Roommates & Soulmates

Ch45: Simon's Awkward

Simon was sure this was a bad idea, so why had he agreed to it? Oh, that's right, loneliness.

Eric had never tried to set him up on a date before though, and to be fair, Simon had only ever had eyes for Clary, so why would he have tried. Either way, the reality of the situation was that Simon was currenting sitting across from an empty chair soon to be occupied by a girl he'd never met. All he knew about this Maia person, was that she was pretty, passionate and sarcastic. Simon was sure Eric had left something out, a catch of some kind like that she had stalked her ex or secretly doesn't shower, but, he really had nothing better to do on a Friday night anyway so he figured why not.

Simon listened for the door. Every time he heard the chime he turned to see who had entered the restaurant. With every old man, young family and couple who entered, Simon became more worried he was going to be stood up. He checked the clock for a countless time. Okay, so she wasn't technically late and maybe his arriving a half hour early hadn't been a good idea. The door chime went off and Simon turned expectantly, only to see a woman clearly three times his age enter the restaurant alone. That couldn't be Maia, right? Simon turned away, hoping with all his might she didn't walk over to his table. Hadn't Eric said Maia was a student at his school? Then Simon remember how University wasn't like high school, people weren't all the same age. Simon had convinced himself this was just his luck, when someone sat down in the seat across from him and it wasn't the woman he'd just seen enter.

This had to be Maia, Simon thought and she was more than pretty, with light-brown skin, curly brown hair and amber eyes. She was wearing casual clothing, which Simon liked. Getting dressed up made him nervous, but what was worse was when she was dressed up and he wasn't. Maia had on a t-shirt with a logo he didn't recognize and her blue jeans hugged her curves.

"I didn't see you come in," Simon said. It was true. She hadn't entered through the main doors that he'd been watching.

"There's a back door," Maia explained.

"Why use that when there's a front door?" Simon continued. Why was he talking about this? Was he stupid! Who cared how she entered the building?

"I came from the other direction," Maia added easily. Well, at least she wasn't laughing at him, Simon thought, though he was about ready to start laughing at himself.

"Oh," Simon said lamely.

"You seem tense?" Maia commented.

"Oh, that's because I am," Simon replied, with a nervous laugh.

"Does eating in public make you tense?" Maia sniggered. Oh yeah, she was definitely laughing at him now.

"Never really been on a date before," Simon confessed.

"Really?" Maia asked. She looked a little shocked and Simon realized what his statement sounded like.

"Fell in love with my best friend when I was a kid," Simon mumbled. "She never loved me back. We just broke up."

"Ah," Maia said. "I know what that's like."

"You do?" Simon asked.

"Well, he wasn't my best friend," Maia corrected. "But I just broke up with someone too." Simon was starting to feel a little bit better. He could feel the tension in his shoulders fade a little.

"One thing in common at least," Simon smiled. "Do you know what you want to eat?" He gestured to the menus in front of them. Maia picked hers up and disappeared behind it. Simon followed suit and quickly decided what he wanted. The waiter arrived moments later to take their drink orders, but they ordered dinner while they were at it.

"I am so glad you aren't indecisive about food," Maia said as the waiter left. "There is nothing worse than watching someone take a half hour to decide what they want."

"That's a half hour longer to wait to eat it," Simon laughed.