"And so that was the mission I got promoted to an N7," Shepard said, pushing around the food on her plate with her fork.
"Oh, uh-huh," Kaidan said absentmindedly, looking down, yet again, at his omnitool. Keeping true to Joker's "rules", Kaidan had been ignoring everything Shepard had been saying. Of course, he actually hadn't meant to ignore her. He had been so preoccupied thinking about the message he was going to get from Joker that he was inadvertently dismissing Shepard's conversation.
Shepard narrowed her eyes at Kaidan and fought the urge to smack him upside the head. Was she really that boring? She thought her N missions were rather exciting and something Kaidan would have been interested in hearing. Instead, he kept glancing at his omnitool every five seconds for God knows what.
She sighed and glanced around the restaurant. Coppia's was every bit as Kaidan had described it. Far away from the bustle of the station, the Italian bistro held a very romantic appeal. Too bad the romance didn't extend to them. She still wasn't sure what to make of the lieutenant. His kiss had certainly awakened something inside of her, and she had been sure he felt the same way.
But it was like the kiss never happened. Other than the hot look he gave her when she had stepped on the gangway back on the ship, he had hardly spared a glance at her. She had understood that maybe he was nervous. Hell, she was more than a bit jittery herself, but at least she was making at attempt at conversation. One would have thought her fall back on the ship would have broken the ice.
"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" Kaidan asked, finally looking up.
"I was just…you know what…it's nothing, never mind," Shepard said, looking back down at her plate. "It seems you have other important matters on your mind."
She hadn't meant to say that last part. She certainly didn't want to sound like a whiny date who needed the attention. And yet here she was doing just that. Man, she needed to loosen up. She grabbed her glass and downed her wine in one drink.
Shepard was starting to sound a bit impatient, and Kaidan couldn't blame her. They were halfway through their meal, and he hadn't said more than a few words to her. Apart from being nervous at being alone with her, he was also extremely nervous about Joker's plan. He could feel a blush creeping into his face.
"I'm sorry," he said again, sheepishly. "I'm supposed to meet someone for drinks later and they were supposed to message me the time to meet them."
Shepard paused, the food halfway to her mouth. Suddenly, she wasn't so hungry anymore. Meet someone? As in another date? She knew had no right to be asking him the million questions that were running through her mind. Just like she had no right to feel jealous. It's not like her and Kaidan were dating. She didn't want him to think that, after one kiss, she was suddenly madly in love with him. Because she wasn't.
"I see," she replied for lack of anything else to say, placing the pasta entwined fork back down onto her plate.
That was all she had to say? Kaidan was expecting a huge outburst from her. He had specifically left out the gender of this certain someone that he was supposedly meeting so that she would be curious. It looked like she could care less. Didn't Joker say she was going to get extremely jealous? Maybe Shepard didn't like him as much as he thought she did.
As much as Shepard tried to act as nonchalant as possible, her heart betrayed how she really felt. Angry, confused…and, yeah okay, even a little jealous. She wanted to yell at Kaidan to have fun with his date and then stalk out of the restaurant. Hell, had it been up to her, she would have left this farce of a date from the moment he had opened up his omnitool. But, noooo, she had to act the lady and be polite and hold in all the curse words that were threatening to spill out of her mouth.
The sound of a small ping caught both their attentions. Kaidan quickly opened up his omnitool and read through the message.
Golden Chalice nightclub. Take Shepard with you.
What? This wasn't part of the plan. Suddenly, Kaidan didn't like where this was going. It was supposed to be simple. Tell Shepard he was meeting another girl, make her insanely jealous, then choose Shepard over pretend girl to make her believe that he only cared for Shepard. According to Joker, the plan was flawless. And now, he was changing it.
Kaidan felt out of his element. He knew he should just ignore Joker and start all over again with Shepard. But she was acting unnaturally different. Her clothing and make up, her entire persona was not that of Shepard, but of another woman that he did not know. She hadn't even cursed once!
"Your friend?" Shepard asked, breaking Kaidan from his thoughts. She had tried to keep the bitterness from her voice, but she could still hear a hint of it. Come on, Shepard, don't be the jealous, clingy girl that everyone hates! If Kaidan has other plans, then what's it to you?
"Yeah, my…uh…friend," Kaidan said, still trying to figure out what Joker was up to. "Why don't you join me? Are you up for a drink at the Golden Chalice?"
Shepard's heart did a little flip, and it took all she had not to grin like an idiot. How could she have been so stupid! Of course Kaidan wouldn't be meeting another girl. He was too much of a gentleman to even be thinking about doing that. She berated herself for judging him so harshly. She had automatically assumed that he was meeting a girl for drinks when all this time, he was actually meeting a male friend of his.
At least that's what she thought. He wouldn't have invited her otherwise, right?
She gave him a small smile. "I would love to join you. I-I mean, if you're sure I won't be in the way."
Kaidan returned her smile, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. He definitely didn't like where this was going. "No, no problem. You won't be in the way at all."
Joker had almost fallen asleep watching Kaidan and Shepard throughout dinner. That had to be the most awkward meal he had ever seen. Shepard had rambled non-stop about her missions in the special forces and Kaidan had been pointedly ignoring her.
Joker had deliberately stalled his message to Kaidan just to see how much more uncomfortable it could get. Apparently, those two were the epitome of awkwardness. It was so funny to see how on the battlefield, they were so comfortable with each other, sometimes to the point of almost reading each other's minds. Yet, leave them alone together, and they each acted like a lovesick teenager. Joker had been privy to many one-on-one moments between them that left them obviously wanting more.
He had been extremely disappointed when Shepard hadn't shown any reaction to Kaidan's outburst of meeting someone else. He had expected the usual Shepard anger, that everyone knew and loved, to show itself. Unfortunately, she was acting strangely quiet. She was behaving even. Something Joker didn't think would ever be possible.
Well, stranger things have happened. Like Kaidan finally getting over his nerve and kissing her in front of everyone. Lucky bastard won everyone's credits after they had all bet against him. Joker chuckled to himself and shook his head.
Well, what he had planned would almost certainly make Shepard lose her temper. He was sure of it. He set up to link into the cameras to the nightclub he had mentioned to Kaidan. He scanned the images until he found what he was looking for. Good, everything was in place.
Now to sit back, relax and watch everything unfold. He leaned back and linked his hands behind his head. Things were about to get good.