i.ii
"There's a new Japanese restaurant near here. The place looks good, should we go there? Or is there a place that you want to go to?" I asked as we get out of the hospital. She just shook her head and didn't say a word afterward. It was kinda awkward but I can't think of anything to say, I'm not good at starting conversations, especially if I barely know the person.
She was walking ahead of me, and it has already been fifteen minutes of walking silently when she suddenly stopped and looked back at me.
"Where's the restaurant?" she asked and I blinked. I nearly laughed because I thought that she already knew where it is, but that would be rude. So I just kept it in me. I cleared my throat and led the way.
Upon arriving at the restaurant, the staff immediately guide us to our seats and we ordered food. Loud silence enshrouded us again while we wait.
"Am I making you uncomfortable?" I blurted out. I couldn't take it anymore.
She stared at me. There was an air of hesitance as she struggled to speak.
"Why? Do you want to eat alone? I can ask the waiter to—."
"No!" Her flag of defeat was raised at a split second. It was merely my imagination, but I witnessed her barrier of hesitation crumble bit by bit. I bit the inside of my cheek, stifling a crude smile.
"It's just that..." she continued. I noticed her fumbling with her fingers, saw how her attention was fixated on it despite her next words projected towards me, "I wanted to apologize for uh... earlier. You know, the sudden physical examination...?" Finally, our gazes met. Imo's eyes resembled the color of earth. Ground. 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦.
I laughed softly because of what she said.
"You don't have to apologize for that. You were just doing your job, that's all." I rested my back comfortably on my seat, just as the waiter provided us a glass of iced water and a bowl of crisps. In a dire attempt to look confident, I swang my shoulder to the back of the chair, then swirled my finger around the rim of my glass. "My brother should be the one to apologize for his tricks." My gaze headed upwards and I saw her cheeks flush.
𝘐𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘺? I asked myself. My brother has to stop pulling tricks like these in the future.
"Thanks," the sides of her lips curled upwards, and seeing a remnant of blood suffusing her cheeks, I appreciated her beauty all the more.
𝘞𝘰𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, is what I thought.
We chatted about all things under the sun. As expected, she knows a lot, making our exchange fruitful. I noticed that she was becoming more comfortable with my company. When our topic swerved towards my forte, her eyes seemed to glisten brighter.
A few minutes passed and the food that we ordered finally arrived. Compared to our conversation, I could see her twinkling eyes reach their peak as she munched. She loves eating, there's no doubt about that.
"Is it good?" I asked. She nodded with a smile plastered on her lips. I chuckled and decided not to talk to her so that she could enjoy her food.
"Thank you for the food, Ruther." I turned to her and grinned in response. We went back at the hospital and with her was a paper bag containing a to-go food of her choice I insistedly bought. I heard from Claus that he might be staying here overnight, so it is also possible that Imo might be staying too. That's why I ordered separate food for her to grab when she got hungry.
