"I can't believe he made me drive." I stomped my way to my car. I'm five blocks out of his way and he wouldn't pick me up. I would have left earlier if he told me to drive ahead of time. Parking sucks at the restaurant, it's an absolute nightmare. I'm just going to try and deal with him until Valentine's Day. The situationship is not working.
I drive through the busy streets looking everywhere for a parking spot. Great, now I am going to be late. I hate being late. Finally, a car pulls out in front of me and I whip into a parking spot. It's cold out and I huddle into my coat walking into the restaurant.
The waiting area is packed. It's the weekend before Valentine's Day and a lot of couples are already out. There is an elderly couple waiting. She's holding a flower, and her husband is gently rubbing her leg while they wait. It's adorable, and I can't help but shyly smile at them. The husband sees me and beams, "50 years of love. Look at her." I grin at them both, "That's wonderful."
"You're late," Mike doesn't even look up from his phone while he chastises me.
Not a hello, not a "wow you look great". Nothing. I sighed.
"Hello to you too. Did the hostess give you the wait time?"
"Fifteen minutes longer than it should have been."
I heard a distinct "Hmph" come from a man waiting. Talk about tall, dark, and handsome. Damn. He caught me looking, and winked at me. Double damn. I saw him stand up out of the corner of my eye. He walked to the hostess stand, threw her a beautiful smile, and asked if he could change his order and have it here. She smiled, batting her lashes, and flirting for all she was worth. He thanked her and returned to his seat.
Our names are called, and Mike finally pulls his head out of his phone. He quickly stands, and moves a little too close to the hostess. I can see she is uncomfortable. What in the fuck is wrong with him tonight? I casually glance back at tall, dark, and handsome, and he is frowning, slowly shaking his head.
We're led to a table, and finally Mike manages to look at me.
"Hello," I say, slightly tinged with sarcasm, "how was your day?"
I'm slightly distracted when Mr. Handsome is seated behind my date, right in my line of sight.
"Same shit different day," he muttered.
"Mike, are you ok? You seem really bothered."
"I just think it's disrespectful to be late." he stated flatly, staring at me.
"I'm sorry I was late, Mike, I would not have been late if you communicated I needed to drive. Come on, this is my favorite restaurant, let's have a good time."
"I don't know why you think it's such a good time. You order the same thing every time. Boring." he picked up his phone again.
Mr. Handsome coughed, pulled my attention to him. He locked eyes with me and shook his head slowly.
"Well, maybe I will surprise you this time, and order something different. Do you have a suggestion?" I studied the menu. Inside, I was absolutely fuming and mortified he was talking to me this way, and more so that this stranger was hearing it. I guess the true colors are coming out.
Our waitress came to take our orders. Mike ordered a burrito, I ordered enchiladas, but as I was ordering, Mike mocked me, and repeated my exact order word for word. I tried to make light of it by saying, "See, you know me well." He scoffed in return. The waitress moved on to Mr. Handsome.
"That's enough." I snapped at Mike. "You're not going to talk to me like that. You're not going to do it in private, and you're sure as FUCK not going to do it in public."
He finally peeled his eyes away from his phone to look at me. "What is your deal tonight?"
"My deal? Mine? Are you fucking kidding me? You've been a disrespectful asshole since I walked in the door." I waved the waitress over. "Hello Miss, would you mind separating our tickets and moving me to another table or the bar? I'm done here."
"You can sit with me," Mr. Handsome spoke up.
Mike huffed again, "Sure, buddy."
"THAT sounds like a fabulous idea." I got up, grabbed my purse and coat, and moved to sit next to Mr. Handsome. He stood up and pulled out the chair right next to him for me. He sat next to me, and pulled my chair closer to him, glaring at Mike.
"I'll take mine to go." Mike told the waitress, and he walked to the bar area to wait, muttering "Bitch" under his breath.
I looked shyly at Mr. Handsome, "Hi, I'm Violet," he took my offered hand, slowly shaking it, while staring me in the eyes, "Mateo."
"Thanks for helping me tonight."
"Is he always like that?" he asked me.
"Not until recently. I think the situationship has just ended." I shuddered.
"You mean THAT guy, wouldn't commit to you?"
"That's one way to put it," I grinned.
Two servers appeared with plate after plate of food. They piled it on the table. A margarita landed in front of both of us.
"What is all of this? You must be starving!" I looked at Mateo, shocked.
He grinned, "I changed your order. I heard you say this is your favorite place, and if that's the case, you need to try this. Sopes."
I grinned at him, and we dug into the food. The conversation flowed easily, we talked about my obsession with Mexican food, and not that Tex Mex bullshit people try to pass as Mexican food. Mateo piled the sopes high with all of the flavors in the bowls, guacamole, refried or black beans, cheese, chicken, beef.
"Open," as he held the first one out to me and fed it to me. My eyes rolled back in my head.
"Yup. That'll do." I mumbled with a mouthful of food.
"You seemed like you could use a lot more flavor in your life." He chuckled.
I snort laughed at him. "I think you're damn right about that. Thank you for changing my evening."
He smiled, "That guy is a dick. A stupid one at that." Mateo leaned in closer to my ear, "He didn't even say how fucking beautiful you looked when you walked in. Idiot. I couldn't take my eyes off of you." he pushed my hair back from my ear, and ran his nose up my neckline, inhaling. "You smell so sweet. Like candy."
A light peck, right behind my ear, and I was melting into a puddle right in front of him. He smiled at my reaction, and continued pushing food at me. We spent the evening laughing, sharing stories, and inhaling food. He was so calming and peaceful to be around.
The waitress dropped the tab at the table, and Mateo snatched it away, then gave me a shut the fuck up look as he placed his card in the sleeve. He walked me out, interlocking our fingers, and bending our arms so he could kiss my hand.
"Where are you parked?" he quietly asked me.
I turned to look at him, "Honestly, right now, I wish I didn't remember."
"Damn it," he muttered. He pulled me into his chest and stared down at me. He swept a soft kiss against my mouth. "He's a fucking idiot." He kissed me again, pulling my chin to his mouth. My hands slipped under his leather jacket, wrapping around his waist and settling on his belt.
His hands slipped to my waist and he gently pushed me against the side of the building. He kissed me harder, pressing himself into me, then suddenly moved so our foreheads were touching. We both needed a minute to catch our breath.
I reached up, and ran my hand along his jawline, "Come home with me."
