The Love Interest

Chapter 7

"That one." I point my finger towards the most melodramatic looking cafe that has been known as a sensationalized hot spot in Uptown Los Angeles. It was Alice and Wonderland themed with the Cheshire Cat statue propped right on top of it's large cafe name; 'Eat Me.' The purple and magenta tail of the cat was dangling in between the two words, enhancing it's fable-like curb appeal, and I grin cheekily. It was adorable.

"No." Eden growls curtly, his voice already on edge as is. Just because it is seven a.m on a Sunday, and he hadn't yet had his coffee, doesn't mean he gets to be the one with a stick up his ass.

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes. C'mon, please?" I beg.

"Absolutely not. That's a playground, not a cafe." He crosses his arms over his chest, not moving from his spot once I make a move towards it.

"I checked the site. It's a cafe, I swear."

"Why can't we just take a photo of us in front of the cafe, send it to Hayes, and be on our way?" He attempts to negotiate, setting his jaw in a way that wards off any further arguing.

"Because he'll know we didn't actually go through with it through our acting. C'mon, I'll buy you a macaroon or something- though, I know you are anti-sugar, so if you'd like for me to remove the creme from between the macaroon, I'll gladly lick it of-,"

"First of all, no. I wouldn't eat the mac grand shit anyways. Second of all...no, I'm not going to eat something you licked." He adjusts the collar around his neck for more breathing room, and I find that occasional little tic something worth my attention.

It was weird to me that he was still wearing a black button up when there wasn't anything to be formal about. We weren't at work- well, I wouldn't consider this work- but he didn't need to treat this rendezvous like a business deal.

"That's funny." I shoot him an innocent look. "I don't recall you being so shy towards sharing saliva with girls. Isn't your job to cross contaminate your sexually transmitted diseases to another?"

He drops his head in aggravation, his chin tucking to his chest before I hear him let out a long sigh. He brings his head back up a little, a nice, hostile lour all ready for me to ogle at. "I don't have a sexually transmitted dis- wait- why am I explaining this to you?" He snaps with a deepened expression.

"Because I may have threatened your masculinity a little bit."

He gives me a long, hard look through half-lidded eyes as I peer up with him, a complacent smile on my face. It gives me time to study the freckle shower that was sprinkled across the bridge of his nose. Barely visible, but still there. I wanted so desperately to reach out and count them all.

He doesn't say anything.

Still peeved, he gives me a basic look of resilience. It wasn't going to be easy shoving him into a cafe that probably still sells cotton candy. I'm sure he'd much prefer a basic Starbucks run, but I'd rather drink sewage water, than to settle for a diabetically charged frappuccino. I know what you're thinking; a macaroon is no better, but...at least it's pink? Look at me trying to justify my guilty pleasures.

"Is there a Peets Coffee place near us-"

"Nope. I guess that's a sign for us to go inside here." I urge, pointing towards the fantasy land of checkered flooring.

"I won't be able to concentrate with the smell of bubble tea overwhelming my senses."

I give him an appalling look. "So you do know at least one kind of edible food? Tell me; do you know what carrots are?"