Incognito Billionaire

Chapter 3

 Attached is a picture of Stefanie Scott aka Ari Langolas! 

Feel free to comment any criticism or compliments, as lng as they're kind <3

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          “Are y’all ready to order yet?” Ari asked when she returned to our table with our drinks.

            “Yeah I’ll have the chicken fried steak please, heavy on the gravy,” Logan told her. He turned to me when he saw my distaste and said, “welcome to Texas!” He went on to explain to Ari, “see, my friend here hates gravy. Is he un-American or what?”

            “Actually, I hate gravy as well,” she replied. “And I was born and raised in Texas.”

            “Well that’s a shame, you don’t know what you’re missing! What are you getting Michael?” he asked and turned to me. I didn’t realize I was gazing at Ari until she met my gaze. I covered it up by ordering immediately so she would think I was just waiting for my order to be taken.

            “I’ll have the quarter-pound hamburger, without mustard or pickles”

         “Without pickles? How could you order something without pickles?” she joked. “Pickles are basically on my food pyramid. It goes grains, meats, dairy, and pickles,” she said while gesturing a pyramid shape with her hands.

            I chuckled and replied, “My mistake, pickles on the side,” and flashed her a smile. Much to my enjoyment, she smiled back.

            “Glad I’ve converted you! Okay, so that’s one chicken fried steak, extra gravy,” emphasizing ‘extra gravy’ when she said it to make Logan happy. “And one quarter-pound hamburger, no mustard and pickles to the side,” she said while looking at me. “Anything else?”

            “Nah, that’s good for now,” Logan replied, and with a smile Ari left. When she was out of earshot I heard Logan say, “Checking out the locals, eh? So Texas has more to offer than cowboys and country music?” he asked while laughing. I felt my face slump in distaste. Was I being that obvious with my fascination?

            I tried to play it off by saying “Eh, she’s alright,” but I could tell Logan wasn’t convinced. He dropped the subject anyway, which was very unlike him. I was getting a little suspicious but then I wrote it off. Instead of questioning it, I decided to be thankful that today was the day Logan chose not to pry.

            After a 15-minute wait, some light conversation between Logan and I, and 2 refills, our food finally came. The hamburger I got was really good, and the fries that came with it had an amazing seasoning on it. I didn’t want to give Logan this satisfaction, but it was one of the best meals I’ve had! Logan seemed to be enjoying his meal as well. His chicken fried steak was so large his mashed potatoes had to be put on a separate plate because there was no room for them on his big plate. His steak had a lot gravy on it, but as if that wasn’t enough, he has a little bowl of gravy on the side as well.

            When we were about halfway through our meal, Ari came to check on us.

            “Everything taste good here?” she asked.

            “Oh, best chicken fried steak I’ve ever had! And just the right amount of gravy,” Logan complimented as he poured more of his extra gravy on his steak and potatoes.

            I laughed and turned to Ari. “Yes, very good. Compliments to the chef!” She smiled and looked like she was about to return to work, but I found that I didn’t want her to leave. “I have a surprise for you,” I told her.

            She looked really surprised by that, but quickly recovered her shock with a smile. “Oh?” she asked.

            I smiled back at her and gave her the small, plastic cup that contained my ‘pickles to the side’. I hated pickles but when she told me how much she liked them I felt like I couldn’t let her know we had any differences, even if it was something as minimal as our taste buds.

            She laughed and said “Well how kind of you,” as she popped a slice of pickle in her mouth.

            “Do you get a break?” I heard Logan ask her. I loved and hated my best friend at that moment, because as much as I wanted her to stay, I realized he hadn’t let it go earlier and was going to choose now to pry.

            She looked around at the almost-empty restaurant and smiled. “I think I can spare a few minutes.” I quickly scooted over in the booth and made room for her to sit. She sat down next to me and popped another pickle in her mouth. I could feel her heat, it felt like electricity between us. I was so aware of how close we were and every time our arms barely brushed against each other it was like a million volts of electricity tingling up my arm. It was enough to wake up someone in a coma.

            “So Ari, hi. I’m Logan Duntz, and this is my best friend Michael C…”

            I quickly cut him off before he could say my last name. “Cavazos. Michael Cavazos,” I smiled and extended my hand in the almost non-existent space in-between us. She took it and out of the corner of my eye I saw Logan look confused for a second, but he recovered quickly.

            “So Ari,” Logan said, bringing her attention back to him. When she broke our handshake it was as if my body had lost a major energy source, and now it was begging me to find an excuse to touch her again. “Do you have any plans for tonight? Michael and I were going to head to the fair for a bit.”

            Just hearing the news for the first time myself, I found myself wondering if Logan had these plans ahead of time or was just making them up now so he would have something to invite Ari to. While I was looking at Logan, trying to read him and his intentions, I saw Ari look up at me from the corner of my eye. Her expression was a genuine smile but faltered a little when she looked at me.

            “Oh, I don’t know, I have some things to do,” she replied and I felt my heart drop.

            “Ah come on! It would be much more fun if you were there,” Logan prompted.

            “Yes, it certainly would,” I agreed, smiling at her. She smiled back at me and had a faint hint of red on her cheeks. It complimented her skin and blonde hair very well. Finally, she agreed.

            “Well alright then. Sounds like fun! I get off at 9:30, do y’all want to meet there or here?” she asked.

            “We can pick you up here,” I replied with a smile. I was definitely going to make sure I got to spend as much time as possible with her.