𝙄𝙍𝙄𝙎

Don Julio

"This is the place."

Dave opened the door for Iris as she stepped out the passenger seat of his car to a cafe she'd never been to. It was decently new, he'd informed her on the way there. Walking inside, Dave opening the door for her once again, Iris laughed.

"You don't have to do that." She smiled, looking over as he shut the door and caught up with her, walking up to the front next to her.

His eyebrows furrowed, "I wanted to." he shrugged, looking over at the man behind the counter behind a sign that read 'please wait to be seated'. 

Iris read over the sign, humming to herself, surprised that they had to be seated. It didn't seem like that type of place. The man behind the counter was bald, looked to be in his thirties or so, looking Dave and Iris up and down with a sour look on his face before finally speaking up.

The pair notice the look, giving each other a side glance before looking back at him, "Just two?" the man asked, continuing to look between them. They both nodded, Dave speaking this time, "Yeah. Can we get a booth?" he asked, watching the man's eyebrows furrow.

"All the booths are full." He responded dryly before reaching under the counter where he was standing and getting two menus, looking up with a scowl as Dave glanced over to where the seats were, his eyes landing on a worker cleaning a booth that two people had just walked away from. Dave furrowed his eyebrows, locking eyes with the man behind the counter again.

"Uh, actually, there's one over there." He clarified, clearing his throat and pointing at the one he'd just seen. The man leaned over the counter for a moment, taking a brief glance down the hall to see that Dave was in fact correct. 

He then looked back at the two people in front of him, Iris growing slightly nervous and Dave standing his ground, "Didn't see it." the man said before walking from behind the counter and wordlessly leading them to the booth. Iris and Dave shared a look as they followed, Iris mouthing the words 'What the fuck?', nodding to the man in front of them, watching as Dave shrugged, holding back a giggle at the absurdity. 

The man silently put their menus across from each other on the table, nodding for them to sit down before wordlessly walking away. Dave looked to make sure he was gone, he and Iris sitting down at the table before he finally spoke up.

"Dude, FUCK that guy." He laughed, Iris bursting into the laughter she'd been holding in, "Holy shit, man."

"He thinks we're fucking gangsters." She laughed, wiping the bit of dark mascara from under her eyes, thinking maybe that would help her look a bit more presentable, "Do I seriously look that bad?" she asked rhetorically. 

"Hell no, it obviously wasn't you, I look like a fucking punk." He said, looking up at her with a chuckle and tucking some hair behind his ears.

He couldn't fathom for a moment that the man would have treated Iris with anything but kindness, the beauty she was. Dave stared back at her like she was crazy after he spoke, Iris mentally questioning what his response could have been implying, her face a pink tint as her mind immediately went to the only implication possible. 

"You look good." She said back, pausing, raising her eyebrows for emphasis as Dave halted his movements, "He's literally just an asshole." she finished, leaning back in the booth and picking up her menu, turning her attention to the meals while Dave stared at her for a second longer, a lingering smile on his face before he did the same.

*

"It's clean."

Iris walked into Dave's bedroom, looking around to see that he had kept it today compared to the last time she was there. She heard a light chuckle from behind her, "Yeah, I've been working on that."