She checks out her phone for the seventh time in ten minutes. Her other hand is resting next to her empty plate, fingers playing against the table. She leaves the phone and closes her eyes, taking a deep breath she rest back on the chair. He'll be here, she says to herself.
"Would you like me to get you anything?"
She looks up to see the waiter smiling at her politely, too politely actually.
"Ah, some water please."
She smiles nervously. Once he leaves, her eyes fall at the old lady on her right, looking at her with what seems like petty. She looks away to see some couple sitting in front of her and staring at her with also what seems like petty.
She's not surprised. She has been sitting like this for thirty minutes, and in a restaurant like that, it's actually pathetic.
She gulps before looking down and checking her phone again.
Damn it.
While she is freaking out from the inside, she hears the sound of the chair moving. She looks up to see a guy dressed in a suit unbuttoning his jacket as he sits down.
"Sorry I'm late, babe. Traffic is crazy now." He says loudly. She feels the weight of her furrowed eyebrows as she looks around, noticing how people look at her smiling.
She looks back at him with confusion and maybe anger.
"I'm- just go with it okay." He says quietly as he leans forward just a bit. "Whoever didn't bother to show up is a dick."
She suddenly forgets how to speak, and whatever she was going to yell at him with is gone. It is the way he smiles at her. It's not polite or obligated. He doesn't seem like someone who feels bad for her, he looks like he just wants to help, in fact he has an amused look on his face.
"Just go with it, okay?" He asks, perhaps because she is still staring at him with open mouth. As a start she chuckles nervously, putting her hair behind her ear as she looks down. But then she looks up and catches the way he stares at her hair for a second.
It's now his turn to clear his throat . He looks back at her and she opens her mouth, after all she should say something. But nothing comes out, instead she smiles again. And he smiles back, eyes lingering and shining. Yes, he's defiantly enjoying this.
He's about to say something before the waiter comes again. They both look up at the same moment, and this time she doesn't see a polite smile, it's more of a happy smile.
Because the guy showed up.
"Would you like me to bring anything?"
"I don't know, hun? Dinner or some drinks?" He plays along and she is impressed.
She opens her mouth but yet again nothing comes out.
"Dinner." He nods.
He opens the menu and thinks for a moment before giving it to the waiter.
"We would like to have the day's dish, thank you."
The waiter walks away and then he looks back at her, the impressed look on her face amuses him even more.
"Yeah, that was weird." He chuckles as he looks down.
"No, no. I didn't mean that."
Once she talks he looks up and sounds pleased to hear her voice.
"It's just, thank you actually." She swallows nervously with a smile.
He only presses his lips into a smile.
"That's very… kind of you, saving me the petty looks of those people." She rolls her eyes to lighten the words a bit.
"Any time." He says. "But, uh, just to make things clear, I uh… I don't do this often."
She raises her eyebrows.
"You mean rescuing poor girls?"
He chuckles.
"No, I mean, storming into strangers, and just... doing... this" He smiles shyly. "I'm uh, I'm more of a loner actually."
"What?" She gasps dramatically. "I didn't see that coming."
When he looks down to hide his smile, she does see it.
"It's just… I've been sitting there for a while, and I uh, I couldn't look away from you and you just- you looked like- I felt like I knew you for… a long time." He says and she can even see his cheeks blushing slightly.
She doesn't know how to talk for a second.
"You sure you didn't do this before?" She narrows her eyes.
"I swear I didn't." He says quickly, as if defending himself, clearly doesn't know she's just joking. "This is my very first time."
She chuckles.
"Relax, I'm just kidding."
He lets out a breath and his smile goes wider, eyes going back to stare into hers.
"I'm Stefan." He breaks the silence.
"Caroline." She smiles.