Arriving in front of an establishment, Arthur's head nodded slightly.
'They really knew how to spend the money!'
With the clean and beautiful front, the restaurant in front of them had a cozy feeling. You could see that everything was new and recently installed.
The building was of the long type. The glass doors gave access to a confortable ambient, which was richly decorated. Several tables arranged in order, with customers already having their meals.
Arthur and Amanda chose a random table in the middle and took the menu. The restaurant also had self-service, where customers could build their own dish for a single price.
A few moments later, a soft voice could be heard beside them.
"Good Morning! How can we serve you today?"
"Hello, we would like to- oh, Emily?" Arthur was a little impressed by Emily's presence. She was dressed in a simple apron, indicating that she was the waitress. She was clean, beautiful, and spotless.
"Eh! Arthur? What are you doing here?" Emily was shocked by who was answering. She couldn't see who it was until she heard her name being called.
"I intend to have lunch..." Arthur smiled at her.
"Do you already know each other?" Amanda, who was sitting across from Arthur, spoke with a strange look. Looking at the way Emily and Arthur looked at each other, evil thoughts started to arise.
"Yes. Emily, this is Amanda, a friend-"
"Girlfri-"
"Friend! Um, and Amanda, this is Emily, a friend of mine from school." Arthur finished the introductions, looking angrily at Amanda, who was smiling at him like a flower.
"It's a pleasure!" The two greeted each other.
"Then I will do my service! What would you like to order?" Emily asked looking at Arthur. She felt uncomfortable being seen by the person she liked while working.
Arthur noticed her unease, so he quickly asked, "We'd like a regular lunch. Do you have anything special?"
"Yes, Saturday's special is Mungunzá. Would you like to ask?"
"Yeah, maybe?" Arthur looked at Amanda, who nodded.
Mungunza was a typical dish from the Brazilian northeast. It was basically a corn and bean soup with different parts of the pork like tripe, bacon and sausage. It has two different types that are very widespread, which is the sweet, used for breakfast and eaten mainly around the coast, and salty, which is more common in central regions, which is eaten for lunch. What they ate was the salty one.
"You can bring a pitcher of passion fruit juice as well, for the after meal." Amanda spoke to Emily, who quickly wrote it down.
"I'll be right back!" Emily smiled at Arthur and walked away.
Her head was full of thoughts about him, who was the girl he brought in and their involvement. The girl even called herself girlfriend!
"She likes you..." Amanda spoke suddenly.
"I know... But I can't do anything!" Arthur agreed with the statement. But he leaned on his hand to continue talking.
"Why?" Amanda asked, confused.
"We're not normal, remember? It's enough for me to have to protect my brother from all this. I may be a liar, but I don't like it..." Arthur made his point. He wasn't willing to experience a relationship filled with lies and countless secrets.
"Liar? Since when are you a liar?" Amanda asked while agreeing with Arthur in the first part. It was really hard to be honest when you were a mercenary. After all, it wasn't a secret made to be opened up, and the consequences were severe when there was an information leak.
"I do this sometimes to get out of trouble. Like when you asked me if you looked good and I agreed." Arthur spoke as he closed his eyes.
Amanda looked at Arthur in disbelief and her mouth dropped open. She tried to kick Arthur under the table, which he successfully dodged.
"Idiot!" Amanda muttered under her breath.
***
After a few moments of chatting away random topics, Emily finally emerged from the kitchen with a small pot in her hands. That's where the mungunza was, and it was enough for four people.
She brought it to Arthur's table, and went out to get the other things. A few more moments, and the table was already full of side dishes and an empty plate in front of Arthur and Amanda. It was all very well organized and the china on every plate was a clean white. Arthur helped Emily with some heavy stuff and helped her finish organizing everything.
"Have a good lunch! I'll get the juice now, so excuse me!" Emily spoke as she organized and smiled thanking Arthur.
A few moments later, she was walking down the hall with the pitcher and some glasses, when something unexpected happened.
