Table For Two

10 - Harvey

What is wrong with me?

Maybe the witching hours decision to have breakfast with a cute guy that I barely know had not been the best decision to make. Ali is... a weird mixed bag of things. He doesn't have a resting position. He goes from sarcastic and standoffish to warm and honest to jokey and nonchalant so quickly in the space of one conversation it's like getting whiplash from several directions all at once. When the buzzer for the food went off it was a shock... mainly because my body had just decided to stall any thought process other than "Ali is touching your elbow" followed by a lot of incoherent noise and static. I went to get the food just to give my brain a chance to stop unspooling itself like a video cassette disgorging the entire film reel inside the player.

I go to grab both plates as well as condiments but realise I can't carry everything at once so I make three trips - one with plates, second with bowls of hash browns and the final one to grab ketchup, salt and pepper and also get a refill of tea. Finally, I can sit back down and Ali just looks at me with pursed lips as if he finds something more funny than it really should be. I can feel myself frowning at him.

"What? What is it?"

Ali doesn't even say anything, he just gets up and goes to one of the stations by what I guess would count as the pass for food and grabs the one thing I had entirely forgotten existed. Cutlery. I cuss myself out a little bit for forgetting and smile sheepishly at Ali as he hands me the knife and fork.

"Figured we better be polite since we're in public right now. Even though I am convinced I could easily demolish this with my bare hands" he says with a ravenous look in his eyes. I blink at him as if not comprehending.

"There's baked beans..." I say uncertainly. Ali looks at me deadpan.

"With. My. Bare. Hands."

I just laugh at him as we dig in. It's nothing special but it's good. And they do the bacon crispy which apparently we both like. And Ali clearly wasn't kidding about his hash brown addiction. I had an extra one but he literally devoured the other five he had added to the order. He really either is addicted or he hasn't eaten for like two days. I finish a little after he does since I try not to give myself heartburn by speedrunning my breakfast. Plus, it is kind of hilarious to watch how Ali eats.

"Do you always eat like a half-starved madman? Or is this a special occasion?" I ask him as I drink my tea.

"Oh I'm just asserting my dominance on this situation by proving I'm the more uber masculine macho manly man here" he replies in the driest tone I've ever heard. I just laugh through my nose in an exhale and smile down into my tea. He's actually funny. But not in the clowning around or banter that actually sounds a lot more like a parade of red flags the way some of the people in the flat are like. He's acerbic and sarcastic and sassy and it's a real refreshing change of pace. And now we are back in the same pattern we established last night - drinks in front of us as we sit in a comfortable silence, occasionally looking up to smile at each other. I don't know how long we sit there before one of us talks. It's Ali.

"Look, I don't have anything else today so I usually just hang around and try to write while I wander around campus so... if you aren't busy then maybe we can go and do something?"

He says it in such an earnest way that it catches me off-guard. He seems... uncertain of himself. Maybe a little vulnerable. Maybe he just isn't used to asking people to hang out with him. At least not when he is doing things he would usually do alone. I roll the cup in my hands and think about my schedule. I don't have anything for the rest of the day either. I was thinking of heading into town anyway to go and get some stuff I need. And I honestly think I want to spend more time with Ali. I look back up at him and smile.

"Sure. You're driving."