19 Sloppy

The moment you enter the premise, you could hear the song of Coldplay booming from the stereo placed outside the restaurant. The song Sky full of stars was playing on the background while customers take their bite from the burgers, fries, and pasta on their plates.

Square wooden tables with red parasols were set up outside the restaurant. The fairy lights hanging on the tree and on the posts decorated the whole area. It was cozy.

Inside were also tables with different shapes of chairs and sofas. It was quirky and cool. Twinkling lights were also hung on the ceiling and walls.

Just from looking on the outside, you can see people lining up on the counter to order food. This must be a good restaurant if it's bustling with customers.

When we got in, the smell of fresh meat grilling, melted cheese, and onions wafted out from the kitchen. My mouth started to water from it. Hmmm. That smells so good.

Dominic is still holding my hand as we went on a queue for the counter. I did not notice it right away because I was distracted by the scent of the onions getting fried.

Reality came back when he gently squeezed my hand. He's still looking at the menu, thinking about what to order. I stared at his hand that was holding mine until he noticed where I was looking.

He shyly smiled and slowly let go of my hand as he put it in his pocket. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I'm new to this place, so I'm not really sure what's best on the menu. Would you please order for me? Anything you can recommend." Haha! I memorized this one too. Since I take too long to order something, I would let someone make the order for me. If you ask me, what happens if I don't like what they bought for me? I still eat it and pretend I'm loving it. If you're going to do this technique, make sure to face the consequences.

Dominic scanned at the menu, "Would burger be okay with you?"

I just nodded as a response.

I was standing behind Dominic when it was our turn to order. The cashier was staring hard at him. She might end up piercing through a wall. Well, I could not blame her. Dominic was also towering over the whole area. The cashier was smiling widely at him as she takes note of every order he made. Once he was done, he turned towards me and gave me the number for our table.

I could see the look on the cashier's face. She frowned upon seeing me with Dominic. I knew she thought I was his girlfriend. Well, nope. I am not. I'm just here for the free dinner.

The tables inside were already taken, so we decided to eat outside. We picked the table nearest to the mango tree that was giving shade on a starry night.

Not long after we settled on our seats, the waiter came and brought us our food. He repeated the order, making sure nothing was missing. We thanked him afterward.

"This smells good." I looked at my plate, and the mouth-watering double cheeseburger was calling out for my name.

"Well, it tastes good as well. Go on, have a bite." as Nic gestured to let me take my first bite.

I smiled at him and said thank you.

Dominic and I were just enjoying a conversation about how I was right about his teacher being absent in class. He even joked about asking for my psychic advice first before going to class.

The song Only Exception by Paramore served as our background music throughout the conversation.

Do you know what's the problem when eating a burger? It's when the fat patty would slide out from the bun, exposing everything else as it falls down the plate and into your clothes. I was about to finish my burger when it happened. I immediately ate the meat before it could fall from my hand. Luckily the plate caught all the sauce that was dripping out.

I heard Dominic chuckle. "Sloppy."

I frowned at him and rolled my eyes. "Well, sorry to disappoint, I'm no princess."

"You still look good at eating that. Ow!" He flinched as I kicked him on his feet under the table.

"Why you did that for?" His laugh echoed. Good thing the song was playing loudly and people were busy chatting.

I wiped any grease left on my mouth when I could feel Dominic staring at me. I asked him if there was something wrong or if there were some crumbs left on my mouth, but he replied with just a smile.

"You're acting weird right now, Nic. Stop it." I jokingly said before it gets awkward.

"Why'd you cut your hair?" I was puzzled by his question, and it probably showed through my face. "I mean, I saw your profile on Facebook, and you mostly had photos with a long hair." he continued.

I pursed my lips, trying to form any response for him. I steered clear from this topic for a long time and would love to stay away from talking about it as much as possible.

"I just had a crazy idea one day. Then poof! Off with her hair." I'm not sure if he can tell if I'm lying, but he did not say anything about it afterward.

Dominic glanced at his wristwatch, "Oh, it's already 9."

I grabbed my phone from my bag and checked any messages. "Yeah, it's 9 already."

I wasn't really ready to leave, but I can't do anything if he has to. It's still a school night.

"I don't want to go home yet."

"What do you mean?" My heart started skipping a beat. For unknown reasons, my fingers and toes felt ticklish, and I was feeling light-headed. I might've eaten a lot of oily food tonight.

"I mean, if you're free, would you like to go somewhere with me?"

"I'm already out of the house Dominic, I can go anywhere I want right now."