Cupid (DNF + Karlnap)

Chapter 31: Virgin Vodka

George POV.

Both of us were handed a menu by the waitress, a woman who had sagging skin and greasy hair. “Call me over when you’ve finished making up your mind.” She reeked of cigarettes and alcohol, giving a slight smug smile which showed off her yellowed teeth. Then she hobbled over to the bar and slumped down at a chair.

I managed to give Karl a smile as he sat opposite me, something that he mirrored however at the same time he was clearly uncertain. “This place is… interesting.” He hummed. “Do you come here often?” I noticed the way that his hands rubbed against the menu, which was greasy similarly to the hair of the waitress and a lot of other places in the building.

“Not really.” I answered honestly. “Just was thinking that you were the kind of guy who’d like fish and chips or shepherd's pie. Perhaps I should have done more research for the reviews.” Karl’s brows furrowed and he thought for a moment before smiling.
“It’s uh-fine.” He answered. “I honestly like grubby-er places like this.”

He was definitely uncertain. I wasn’t sure if I believed him but watched the way that his thin fingers ran along the menu and felt the shocking greasy feeling against his fingers. To be fair, seeing Karl do that put me a bit on edge, since it seemed out of character for him, yet I didn’t say anything about it.

I felt guilty, perhaps it was because I had invited him here and he didn’t like me. It was dumb what I had decided to do but I had trusted Techno’s insight of thinking that this place was acceptable to take such an astounding human on a date. Now I was sitting here silently, second guessing.

To avoid feeling awkward I attempted to focus on the menu, reading over everything four or five times to try and make up my mind, but I couldn’t think of anything. Eventually I set the food menu down and picked up the (somehow more greasy) drinks menu. “Are you wanting to order something to drink?” I asked.

The other brunette glanced up at me, still seeming uncertain and, or completely uncomfortable as he clutched the menu. “I’m not sure.” He responded. “What are you thinking of?” I passed over the menu and shrugged.

“Maybe an orange juice.” I hummed. “Or just a glass of water could… um… even be good.” I was still struggling, facing the consequences of choosing to come here.
“Maybe I could get some alcohol.” He responded. “Perhaps vodka.”

“Are you sure?” I wasn’t one to judge the alcohol consumption of an individual, yet by looking at him he didn’t seem to be one to drink much. The uncertainty was replaced with a look of determination and he gave a confident nod. I was passed back the menu and my brows furrowed once again as I continued to look over it.

Still though I couldn’t think, another idea crawled itself into my mind. “But Karl… you are going to be driving us home.” I pointed out. “You don’t want to be drunk driving, especially not somewhere like Florida.”
“You don’t drive. How would you know?” He added back bitterly.

That caught me off guard, the harshness that quickly pushed itself through in his tone, when the gentle kinder aura of the brunette was one of the things that had attracted me to him. “I’m sorry.” He quickly stated, “I didn’t mean to be- I will be fine to drive and… no I mean I’m not sorry.” The man opposite me continued jumping back and forth uncertainly.

“Are you two finished deciding what you want?” The cigarette lady appeared, her lips parted and showing off the crooked, yellow teeth in what seemed to be a half sneer. Karl seemed desperate to finish his uncertain rant and nodded happily.
“Could I get a-um vodka please?” He asked, hands clasping each other on the desk.

“What kind?” Her voice was gruff as he pulled out an old notebook with her wrinkled fingers. My eyes focused on the chipped and faded red nail polish that dug into the back of the paper.
“Um… virgin?” Karl awkwardly asked and the woman let out a wheezing laugh.
“Vodka doesn’t come virgin.” She pointed out.

“Then… I don’t really mind.” He had turned back to his sweet soft-voiced self. I wanted to reach across the table and just stroke his hand, get a chance to actually have a date with the man that I was crushing on. I didn’t, instead waiting patiently as the waitress noted something down with an audibly scratchy pen.

“And for you?” She puffed out an air of smoke, as though she was still holding a cigarette in her hand that she puffed on between breaths.
“I’ll get the same.” I spoke quietly, not daring to look up at her to avoid the risk of coughing at the second hand smoke.

“And for you to eat?” She continued, still tracing along the pad with the scratchy pen. “Our house special for tonight is the beef stew with some bread.”
“I guess I’ll have that.” Karl stated, gaze also drifting away from the woman.

Perhaps it was because he had no interest in what she was doing, or he didn’t want smoke in his face like I did. His hands continued to slide together, picking at his nails with a surprisingly interested gaze. I didn’t even realise the cold gaze of the woman turning towards me firm gaze as she impatiently asked what I was wanting.

It was as though she had a lot of customers at the moment she needed to be tending to, even though it was only us and one other pair of people in the corner of the restaurant. I still felt the tenseness of the air, this place was too low quality for myself and for Karl, but at least I wouldn’t have the world recognising me.

She wandered off, returning a few minutes later with two surprisingly large glasses of vodka. I noticed the awkward chuckle Karl let out when he saw the size of the glass, uncertainty grabbing it with both of his hands to take a sip. The moment the liquid slipped between his lips he coughed out.

“Are you okay?” I asked, finding myself staring at the amber liquid that trickled down his chin as he continued to cough.
“Mind your own business.” He scoffed, slowly lifting the glass up and attempting to drink again.
______________________________________
1120 words

What a romantic place for a first date. George is definitely winning Karl over, isn't he?
Techno is such a good matchmaker.