...And I Am Going Home

Oliver 36

Heather had a raised eyebrow as Oliver came into the restaurant with Colene following behind him, the woman struggling to get through the narrow doorway with her oversized bag before forcibly pushing it through.

"Is this going to be a regular thing?" Heather uttered aside to Oliver as he sat down at the front bar, glancing over to Colene, who was checking her phone, oblivious to blocking the door to other customers trying to enter before eventually realising.

"She likes the food here," replied Oliver.

"Pretty sure she only liked it when Cody cooked for her. She never liked it when someone else made her food." Heather shrugged. "Still think it's weird that you two are now friends."

"Yeah, I get it." Oliver glanced behind to Colene, who was taking a selfie and giggling as she sent it to someone. "Never thought I would make friends with..." He considered his words carefully before deciding not to advertise his previous prejudiced assumptions about Colene before getting to know her better. "Would not have thought of her as someone I would have something in common with to build a friendship with."

Colene finally sat down beside him at the bar, attempting a friendly greeting to Heather, though she was clearly awkward, having frequented this place when she had been dating Heather's previous supervisor, Cody. However, Heather responded not with coldness nor spite for breaking Cody's heart or for Colene accidentally causing her brother James to beat up Cody in an alleyway. The whole situation appeared to have been swept under the rug.

Guy introduced himself as he took Colene and Oliver's orders, talking to Oliver about the television show that Oliver recommended to him last time they met, and Guy had accidentally binged watched on his last day off. When Guy had finished cooking their meals, he then had to go to the office to complete some boring admin whilst the restaurant was relatively quiet, Heather able to manage by herself.

"He was cute," Colene whispered with a mischievous grin, nudging Oliver playfully with her elbow.

Oliver blinked at her. "I think he's single if you were considering asking him out."

"No, he's sweet, but not for me," Colene paused, smirking. "I think he might be sweet for someone else instead."

"Ah, I see," said Oliver.

There was a pause.

"I meant I think he likes you, you idiot," said Colene.

There was another pause.

"Oh," was all Oliver could really say.

"What? Never considered it?" Colene shrugged. "Whenever I meet someone new I always go 'what if?'"

"Everyone you meet?"

"Yep, even you, hun. Imagined that we got married, and I was your beard so that your conservative and traditional parents never found out about your sexuality, but then they accidentally find out, and they're upset at first before eventually accepting who you are and its all heart-warming and we separate and find a new love." Colene paused. "It was quite obvious when we met that you were gay, so that was the only take on our relationship I could envision."

Oliver slowly nodded, though frowned as he thought he wasn't presenting as such a stereotype of his sexuality. Or was it just the vibes he was giving out?

"Anyway, Guy..." Colene moved their conversation back on track. "My instincts are very rarely wrong. Is Guy... not your type or anything?"

"Kara says I usually end up with bad boys or people the opposite of me and I try to fix them into civil members of society." Oliver paused. "I don't know if she was joking about that or not." Though Oliver remembered how his ex Arden was like when they first started dating and then his previous exes and there was definitely a pattern. Did Cody follow this pattern?

"I've only just met him, but I assume Guy isn't like any of them," said Colene. "Did it work out with any of these previous relationships? Well, I suppose you broke up, so I guess not." Colene's nose scrunched up. "Shit, sorry if that sounded..."

"No, you're right, they didn't work," said Oliver in his usual flat tone, though in truth he wasn't hurt by her words, more he was too busy dwelling on the past, wondering what was the real reason why none of them ever worked. Was it because of him and his annoying tendencies or was it because he was picking the wrong people? Or perhaps it was both. A relationship, after all, involved at least two people and both of them had to put in the effort and make compromises to make it work.

"So, you think I should try dating someone not like that?" Oliver asked. "Break the pattern?"

"It's a suggestion that you could ignore. And it doesn't have to be Guy. Only go for it if you think you'd want to. Just a simple and casual coffee date to test the waters couldn't hurt." Colene shrugged. "And if you don't get sparks, then its casual enough that it won't be awkward enough to remain friends."

Oliver nodded, contemplating it as he stared down at his food, noticing the extra presentation and detail Guy had done compared to the other customers, giving Oliver a cheeky extra large portion.

Eventually, Guy returned from the office. Seeing Oliver and Colene's empty plates, he headed over with a warm smile. "All finished? How was your food?"

"Do you want go on a coffee date with me?" Oliver asked bluntly.

Colene almost choked on her drink.

Heather paused in serving a customer, having overheard, clearly startled.

Guy blinked, staring at Oliver, before his smile returned, though it appeared gentler, not his usual customer service smile he donned. "Yeah, alright. I'm down."

"Great, we can organise the finer details over text once your shift is over," said Oliver, before taking the last sip of his mint coffee.

"Sounds like a plan." Guy grinned, then cleared their plates and empty mugs.

Oliver turned to Colene, confused at seeing the expression on her face. "What?"

"I can't believe you did that!" she hissed.

"But you said-"

"You didn't even fucking hesitate or wait another day or anything! You're not normal!"

"Why would I wait a day?" Oliver paused, then realised. "Oh, should I have waited until he was off work, when I wouldn't inconvenience him?"

"I meant, it takes a great deal of courage and hesitation to ask someone out." Colene shook her head. "Takes me almost an hour of hesitation to organise hanging out with my friends."

"Really?" Oliver blinked, surprised since he thought that Colene was quite extroverted and so socialising surely would be easy and second nature.

"Well, rejection can hurt even in the platonic sense." Colene checked her face in her compact mirror for any food crumbs before grabbing her coat. "Anyway, let's go catch our bus."