Beneath a Moon'full' Sky

Chapter Three

Ramin's POV

I shift uncomfortably in my seat. Tam pauses a second, staring intently at Sierra, then swiftly walks away.

"Well that was..."

"Odd," Sierra completes my sentence.

I nod, pursing my lips and slightly raising my eyebrows.

"Anyways..," Sierra rambles, trying to break the awkward silence.

"How's the wine?" I ask, scolding myself for asking such a stupid question.

"Good,' Sierra replies laconically.

Both our minds drift off, Sierra staring past me, I myself watching the passer-by's on the sidewalks below.

"So how's Phantom going?" I ask, happy I finally thought of a valid question to ask.

Sierra continues to stare past me, oblivious that I asked her a question.

"Earth to Sierra!" I say, waving my hand in front of her face.

"Oh! Sorry!" she says, quickly looking at me. "Did you ask me something?"

I chuckle. "Yeah, how's Phantom going?" I repeat.

"It's going well! The cast is really fun to work with," Sierra answers.

"How is it performing with Norm again?"

"Oh it's wonderful! He's really nice; he's like a big brother to me." Sierra says, smiling.

"Did you have to do a lot of rehearsing?"

"No, not really. Mostly staging since I know the songs already."

Suddenly Tam comes up to our table, placing our food in front of us.

"Wow! That came fast!" Sierra exclaims.

"This looks really good, Tam," I say, staring at my sizzling barbeque.

"Bon Apetite!" Tam says.

"Thank you!" Sierra and I reply in unison,

Tam clasps his hands together and nods, leaving us to enjoy our food.

"This is really good!" Sierra comments, her mouth full with the first bite of her salad.

I nod, cheeks bulging with delicious pulled pork.

After that we are relatively silent as we gobble down our delicious food. I finish before Sierra, even though I had more food. I push my plate aside, almost knocking her wine over.

"Sometimes I wonder how you get through life," Sierra declares teasingly.

"Me too," I respond with a grin.

After a few minutes Sierra finishes off her salad, to the very last leaf.

"I guess you liked it," I say sarcastically.

Before SIerra can reply, Tam comes over.

"How was the food?" he asks, to which we reply with praise.

"Woud you like to take a look at the dessert menu?"

Sierrra and I look at each other and through facial expressions decide we both don't want dessert.

"No thanks," I reply.

"Ok! Well I'll just set this here for whenever you are rady. No rush; take your time." Tam says, placing the check in the middle of the table.

Sierra and I both instantly reach for the check. Sierra gives me a death glare, which I give right back.

"I'm. Paying," I say emphatically.

Sierra doesn't budge. We both grab the check and start tugging at it. Being me, I lose my grip and accidentally swing my hand into Sierra's wine glass, knocking it down. Thankfully she drank all the wine.

"No!" I practically yell as Sierra slips in her credit card and swiftly hands it to...

Oh no. Tam has been watching?

I start blushing. Have you ever seen an Iranian blush? It doesn't help that Tam is looking at me with the most idiotic smirk.

"Stop it," I say to Tam, a bit too gruffly.

Tam just shrugs his shoulders and walks away.

Meanwhile, Sierra is staring at me with a triumphant grin. Tam soon comes back and hands her the check, into which she quickly slips in the tip.

"You couldn't let me pay that either?" I ask with exasperation.

Sierra just rolls her eyes.

"Let's get out of here," she says, pulling me from my seat and leading me downstairs.

"Bye Tam!" she exclaims while pulling me out the door.

"Bye Sierra! It was nice to meet you, Ramin!" he yells to us.

"Nice to meet you too!" I yell back.

"Ah!" Sierra and I exclaim as we bump into the infamous Freddy.

"Oh sorry..uh..bye." Sierra mumbles hurriedly.

"See ya!" I say as coolly as possible while I drag Siera away.

"Bye Sierra!" Freddy calls out, startling us both.

How does he know her name? Well he could have easily overheard Tam and her's happy reunion. Don't worry about it, Ramin. He's just one of those creepy people who do no harm other than make people uncomfortable. But Tam gave us, well moreso Sierra, a warning. What does he know?