Serendipity | A HutchPoppe Fanfic

Chapter Five

The place where Caleb took Maddie was a simple restaurant called Alexandra's Garden located just a few blocks away from the hotel. It was cute in a demure way. The signage was a simple, with a simple white background and letters that spelled out the restaurant's name in curling, black calligraphy. Despite its simple appearance, Maddie liked it.

"Is here good?" Caleb asked, looking at Maddie with doubt in his sky blue eyes. She smiled reassuringly.

"Of course." She said, and with that, she and Caleb entered the establishment. The exterior may had been simple, but the interior seemed to be the exact opposite. The interior design was flamboyantly elegant: fairy lights of different colors were strung across the room, making the white walls, which had vines painted on them, really colorful. Artificial vines hung from the ceiling, though it wasn't a inconvenience for the customers as it hung an inch or two above most people. Each table had a small blue-green glass bowl that was set off to the side and was filled with water and had a lotus floating on top of it, and even the tissue dispenser was decorated with small gold flowers. It looked absolutely magical, and Maddie was very willing to give a round of applause for the designer.

The two took a seat in a booth in corner, and almost immediately after they sat down, a waitress with a waterfall of straight black hair and silvery gray eyes came up to them and greeted them cheerfully, "Hello, hello and welcome to Alexandra's Garden! I'm Lily and I'm going to be your waitress tonight." She placed two menus on the table. "Here are your menus."

Maddie took one and started reading all the dishes, and told the waitress what she wanted. Caleb told the waitress his own order, and the waitress walked away, saying that she'd be back with their drinks.

Caleb's blue eyes caught Maddie's green ones, and at the same time, they spoke, "I'm paying."

The boy laughed. "No, no, let me pay."

Maddie grinned, not willing to back down. "No, I'm going to pay."

"This was my idea, so I'm paying."

"Oh no, I'm paying."

This escalated into a playful debate, complete with questions and rebuttals (in fact, they'd even called Catie to be the neutral judge. In the end, Catie just ended the call, saying that it was their problem). After ten minutes of tossing ideas, protests, and questions back and forth, Caleb eventually won, though he did promise Maddie that she could pay next time.

"Is this your way of telling me that you're taking me out again next time?" The girl grinned at the boy across her, a fair eyebrow raised.

He shrugged with a smile, his eyes alight with amusement. "Maybe."

"Wow, you're smooth." Maddie laughed, Caleb joining her.

It was at times like this that Maddie knew she definitely liked being around Caleb. He was absolutely amazing, and he never failed to bring a smile on her face.

"So," she started, changing the topic so her thoughts wouldn't wander, "how'd you find this place?"

Caleb looked around the building. "We passed by it when I was walking you back to your hotel."

Maddie nodded with pursed lips. "You've got a good eye for restaurants." She noted.

"Thanks." He smiled.

Lily returned with their drinks, lemonade for Maddie and Sprite for Caleb. With a 'thank you' from the both of them, the short waitress walked back to the other customers, ready to take their orders.

Even the presentation of the drinks are good, Maddie thought as she looked at her lemonade. The pale yellow drink was placed in a clear, glass mason jar that had a green vine-like motif on the front, complete with pink and red flowers that dotted the green. The straw was white and had red stripes running across it, and the jar had a lemon slice on the rim. It's absolutely pretty.