For the 17th time that night, Levi looked at his wrist watch to check the time. He brought his hand down on the table where his fingers began playing with the table cloth, just as he did for the past hour.

He knew it was a bad idea to agree to a blind date, set up by his mother himself, but she knew his weakness. Kuchel, bless her soul, would give him premium tea leaves all the way from China if he went on this one date with her friend's daughter.

But honestly, Levi couldn't give a rat's ass about tea leaves, he just wanted to stop his mother's nagging. As much as he loves Kuchel, it was always the same whenever Levi would visit his mother.

"Levi, sweetheart, why aren't you bringing any women home?"

"I'm sure there are lovely women in your office. Are you sure you don't want to ask them to dinner?"

"Your cousin, Mikasa, is already going to be married at 23 and you still live alone at 30."

"Honestly, I'm not getting any younger, darling. At this rate I might never meet my grand babies, if you even give me one that is!"

"My friend's daughter is single, you should date her."

So he agreed-if only so that she'll shut up about his dating life, or lack thereof-something that Levi immediately regretted at 18 past 9 when he realized his date wasn't going to show up.

He could feel everyone's pitying gaze stabbing his back, the unwanted attention making his skin prickle. In fact, if he listened very closely, he could hear nearby tables talking about him being a 'poor guy' or some shit.

It was humiliating.

He bounced his legs, something he knew his mother would probably disapprove of, as he surveyed the room once more, searching for anyone who matched the description of his date. When he saw no one, he shoved his hands into his pockets to fish his phone. He began to furiously type into his phone.

"Fucking asshole, fucking stood me up," he muttered as he furiously typed into his phone.

The arrogance, the gall, the audacity of this bitch. He had been waiting in the restaurant for half an hour and his date still hasn't replied to his messages.

He could walk out now, but then he'd look like a loser.

And he would never hear the end of it from his mother.

"Sir would you like to order now?" a waitress asked, just as she did three times before.

"No, I'm waiting for my date," he said, not looking up, barely restraining the bitterness in his tone. He resisted the urge to grumble lest he look like a child in front of a stranger.

The waitress lingered by his table and Levi had a feeling she was going to break into some motivational bullshit to 'lift his spirits' or say that 'he'll find someone better' or some shit. He knows because literally 4 people have already spoken to him on their way to the exit.

Fucking fuck.

He heard the waitress take a breath, a prelude to her speech Levi's sure, when another voice chimed in.

"Hello! I'm sorry I'm late, I was caught in traffic," a woman said, depositing herself to the seat in front of Levi. Levi stared as she nonchalantly flipped the menu open, as if this was completely normal and this woman was the one he had been waiting for for the past 45 minutes, and started talking to the waitress, even asking Levi what his order was.

Her height was the first thing Levi noticed-after all, it's not always that he's taller than his partner. She had big brown eyes that reflected the light of the chandelier, a cute nose and short ginger hair framing her face. She wore a pink lipstick, a modest outfit and a breathtaking smile.

The waitress walked away with their order in her notepad-her smile was a little too wide for Levi's liking but really it's none of his business-leaving Levi and the stranger alone. Whoever this woman was, she was most definitely not his date.

She looked young-maybe a good 5 years or so younger than him-and while Levi never had the tendency to be attracted to younger women, he doesn't really have a say in this situation; not that he's complaining about it either.

He must have been staring at her for too long because he saw crinson creeping from her neck and settling on her already-tinted cheeks.

Cute.

"I, uh, I've noticed that you've been waiting for an hour for someone and my date stood me up too. So, um." She looked bashful now, nothing like when she brashly sat down in front of him. "I hope I'm not overstepping or anything."

But she was overstepping. It was none of her business whether his date stood him up or not. If things were to go the way Levi usually deals with people, he would probably ignore her for the rest of the night and she would probably leave sheepishly.

And yet he couldn't find it in him to turn her away.

"Yeah, no, my date stood me up. Thanks for saving my assignment I guess." Levi rarely smiles but it felt rude not to when the ginger in front of him exudes this amicable aura around her.

"Well that goes for the both of us." She rolled her eyes, and Levi couldn't decide if being sweet or snappy suited her more. "People have been giving me pitying looks for the past hour and as much as I appreciate their concern it's honestly irritating."

Levi couldn't agree more. Half of the reason he was so agitated before was because of the looks he was given.

"At least the garlic bread is good," he said, gesturing to the empty basket in front of them. Levi couldn't fathom what was funny in what he said but she laughed.

She had a pretty laugh and Levi thought that he would very much like to see it again.

"I'm Petra by the way." She gave her hand for him to shake. She had dainty hands and clean fingernails. Good. Levi liked neat women.

"Levi."

"Like the jeans?"

"Yeah like the jeans."

"Well, nice to meet you Levi like the jeans."She smiled at him again, coaxing Levi to let his guard down and soften his features. Levi noticed that she hadn't let go of his hand yet; but then again, he hadn't let go of hers either.

It would be delusional of him to say that he's in love; he wasn't but perhaps it would be safer to say that he's deeply interested. In the back of his mind, Levi could already imagine his mother's reaction when she meets Petra on his next visit.