Rafael

Chapter 14 - Who Was Cutting Onions?

"Here's your order, two shrimp pasta and a bottle of wine."

"Thanks," I smiled politely as the waiter placed our food on the table.

The pasta smelled absolutely mouthwatering and I couldn't wait to dig in, in a ladylike fashion, of course.

I put a forkful of the food into my mouth and I almost screamed in frustration.

"Do you like it?" Gareth asked from across the table with a fork in his hand.

"It's kind of garlicky," I told him, trying to hide my grimace.

I didn't really like the taste of garlic.

Actually, I hated it.

"I know, it tastes so great!"

Well.

The pasta was slightly undercooked and you could barely taste the cheese because of all the garlic.

I begrudgingly tasted one of the shrimp in hopes that it would taste okay because I loved shrimp.

It was pretty difficult to ruin shrimp so I wasn't too worried about sampling one.

As I suspected, the shrimp was delicious so I just focused on eating those before having a few more bites of the pasta.

"Could you pour some red wine into my glass please?" I asked Gareth, who was almost halfway done with his food.

I hated pouring wine myself because I was always fearful that I would spill some and make a big mess that could've been easily avoided if I had just asked for help.

"Sure," he replied then proceeded to pour some of the red wine into both of our glasses.

I tentatively put the rim of the glass to my lips so I could sample the Goldeneye.

As expected, it was nothing to write home about but it was the only wine they had so we had to settle.

After we had finished our meal, Gareth, being the gentleman he is, paid for everything even though I had offered to pay for my half.

I only offered out of generosity because I didn't exactly enjoy my meal even though this was one of Gareth's favorite places to eat, if not his favorite.

I, however, did not see the hype around Ginevra's.

To each his own I guess.

After he had settled the bill, he led me to his car, his hand on the small of my back.

It felt like it didn't belong there.

It's funny how I would have done anything for this to happen before he left for Ghana but now that he was back, I wasn't as excited about the idea of us.

Together.

As a couple.

What changed?

I studied his face, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" He asked and I quickly averted my eyes.

"No reason," I mumbled, opening the door to his car.

"Whatever you say, Mia," he chuckled, getting into the driver's seat and starting the vehicle.

I could tell that he wasn't buying any of my bullshit.

As we were on our way to my apartment, I got a text from Mel.

Mel - 'Just checking in. You alright?'

I texted her a quick 'yes' and then put my phone away before I got the urge to check my social media.

"So, did you manage to get everything sorted out in Ghana?" I asked.