At lunch together
Joseph paid the person who brought him his ordination and he shooed him immediately.
Finally he could take a lunch break.
That day he was going to eat Italian; a new restaurant had opened nearby and they did delivery service, so of course Joseph took advantage of it.
He opened the bag and took the container that was inside. It was "fettuccine al pesto" time, but as he opened the container, he heard a knock on the door. Did he forget to put on the "closed" sign?
He looked up and he saw a familiar face through the glass. Well, it wasn't exactly familiar per se, but he knew who that was: that cute blond guy was a tattoo artist that worked in the shop in front of his – granny Erina's actually – flower shop. They had talked a couple of times, even though it had been mostly bickering – and Joseph didn't even remember exactly why they were doing it – and saying "hello" to each other if they met across the street, and that was mostly just to be polite.
It didn't matter though. He was a hottie and Joseph didn't mind hotties.
Despite being still annoyed that he was being interrupted during his lunch break, he still walked up to the door and opened it. He figured that the other wasn't going to leave even if he ignored him, so might as well get on with it.
- Hey -, he greeted him.
- Hi -, the other replied, then he added, - Have you perhaps ordered something from the new Italian restaurant? -.
What was up with that now?
- You mean The Forchetta d'Oro? -, Joseph asked, trying to ignore how the guy grimaced at his horrible pronunciation, - Yes, I did, why? -.
- I think they mixed our orders -, the other said, then he searched something inside the bag he was holding with his hand and he took the receipt.
- Did you order fettuccine al pesto? -, he asked then.
- How do you know? -, Joseph asked.
- 'Cause that's what I got, even though I didn't order it -, the guy replied, - I saw the porter bringing something to you too and I just put two and two together -.
- Oh… -.
There was a moment of awkward silence, then Joseph said:
- I should probably give you your thing, then -.
- Yeah -, the guy nodded, and Joseph went inside towards the counter where he was preparing for lunch, then an idea struck him and he turned to the other.
- Why don't you come inside? -, he proposed, - We can eat together guy took a few moments to think about it, then he shrugged.
- Sure -, he mumbled, stepping inside the shop, then he inhaled.
- God, inside it smells even more -, he muttered as he reached Joseph.
- What's wrong with the smell of flowers? -, Joseph asked defensively. Did he really want to start some shit right now? And to think that they had managed to go on for so long being civil to each other.
- Also says the guy who always smells of smoke -, he retorted then.
- I was just saying that the smell is intense, don't get so defensive -, the guy said then, - Also if you don't like how I smell I can always go back to my shop. I don't have time to lose -.
- No! -, Joseph yelled immediately and then, realising that his reaction had been just a tad too strong for that context, he cleared his throat.
- I mean… -, he started then, - It would be a shame, right? For once we have the occasion to know each other better since, y'know… We're basically neighbours, even though we rarely even acknowledge each other -.
The guy didn't say anything, and Joseph was really afraid that he had fucked up everything, but then he nodded and he took place where Joseph was going to sit, but instead of saying something about it, he just took another chair and he sat at the other side of the counter.
- I'm Caesar, by the way -, the guy said then as Joseph sat right in front of him.
- Oh, I'm… -.
- Joseph, I know -, Caesar replied, - If I had a dollar every time Mrs. Joestar yells your name I wouldn't need to work here anymore -.
He was smiling, and clearly teasing Joseph.
- Oh… Good I guess -, he replied, deciding to look down at his container and to start eating. He just hoped he wasn't blushing.
- Y'know… -, Caesar started, interrupting their silence as they were both eating, - I never understood what a guy like you is doing working here -.
- I could ask you the same question -, Joseph retorted.
- But I asked you first -, Caesar stated, making Joseph sigh.
- Fine -, he said, then he started, - We recently moved from England and my grandmother opened this little business to not weight too much on my parents, but she's old now, so I come here to help her -.
- Ah, so Mrs. Joestar is your grandmother… That explains it -, Caesar mumbled.
- Explains what? -.
- Nothing -, Caesar quickly answered, and Joseph got the feeling that if he pressed further, he would've just got mad from the answer, so he left it like that.
- What about you? -, he asked instead.
