Love at First Bet

chapter 6: welcome distraction

“Weird that people told me that love is one long due process. But, with you, it only took one date and one question and everything fell into pieces. No anticipation. No waiting game. Just right.”

>> Kyler's POV

Saturday is supposed to be a rest day for him. Saturday means waking up late, eating cereal for lunch, watching reruns of volleyball matches and an evening jog to clear his mind.

But ever since the bet started, nothing in his life was the same again. And unfortunately for him, Saturday sadly has to change, too.

So here he is, standing idly outside of the movie theater, waiting for someone who had texted him half an hour ago that she was on her way to their meeting place yet this particular someone has not made an appearance yet. On the thirty-sixth mark, Kyler loses his temper and plucks his phone to bombard the other person with messages.

By the time he sent the thirtieth message, Tatie emerged from the crowd with an apologetic smile on her face and an orange beanie on her head. It was a chilly morning. One of the reasons why Kyler lamented his separation from his warm duvet. The irritation he had felt for the other slowly disappears when he notices the puff of ball on Tatie's head bouncing.

Cute, he thought.

But, not cute enough to spare her from his wrath.

Upon closing the distance between her and Kyler, Tatie proceeds to lean her arms on her knees to support her weight and fatigue. She makes a show of gasping for breath as if she ran a mile to get to the movie theater. And after seeing her disarrayed hair and flushed cheeks, Kyler decides to let it slide.

"You're late," he says in a dismissive tone.

Tatie has the grace to throw him an offended look. She then takes her phone out and shoves it to his face.

"It's ten thirty-three. I was only late for three minutes," she reasons out.

Kyler raises a brow at her argument. "Some people die of hypothermia for three minutes, Miss Tatie. So, be careful next time."

He watches the display of expressions on her face and it mildly amuses him how her face turned red from embarrassment which sizzled to an fuming annoyance then dissipates to a resigned defeat. She waves a hand at him as if to dismiss their arguments.

"Whatever. Let's buy some tickets, take some pictures and send it to your team so we can go on our merry way. I have to destress later by cleaning our apartment," she exclaims before leading the way to the ticket booth.

Kyler follows her and almost groans at the ridiculously long line of the booth. Tatie had chosen an anticipated newly-released film and it's Marvel. So, yeah, you could imagine the length of the line to the movie. He was tempted to convince her to choose another movie with fewer fans and shorter lines.

And before he could voice it outloud, Tatie turns to him and smiles cheekily at him while showing her wallet.

"Based on your expression yesterday, I got the gist you hated Marvel films--"

"Not hated. Just not a fan," he whispers, not wanting to gather enemies from the number of fans lining up for the movie.

Tatie ignores him and continues, "and basically dragged you here. So, I decided that this movie date will be my treat,"

Although they only met for two days, Kyler knew by her actions, words and tiny sliver that she sometimes slips that Tatie Reyes is extremely close-fisted when it comes to money. That was the reason why they got tangled in his team's stupid bet. That was the reason why she dragged Kyler to the movies at ten-thirty on a Saturday morning. So, to hear her say that she is willing to spend money on their fake date (bold and italic for that fake, he reminds himself) almost made him flattered for being special.

"You should pay for our lunch later, though," she states. "I'm not extending my generosity when it comes to food."

So much for being special, Kyler thought as he rolled his eyes.

The line was long but it didn't take too long for them to get inside the theater. In fact, Kyler noted that it only took ten minutes before they were given their ticket and instructed to go to their designated seats. On the way there, Tatie quickly introduces him to the Marvel cinematic universe, explaining in great detail every story, every character and every backstory so that he could understand the movie and appreciate it, Tatie added.

The movie ended and lo and behold, Kyler still thinks that it was not great. He said so to Tatie which resulted with him getting a glare and getting hit by a handbag from the latter.

"Since you dragged me to the movie theater at this ungodly hour--"

"Ten-thirty is not an ungodly hour. That's past lunchtime," Tatie argues but Kyler pays her no mind.

"and it was not even a good movie by my standard, I say that we just eat in McDonald's," he suggests, opening his phone to search for the nearest one.

His (please add bold and italic word of fake in here) date shows her displeasure, "We just won two-hundred fifty dollars from the bet and you're feeding me McDonald's?" she asks incredulously.

Kyler turns to her with his signature impassive face and answers, "Yes."

"Can we atleast eat in a sophisticated restaurant?"

"No."

He watches as Tatie groans in frustration before shifting his gaze back to his phone. Yet, his line of vision was constricted by a hand, a hand that belonged to his date (again, fake date) who is smiling at him with a mixture of annoyance and meekness.

"Okay, fine. We're not eating somewhere expensive but I know a diner around here that serves the best vegetable spring rolls," she offers. Kyler just blinks at her, waiting for her to continue and not budging in his spot. In a second, he receives a slap on the back by Tatie who chuckled at his expression. "It's not expensive, I promise. It's affordable and the price was right based on the food you will get. Plus, aren't you an athlete? Shouldn't you be avoiding greasy foods?"

