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Steven Grant was having a very, very, very shitty night.
First, he woke up and felt like he got hit by a bus. Then he realized his phone was dead. Then he remembered he had a date. That he doesn’t remember making. At a place he’s never been to. With a woman that is WAY out of his league. Like by A LOT.
So yeah. Just peachy.
And now he was suffering through the 90’s romcom esc “what the bloody hell am I going to wear” montage that was just him standing in front of his mirror hating every single article of clothing he owned.
‘I love this white shirt-‘ is how it always started.
And 6 minutes later, he wanted to burn it in effigy.
When he finally did make it to the restaurant, he was 7 minutes late, already drowning in anxiousness, and just wanted to eat a salad.
“Hi, welcome on in! What can I do for you today?” The hostess smiled at him. Soft eyes greeted him, their curiosity piqued. Her hands were being kept busy already grabbing silverware and menus. Her hair was live and vibrant, perfectly matching the welcoming vibes of vivacity she exudes. He was enraptured.
For all of .7 seconds.
“Sir?”
Oh for Christ’s sake-
“Hi- um- I uh have a reservation!”
2 beats of silence
“Alrighty what was the name for that-“
“Oh bollocks- I didn’t add a name, it was just 1 vegetarian & one regular? I- I uh can give you my tele number if needed-“
“Nope it’s all good! Sorry, we have a new trainee, it’s been happening all day. We do have a party of 2 at 7:00, 1 vegetarian & one regular, which I believe is you!”
She smiled and grabbed the menus before passing them to the host next to her. “Seat him at 25, and call to kitchen one vegetarian“
The other hostess nodded before giving a quick “follow me!” and leading him through the restaurant. He stole one last glance at the other host as he walked. He found her staring back at him, almost examining him. But when she realized he was looking back at her, she quickly turned away and went back to whatever she was doing.
Steven, respectfully, did not have time to worry about the vaguely mysterious and stunning hostess. She was probably just making sure her trainee was just doing her job. Right?
Right.
——
Now, however, he hoped someone would pinch him, & he would wake up from whatever nightmare he was in.
Maybe in a world where his boss didn’t taunt him day in and day out or maybe where he didn’t feel like someone was always watching him or where he would know what day it was or where his mom would finally, just one singular time, answer his phone calls. Or maybe he would just simply wake up, and function like a normal person.
But that didn’t happen.
Instead Steven slowly dropped his phone onto the soft white linen that covered the table.
“ You stood me up”
“It’s Sunday, Friday was 2 bloody days ago!”
“That means, loose my number you twat ”
2 days??
2 whole days??
48 hours??
Just. Gone.
The entire earth rotated twice and he remembers none of it.
The tears were coming, the spiral was wounding up, and of course this is the time for the waiter to come to his table.
“Sir this kitchen is about to close, would you like anything before it does?”
The fact that Steven doesn’t even know what the last meal he ate was is still blowing his mind.
“I- um- yeah-“ what he was trying to say is “hey sorry for keeping you for like 2 hours and now I’m about to leave without getting food which I know makes me a total asshole but-“
But it didn’t come out. Instead, a familiar voice cut through the uncomfortable stammering on his side.
“We’ll have 2 house salads. No tomatoes on mine, god I hate them,” the voice said from behind him. Before he could even blink, the hostess from earlier was sitting down across from him.
It felt like someone had pressed pause on his entire situation. Why was she sitting across from him? Who was she? Did she genuinely want to talk to him or did she just pity him?
“-sand. Do you want tomatoes?
Steven quickly realized she A) had been speaking beforehand and B) just asked him a question.
“Toma- Yes! Yes! Tomatoes are fine!” In all honesty he was indifferent about tomatoes but with her eyebrow raised expectantly at him, what else was he supposed to say?
She smiled and unrolled the silverware, tucking the napkin into her lap. “Strike 1”
Oh blimey. It had been less than 3 minutes and he had already mucked it up.
She smirked over at him, possibly noticing the anxiety radiating out from him. “What dressing do you want?” She asked while picking up a menu. Stevens brain was still going 60 kilometers an hour, trying to make this make sense. Why did she choose to sit with him? Why did he loose two days? Is he dreaming? And while all of these life altering questions raced through his brain, all he could ask was “Um- do you have balsamic?”
