She Loves Meat

'I want to know more about you, Angela Su,' the words that Gael said kept playing in Angela's mind. And damn if that didn't make her heart beat faster.

What was with him that affected her this much? It certainly wasn't the first time that someone said that to her, yet Gael was the only one who was making her feel as though this was such a big deal. 'Calm down, heart. He probably only meant knowing me casually. No big deal,' she said in her thoughts.

But even with the warning, her heart didn't listen and kept racing. Why did he make it sound like he was actually interested in her? 'Stop playing with my heart, Gael.'

Seeing as she wasn't saying anything, he tilted his head and probed, "What do you think?"

A small smile appeared on Angela's face and she softly chuckled, trying to mask her inner thoughts. She looked at him straight in the eye and saw him cock his brow as if he was wondering what she was thinking. "Are you doing this only because you want to know about that? Are you that curious?"

Gael leaned back and he scoffed, realizing that with how he suddenly said those words, it would indeed appear that he was just saying that because he was curious about that part of her past. Although that was partly true, that wasn't only the case. "No, I seriously want to know more about you," he clarified in a toneless voice.

"Why?"

"Why? Why do you have to make everything so complicated? Can't a person just want to know another person?"

She looked at him with a gaze that said: "Really?" She was certainly not convinced by his reasoning.

A devilishly handsome smirk pulled the corners of his mouth as he glanced at the dish she ordered—Greek lemon chicken and potatoes. He picked up his fork and stole a piece of potato from her plate. "Aren't we on a date? Isn't this what a date is supposed to be? Getting to know each other…"

Angela slapped the back of his hand—the one that stole her potato. "That's mine, that's stealing, and that's rude. You're not supposed to do that on a date."

Ignoring the sting on his hand, he unabashedly ate the potato and winked at her. "So you admit that this is a date?"

The crease on her brow got deeper—a total opposite to the shit-eating grin on his face that only made him even more handsome.

"God, you're a work of art…" she said in a tone laced with sarcasm.

"Thank you." He grabbed the bottle of beer and took a long swig, the bubbles bursting in his mouth, leaving a bitter and dry taste—all without taking his gaze off her and seeing her rolling her eyes and sighing.

"Why must you do this, Gael?"

He placed the bottle back on the table and shrugged. "Why not? We're stuck on the island and we don't really have much to do—what with all this rain. What have you got to lose, Angela?"

Gazing at him intently, she examined the way he was looking at her and she could almost feel the sincerity in his voice and expression. This was a bad idea, wasn't it? There was still this thing about them that's unsettled and they shouldn't be having anything more than what they were at the moment… Or maybe… This could be a way for her to appeal to him and have him finally revoke the lawsuit? He already said he was willing last night. So, perhaps opening up to him a little would seal that deal, wouldn't it? Surely, it wouldn't hurt anybody…

"You know what?" Angela straightened her back, and Gael locked his stare with hers. "Fine. Sure. I could do that."

He opened his mouth to respond but before he could say anything, she raised a finger and added, "But… I need my food first." Just then, her stomach grumbled loudly.

He laughed. "I can hear that. What kind of food monster is in there?"

Frowning at him, Angela lifted her fork and stabbed it on a piece of sliced steak from his plate. "Something that loves meat."

Gael watched as she ate his steak unapologetically. He could only shake his head once and softly chuckle at her revenge. He stole a potato, she stole a piece of meat. But he wasn't mad at all. If anything, he even wanted to pat her head as though to praise her for doing a good job.

And so, the two ate in silence, occasionally glancing at each other. He had thought of asking her some questions already, but he decided to let her finish her food first.

He finished his steak faster than her and noticed that she liked to take her time eating her food, enjoying as she carefully chewed every bite. It almost looked like he was watching some sort of art performance—what with him watching her every move: slicing her chicken, taking a piece, and slurring it slightly on the sauce before putting it in her mouth. He even found her drinking her water quite interesting to look at. Was he that bored?

When she was done with her food, she carefully placed her knife and fork together—just like how one should do. A simple act that showed she knew proper dining etiquette.

Just then, her smartphone buzzed, catching his attention. His eyes shot to her phone screen by instinct and saw an unregistered number flashing on it.

She glanced at her phone and swallowed. He couldn't tell what she was thinking as she stared at her screen. It bugged him that he couldn't read her mind and that he didn't know who was calling her at this time. Was it that ex of hers? It was annoying for him that she looked like she was contemplating on actually answering the call.

Lifting her hand towards her phone, Angela took a deep breath. But before she could lower her finger onto the screen, Gael swiftly reached and caught her wrist.