I put you down for your usual Cisco?" She cocks her head to the side, and an almost teasing look is on her face. "Duh." He lets out a snort of laughter, and I giggle softly again. What is up with me and giggling? Usually I only fake giggle around my dates, it's something my mom taught me because apparently, it was 'cute' for girls to giggle at their dates jokes. Problem was, most of the time those rich kid's jokes were just bad, so I had to learn to fake it.
"You too Lisa?" She pokes my arm teasingly and I nod with what I'm sure is a slightly embarrassed look.
"So, come here often then?" Cisco asks once Iris has gone to place our orders.
"Actually, yes I do. It's one of my favorite places, also Iris is amazing so…" I trail off with a shrug, "You too then?"
"Yeah. Whenever I can afford to go out for dinner I like to come here. I was out with my friends, we just got here like ten or fifteen minutes ago, long enough to tell that you needed a rescue." He looks at me sympathetically, "I've been there. It sucks to be stood up. I'm really sorry it happened to you." He apologizes and I blink surprised.
"You have nothing to apologize for, if anything I should be apologizing for you since you're evening with your friends has been cut short on my behalf." I grimace, "And it's hard to imagine that someone would stand up such a nice guy like yourself." I shake my head in disbelief though I know he's telling the truth.
"Yeah…" He pauses, "It's happened a few times." He looks down for a moment, and I can tell he's embarrassed.
"I'm sorry Cisco, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." An apology flies past my lips as soon as I can tell he's dwelling on the past.
"Nah," he waves his hand at me in dismissal, "Not your fault."
"So," I try to change the subject, "how do you know Iris?"
"We go to school together, she's my friend Barry's sister. He was fostered by their family when he was like ten I think." He explains, and points to a table across the room. "That's him right there, he's wearing the red jacket. "Oh ok." I nod, realizing why he mentioned the fostered thing, they look nothing alike and I probably wouldn't have believed him.
"That's Doctor Wells next to him in the wheelchair. The guy next to him is a jerk that works with us at Star Labs, but Doctor Wells made sure he was invited along." He pauses, "This was technically a work dinner thing, that's why. His name is Hartly."
"The other two at the table are Ronnie and Caitlin, soon to be engaged." He has a knowing look on his face.
"What do you mean, 'soon to be engaged'?" I raise an eyebrow at his statement. "Do you know something they don't?"
"Well, I know something Caitlin doesn't know." He shrugs, "You can't tell her, but Ronnie is planning on proposing to her soon, and he's already got a ring." He whispers with a mischievous smile, even though they are halfway across the restaurant and the classical music would help drown out his voice.
"Oh my gosh," I barely contain my excitement, "Does he know how and when he's going to propose yet?" I push for more details.
"He wants to take her up to the waterfalls right outside Central, but he's still working on making that trip happen."
"Ooooooohh! It's beautiful up there!" I bounce a little in my seat, "Just trying to figure out a time to go or?"
"Well that, and making sure he has everything planned out and the money to do it." He shakes his head, "He spent a pretty penny on that ring so he doesn't have a lot of extra money lying around."
"I can totally help with that." I declare.
"What? -" he begins but I cut him off, "Let me help Cisco pleeeeeeaaaaasseeeee." I put on my best puppy dog eyes.
"How are you going to help?" He still looks a little confused.
"Cisco," I chuckle, now the one wearing a mischievous smile, "my family is totally loaded. I'm going to help pay for it, duh." I tap my fingers together thoughtfully.
"Woah, I can't ask you to do that." He stutters out, eyes wide in surprise.
"You don't have to, I'm offering." I tilt my head, "No, actually I'm demanding." I revise, "I'm demanding that you let me help." I narrow my eyes at him, daring him to object. "You rescued me, so I'm helping you and your friend. No objections." I wag my finger at him.
Just then Iris arrives with our food and sets it down in front of us. "Anything else I can get you guys?" She asks with a smile on her face, and we both tell her that we can't think of anything else we would need at the moment.
"Ok, so you guys look like you're plotting." She says softly, "So, what's going on?"
I look at Cisco, seeing if we could tell her.
"Ok, so Ronnie is going to propose to Caitlin and Lisa wants to help pay to get them to that beautiful park with the waterfalls outside Central." He explains in a hushed whisper again.
"Oh, how romantic!" Iris's grin widens and she barely keeps her squeal in check. Luckily, it's soft enough that nobody else really noticed it unless they were very close to us.
"SHhhhh! We both shush her at the same time, glancing around her to see if anyone at the Star Labs table noticed, and thank goodness they didn't.
"Okay, I won't say anything. I promise. What kind of girl would I be if I ruined the surprise of being proposed to?" Her question is rhetorical. "OOOHH! Idea!" she claps her hands together in front of her chest, "I know a photographer or two we could set up to take pictures and video the moment!"
"That's a great idea Iris!" we grab each other's hands and let out another set of soft squeals. "This is going to be great!" She giggles before discretely taking out her phone and handing it to me. "Put your number in, and we can discuss this later. More privately." She whispers. Quickly I type and put my information into her cell before slipping it back to her.
We high five before she goes to take care of her other tables while we devour our food. What? I was starving. A girl can only wait so long.
"After we've finished eating I nab the check from Iris before Cisco can even reach for it. "Nuh-uh." I wag my finger at him again, "I've got this."
"But-"I cut him off again, "Really, it's all right Cisco. You saved my evening from being a complete waste." I smile at him, "In fact, this was so much better than any of the other dates I've been on recently. Thank you, Cisco."
I hand the check back off to Iris, who rolls her eyes as she accepts it. "Dorks." She mutters as she goes to run my card. "You know you love us." I call over my shoulder and she snorts with laughter at my behavior I'm sure. After getting my card back I hand her a hundred for her tip, just to make sure nobody else nabs it off the table before would get be able to clear it off. I always tip her generously, and she always tries to refuse. She's stopped being stunned by it, and by now has accepted that I'm going to give her so much even though my bill usually isn't even twenty dollars.
He offers me his arm as we get up to leave, and I accept it. I bite my lip as I feel a blush creep up my neck and cheeks.
"I had a great time Cisco." I admit as he walks me to my car.
"Me too Lisa." He rubs the back of his neck nervously, which I find adorable. "Uh, would you- maybe- if you're interested- I mean- "He stammers and I giggle, "Out with it Cisco. What is it you're trying to say?" I give him what I hope is an encouraging smile.
"Would you go out with me?" He looks down, and I realize just how harshly someone must have rejected him in the past. It's beyond me why someone would reject him, he's an amazing guy. He's funny, sweet, and handsome too. To be honest he's the cutest thing I've ever seen.
"I'd love to go out with you again Cisco." I give him a quick kiss on the cheek and his head snaps up, his expression one of both hope and disbelief.
"Really?" He asks, almost breathless.
"Yes really." I affirm, "Now give me your phone so I can put my number in it." I hold out my hand and he fumbles to give me his cell. Once in hand I deftly enter my information before giving it back to him.
"Call me." I give him a flirty smile before sliding into my car. "Bye Cisco." I blow him a kiss out my window and he pretends to catch it. I giggle as he moves away, and goes to meet up with his friends again.
This night turned out so much better than I would've thought. Now I just need to figure out what to tell my mother so she doesn't try to get rid of him. I consider this as I weave through traffic and make my way home.