Bibimbap for Two
Characters: Irina Spasky and Alastair Oh
Alastair's POV
Disclaimer: Although I thoroughly enjoy using these amazing characters, I don't own the rights to any of The 39 Clues books. I also don't own the book six quotes that I use at the beginning of the fic.
January 20- International Hug Day
I silently followed Irina Spasky. The Ekaterina branch had heard that the dangerous Lucian spy was in Korea. Of course, I was the one who got sent to see what she was up to. I had been following Irina for a few hours now. She hadn't seen me yet. It was a rather tedious task. Irina hadn't done anything that seemed… evil yet.
Rain was falling everywhere. I watched her gaze behind her every few seconds. I bet she sensed someone following her. Luckily, the rain prevented her from seeing me. I almost lost Irina when she quickly entered a restaurant. I followed her in and waited to see what she would do.
"Nervous Irina?" I asked. She quickly turned around at glared at me. I watched her look around. She gazed at the exit door. Before she got a chance to escape, a young waitress appeared.
"Would you two like a table?" She asked in heavily accented English.
"Yes please." I answered. I had seen Irina open her mouth to speak but I beat her to it.
Irina rolled her eyes and gave me one of the evilest glares I had seen in my life. I cringed inwardly but decided to smile. The look on her face was hysterical. I bet that no one had ever smiled because she glared at them.
"Come with me." The waitress said. I noticed that the room was dimly lit. For some reason, the waitress led us to the back corner of the restaurant. Piano music was playing in the background. I took a seat at the table. Irina sat down across from me.
The waitress placed a menu in between the two of us.
"What would you like to drink?" She asked.
"Two waters please." My boss wouldn't want to know that I was drinking on the job. I bet Irina's boss wouldn't be happy either.
I watched Irina open the menu. She stared at it in disgust and closed the menu. Then she threw the menu at me. It just missed hitting my eye.
"What do you recommend?" Irina asked. I could tell she was angry.
I stared at the menu for a minute. I recognized the characters and searched for something that Irina would like. One food came to mind.
"Bibimbap." I said and placed the menu down on the table.
"Are you mocking me?" Irina asked in shock.
"What?" I asked. "No! Bibimbap is the only food that I recognized. It's a white rice dish that has sautéed vegetables, chili pepper, eggs, and beef."
"What if I'm a vegetarian?" She asked.
"Then I'll order yours without beef."
"Get the beef. That was a rhetorical question. You didn't need to answer it. Just get the beef." Irina grumbled.
"Alright then…" I said. I didn't speak anymore after that. Irina is a confusing person.
"Are you two ready to order?" The waitress had returned with our drinks.
"Yes we are." I answered. Irina nodded her head in agreement. "Two bowls of bibimbap please."
"Bowl for two of bibimbap coming right up." She left our table and headed towards the kitchen.
"Did she just say bowl for two?" Irina groaned.
"I think she did." I said as I started to laugh.
"Oh no." Irina moaned. "I don't see any humor in this!" Her face turned bright red. "Isabel will kill me if she finds out about this…" I watched Irina place head down on the table. I started to laugh harder. I stopped laughing when I realized how rude I was being.
I scooted my chair closer to Irina's. She lifted her head up and looked at me in confusion.
"Alastair?" She asked.
I slowly nodded my head and closed my eyes. Then I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a friendly hug. I moved my head against her shoulder a few times. She smells good. I thought. Alastair what are you thinking? You can't fall for a Lucian.
"Why are you hugging me?"
I didn't answer her.
"Aww! You two are adorable!"
Irina made a very un-ladylike gagging noise and I decided that now would be a good time to let go of her.
"I'm sorry; I'm not interrupting your date am I?" The waitress set down our bowl as she spoke.
"N-n-no." Irina stuttered. "No, not at all."
The waitress left us alone after that. Her face was quite red.
"A date? She thinks we're on a date?" Irina asked.
"It appears so." I said. I picked up my spoon and slowly took a few pieces of rice. Irina didn't look like she was going to eat.
Finally, she picked up her spoon and began to eat. Neither of us spoke until Irina's spoon clinked against mine.
"Irina are you flirting with me?" I asked in a bad attempt of lightening up the mood.
"Why would I?" Irina snapped.
We went back to eating in silence.
Clink!
"Irina?" I lifted one of my eyebrows and stared into her eyes. Irina blushed and didn't respond.
The silence continued.
Clink!
"Irina, stop flirting with me." I was grinning now.
We continued to eat in silence.
Clink!
"Now really Irina, this is ridiculous!" I gave Irina one of my joking around grins.
Then the unexpected happened! Irina laughed. I did the impossible! I got the completely serious Russian spy to laugh!
"This entire thing is ridiculous!" Irina chuckled.
We were still laughing when the waitress returned with the check.
"Here's your bill." She said and handed me the bill.
"I'll pay." I whispered in Irina's ear. We were both sitting fairly close to each other.
"You don't have to do that." She said.
"I know, but I want to."
"Bu-" I lifted up one of my fingers and pressed it to her lips.
"Shhh… It's no problem." I moved my hand away from her mouth and wrote out a fifty dollar check. The waitress returned when I had just finished writing the check.
"Keep the change." I told the waitress. She looked down and gasped.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." The waitress walked away in a daze.
"How much did you pay her?" Irina asked.
"I gave her an extra twenty-five dollars."
"You're to kind Alastair. That will be your downfall." I shrugged and stood up.
We both left the table and watched the outside world.
"It looks like the rain let up." Irina mumbled.
"Yes it does." I walked to the door and held it open for Irina. We both walked out onto the sidewalk.
"Remind me why you were following me?" She asked. I gave Irina one of my mysterious smirks and hugged her. She accepted the hug instead of pulling away. I winked at Irina after we separated.
"Happy International Hug Day." I said and walked away.
~Fin~
A/N: I like to know that you're reading. Leave a review with a simple comment or suggestion. It'd make my day.
