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When Regina pulls over right on the pinned location, she expects the restaurant facade to be lavish. By that, she means tall, glass windows that top off into an arch ordaned with metal scrollwork; warm light fixtures and the restaurant name etched on the top in rich print. All of those, like what she sees usually on Parisian streets, not what unruly sight is before them now.
It's so… bland. The building complex tries to imitate Italian exterior. It's certainly an attempt, but maybe forgivable considering which part of the neighborhood they were in. It gives way, however, for the restaurant to keep up so poorly—there's little to no effort. The name is written on top for the sake of identification, but it relies on the complex for its aesthetics. No artistic vision, it seems like. The interior's color scheme doesn't even match.
She narrows her eyes. Was this the wrong location? It couldn't be. The GPS says it's right. Cady is happy enough she's arrived, but Regina is skeptical.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" Regina asks in the nicest way she could manage and looks over to Cady on the passenger seat, who has her head turned away as she takes in the restaurant front.
It takes her three seconds too long to turn back to Regina.
"Of course, why wouldn't it be?" she replies, ever so innocent. She doesn't question the tone that belies Regina's true impression of the place. Regina looks once at the building behind Cady and back at her. She knows Cady always had the most questionable taste in clothes, but seriously, even restaurants?
"Just making sure," she says simply with a tight-lipped smile before stepping out of her Lexus. She just wishes no one from North Shore is around to see her walking towards—or even being in the vicinity—of this sorry excuse of an establishment.
But fine. If Cady likes it, then, who's Regina to say no?
It's not like she likes her or anything, god, no, she'd rather die than even say that out loud. Or even think about it in the first place. It's just… whatever.
"A friend told me about this place," Cady says, stepping on the curb. "He says the food's really good and that we really have to try their fries."
The mention of fries catches Regina's attention, but also the mention of an unnamed male friend of Cady's.
"Who?" Regina asks, pulling her purse over her shoulder. They're at the door already—it's glass, like most restaurants these days, but the handle is an unapologetically cheap metal. Ugh. She barely keeps the face of disgust to herself.
There's not a lot of people inside. Not enough to give Regina the impression of good cuisine, anyway. There's three people, and two are sharing a table. They don't look all too happy.
"Aaron," Cady says and steps into a booth. Did she just say Aaron?
Regina feels the need to clarify. "Aaron Samuels?"
"Yes, Aaron Samuels. I don't know a lot of Aarons, you know." Cady laughs.
Her eyebrows furrow. What business does Aaron have in a place like this? No, better yet, what business does he have with Cady? An unknown rage settles over Regina when she thinks of Cady, all up and close with Aaron, exchanging favorite restaurants with him. All she's saying is, she could definitely do better.
"You could definitely do better," she says. Out loud. Wait, Regina, what, like, with the choice of destination, or—
Cady looks at her perplexed. "What?"
Shit. Sorry.
"I mean, why would you even go here? I'm sure there are better options out there, like the one just on the other block," she manages to say.
Cady shrugs. "He said it's good, so, I thought I'd go here. With you."
But if you wanted me to know about this so bad and how he told you about it, then you could've just—really this could've been a text message that I definitely won't be moping about for days, Regina thinks. And why Regina of all people? If Cady wanted to talk about Aaron effing Samuels so bad then she could've just brought him instead, right? She doesn't need to know every single minuscule detail Cady has to share about him. Because Regina already knows enough. Aaron was hers. He still is!
A sheepish call of her name takes her out of her train of thought. "Um, Regina?"
"What?" she says, and it comes off more harsh than intended.
"I just wanted to know if you were ready to order."
Her eyes meet Cady's, and she sees that same innocent look from the first day they met. But now, Regina knows she’s definitely hiding something underneath.
Or maybe she's being way too harsh on her. Regina sighs.
"I'll take cheese fries." I don't even know if they have cheese fries, Regina thinks.
"You want anything else?" Cady's eyebrows raise with her question. It's almost cute. Good, so they do. Good, Cady doesn't comment on how Regina hasn't taken one look at the menu and how she's trying to explode Cady with her mind instead. Or herself.
"No, just cheese fries." Regina smiles.
On any other occasion, it'd be easy to talk about anything that comes to mind. Like how Sarah from third period tried to hit on one of the jocks but failed miserably, or how her friend Jane looks like she's already en route to a third pregnancy. How Madison wore the ugliest skirt she's probably seen in her sixteen years of living, or how that one girl tripped and fell into a garbage bin two days ago. Regina can't even be bothered to know her name.
But she says none of that. It's just her and Cady at the table—the ever doting Gretchen or that stupid girl Karen aren't here to talk shit with her. Cady is still part of the Plastics, and she's definitely said worse in front of her before. What makes today so different?
Right. Why couldn't Gretchen and Karen come again?
"You kinda left them out of this," Cady says suddenly. She's already handing the menu books back to the waiter.
"Oh, did I say that out loud?" Regina tries to say dismissively, but the way the tips of her ears turn red says yes you absolutely did you dumb whore.
"I guess you did." Cady shrugs. "Why though?"
