In This Life ○ Paul Lahote

Five

I double check all my stuff and take a deep breath, muttering an okay to myself. I grab the car keys, already informing Rachel why she won't have a vehicle.
"Have fun." Mr. Black smiles at me, the same knowing smile Paul gave me last night.
"Thanks." I smile before leaving the house and jogging over to the truck. I unlock the door and pull it open. I throw the bag into the seat before jumping into the driver's seat and slamming the door behind me. I take another deep breath before starting the engine and backing out, making my way to the school. I park in one of the empty spaces just as the ball goes off and I leave the heat running since it's a bit chilly and jump out of the truck, leaning against the grill of my truck. I fold one leg over the other and cross my arms, wiggling my foot and biting my lip as I look at every face leaving the school.
My phone goes off, startling me as I reach in my pocket and sigh as I see Rick's contact photo pop up, the two of us kissing. I answer and hold the phone to my ear.
"You didn't call last night." I state the obvious, still looking for Paul.
"I know, that's why I'm calling this morning. Me and the boys hit a club last night, didn't get back to the motel till 4."
"You know I wake up early." I reply.
"Yeah but no one else does." He chuckles and I bite my tongue. That's Rick's flaw. He can't apologize, and he's not the jealous type. He thinks once your his, that's it. He doesn't need to worry about anything. He can stop trying to flirt. I don't like that about him.
"Ready to go?" Paul asks and I smile at him and nod my head to the truck and I hop in the driver's seat and unlock the doors.
"You still could've left a message or something. I was worried." I breathe out, mouthing a "sorry" to Paul who also buckles up and waves me off with a small smile. I pull out of the parking lot and Rick continues.
"Babe, I'm fine, you're fine. It's Spring Break, loosen up." He chuckles like its no big deal. That's what my nightmare was about. Him getting in a car crash.
"Whatever. I'll talk to you later." I sigh in annoyance. Not everything is a joke.
"I'll call you tonight, I promise." He tells me.
"I've heard that one before." I reply before hanging up and heaving another sigh.
"Sorry again about that Paul, you don't need to hear stupid spouts." I chuckle and he smiles in a tense fashion but I'm not sure because I have to keep my eyes on the road.
"Boyfriend?" He asks and I nod with a small smile.
"Coming up on four years." I sigh out with a chuckle. "Kinda hard to believe." I nod.
"Four years." He mumbles, I can hear the displeasure in his tone, almost anger.
"And you? You have a girlfriend? Boyfriend? Both?" I tease, trying to lighten the mood.
"Do you two fight often?" He asks, ignoring my question as I pull into the tiny diner and kill the engine, looking over to him with a sigh.
"No. We don't." I reply and his eyes narrow.
"There was a study done on couples and the conclusion was couples that have fights or spats last longer than couples that never fight." I inform him.
"Is that the psychologist talking or the girl that doesn't want to go through a break up." He asks and finally looks up at me, making me smile a little more.
"You're good." I nod with a chuckle before jumping out of the truck. I lock the doors and Paul follows me into the diner, though I'm pretty sure he knows the place a lot better than myself.
"Hello. Table for two?" The waitress asks, looking over Paul like a piece of meet. I watch her rub her legs together and bite her lip. I raise an eyebrow and look to Paul who looks at the ground, making me snort.
"Hey Paul." She winks and he kinda gives her a nod, making my smile widen even more.
"Right this way." She says and I follow after her since Paul looked like he didn't want to be within a ten foot distance. She sits us at a booth in the corner, most likely to flirt with Paul without getting yelled at by her manager. She turns to Paul and before she could start talking to him, I interrupt.
"Do have milkshakes?" I ask with a smile and look up at her. She slowly turns to me and gives me the narrowed "wtf" eyes with a terse smile.
"Yes." She nods and goes to talk to Paul again but I monopolize her attention again.
"Cool, do you have chocolate milkshakes?" I ask and she quickly scribbles it down on her notepad, opening her mouth to ask Paul what he wants but I foil her plans once again.
"What about you Paul? Do you like milkshakes?" I ask and he tries hiding the smile but I look at him as if I don't know what I'm doing.
"Yeah, I'll have the strawberry milkshake." He nods and covers his mouth with his hand, propping his elbow up on the table and raising an eyebrow at me, partially hiding behind the menu.
"What're your specials?" I ask her, making eye contact and forcing her to talk to me and not Paul.
"We have garlic soup on page three and Belgium waffles on five." She spits quickly, apparently fed up with my interference.
"Hmmm. How long have you been a waitress?" I ask her and she huffs out a sigh. "About four months, you gonna order something lady?" She asks as if I'm an old woman. Two can play at that game.
"Mmmm that must be why then. And you're, what, fifteen? Sixteen?" I ask her and her face turns red, causing Paul to snort but burry himself in the menu once more.
