Metanoia

Chapter 20~Yellow

.Chapter 20.

Maddie's POV

"Destination número uno, Paul's Diner. Trust me, the food here is amazing," he declared.

"We had breakfast already though," I stated, confused.

"Second breakfasts are a thing Lynnie."

"At times like this I wonder how you stay in shape," I said, gesturing to all the visible muscles and his abs through his shirt.

He shrugged and with a smile playing on his lips, he adds, "Maybe the universe just loves me."

I burst out laughing and remarked, "Nice one." I made sure to say it like what he told me was a joke.

He rolled his eyes and pushed open the door. The bell rang and a waitress rushed over and brought us to our seats.

"Welcome to Paul's Diner. I am Hailee and I will be serving you today. What can I get for you?" the waitress asked politely, a broad grin stretched across her face.

"Could we have two deluxe set meals, orange juice for me and-

"Orange juice for me as well,"

"Is that all?"

We both nodded in confirmation and she retrieved our menus, my hand brushing past hers as she did so. She gave me a warm smile and a wink. Hold up, what?

After she walked to the back where the kitchen was, Carter commented, with a hint of amusement in his voice, "Looks like Hailee's interested in someone."

"Err, yeah..."

"You never had a girl hit on you before?" he asked, intrigued.

"I mean, maybe twice or thrice but never really this direct you know?"

"Let's take this opportunity to get to know each other better, or better-er, since we already know quite a lot about each other, alright?"

"Sure."

"So Lynn, what's your favourite number?"

"13. Survivor or The Fighter?"

He gave it a bit of thought and finally came up with an answer, "Hm... I guess The Fighter since it was the first instalment-" then he lowered his voice to a whisper, "-guess what. The third one is coming in a few months."

"What, really? What's it called?"

He leaned in and I felt his breath fan the side of my face. He whispered, "A secret."

I rolled my eyes and shoved him away and his hands went up to cover his mouth and he chortled.

You would think people in the diner would come and approach him because he's an actor and all but they all seem pretty chill and minding their own business.

Our set meals and juices came and we sat there, asking more questions about each other and catching up on the events that happened while he was away.

Then I suddenly came up with a question.

"Why did you come back?"

"From the US?"

I nodded.

"Well, several reasons actually. I didn't want to spend too long away from home, I wanted to continue my studies here and- this might sound cheesy but also for you."

"I- uh- wha- huh?"

"I couldn't wait to see you again. You know, I thought it was just some silly childhood crush or like a phase that everyone went through and slowly my feelings for you would fade but it never did."