Regina runs her hair up and over her ears and rests her forearms on the table. "Those two don't ever know what they're doing. Especially Karen."
Cady shakes her head at this.
"What, do you like Karen? Is that why you're looking for her?" She grins. God, Cady, please don't say yes. We're already in a bad enough restaurant, she thinks.
"No, of course not," Cady interjects and shakes her head again.
Regina raises her eyebrows. "Oh. So who do you like?" The words leave her before she's able to stop them. She just wants to know for, well, reasons. And she could definitely use this information against her some time in the future. For god's sake, she's Regina George, and she also definitely couldn't care less about who Cady has her sights on.
Wait, but if that's the case… why is she asking?
Cady hums, and then she chuckles. "Why do you want to know so bad?"
"It's a girl to girl conversation we're having, aren't we?" Regina rolls her eyes.
"I don't have any problem with that," Cady says in her oh-so-sweet voice. Regina considers doubling down and demanding answers, but there's no point in that when clearly, Cady's stubborn enough to circle around her questions. Back to that little Aaron Samuels fiasco.
"Why did Aaron tell you about this place?" she asks, but she earns a quizzical look from Cady.
"Like I said, he thinks the food is good. I just wanted to know if it's true or not."
Right. "Do you even know how this place is rated online?"
"No, does it matter?"
Regina gasps, scandalized. "Duh. You’ve never thought of that? It’s why I’m having a ton of doubt. Just have a look and you'll get what I'm talking about."
"It looks fine to me," Cady deadpans.
"Well it's not. Look it up." Regina thinks of doing it herself and putting her phone right into Cady's face when she's proven right by a (possible) half-star public opinion, but it's definitely more fitting if Cady did it herself. To find out just how wrong Aaron is.
Which should give Cady another reason to never speak to him again. It's all for Regina's benefit.
Of course she's right, when Cady grimaces at her screen and looks up at Regina.
"One star. It's the lowest rated place in the area…" she says, and Regina bites back these strange feelings of regret when she sees how Cady looks like a kicked puppy. A part of her can't help taking Cady's hands into hers.
She's taken aback by this sudden contact.
"It's okay," Regina starts, but of course the more snarky side of herself wins over. "But you know, it was your decision, and we already ordered. So deal with it."
Regina lets go of her hands. Cady sighs and presses her lips together.
"Whatever. Maybe those people were wrong, because Aaron thinks the food's—"
"Really good, yes, I know, I'm sure of it, right?" Regina cuts her off. Okay, to be fair, she didn't have to hear the same exact thing over and over again. She hates repetition.
Regina bites her lip. "I mean, let's see for ourselves, shall we?"
She looks at Cady with a stiffened smile. If she was going to win Cady over, she should at least learn how to play nice. Wait, shit, did she say Cady? She means Aaron. If she was going to win Aaron over, she has to be a hundred times nicer than Cady. That's going to absolutely work.
The waiter returns with their orders before Regina's mind could stray too far. She doesn't miss the way Cady reaches over to help with the plates nor the way she mutters some small words of gratitude before the staff leaves. And she definitely doesn't miss the way she smiles at Regina before breaking eye contact and sliding her plate of cheese fries across the table.
Whatever. It's all so pretentious to her. Regina's sure this restaurant's got nothing to prove and expects the fries to taste like burnt tires.
On very rare occasions, she's wrong and the course of events she orchestrated in her mind don't exactly happen. Unfortunately, this was one of the said very rare occasions—it comes off as a shock, Regina George is never wrong—because the food literally melts in her mouth and exposes her to flavors she's never even tasted before. Not even in the assortment of expensive European restaurants she's been to throughout her life.
She's also so wrong about not caring too much about Cady, because no matter how much she tries to look away from her general direction and towards the rather uninspired wallpaper the management put up, she's already fixating on Cady's lips before she realizes. Her mind wanders elsewhere. She could be wrong about not caring about what Cady thinks of Aaron because she's already gripping her fork so hard her knuckles turn white.
Well, that's all it is. A possibility. She doesn't have to worry about things that aren't real.
Regina thinks of the first time she saw Cady, clad in blue plaid and brown slacks. Straight out of Africa. Sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of the cafeteria wholly uninspired and lackluster. She just nearly likens her to the cheese fries she ordered.
That's ridiculous.
So, Regina doesn't tell her anything but gossip she picked up (and started) when she finally musters the strength for it.
"Are you done?" she asks, having her plate ironically emptied when Cady's only halfway done with her dish.
"It hasn't even been any more than ten minutes," Cady replies, bemused. She stares pointedly at Regina.
"Whatever. I wanna go shopping already, so just… hurry up."
Or don't, Regina thinks. Because she wants to study Cady's face a little more. Her features. Her hair. It's only because she plans to dress her up in brand new clothing and with that, she has to get a better idea of what would look good and horrible on her. Definitely not because of other things she doesn't want to talk about.
Regina's eyes trail down from Cady's focused ones to her glossed lips.
Regina smirks.
"Don't take too long. I have a lot prepared just for you."