Chapter 6: crazy evening

John's Pov

I was pissed.

I just needed to get away from Fiona by all means, not that I had any specific place in mind. But seeing her face all the time, I get reminded of how little control I have over my life.

Dad had to choose a girl for me? Why couldn't I make that decision myself? I'm my own man, that decision has to be mine and mine alone.

He's not the one who has to wake up to her fake face everyday for the rest of his life. She can't even hold an intelligent conversation. 

And the gum!

Did she have to chew so loud?! Doesn't she know basic etiquette?!

Yeah, I was pissed and I needed to calm down a little. It would have been better if I had a bestfriend I could talk about these stuff with, but our business is a tricky one and we can only trust family; even if I wanted to, I wasn't even that close to anyone. 

I drove around town a little, hoping to find some kind of distraction, but there was nothing, there was very little that interests me.

Eventually, I decided to stop at a restaurant. Maybe good food could lift my spirits, right?

I parked in front of a restaurant - didn't even bother checking the name - and walked in.

At first, I was skeptical because there was no one else around besides the workers. What kind of restaurant didn't have at least five customers in it at once? How did it remain standing? And since it was already noon and lunch time, there should be people there.

But I waved it off, maybe it's just a slow day. Besides, it means I would eat my food in peace.

A waitress came over and handed me the menu, which I took without bothering to look at her. Again, I wasn't really hungry or interested in my surroundings, I just wanted some peace and quiet away from Dad and Fiona.

I ordered Tacos and Martini and she left, returning in no time with my order; I guess that's the advantage of being the only customer in sight.

I was eating my food - which actually turned out to be really tasty - in peace, while scrolling through my phone reading the morning news, when I felt someone watching me.

There's no easy way to explain it, but being in the mafia means you'd have to watch your back always, even with allies. So, ever since I was a teenager, it was pretty easy to detect when I was being watched.

It didn't feel malicious or anything, but when I looked up, sure enough the waitress was staring at me, but quickly looked away when our eyes met, searching behind the counter for something.

That was when I really looked at her.

I only saw it for a split second, but her eyes were the prettiest shade of blue, no kidding! It was as if her work uniform was specifically made for her since it made her eyes stand out so well. 

And that face!

Why the hell didn't I notice someone like her sooner? She had the perfect... everything! Perfect face, perfect eyes, perfect nose, perfect lips, perfect straight light brown hair... she wasn't even skinny like most women I'm acquainted with, she was curvy and so goddamn fine!

And she was staring at me?

Yes, I may be good-looking, but next to her my looks were basic. 

And a major bonus... She's no Fiona. You don't even need to look twice to know that she was a proper lady with good manners. I mean, she looked away when she noticed she'd been staring. If it had been Fiona, she'd have stared harder like I was a bucket of peppered hot wings spread out in front of her to be devoured.

I didn't want to, but I forced my eyes away back to my phone, pretending not to have noticed she was staring. I knew she kept staring but I didn't call her out on it, not just yet. It was a compliment, I had to bask in it first.

Once I was done, I signalled for her to come over and she did, flashing me a bright smile. She was even prettier up close.

"You should take a picture of me; it will last longer.” I said, teasing but her face turned bright pink as she stared down at the ground. Now, that's a funny reaction.

"I'm just kidding..." I glanced at her name tag. "...Cindy." She looked up at me suddenly, as if to ask how I knew her name, but then she paused, looked down at her name tag, blushed again and stared back down at the ground, handing me the bill.

I took it and studied it, before pulling out my wallet. I was a little bit disappointed that she was too shy to say anything; I wanted to hear her voice. Yeah, I know she had spoken to me earlier, but I was barely listening; it didn't count.

I placed the money on the bill pad, along with a hundred dollar tip, before giving it to her.

She took it and finally pried her eyes away from the ground to check if it's all there.

"A... a hundred dollar tip?" She stuttered, giving me a shocked expression. "This is too much."

What's actually too much and how perfect she could be. I mean, her voice was soft and soothing, the kind that could put a grown man to sleep like a little boy.

"Is it against the rules?" I asked, cocking a half-smirk at her.

"N-no... but..."

I got up.

"It's well deserved; I had a delicious meal and excellent service. Frankly, I think it should be more."

"Oh no! This is quite enough." She protested, smiling again. "Thank you."

As much as I wanted to just stand there and watch her smile, I knew I had a life to return to. A life someone so beautiful and innocent didn't belong in.

"No, thank you." I said and left before I could change my mind.