"No. I'm eighteen." She grits out and I laugh a little.
"Oh I'm sorry, you just look really young." I nod and smile up at her.
"I'll have the chicken parmesan, the breadsticks, and the deluxe American burger with waffle fries." Paul tells her and she rushes to write it all down. She goes to talk to him but I cut her off.
"You're not gonna ask me what I want?" I ask and she turns back to me.
"What would you like." She says in a terse voice.
"Oh nothing just the shake please." I nod, handing her the menu. She snatched it and storms off, making me grin and Paul laughs so hard no sound comes out.
"Oh that was bad." He laughs and wipes his eyes of tears, making me chuckle as a man comes back with our milkshakes. Guess she's not serving us anymore. I watch as Paul takes a sip of his strawberry milkshake.
"So how many times have you had sex with her?" I ask, putting my elbow on the table and resting my chin on my hands. He snorts, creating a bubble in the milkshake and some of it sloshes onto the table, making me chuckle and sip on my own milkshake, handing him a napkin.
"W-What?" He asks and clears his throat.
"She was remembering your touch when she rubbed her legs together and bit her lip." I tell him and tilt my head to the side, making his face heat up. I grin a little more, sipping at my milkshake as he looks at me hesitantly. As if he's waiting for me to get mad.
"So, wanna start?" I ask and he nods. I take out my note book and pen, setting my milkshake off to the side.
"So I'll be taking notes throughout this project, simple stuff like name, age, what we talk about, my thoughts on the subject, what I notice, etcetera." I tell him, flipping to a new page and clicking my pen, writing the date up top.
I look to him and throw him a goofy face, making him smile at me.
"So Paul, what's your name?" I ask with a smile.
"Wait, is it okay if I ask questions too? It's weird to get interrogated over milkshakes." He replies and I chuckle and nod, letting him know that that's fine.
"Okay, well my full name is Paul Lahote." He says and I write it down, double checking to see if I spelled it correctly or not.
"No middle name?" I ask and he shakes his head no as his food arrives, the new waiter mistaking one of the dishes as mine. I watch with a grin as Paul positions all three platters around himself and looks them all over before he begins to eat.
"What's your full name?" He asks me, watching me as he chews.
"Jenna Niccolò Savant." I tell him.
"Niccolò?" He asks with a small smile and I nod, sipping my milkshake.
"As in Niccolò Machiavelli." I chuckle and his smile widens.
"Could I call you Nico?" He asks and I stare at him for a while. No ones ever done that before.
"Sure." I reply without realization, figuring it's too late to turn back now, I push forward with my questions.
"How old are you?" I ask him.
"I'm seventeen." He tells me and I hide my surprise. I mean, I knew he was in school so he couldn't be much older but jeez. Seven year difference? And he was so cute.
"I'm twenty-four, same as Rachel." I tell him and he nods, eating more food.
"What word you like to talk about first Paul? School, family, friends..." I trail off and he thinks for a moment.
"Well." He breathes out, leaning back.
"I live with my dad, and step mom Carol. I have a little step sister too." He tells me and I write it down.
"My mom split. She's in LA with her new family now." He says and starts eating. I look him over and not his body language down.
"You resent her." I state and he looks up to me again before nodding slowly.
"I guess so, yeah." He nods.
"How old were you?" I ask, writing in chicken scratch.
"Ten." He responds. "And you? What about your family?" He asks and I nod a little.
"Mom and Dad are separated, same as you, I live with my mom though. She never remarried and my younger siblings live with my dad and his new wife who is twenty." I sigh out, his eyes widening a little, making me chuckle.
"Nice, huh?" I smile to him.
"What about school. You never told me about your girlfriend." I tell him, jotting more stuff about him down, most of his food already gone.
"I don't have a girlfriend." He says quickly.
"I mean, I fooled around a couple times but..." He mumbles, not meeting my eyes and pushing his food around.
"Stress?" I guess and and he looks to me with guilty eyes and my own soften.
"It's okay Paul... All of us have regrets." I nod to him.
"You? What's your regret?" Getting to know you. Letting my family fall apart. Watching her slip away from me. Not being able to tell her how I truly feel.
"It's pretty dark." I chuckle and his eyes look me over, studying me the way I studied him.
"Another time then?" He asks and I nod with a thankful smile.
"Another time." I nod.
By the end of it all, we didn't leave until closing time. And by then, I had gathered all the information I needed for the experiment in only a short few hours which I was supposed to collect over a week time period.
"So are we meeting up tomorrow?" I ask him, stopping in front of his unlit home. I check the clock and realize it's already 11:37.
"Yeah, I have something to do after school so is it okay if I call you?" He asks and I nod, sending him off with a smile and a wave.