He hesitates to relent on her decision but, the image of a soggy burger and greasy fries enter his vision and before he knew it, he was sitting across Tatie in a small diner snuggled between a bakery and office building. Kyler scans the surroundings and finds it cozy and friendly.

"Where did you find this diner?" he asks, once seated.

Tatie shrugs, "I was actually scanning for good seafood restaurants last night," Kyler gives her an unimpressed look and Tatie outright laughs that she just exposed herself that she was meaning to take him to an expensive restaurant and make him pay for them. "Anyway, I came across this Vietnamese restaurant from a recommendation app and they got awesome reviews. Apparently, their spring rolls are to die for."

"You decided on this just because people rated them with five-stars?" Kyler asks as he leans on his seat, seemingly unimpressed by Tatie's exclamation.

His sarcasm does not dettered Tatie from perusing the menu. Without looking up from her menu, she answers, "That and also, the fact that you love spring rolls,"

Kyler was stunned. He vaguely remembered not telling her about that.

"And, where did you get that conclusion, Ms. Tatie?" he teasingly asks yet there is a slight edge on his tone, unknowingly upset for having someone knew him.

Upon hearing that edge on his tone, Tatie spares him a look and when she had her fill of Kyler's upset look, she turns her gaze back to the menu. "I asked around," she honestly answers. She didn't even laced the answer with a jest or a taunt. It was an honest answer.

So honest that it puzzled Kyler for Tatie asking about his favorite food around.

"Why?" He meant to ask that question nonchalantly. But, his voice wavers in awe and confusion.

The question seems to upset Tatie. Kyler watches her slams the menu on their table a little loud in his liking and making the other patrons of the diner look at their direction. Upon seeing that it was just a couple fighting over something, they return back to their business that it wonders Kyler how many quarrels did the people here had saw to briefly dismiss his date's (fake date, mind you) outburst.

"What do you mean 'why'?" she asks incredously. "It's common courtesy to know your likes and dislikes. You're my date, whether it be fake or real. I deliver happiness to anyone who I am taking for lunch or dinner."

Well, that's humiliating.

Here is Tatie, the most ordinary girl Kyler had ever encountered, trying her best to make the best out of a date that they orchastrated. Yet, Kyler has spent the whole morning trying to remind himself not to slip in the cracks of reality, reminding himself that nothing of this is real.

This is a lunch date. It is no big deal at all. They could leave the date as friends, afterall. Bet or not.

He glances at Tatie who was scanning the menu, not even bothered by the myriad of feelings that she had left on her date. Sensing that someone was staring at her, she peels her focus on the menu and meets his intense gaze. Kyler observes her from her skin dusted with freckles, her auburn hair and her brown twinkling eyes.

"I promise I'm going to order a meal within the budget," Tatie promises him.

Kyler casts his eyes down at the menu, not even digesting its content when his mind and guts were digesting something else. Without lifting his gaze, he decides that it is his turn to ask the questions about this girl he decided to fake date.

“Ms. Tatie, how about we ask each other a random question?” Kyler casually asks.

Tatie tilts her head in confusion. “For what?”

“So, we could get to know each other,” he answers immediately. Upon processing his answer, he was horrified that he sounds like he is genuinely curious about the other and he decides to deescalate the assumption by explaining further. “Since we’re on a date, I figured out that it will be great if–”

“Okay,” his date nods at his suggestion. “Ask me about anything.”

Kyler blinks at her. Though he bravely suggested the idea, he finds himself with empty questions in his mind. He wants to know more about this girl who regularly watches their game and why he is drawn to her. There were a lot of questions that popped in their previous encounters but when Tatie offered herself to answer these questions, they all vanished into thin air.

So, without much thought, he plucks the most generic question out of all.

"Favorite flower?" he asks.

Tatie returns her gaze back at him, completely thrown off guard at the sudden question. "Huh?"

"Favorite flower?"

It took a moment for Tatie to respond. Kyler was patient enough not to force her to answer and idly scans the menu. He then notices that Tatie has leaned on her back and was displaying a smirk at him.

"Asking for my favorite flower is so overrated. Try asking me my favorite gemstone," she suggests with a cheeky grin.

"Okay," Kyler shrugs. "What's your favorite gemstone?"

"Citrine," Tatie answers excitedly. "Because it looked like gold and I've always liked money."

There was a pause before Kyler heard himself laughing at her answer. He wipes a stray tear from his eyes and finds Tatie frowning at him.

"I'm sorry. I can't help it," he stifles another chuckle. "It’s just funny how proud you are of liking money."

Tatie shrugs before picking up the abandoned menu infront of her, "Who doesn't like money? It can buy you everything."

Kyler smiles at her answer and nods in agreement. He knew that there is something more about this girl that keeps him drawn to her.

And without him knowing, it was the first indication that he just randomly threw a chip at the gambling game called attraction.