Here's the fourth chapter. The restaurant in the chapter is actually based off a few restaurants. One I drove by, but never went in. It was supposed to look like it was a club in Manhattan. I think it might have been a seafood/sushi place, but I'm not exactly sure. Another one is a Japanese cuisine that's in my area that actually is based off the lounges in Manhattan, at night especially, the atmosphere changes and on some nights it actually becomes a dance floor in some parts of the place. I'll stop rambling now.
French people. He was starting to hate them. Maybe he could imitate Francis' English friend and go on about how much he despises them, but it wasn't exactly the French. Actually it was a French person named Francis Bonnefoy. Matthew Williams was really starting to hate his cousin.
Francis had decided to take Matthew's love life into his own hands and set him up on a date, not even telling Matthew until the day of the date in the early morning. He could have refused all he wanted, could have canceled the reservation, could have killed Francis, could have made the whole blind date disappear and make it seem that there was no blind date to begin with, but part of Matthew had wanted to go on this date. Back in high school Matthew never did get as many dates as his brother did, but then again his brother never did have very long lasting relationships with any of the girls he dated. Alfred always told him that he wasn't interested in them. Then again, Matthew found his brother strange on some aspects.
As a teenager his dates were "just as rare as seeing a dodo bird" Alfred always said. Now that Matthew thought about it, his brother was a hoser. A real big hoser. This date was exciting and nerve wrecking. What should he wear? Which cologne should he put on? Matthew stopped thinking for a moment. He was starting to believe he was metrosexual.
Matthew threw on a pair of dark slacks and a light blue dress shirt. Would this work for the seafood restaurant Francis told him about? He shook his head, of course it would. What was this girl like? Was it even a girl? Of course it was a girl. Francis would never be so cruel to set him up on a date with a man. All day during work his mind drifted off and all he did was think of this date, instead of doing his job at the clinic.
Glancing in the mirror once more Matthew took a deep breath. It was show time.
Neon colors bounced off the walls, music blasting, radiating a night club scene inside of the restaurant. Hostesses wore skimpy tight black dresses, hosts dressed in all black, the waiters and waitresses were following a similar uniform. Matthew sat there uncomfortable tugging at the collar of his shirt. He glanced at the white rose on the table. Of course the rose was Francis's idea. Matthew never thought he could be this nervous, he was so much more nervous than he thought he would be. A part of him feared that Francis probably set him up with a friend of one of the slutty hostesses that worked here.
He started to tap his fingers rapidly against the table. Something he did when he was nervous. Matthew took a deep breath. Everything will be okay he thought. Or it could go extremely wrong and he could mess up with one word or one action and the whole date will turn into a disaster. He started to tug at the collar of his shirt. This was nerve wrecking.
And so he waited a bit. He stared at the rose, he observed the others around him, watched the chefs at the sushi bar create their masterpieces. Finally, it was time for him to be extremely nervous. Turning his head back he saw a hostess walking towards his table. His date was here.
She simply sat down, and took off her shearling coat and hung it on the back of her chair. Matthew gulped nervously and reached his hand out over the table, eventually.
"I'm Matthew," he spoke. The woman seemed familiar. She took his hand and shook it.
"Anya," she said with a Russian accent on the brink of being heavy, "You look very familiar. I think I met you at Francis' party." It was all coming back to him now. "You were that fat American pig, no?" Face was ready to meet palm.
"No, that was my brother." Matthew said slightly annoyed that once again another person mistook him for Alfred, that stupid brother of his always in the spotlight.
"Thank goodness you aren't. I would've gone insane if you were. I remember now, you were that quiet guy who made the French fry in gravy dish, correct?"
"Oh, you mean poutine? It's a French-Canadian dish. My mother used to make it all the time since she's from Canada." Anya smiled.
"That's interesting." At that time a waiter came to the table. The waiter was downright annoying, at least to Matthew, he didn't notice he was there and kept trying to flirt with his date. The Russian was not amused with the failed attempts at flirtation.
"Your finest bottle of merlot," she said sternly and gave the waiter a look that will make any person want to leave as soon as possible. Matthew blinked.
"How'd you do that?"
Anya grinned and turned her head slightly into her shoulder, "It's natural." Matthew realized that he had a lot to learn about this woman. It was a good time for small talk.
"What is your profession?" questioned the Canadian.
"I teach eighth grade history at a junior high school in Manhattan, and where do you work?"
"I work as a veterinary assistant currently and I hope to open up my own clinic soon." Francis was right. This guy does fit up to her Soviet Papa's standards. The pair had continued their conversation from many different topics, as to what kind of animals they like, more about work, what sports they like (which was hockey for both of them), what their families are like, and so on.
Matthew flopped down on his bed and saw his cell phone was ringing. It was Francis.
"Hello?" he answered.
"How did it go mon cher?"
"Well I definitely won't be bashing your face with a hockey stick for days, did you know she liked hockey? Anyway I'll probably be so happy that I'll be shitting bricks and end up buying you that cologne you wanted, or I might just end up buying Bieber perfume. Either way, thanks Francis. This was great."
"Are you meeting again?"
Matthew smiled, "Of course."
Tada! There's Chapter 4. Obviously it's late and I'm so sorry! I'm finally done with all these exams! Woohoo! Summer! And then I have homework over the summer. I'll start Chapter 5 in a day or two.