A disastrous date after all…

Andrew grinned for the first time tonight, and though the red hue was missing from the color of his hair and his eyes, the man looked so wicked that Summer was reminded once again why she mentally called him a devil.

"…So you're curious about what a self-fulfilling prophecy is?"

She gave him a rigid nod.

His grin got wider, "The name is pretty much self-explanatory, don't you think?"

Summer pouted, her word filter begging her to shut down, "Aha, I see... let's talk about something else then. How about you tell me what we're doing here when you said it yourself... you're not into relationships to start with, and you obviously don't like me...I honestly have no idea what's pleasurable about this whole date to you…"

He looked and sounded as if he didn't hear anything at all. "A self-fulfilling prophecy starts with a prediction about a certain fate, and to avoid meeting that fate, one takes the wrong course of action that eventually leads to guaranteeing the prediction instead of escaping it..." he paused, gauging her reaction.

Summer's lips parted; she was about to ask how the concept applied to her case in his opinion when the waiter made his way to their table again pushing a food cart on wheels ahead of him.

'That can't all be ours,' Summer's eyes got a fraction wider as she tried to identify some of the dishes she couldn't name, they were mostly seafood, her least favorite by all means.

"Sir, I noticed that you haven't placed an order for a drink, would you like to taste something before you order?" The waiter asked looking a bit smug about it.

Summer suppressed a sigh, once Andrew finds out that she doesn't drink, he was just bound to make fun of her some more.

Andrew threw a less-than-friendly glare the waiter's way, "We won't be drinking, as I have said already, stick to what I've ordered during the reservation,"

'This can't be for my sake,' Summer thought, 'We're not close enough for him to know that about me anyway,'

But something else bothered her. She was the one paying for all of the food. She could understand that he ordered when making the reservation – that was supposedly made by Carol – as Summer was clueless as to what he liked or what the place has to offer. But the least he could do was allow her to decide what she wanted to drink next to her food.

"I'd like some soda with lemon, please,"

Both men looked at her, both of them frowning.

Summer felt heat spreading in her cheeks and her neck, but other than that, her features remained unchanged, "Don't you have that?" She asked the waiter with a flat tone.

"O-of course ma'am, coming right up," he smiled as he started setting the table for them with all the dishes that Andrew pre-ordered.

Andrew fixed his eyes on her, he only began speaking once the waiter left, "The dishes I ordered don't go well with the drink you asked for,"

Summer's patience was wearing thin.

"…Are you one of those people who only see what they can criticize?" Her father was like that, it drove her mother insane.

Andrew's eyes danced between hers, "I see everything,"

She took a deep breath and held it in for as long as she could while she continued to stare at him, "Of course you do. You're perfect," she breathed the words out as sweetly as she could expecting him to at least be bothered enough to deny her cynical statement.

He picked up the napkin that was folded neatly on the plate with his right hand and placed it on his lap, "…There are those who can get very close to being perfect,"

She was about to seriously argue about how ridiculous that sounded, but a strange heat in his eyes stopped her in her tracks.

"Yes, close to perfect. Much like you," he said.

Summer froze.

His cold tone could not be dismissed as mockery. And never in her life had she been more generously complimented. That aside, coming from Andrew, these words of praise were like no other.

"I asked for little portions of many things, they're bite-sized," he said, changing the subject on one hand, and challenging her into eating on the other.

She welcomed the change of topic, but the food was a bit too much. "I'm not a big fan of seafood," she confessed.

"That's just because you haven't tried these yet," he said confidently.

Summer laughed, "You're so… down to the point,"

"Is it a bad thing," He asked, but it didn't sound like a question.

"Not at all, it's very refreshing, you and Carol are much alike this way, I guess,"

Judging by his face, it wasn't the first time he was hearing of the comparison, "She's like a sister to me,"

She smiled, "That's nice,"

A nameless emotion flashed behind his eyes, "Why exactly,"

"Excuse me?"

"Why is it nice," he held his knife and fork, "Please start, I won't until you do and I'm quite hungry,"

Summer picked up the knife and fork with very little appetite, her eyes were on the salad, the safest thing out there.

Andrew's fork poked at something that sounded and looked almost raw and then he dipped it in some sort of sauce. She looked with blank eyes at her date when he held his fork close to her mouth.

"…"

"…"

He sighed, "I haven't even touched the fork yet, open your mouth,"

She didn't.

"…If you taste this, I will answer anything you ask tonight,"

"Ahhh," she opened wide and shut her eyes when the food was inside. She gulped it down.

Andrew frowned, "Did you just…swallow?"

'Busted,' she thought, "I might have chewed a little," she lied with a twitch in her eye.

His fork was next to her mouth the next second.

"…"

"…"

She was the one to sigh this time, "I think you're out of things to bribe me with,"

"The other one doesn't count,"

"How come?" She said stubbornly.

"I asked you to taste, and you clearly didn't taste, you only swallowed,"

Summer blinked twice, she wanted to argue but she really couldn't. He was one hundred percent right, she tasted nothing at all.

"That was the point of swallowing," she murmured to herself then closed her eyes, "Ahhh…"

"…"

Summer opened one eye to check why the bite wasn't in her mouth just yet.

Andrew's eyes were on her lips.

She held his hand that held the fork awkwardly and brought it a bit closer then took the bite and released his hand. She made sure to chew this time, she was just about to decide what flavor her brain was registering when she swallowed all of it once more.

She couldn't help it; Andrew had placed the empty fork in his mouth.

*Cough!*

*Cough!*

*Cough!*

"Breathe through your nose," he instructed.

*Cough!*

*Cough!*

The waiter had just made it to their table with her water, Summer breathed through her nose just like her date suggested she would and then took three small sips of the water.

"There's nothing but seafood on their menu tonight, how about we go to a different place,"

'And restart the torture from point zero?' Summer waved a hand rejecting the idea while she sipped some more on her water.

"Please, go ahead and enjoy the food," she almost begged with a strangled voice.

He shook his head, "I don't like seafood either,"

Summer gaped at her date thinking that understanding how his brain worked was an impossible task. She panicked seeing the waiter about to leave.

"Check please!" She said with a higher pitch than her usual voice.

"Oh…" The waiter said and looked at Andrew awkwardly then flinched back when he saw the look on Andrew's face.

"We're good, thank you," Andrew said.

His polite words and aggressive tone were polar opposites. And Summer couldn't help but feel bad for the young waiter who excused himself with a stutter and hurried back where he came from.

Summer's nerves couldn't take any of this date anymore, "I'm sorry, but can we call it a night? I should've said something to you before the waiter,"

"That's fine, I sent him away because I already took care of the bill. Would you mind driving me back to my place on your way to yours?"

Regardless of how she felt about Andrew, Summer understood that he was a definite candidate.