The table with a couple that was next to Arthur spilled a glass of water on the floor by mistake, and it was at the exact moment that Emily walked by, as if it had been the work of fate.
As she slipped, Emily's body swung backwards. If she fell, it would be her ass on the floor, and all the juice would be spilled all over her. There was also the risk of glasses breaking and hurting someone, plus all the cleaning that would have to be done afterwards.
But that was if Arthur wasn't around. In one swift movement, he lightly grabbed Emily from behind and grabbed the tray of juice with his free hand. He also stood up to support Emily, but that ended up scaring her. With a little jump, the tray shook again, and the juice pitcher swung to Arthur's side, spilling the juice all over his shirt.
"Hahaha!" Amanda, who was watching the whole thing, couldn't help but laugh.
"Sorry sorry sorry! I didn't mean to!" Emily, who was still supported by Arthur, didn't notice their closeness and started to apologize to him.
"My God, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" The couple behind Emily also apologized.
"Okay, it was just an accident! No need to worry haha!" Arthur smiled at Emily and patted her gently on the back.
Only then did Emily notice their proximity, and her tan cheeks flushed even more. This drew a few more laughs from Amanda.
***
Arthur was on the second floor of the building, in what looked like a women's bedroom. It had a bed, a closet to store clothes, and a television on the wall. There was also an old Playstation 2 connected to the tv. It was decorated as a girl would normally arrange her room, with everything in its place and nice colors. A study table also graced the room. This was Emily's room.
Arthur was stripped of his shirt, which was wet with juice.
"Look, we have this shirt from my brother- wow!" Emily walked into the room through the door as she lifted her eyes to look at a shirtless Arthur.
She glared at all of his muscle as more blood rushed to her cheek. She stood there for a few moments before tossing the shirt to Arthur and turning to leave.
Bang!
"Oouch!" Emily forgot that her door was faulty to always close if left still, and slammed her face on the door.
"Are you okay?" Arthur walked over to her with the new shirt in his hand.
"Uhm!" Emily nodded. But the tears that were coming from her eyes said otherwise. This drew a few laughs from Arthur, who was finding her very cute at the moment.
"What are you laughing at?" She asked him a little angrily.
"You look so cute like that!" Arthur said without thinking. "Is this for me?" He pointed at the cloth in Emily's hands.
"Ah, yes! I had almost forgotten. It's for you to clean up!" She blushed at what Arthur said and lowered her face. But there was a smile on her lips that couldn't be hidden.
He took the cloth and cleaned himself, all under Emily's gaze, who forgot to leave. He wore the shirt and it even fit well, if you compare the physical differences.
"Shall we?" Arthur asked, noticing her expression. He was actually having a little fun with the way things were going.
"Oh yeah!" Emily waved hurriedly and turned to leave. But she again forgot that the door was closed.
But, before she could slam her face against the door, one hand came to the front of her forehead and the other gripped her waist to stop her movement.
"Again?" Arthur spoke, close to her ear. The heat of his breath brushed Emily's ear and sent shivers through her body.
Emily's body went limp at that and she leaned against Arthur behind her. She looked up and found his green eyes staring into hers.
Their lips were close together, and she could smell Arthur's masculine scent. As a result, Emily's heart began to pound madly at the thought of being so close to him.
She could also feel Arthur's heart through her strong muscles. She turned her body around without even thinking about it, and her demeanor contrasted with her usual shyness.
She felt Arthur's hand on her back and his other hand on her face. She didn't hesitate to bring her face closer. Their lips were just millimeters away from connecting. Shivers of excitement ran through their bodies.
"Emily, are you here?" A woman's voice came from behind the door as it opened.
Emily immediately jumped out of Arthur's embrace, pushing him uselessly. She turned to the door, Arthur behind her.
A woman who looked to be about 40 years old entered the room. She was white, with black hair. Despite the difference in skin color and hair, she was like a copy of Emily. Or rather, Emily was a copy of her.
"Mom!" Emily screamed like a child caught doing something wrong.
"Mom?" Arthur asked with an odd smile.