The Stranger on the Train

Chapter 24: Fancy restaurant

TW: conversation about alcohol

Pov y/n

The waiter comes back and places glasses on the table before filling them up with water. Then he puts down two menu cards. Scarlett nods at him in thanks, also telling him we have everything for now and he leaves us alone again. Scar hands me a menu.

"Thank you." I say and she gives me a sweet smile.

I open the menu and look at what they serve.
When I look at the price, I gulp and feel the color draining from my face. That's a lot, probably more than I have loose right now.
Heaviness starts to weight on my chest and I flip through the pages to find something that isn't what feels like all my left over salary after I paid for rent and stuff.

But everything in here is expensive and the heaviness weights more and more on my chest.
I put the menu down and take a sip of water, trying to contain myself. Scar looks at me and her expression changes immediately into worry when she sees my face. She puts her menu down as well and holds out a hand for me.

"Hey, what's the matter? You look like you don't feel very well." She says, observing me.
I shake my head and take another sip before clearing my throat.

"It's just..." I feel my face heating up at the fact that I can't quite afford this and feel slightly embarrassed about it.

We never discussed money before and this definitely feels like the wrong moment but she needs to know that I can't pay for food here without spending all my left over money.

"I can't afford the food." I mumble and look down at my hand that's holding my glass, the water suddenly way more interesting than anything else.
A short moment of silence follow before Scar speaks up.

"Y/n, can you look at me?" She asks and I lift my head but avoid her eyes and bite my lip.

She softly places her hand beneath my chin, tilting my head a bit more until my eyes meet hers. I don't know what I expected but it wasn't her soft eyes that are filled with understanding.

"You don't have to be ashamed about that, y/n. You work so hard every day to earn the money you need and you are doing so well. It is no shame to not be rich, really. And I would never think less of you because of what you earn. Money says nothing about a person, I promise." She assures me and I see nothing but honesty in her eyes and gulp, the heaviness lifting a little bit but it's still present.

"Thank you, really, I appreciate it." I say, giving her a tiny smile and I really mean it, it just doesn't change the current situation.
"It's just, I can't pay for the food here, without using up all my spare money." I explain and bite my lip again, a nervous habit.

Scar's eyes shortly look down to my lip and she cups my face with the hand that was under my chin before. Her thumb gently pulls out my lip and she looks up into my eyes again.

"I may should have said it before and I'm sorry I made you worry. This is a date and I planned on paying for the both of us, so you don't have to spend any money tonight." She softly explains and my eyes widen at her words.

"Scar, I...that's a lot of money. I can't accept that." I stutter a little, feeling bad that she plans to spend so much money on me.
My eyes look down onto our intertwined hands and I bite my lip again. God, this makes me more nervous than it should.

"Y/n, please look at me." Scar says softly and I look up to her, this time directly into her eyes.
Once again she pulls my bottom lip from between my teeth before looking into my eyes.

"I want to spend that money on you. It was my own decision. No one forced me to. I just want to spoil you a little with this date because you were so great since we meet and you worked so hard the past few weeks that you deserve that." She says, never breaking eye contact.