9 Lunch

When she looked past Oscar Rivermore, she saw someone she never wished to see again.

Gerald? Here? That too with his family? Emily was frantic. For the first time this evening, Oscar saw some sort of emotion on her face.

"What's wrong, Miss Taylor?"

"Mr. Rivermore, can I ask you to do me a favor?"

"By all means, yes. Go ahead."

"Do you mind swapping seats with me?"

"Umm, no, definitely not."

Emily jumped up, almost overturning the glass set on their table but Oscar managed to hold it in time.

"I'm so sorry," she said. She tried to turn around, but held herself back in time. She did not want Gerald or his family to see her.

In a hurry, she did not realize that the seats of this restaurant had to be booked earlier, but Oscar managed to bring her here casually.

She gulped down the water set in front of her without realizing Oscar was noticing her every single action.

Shaking his head, he said, "Let's order something then?"

"Sure, one pasta with extra cream for me," Emily said.

"Ah, we have so much in common, Miss Taylor. I had my eyes on that dish too."

Oscar called the waiter and placed the orders. Leaning back, he rested his elbow at the back of the chair. He oozed so much masculinity from his simple gesture that Emily glanced at him properly for the first time that evening.

Oscar Rivermore, aged around 29 or 30, had long blonde hair that reached his shoulders. He had black irises, which could suck any soul into them and anyone would be lost in the beauty of those orbs. His eyes twinkled with mirth as she stared at them.

He used his long bony fingers to scratch his ears. Emily's eyes widened at the number of piercings he had in his ears. She wondered where else he had piercings. A blush crept onto her face at the thought.

'Ah, get a hold on yourself, Emily,' she chided herself.

"I'm sorry… I don't know how to repay you," Emily said to start a conversation. It was much better than her thinking about nonsense.

"As long as you are alright, it would be enough for me. You don't need to repay me. Besides, Miss Taylor, I did not save you for that. It is my duty."

"Duty?"

"Yes."

"How so?" Emily was interested to hear what this young weird man had to say. She might have followed him because she did not have a sense of her surroundings, but she was clear-headed now.

Oscar did not reply immediately. Instead, he stared at Emily with a smile. Emily started back at him, her eyes blinking in curiosity.

Oscar held back his laughter and said, "I will tell you that, but are you willing to answer my question?"

"What?"

"What happened to you, Miss Taylor?"

"Why would you want to know that?"

"You wanted to repay me, right?"

"Yes." Emily nodded earnestly.

"Take it as if you're repaying me. Please answer this question. Besides, sometimes all we need is to talk to someone, to let ourselves loose and let our worries flow out of our mind. You seem to have too much on yours. Why don't you share some with me? Maybe I can help. And, don't worry, I have a lot of time on my hand today."

Emily sighed and said, "You wouldn't want to know."

"Believe me, Miss Taylor, I would. Ah, the food is here. Let's eat while we chat. I'm famished and you look the same." Oscar glanced at the empty glass in front of her.

Emily managed to smile a little before digging in. Lowering her head, she did not bother with any formalities and straightway placed one, two, three spoonfuls of pasta in her mouth, chewed them as fast as she could and gulped them straight. The outside world was non-existent to her now.

Oscar watched in awe as she ate her food, before trying to match the same enthusiasm for food as her. He did dare disturb her. Answers could wait. To hell with table manners. He started gobbling down the food in a similar manner.

It was quite funny to watch two grown ups sitting at the same table, gobble their food without any care for the rest of the world.

Finishing her food, Emily stared at Oscar with the fork in her hand. She licked her lips. Oscar lifted his plate from the table and promptly hid it behind him.

Emily gave him a bashful smile and said, "Hey, I was not going to steal your food. How dare you hide them from me?"

Oscar said, "Heh. I know everything okay? Those greedy little eyes are telling me that once I place my plate back, everything will be stolen. No ma'am, not happening. They are mine. You better keep your hands off my food." Oscar threatened with a fork.

"Well, how about you give me a bite? Only one teensy tiny one?" Emily pleaded.

Oscar turned his head from side to side and clearly denied her proposal. "That's not gonna happen," he said.

"Then I'm not gonna answer your questions." Emily pouted and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Oscar rolled his eyes, but relented. "Okay fine, you get one bite only if you answer my question. Deal?"

"Deal." Emily had a cunning smile on her face.

Oscar knew she was plotting something, but did not point that out.

Bringing the plate back, he placed it on the table, but looked at Emily with eyes full of suspicion.

"Now spill. What's bothering you?"

"I'm sad. Nothing goes according to my plan. Whatever I try to do, the opposite always happens." Emily placed the fork on her plate. She lost her appetite. Thinking about Gerald soured her mood.

She heard some people laugh loudly and she turned her head to find an unknown girl kissing Gerald on his cheeks.

She turned her head back and focused on Gerald's plate. He was almost done with his food. They could leave this place now. Seeing all these, she did not want to have fun with Oscar anymore.

She lowered her head and fiddled with her fingers, when she saw a spoonful of pasta approaching her. She looked up. Oscar was holding the spoon near her mouth.

"Why are you doing this, Mr. Rivermore? We don't even know each other."

"Who said we don't?"

Emily did not answer. Had it been a few years back, she would never join a stranger for lunch, but she could not refuse the goodwill of the person sitting in front of her. Or maybe he was also like the other people who only knew to take advantage of her. Maybe he had some hidden agenda.

Emily was curious, but she did not ask him anything else. She pulled her credit card out and was going to pay when she saw Oscar handing a gold card to the manager. He did not give her a chance to pay.

Holding the door open for her, he allowed her to pass before coming out.

"We should be on time," he said.

"Huh?"

"Don't you have to go to the hospital? It is 8 o' clock now. You are not going to be late."

"How do you know?"

Oscar pulled out another card. This was black in color, but on it printed in rose gold letters were: 'OSCAR RIVERMORE, SENIOR LECTURER, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY, MURICA CANCER SPECIALITY HOSPITAL'

"I didn't lie, did I?"