Accidentally Falling

Chapter 2 - Les

Chapter Two

Les

I sat at the bar in the pub Naveen was supposed to meet me at.

"Another?" The bartender asked me and I nodded, handing him the beer bottle. He took it and chucked it in to a recycling box, then handed me another one.

"Thanks," I told him and sipped from the long neck.

"Les," I looked up at the sound of my name and grinned when I saw Naveen.

"Hey,"

"Can we sit at a booth? I'm starving." Naveen lead me to a cushioned booth and we sat opposite each other. A waiter came over and took our orders; a water for Naveen, yam fries, and honey garlic chicken wings to share.

"Okay, what's going on? You're acting really weird," I poured my beer into one of the glasses on the table, setting the bottle near the end of the table. A waitress who was walking by picked up it on her way past.

"Nothing. No, everything's fine...I mean, you did almost see me naked, but other than that, we're cool." Naveen shrugged and took the water our waiter handed to him. He drank half of it in one go. He fidgeted.

"I thought we weren't bringing that up again," I smiled although my insides were churning. I wasn't attracted to Naveen, god no. We were lucky the towel hadn't dropped.

"Um, yeah, sorry," Naveen shook his head and laughed, but it sounded forced. "Look, check your profile. On that dating thing? Have you gotten any messages?"

"Yeah, actually. This girl, Fatima, sent me a message and we've been talking all day. We're going out for lunch tomorrow." I smiled, feeling excited.

"Les...that's great, I'm really happy for you." Naveen smiled and leaned back when the waiter set our food down. "I haven't gotten anything yet."

"I'm sure you'll have them biting soon," I picked up a chicken wing and ripped off a chunk of meat. "Oh, god. These are so good."

"Please keep your gross-sounding comments to yourself," Naveen teased, and I almost choked on the honey-flavoured chicken.

"Oh shush."

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"Lester?" I looked up and smiled. Fatima, from Make a Connection.

"Fatima. Hi," I stood up and hugged her, then pulled out her chair for her. She sat down and grinned. "I actually go by Les."

"Les. That's so modern." Fatima shifted in her chair and sipped from the water I'd ordered for her. Figured you couldn't go wrong with water. "It's so lovely to meet you. My friends kept warning me about freaks on these dating websites and all the bad things that could happen, but you're obviously looking for love, like me." Fatima leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table, putting her chin in her hands. She batted her eyelashes and I felt myself blush.

I chuckled. "Yeah, uh...my good friend Naveen is exactly like that. He was telling me all about how there were actually people who would make you into a skin suit, then I convinced him to make an account anyways."

Fatima laughed. It wasn't exactly a pretty laugh, like wind chimes or anything; it was more clunky and awkward.

When the waitress came, Fatima and I ordered – a salad for myself, and a lobster lunch meal for her. I couldn't help but bite my tongue when she said ordered and I spied it on the menu – thirty-five dollars.

"So...do you like animals?" Fatima batted her eyelashes again and I almost made a face.

"Um, yeah, sure. I mean...dogs are cool." I shrugged and took a long drink from my iced tea. Her face fell and she almost looked disgusted.