The Diner
1269 Words
Evelyn stared at Adrian for another few seconds.
“Food?”
Adrian nodded.
“Yes.”
She glanced toward her house.
“Why?”
“Because you're hungry.”
“I didn't say I was.”
“You just admitted you haven't eaten.”
Evelyn frowned.
“That doesn't mean I need someone to feed me.”
“I didn't say you did.”
“Then why are you here?”
Adrian's expression became amused.
“You ask a lot of questions.”
“Because you appeared outside my house in the middle of the night wearing that jacket.”
He looked down at himself again.
“You really dislike this jacket.”
“It makes you look suspicious.”
“I bought it because it was expensive.”
“That makes it worse.”
Adrian laughed.
Evelyn tried not to smile.
She failed.
For a moment, the frustration she'd carried throughout the day disappeared.
Then Adrian's expression softened.
“Come with me.”
“Where?”
“To eat.”
“I can make something here.”
“You're exhausted.”
“I can still cook.”
“You're also hungry.”
“That doesn't mean I'm incapable.”
“I know.”
His answer was so simple that Evelyn stopped.
He wasn't arguing with her.
He wasn't treating her like she was helpless.
He simply seemed to understand that she was tired.
Adrian opened the passenger door of his car.
“Just dinner.”
Evelyn hesitated.
Her eyes moved from him to the car.
She knew accepting could become complicated.
Especially with someone like Adrian.
Her friends had already warned her.
He's rich now.
He's different.
You should be careful.
But none of them had told her what she was supposed to do when that supposedly dangerous man showed up just to make sure she'd eaten.
“Fine.”
She walked toward the car.
Adrian smiled.
“That's surprisingly easy.”
“Don't get used to it.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
She stopped beside him.
“And I'm paying for my own food.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Of course.”
“You're not paying.”
“I won't.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Satisfied, Evelyn climbed into the car.
Adrian closed the door behind her before walking around to the driver's side.
As the car pulled away from her house, Evelyn looked through the window.
The city at night seemed different from inside a car.
The streets were quieter.
The lights reflected against the glass.
For once, she wasn't thinking about deadlines.
Or dental bills.
Or whether her next paycheck would be enough.
She glanced at Adrian.
He was focused on the road.
“You really came here just because I hadn't eaten?”
“Yes.”
“That's strange.”
“Why?”
“Because people don't usually do that.”
Adrian's hands tightened slightly around the steering wheel.
“I know.”
Evelyn looked at him.
There was something different about his voice.
Something she couldn't quite understand.
She turned back toward the window.
“So where are we going?”
“Somewhere quiet.”
“Expensive?”
“No.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“That's what rich people say before taking someone somewhere ridiculously expensive.”
Adrian laughed.
“You're difficult.”
“You're suspicious.”
“Fair enough.”
The car continued through the city.
Neither of them noticed how naturally the silence between them had settled.
Evelyn rested her head against the window.
For the first time that day, she felt less alone.
And Adrian—
he kept glancing at her whenever he thought she wasn't looking.
He had returned to the city with a dozen things on his mind.
Business.
Money.
Responsibilities.
Things he had left behind.
Yet somehow, the one thing occupying his thoughts now was much simpler.
He wanted to make sure Evelyn was okay.
He wasn't entirely sure when that had become important to him.
But it had.
And he suspected that was going to become a problem.
"Hah. You're expensive to treat, aren't you? Why have you decided to go with journalism when you could be doing other things?" Adrian said as he looked at her. "You're excellent and could be using your business degree. Gathering capital and other things instead of some lowly profession."
"Like how you went abroad to become wealthy?" Evelyn asked as she looked at him.
Adrian paused as he looked at her. "Fair. Still, I think it's worth considering."
Evelyn looked at him and laughed. "Did you come here to give me work advice or something else? Isn't it strange of you to approach me and then arrive with a decision to help me with work? I find it quite strange. Perhaps you're better off simply treating me to a meal?"
Adrian sighed. "I wanted to offer you an opportunity to do something grand."
"You mean, the mind-numbingly boring work of accounting and filing taxes and checking your business expenditures?" Evelyn paused as she looked at him. "Is that what you wish to offer me? A position like that would be incredible, but also mind-numbingly boring. I would have to do something else."
“Your job requires you to move in the rain?” Adrian laughed. “I don't think it's worth mentioning. You'd get soaked, and I'd have to dry you.”
She stared at him.
For a moment, she wasn't sure whether he was joking.
The rain continued to fall outside, tapping against the windows and turning the streets into a blur of silver. She had barely made it back from work before Adrian had appeared, leaning against the doorway as if he had been waiting for her.
“You make it sound like I have a choice,” she said.
“You always have a choice.”
“That's easy for you to say.”
Adrian smiled.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “And why exactly would you have to dry me?”
“Because you'd come home dripping wet.”
“I can dry myself.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you say it?”
He shrugged, looking entirely too pleased with himself.
“Maybe I wanted to.”
Her cheeks warmed.
“You're impossible.”
“I've been called worse.”
She turned away from him and reached for the towel hanging near the door. Her clothes were already damp from the walk home, and the cold had settled into her fingers.
Adrian noticed.
His expression changed slightly.
“You're freezing.”
“I'll be fine.”
“You always say that.”
“And I'm usually right.”
“Usually?”
She glanced at him.
“Fine. Not always.”
Adrian stepped closer and took the towel from her hands.
“Come here.”
She hesitated.
“Adrian—”
“You're cold.”
“I can handle it.”
“I know you can.” His voice softened. “That doesn't mean you have to.”
For once, she didn't have an answer.
He carefully draped the towel around her shoulders, making sure it covered her properly.
Outside, the rain continued to fall.
Inside, everything suddenly felt much quieter.
She looked up at him.
“You really came all the way here just to lecture me about rain?”
Adrian laughed.
“No.”
“Then why?”
His smile faded into something gentler.
“I wanted to make sure you got home safely.”
She stared at him.
And somehow, that answer affected her far more than the teasing ever had.
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