𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐋𝐓𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 (joel miller) ✔️

chapter thirty-three: dinner date(s)

She was beautiful. Her hair was a little shorter and darker, but she looked the same as she did six months ago. Seeing her for a few seconds was enough for Joel to miss last summer.

Ana looked so happy. She was laughing at something and Joel couldn't help but stare at her. He knew he should look away in case Ana noticed him, but he just couldn't.

And then he noticed why she was laughing. There was a man standing next to her, who had his arm around her waist and was whispering something in her ear.

"Joel? Are you listening?" his date then asked.

"Ah yeah, yeah sorry" he told her and focused his gaze on the table again.

"Anyways, I thought we could go to a café tomorrow? To have a better conversation, it's quite loud here"

"I.. I don't know yet, I'm sorry. I have a lot to do on our construction site" he replied. And he felt bad. He didn't want to lie to her, but he also wouldn't be able to admit that he was currently using her as a distraction.

He couldn't resist looking over at Ana again. And this time her eyes were already on him when he looked at her.

She felt caught and immediately looked away while the man next to Ana led her to a table. Joel took advantage of this to take a closer look at the man. He was a little older, not as old as Joel, but definitely older than Ana. Probably in his mid-30s. He was tall, had dark hair and fuck, he seemed to make her happy.

Her date brought her to the table and Joel could see that Ana didn't want to sit there. The table was on the other side of the restaurant, but from that seat she would be in Joel's direction.

Ana tried to ignore Joel's presence, but she couldn't. As her date talked to the waiter, her eyes flicked back to Joel. She saw him talking to his date and when she realized who she was, she let out a huff.

She knew she had no right to be jealous, since she had left him months ago. And she's not even jealous, she told herself. But seeing him with this woman made her a little angry.

"What would you like to drink?" asked the man in front of her, who was actually her boss.

"Wine, please" she immediately replied.

After the waiter brought the drinks and food, she drank one glass of wine after the other. She couldn't see Joel sober.

Ana tried to focus on her date again, but still felt Joel's eyes on her.

"You look so good tonight" her date told her with a grin.

"Thank you" she replied with a sweet smile and took another sip of her wine.

Ana tried her best to just stare stubbornly at her pasta, but she couldn't do it. She had to look at Joel. After all, she doesn't know if she'll ever see him again, and she wanted to see his face as long as she could.

"What are you looking at all the time?" asked her date after a while.

"What? Uhm.. just the interior design. I think it's pretty nice here" she replied, but he didn't believe her.

And when he turned around he caught Joel staring at her.

"Is he bothering you?" he asked and got up.

"No!" she immediately replied. "Sit back down, please" she added and grabbed his hand to stop him from going over to Joel.

"He's watching you, Ana. He could be some weird stranger, you shouldn't tolerate that"

"I don't mind"

"You don't mind?" he asked back confused.

"No" she whispered.

He nodded, his lips a straight line, "Do you know him?"

Ana thought there was no point in lying, "Yeah" she admitted.

Her date stood up again, "We're leaving."

"No, please wait" she told him, but he didn't care.

"I pay for dinner, I decide when we go" he said and grabbed her purse.

Ana sighed, "Okay, but I still have to go to the bathroom."

"Fine, I'll wait in the car," he said and put a few bills on the table.

She watched him leave the restaurant and then took a deep breath. And when she got up to go to the bathroom, she took another look at Joel. He stared at her concerned as she entered the bathroom.

Ana stood in front of the mirror and supported herself on the sink as the door slowly opened.

Joel hesitated for a few seconds in front of the door. He knew he couldn't just go into the women's bathroom like that. So he knocked. But there was no answer.

He knew that Ana went in. And he was sure there was no one else in there, so he decided to open the door slowly.

He saw her in front of the mirror, she stared at her own reflection and then turned her gaze to him.

She was exhausted, he could see that. She had dark circles under her eyes and was a bit pale.

Her lips were a little red from the wine and her cheeks were also flushed. Joel immediately realized that she was completely drunk.

She opened her mouth a little, but closed it again after a few seconds. She didn't know what to say. And Joel felt the same way. After all, he had just left his date sitting alone at the table for someone who had left him months ago. Someone who probably doesn't even want to see him again.

She looked at him with uncertainty and it was as if she was hypnotizing him with her stunning brown eyes. He didn't know what to say, or what to think.

Everything about her was adorable, or even breathtaking. But knowing that he couldn't stop thinking about her for all these months and that she had a new boyfriend, broke his heart a little.

He knew it was a mistake. It was a mistake to enter that bathroom. Or even a mistake to go to this restaurant.

But he decided to ignore that. Because all that mattered was that she was standing in front of him.

"Hi" Ana finally said. Her voice was soft and shy.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

joel still loves her 💔
so please don't say he's too soft in this chapter