Page 22 of Moonstruck at Midnight
I threw my head back on my pillow, hoping to snap out of the uncomfortable after-nap sensation, and texted Sophie and Cecile to fill them in about Thomasfinallyreaching out.
Aaron and David waited outside and allowed me to go inside the restaurant without escorting me to my seat as they usually did.
As the hostess led me to the table, I felt normal. For a moment, I was just another girl walking to her table at a restaurant. There was nothing weird or striking about me coming in. There were no big guys with scary faces looking around for potential dangers.
Just me.
Ah! It’s the little things.
We finally approached a table in the far end, and CJ was already waiting for me. A brunette sat beside him. “Billie?”
He squinted his eyes at me. The lighting at the restaurant was dim.
“Hi! Yes, it’s me, so nice to meet you.” I greeted them with double-cheek kisses. CJ had the friendliest face ever.
“This is Nina,” he gestured at her as I took a seat on the table.
“So nice to meet you, Billie,” Nina replied. She had perky lips, dark brown eyes, and lovely tanned skin.
They both kept complimenting my hair, and Nina wondered if my auburn locks were natural. I opened my mouth to speak but got cut off by CJ, “It is. I remember her father. Same color.”
“Well, it’s beautiful,” Nina said.
“So—are you, um…”
I pointed at them back and forth.
“Oh, no, no, no!” They replied almost in unison. CJ growled with a burst of wicked laughter. “Let’s say I have a—divergent sense of taste,” he said once he composed himself from laughing.
“He’squitegay.” Nina pressed a kiss on CJ’s cheek.
“See? Nothing.” CJ pointed his index finger at his cheek, and we all laughed. “I’m starving.” CJ lifted his hand to get the server’s attention. “I hope you are too because I’m ordering everything on the menu.”
He ordered pita bread, hummus, falafel, brussels sprouts, labneh, duck, and beef shawarmas. “That’s enough,” Nina interrupted. I thought CJ would never stop ordering. “It’s always the same with him. He comes to dinner famished, orderseverything, and I end up eating more than I’m supposed to.”
“She’sdefinitelygoing to need wine,” CJ said to the server with a flirty smile, jerking his chin at Nina.
“Three glasses?” he asked. He was cute and smiling back at CJ.
“Um, sorry, not for me, thank you,” I replied. CJ was a year older than me, and I assumed Nina was somewhere around his age.
“With that face … you’re sure to get carded,” CJ said, sipping on his water.
“What’s wrong with her face?” Nina grimaced.
“Well, nothing’s wrong—she has a pure, innocent-looking face. On the other hand—”
Nina snorted and warned, “Choose your next words wisely.”
“Well, you look, experienced, wise, and—intriguing.”
Nina stuck her tongue out at him.
We kept talking and getting to know each other as plates filled the four-seat table quickly.
Each dish was better than the last. It was an extraordinary meal altogether—a definite winner. By the end, I was so full I couldn’t breathe, but it was worth every bite.
“Those brussels sprouts are glorious,” I said to no one in particular, as the server cleared the table. I huffed a long breath out through my mouth.