Mystery woman’s eyes quickly shined, before they turned up to the waiter. She held her waiting pad & pen, but her face was still stuck trying to put everything together. The waiter continued to stare until finally answering with a quick “yes! Yes. We do have a balsamic! You said 2 house?” The waiter quickly turned to the hostess, feverishly writing.
Steven took this opportunity to pinch himself, making sure he knew he was infect, awake. That yes. He did in fact loose a major chunk of time again. And yes. A amazing mystery woman was sitting across from him. And yes. He probably forgot the feed Gus today. Life is going great.
The hostess smiled at him before turning around and yelling something at the waiter. The waiter quickly poked her head out of the kitchen with an affirming thumbs up. The MW suddenly looked at Steven with almost nervous smile. Her mannerisms slowly turned more self consciousness, but he didn’t even notice. He was taking her in. She was absolutely stunning.
“Sorry if uh- you didn’t want a salad-“
“Nono! I’m- I’m vegan so I was probably going to get the salad anyways- I mean I was about to go home but then you came in and now im about to eat a salad with a wonderful mystery person, who’s name I don’t even know-“
Steven quickly shut his mouth. He was rambling. again.
How many more minutes would she feel obligated to stay out of pity? 5? 8?
Steven quickly stopped his small dissociation sesh just to see her lazily stirring her water. All of her movements seemed to be done slowly, but still calculated. Like she had all the time in the world to speak about life. She wasn’t in a rush, no quick anxious leg bouncing.
“Well, to be fair, I don’t know your name” she sipped the water.
Steven immediately blushed, “Grant. Steven Grant.”
“ Steven Grant .”
The way she said his name.
Not Stevie. Not Scotty.
Steven Grant
He nearly choked on air.
“Do you normally introduce yourself like a super secret international spy or am I just special?” She smirked setting down her water.
He laughed. Genuinely. For the first time in what felt like forever.
“Nope, ah- it’s just a you thing I guess” he tucked a stray curl behind his ear.
“Well Steven ”
Oh.
Oh
that certainly invoked…. A feeling
“I do hope that if you are a super secret international spy, you at least bring me to one of those cool spy galas they always have.” She continued
Imagining her in a dress like that? Not the time.
“I wish- I’m just a gift shopist at the museum,” Steven nervously fidgeted in his seat.
“Do you like it?“
“What?” He was confused.
“Do you like your job?”
“I- um- yeah I guess so?” He was confused !!
“Then you’re not ‘just’ a gift shopist. You’re doing something you love,” She smiled softly. Her smile looks beautiful.
“Yeah- I uh- I guess so huh?” He had never thought about it that way. He might hate Donna and the marketing department and the occasional bratty kid. But so much a fr up for it. The way he was always surrounded by raw history. The people he saw go on dates. The glimmer in a kids eyes when they learned something interesting. Seeing people walk by themselves, silently enjoying the wonders of the past by the,selves. Seeing humanity as an outsider looking in, that was what he loved about his job.
“I promise I’m usually not this optimistic about life” she laughed lightly, interrupting his love for the human race.
Light bulb moment
“So it’s just a me thing, huh?” He repeated her words back to her, smiling throughout.
“Yeah… it is just a you thing I guess.” Some blush crept up her cheeks, and Steven would kill to know what she was thinking at this moment.
He smiled at her, his heart beating with solely love for her.
He quickly shifted the conversation to talking about her, wanting to find out more about this mystery woman.
He asked about her job outside of this one, and bloody hell!
A doctorate in Psychological Ancient Theology???
Aphrodite must’ve stabbed him herself for him to feel this much adoration for the woman sitting across from him. He never found someone who could listen to him ramble about their Egyptian gods and actually understand what the fuck he is talking about. She was….
Incredible.
He stopped mid-ramble. “Was this entire conversation just so you don’t have to tell me your name?
“No of course not!” She playfully acted offended.
Steven leaned over to her side of the table.
“Then what is it?”
She rolled her eyes and said her name.
Steven repeated it. It felt like chocolate melting in his mouth. A cold drink of water after a hot day. Warm hot tea inside on a rainy one. It felt like…. home.
“Ding ding ding. Although the last part might be changing soon” She smirked and stirred her drink.
“To what?” Steven was very confused.
She leaned over the table, their noses almost touching. The candlelight was flickering in her eyes, giving her an ethereal beauty.
“ Grant.”
Oh Steven?
Steven was finished