Hey Bartender, Hit Me

Chapter 6

"Wow, Michael, when you said we should go out to dinner I was going to offer to pay, but these prices are..."

    Michael chuckled as Luke sat on the plush chair, looking at the cost with wide eyes.

    "Even if you did pay, it's still my money. You work for me."

    Luke shrugged. If he thought about it like that then he guessed it was true.

    "I still have some money saved from my last show. That actually paid relatively well." He played one of the Newsies in a community theater production, but he played it for a while before the show ended. That was a couple of years ago, but he hasn't needed much now that he's been with Michael who generally provided anything for him.

    "I doubt you got that much from that show, babe. Also, you've been living off of me for so long, you probably just forgot what money was what." Michael said without taking his eyes off the menu.

    Deciding not to read into those words too much, he brushed it off. Luke did rely on Michael for a lot. He was only pointing out a fact.

    "Thanks for taking me out, Michael. I feel like we haven't been out together in a while, able to just talk and be with each other."

    Michael smiled at him.

    "I know what we can do together later, eh?"

    Luke groaned.

    "No, not again. I'm not recovered from last time." He whispered.

    Michael only smirked.

    A waiter came over and took their order. Unable to ignore the nagging thought in his head that Michael thought he was a burden, he ordered one of the cheaper salads on the menu. Michael didn't say anything, so he must not have noticed.

    Michael pulled out his phone and started texting someone, so Luke took the chance to look around.    

    The place was rather elegant, with high ceilings and bright chandeliers. The tall windows provided an excellent view of the lake the restaurant was next to and allowed for moonlight to stream through. Candles sat on every table, with white, silk table cloths and more silverware than any man should know what to do with. I mean, why did there need to be five different forks? Who ate that many courses?

    "Michael?" Luke tried to bring his attention back to their date. "I want to talk to you."

    "One minute." He said sharply. Luke waited, staring at the gleaming silver fork. How did they keep them so shiny?

    Eventually, Michael put his phone down on the corner of the table and looked at him, but just as he opened his mouth, the waiter came back with the wine Michael had ordered. Luke hoped it wasn't one of those super dry whites Michael was fond of or the deep reds that you could actually taste the fermentation in. Luke preferred something sweet, a rose, or something pink that was basically glorified juice. Judging by what kind of glass they were brought, Luke was not in luck.

    The waiter told them what kind of wine it was, but when it was poured and Luke saw the gold beverage spill into the cup, he knew he wouldn't like it much. At least the white would go better with his salad than a red would.

    "Cheers," Luke held his glass up and looked at Michael who was already sipping his drink.

    "Whoops." He shrugged and removed it from his lips before clinking it against Luke's.

    "Oh, Michael, I haven't gotten the chance to tell you," Luke reached across the table to grab Michael's hand before he could go back to his phone, "I made new friends at my audition the other day. They want to hang out with me sometime this week, so I was thinking on Wednesday I could invite them to the bar and we'd maybe get something to eat quick and when your friends showed up, we'd go to the apartment and hang out." He blurted out before Michael was able to stop him or they were interrupted again. It seemed that was happening too frequently.