Talk To Me

Oliver

What the hell is she doing here? Did she know I'm who Elise was going out with? Is that why she agreed? Is that why she's wearing that damn dress? I don't want her and she needs to get that through her head. Ada and Penny are separate.

Just hours ago, we were arguing and now she's sitting diagonal from me looking over a menu as if nothing happened. "What are you getting?" Donovan leans forward to ask his sister.

"I haven't decided. Have you?" She turns to ask me, her hazel eyes looking over my face.

"I think I'm going to get the monkfish." I give her a sweet smile and she gasps.

"That sounds amazing, where is that?" She turns back to her menu, her dark hair whipping me in the shoulder. "Oh, my god. I'm sorry." She frowns, rubbing my shoulder.

"It's okay." I chuckle and point to the monkfish on the menu. "Right there."

"Awesome. Thank you." She whispers, giving me a small nudge with her elbow. "What about you, Ada? Have you figured it out?"

"Um." She hums, pushing her lips out to the side to think. "I'm thinking the roasted lamb saddle." She speaks quietly, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

I watch Donovan turn to her and shake his head. "You don't need that. Maybe try the fairytale eggplant."

I furrow my eyebrows and cock my head at him, feeling a tiny bit of anger bubble within my chest. Who is he to tell her what she can and can't eat? "What?" I scoff.

"She doesn't need that big of a meal." He chuckles, taking her menu from her.

Elise shoots her eyes up to stare between the two in front of us. Ada just stares at the table and nods but I shake my head. "Let her eat what she wants." I demand, leaning back in my chair.

"She doesn't need it." He persists, taking a sip out of his drink with a grin on his face.

I give him a disgusted look but Elise cuts in before I can. "Ada, order whatever you want. Don't let him control you."

She gives Elise a sweet smile. "No, it's okay." Her right hand comes up to rub her left bicep, the side Donovan's sitting on.

"That's what I thought." He says in a cocky voice. "She said she needs to lose weight so." He shrugs.

I feel blood rush to my cheeks as I grow angrier. What the fuck is he saying? The girl he's interested in needs to lose weight? Fucking prick.

"Donovan Alain Auclair!" Elise grows furious.

"It's okay." Ada assures her, reaching over to put a hand on Elise's. "I guess I did say that." She explains, not seeming so sure she did.

A few minutes after the food was ordered, a group of Donovan's friends, who are also in my class, came up to the table. "Yoo." Calum was the first to call out to Donovan.

His long blonde hair was put up in a bun and he was dressed in a suit, as were the two others behind him. "Calum!" Donovan exclaims, standing up to do a handshake they have.

Ada shifts uncomfortably in her seat as Perin pushes through and looks at her with a confused look. "What's she doing here?"

"Oh, her? Elise invited her." Donovan gives them a cocky smile and I drop my glass onto the table, running my tongue along my teeth so I don't say anything.

The group of boys looks at the table and light up when they see me. "Mr. Levine!" They all call out. Perin's big eyes grow wider as he acknowledges me.

Marcus pats my back, his axe body spray burning my nostrils. I give them all a small nod and a half assed smile. "You wanna be seen with your students? I'd be ashamed of these two." He laughs, obviously joking around as he points at Donovan and Ada.

Donovan gives Ada a snarky look which almost sets me off but I sit back and let the boys go on their way. Ada places her napkin on the table and stands up. "Scuze me." She excuses herself and walks off in the direction of the bathroom.

Elise immediately stands up and slams her own napkin down in her brothers lap. "Good going, dickface." She spits.

I stand up and grab her arm. "I've got it. Straighten him out." I point at Donovan and go after Ada who had almost made it to the bathroom door. As I walk off, I can hear Elise ripping Donovan a new one which gets a laugh out of me.

I step in front of Ada and put my hand on the door so she can't open it. "What?" She asks, clearly upset as she doesn't meet my eyes.

"You just let him talk to you that way? And lie about why you're here?" I scoff, my face filled with shock.

"Why not?" She lets her hair fall over her face as her head drops.

My eyes go wide as I raise my eyebrows. "Why not? Ada, what the fuck?" I laugh out of anger. "What he just did was terrible."

"Yeah, I think I'll survive." She attempts to push through me and I stop her.

"You deserve better." I tell her which gets her to look up at me.

Her arched eyebrows furrow and her eyes show disgust. "I thought I was just your student, so why do you care all of a sudden?" She throws my words back in my face.

"I can care about my students and their well being. No man who actually cares for who they're seeing would say those types of things about them. He would never say he didn't invite you out." I defend my position, giving her a sympathetic look.

"He just wants what's best for me. He's right. I do need to lose weight. Move." Her voice is stern as she attempts to rip my hand off the door.

I put my body in front of the door and shake my head at her. "No, he doesn't. Unless you've actually mentioned it, he's shaming you right now."

Her heart shaped lips quiver as she looks at me, her green eyes glossy. "Leave me alone. You don't know anything about us."

Us? So they're a thing. Why's she try to come onto me last night then? "Quit it." I order. "Go back out there. Finish the night off then never see him again."

Her look softens a bit as her eyes dart between my eyes. "You don't get to tell me what to do with my relationships. I'm fine. We're fine." She argues, fully pushing me away.

I let out a sigh and walk back to the table, rubbing my forehead. Elise grabs her purse and looks at me. "Would you like to go somewhere else? My brother doesn't know what he did wrong."

I look at Donovan and see Ada walking back to the table behind him. "Hold on." I walk over to Ada and she throws her hands down at her sides.

"What now?" She asks angrily.

"Elise and I are leaving. Will you be okay with him?" I whisper.

She hesitantly nods. "I'm an adult. I can handle myself. Goodbye." She slips through the gap between me and another table before finding herself sitting across from Donovan.

I shake my head and throw a wad of cash in Elise's seat so they wouldn't have to pay for all four meals. "Poor Ada." Elise pouts as we walk out of the restaurant.

"She said she's an adult and can handle it. If not, she's got my number, and I assume yours." I say in the gentlest voice I can.