No Tomato

Jared had pulled up at exactly 6:30 to pick Josey up for the dinner outing. The sun was low in the sky and street lights were getting ready to kick on. 

Grabbing her sneakers, Josey headed out the door. She kept it casual in jeans and a hoodie.  The weather was cooler in the evenings, and because she gets cold easily, she figured she wouldn’t get over heated. 

Jared was standing there, leaning in his car waiting when she came out. 

“Hey!” She said waving at him as she hopped and skipped, pulling her sneakers on. 

“Ready?” He asked her while opening the door to the car. 

“Sure am! Thanks for offering to take me to dinner.” She said as she slid into the black leather seat.   

He shut the door and got into the driver's side. 

“Uh yea, my pleasure! Hey, what's with all the security camera’s suddenly popping up around here? There’s a camera even pointed at your door step from the energy pole across the street.” Jared asked Josey curiously. 

“Oh that? It would be our not so lovely new landlord’s doing. I mean he’s alright, but he even had Agatha work today to let them in and around the place. Weird if you ask me.” Josey replied, not really thinking too much into it. 

“Yea, weird.” Jared looked around at the locations of the camera’s as he started the car. 

It only took about 15 minutes for them to get to the eatery that was located about 10 miles down from Moon Terrace.  

Opening the glass door decorated in chalked leaves and olives, the smell of spicy and sweet wafted through the air and hit Josey’s nose. 

“Wow, it already smells so good!” She exclaimed, following Jared in. 

The eatery was set up with several booths and high seated chairs at the counter. It had an old world Italian theme and Josey figured it was the sauces coming from the kitchen she could smell. 

They sat across from each other in a booth away from the door. The low lighting would have screamed romance but Josey was more interested in the food than anything else. 

“Pasta! Yumm!” She said as she looked over menus already placed on the table. 

There were only two other customers, Josey noticed. One man had a wide brimmed hat and heavy brown jacket while the other was wearing sunglasses and a pink hoodie. She didn’t judge but she figured both of them must be hot, the place was a even a little too warm, even for her.  

“Jared! My man, good to see you! So, what do think?” A tall strawberry blond guy around Josey’s age joined them, standing at their table. 

“It looks great, I can’t wait to try the food out. You got a prime spot here right off the main road, with easy parking too. How’d you manage to get them to sell?” Jared asked his friend who was the owner. 

Josey sat there and listened. She figured Jared would eventually introduce her to his friend, who looked a lot like Jared in the fact of being well kept, styled hair, great skin.  

“My father. After he insisted enough, they finally gave in. A week later, the building became mine.” Jared’s friend said with a snotty smirk. 

Josey wasn’t surprised with what she heard. Jared was the CEO of an investment firm Called Rapture Investments. He always ran within the upper class social circles. So, the guy’s attitude, came as no shock to Josey. One thing was for sure, Jared wasn’t like him. He had always treated Josey in a down to earth way, as a real friend.  

“So, what can I get you and your...friend?” The guy asked, throwing Josey a questionable look. 

“Oh, right, this is Josey. She’s a close friend of mine.” Jared responded to him and looked at Josey. 

Josey smiled and nodded at him and Jared’s friend smiled and nodded back. Jared motioned for Josey to go first. 

“I will have a water with lemon to drink, and the pasta primavera, with the creaser salad fo a side please, oh, and no toma...” Josey started to say, but was cut short. 

Jared’s friend barely nodded and  turned to Jared and spoke before Josey could finish her sentence. 

“I already know what you like. I’ll have it out to you shortly.” His friend said, nodding at Jared before turning and walking away. 

Josey was left with her hand in the air to stop him but it was too late. 

“He’s probably super busy and short staffed because he just opened.” Jared said to her apologetically. 

“Ah, yeah. Busy.” Josey nodded in fake agreement. 

‘Busy with what?’ Josey thought to herself. There were only 2 other people in the eatery that had plates of food already. 

“So, do you know who the new owner of your apartment building is yet?” Jared asked, as he looked down and started scrolling through his phone. 

“Yes, and you're probably not going to believe this! He is the same guy that saved me yesterday from becoming road kill, on my way to the interview, and also, the CEO of Terrace Pharmaceuticals!” Josey said, her voice going up a notch. 

Her words got Jared’s attention. 

“Tarrin Stormway is your new landlord?” Jared said with half of a smile.  

He thought it was too good to be true, though that did explain the excessive number of cameras, and the new name of the apartments. It wasn’t hard to connect Moon Terrace and Terrace Pharmaceuticals. 

“Yeah, crazy huh? He also caused me to have a crappy interview, but that doesn’t matter, I still go the job.” Josey said, beaming.  

A metal clank suddenly came from the other table and Josey looked over at them. The guy in the hoodie was staring at the ceiling for some reason, but when Josey started looking around them for the source of the noise, Jared snapped at her. 

“Are you absolutely sure?” He snapped, wanting to be sure. 

“Uh yea, he asked me stupid questions during it, like how was my ability to..” Josey was suddenly cut off by Jared's insistence to talk about Tarrin. 

“No! I mean are you absolutely sure he is your landlord?” Jared's tone got even meaner and Josey was starting to be a bit worried. 

“Yes, I am sure, 100% sure. He signed the lease in front of me and everything. It’s the same person Jared, why are you asking?” Josey said, trying to understand the change in her friend's temperament. 

“Oh, no reason. I mean, yeah, your right, it’s hard to believe!” Jared's response was cool but more friendly this time. He adjusted the collar on his polo shirt and shifted uneasily in his seat. 

Josey just stared at him a moment. He had never raised his voice, or talked to her like that before. 

“Hey, what's going on Jared? You seem like him being my landlord bothers you?” Josey wondered for a moment if Jared could be jealous or worried about her. 

“Oh, nothing. Nothing's wrong, I was just shocked at the coincident, that’s all. Hey, let's drop it. We are supposed to be celebrating, right? Let me head back to see what's up with my friend, maybe I can help move things along, I’m sure you’re starving, right? I’ll be right back.” Jared suddenly stood and weaved in between booths and through a door behind the long counter to the kitchen. 

Josey just shrugged it off as him being angry from hunger and started looking around the place. The 2 men sitting diagonal a couple booths away from her had been peeking over at her table the whole time since Jared's friend left to get their food prepared.  

Josey found it strange so she kept peeking back at them to see what they were doing also. She could only see their side profiles and on occasion the one in the hoodie and sunglass would face her directly. She couldn’t see his eyes, but she felt he was staring right at her. 

“Is she looking?” Tarrin whispered, pulling his wide brimmed hat down more to shield his eyes.