- I came here from Italy -, Caesar replied, - And I'm just doing this as a side job to pay for university -.
- Wow, you come from Italy? -, Joseph asked, and the other nodded.
- That's so cool! -, he exclaimed, - Well now I know why you ordered your lunch there -.
Somehow Caesar didn't seem much pleased by that comment, actually he looked kinda offended. Good job, Joseph, you fucked up once again.
He searched for something he could talk about when his gaze fell on Caesar's forearm, more exactly on the tattoo he had there; he had noticed it some time ago actually, but he never had any occasion to ask Caesar about it.
- That sunflower -, he started then, referring the tattoo, - … You did it yourself? -.
- No -, Caesar replied, - I had it done when I was in Italy -.
He didn't add anything else but it was clear from how he said it that there was a lot of history regarding that tattoo and that it was important to him, but despite his curiosity Joseph decided not to pry for once.
Without saying anything he took Caesar's wrist and pulled it closer to inspect better the tattoo; Caesar just blurted an "hey!" when he did it, but otherwise he didn't said or did anything about it.
- It's pretty -, Joseph said then, - I like it -.
- … Thank you -, was all Caesar replied. He seemed a bit embarrassed, and Joseph let go of his wrist.
Silence followed again, and Joseph had no idea what he should say to fill it. There were many things that he would've liked to tell him, but he didn't have much experience about that kind of stuff and he was afraid of ruining everything.
It was Caesar the one who broke the silence.
- Hey -, he said in fact, - Can I be honest with you? -.
What was that?
- Sure -, Joseph said, trying to not appear too nervous.
- So, I've noticed the way you look at me when you think I'm not paying attention -, Caesar started, and Joseph had to gulp in fear.
Oh no, he had been caught.
- Look… -, he started to reply, as an attempt to explain himself, but Caesar didn't let him continue.
- But, I must say, you are not bad looking yourself so, I mean, if you ever want to hang out… I'm in -.
Oh.
Holy shit!
- Are you for real? -, Joseph asked, incredulous. If that was just a prank…
Caesar nodded.
- I'm always serious about this sort of things -, he said, and Joseph would've loved to contest that, since he didn't really seem a serious guy, but he remained silent.
- … Wow -, he said then, all excited.
- I mean -, and he cleared his throat, trying to give himself a cool air, - I'm down for it as well -.
Caesar tore off a paper from the block notes which was near the cash register, and he wrote down something.
- I have to go now… -, he started then, and when he finished writing he gave the paper to Joseph, - This is my phone number -.
As Joseph took the paper in his hand, Caesar got up and he walked to the door.
- See you tonight -, he said then, before leaving the shop.
Wow. And Joseph wasn't even mad that he had left all his stuff there, instead he did his best to contain a victorious scream.
He would've never believed that it was going to be that easy.
However, even though he was euphoric, he knew that it was time to get back to work, so he put the paper on his pocket – it was really important that he didn't lose it – and he threw the containers and bags in the trashcan. Once he did that he changed the sign on the door.
Now the shop was officially open again.
As he waited for clients to come, he got an idea. It was a bit cheesy, but at that point he had already got a date, so why not go all the way? Also something was telling him that Caesar was going to like what he was about to do.
He took some sunflowers – he was sure granny Erina wouldn't have minded – and he arranged them in presentable way, then he wrapped them together with a golden string and he put some pastel pink cloth around them, tying it up with a red ribbon. It was a simple bouquet, but hopefully with that he was going to impress Caesar a bit.
For now he put that bouquet in the back.
He admired his work one last time, then he got back to the cash register and it was in that moment that a strange sense of calm took over him.
He was sure of it, now: that date was going to be great.
Disclaimer: before Americans start to nag me about it, yes, I use hyphens for dialogues and quotation marks for thoughts. Why? Because this is how we do in Italy, the country I'm from (actually there's more freedom in Italy but this is how people usually write).
Am I going to change this one day? Absolutely not. This is how I'm used to write and I don't want to change it. If I have to go through hundreds and hundreds of fanfictions where I see quotation marks used for dialogues – something I'm not used to at all – I'm sure you can all go through one story where the style is different without having to point it out every, single, time. Thank you.