* X x * x * x * Chapter 12 * x * x * x X*
After their little banter, they walked along the coast until they were near the restaurant that Z had eyed earlier.
They found a restaurant that specializes in seafood and went inside. She was still trying to regain herself as she sat down on one of the tables.
They received a glass of water and the menu from a waiting staff member who approached them as they settled themselves.
She looked at the menu, and her eyes almost went out of their sockets when she saw how expensive the foods were. One simple dish could easily be a month's worth of her allowance.
Z somehow sees her troubled about the prices and says, almost pleadingly, "Tell me anything you fancy; it's my treat. I inconvenienced you by taking you out here, and I would hate it if I didn't treat you with anything."
"Really? Don't mind if I select the most expensive one here." She replied, still not sure if it was okay for her to do that.
"It'd be hard for me to pick anything, so why don't you decide?" She urged Z to choose for them.
"Let's see," Z said as she scanned the menu.
Z smacked her lips and asked without tearing her eyes from the menu, "Do you eat veggies? 'Cause I myself am not a fan."
Kaye voiced a simple yes to the question. She fell into a trance as she looked at the raven-haired woman's lips, with whom the latter played, nibbling and biting her bottom lip while scanning the menu.
"Okay, uh, how about some... salad and coleslaw?" Z asked as she flipped the page to the main course and added, "Lobster tails with garlic butter?"
Z looked up to get her approval, and she nodded accordingly.
"Okay, and, uh, Deluxe Lobster and Potato Chip Rolls, and, uh, ooh! I'd love some mac and cheese. Anything else you'd like to add? Would you like some wine? I can't drink, though, since I'm driving." Z finished and closed the booklet.
"I-I think that's more than enough. I'd have a strawberry lemonade as my drink." She spoke sheepishly.
"Alright, then. I'd like that as well." Z called out to the waiter to repeat all the orders, added a few more servings, and they waited for the food in silence.
Z just kept on browsing through her camera while Kaye just admired how engrossed she was, not knowing that Z was actually looking at the photos she took of her.
"I think I took a lot of amazing shots. How would you like me to send it to you?" Z raised her head to look at the strawberry blonde that was sitting across from her. "That's me asking for your contact details," she added with a wink.
"How about you print it and drop it off at the shop?" Kaye teased, and when she said that, she could see the disappointment on the raven-haired girl's face.
"I mean, who still prints their picture?" She chuckled. "Well, unfortunately, my printer will stop working tonight, so can you, like, give me at least your Instabram?"
"You know, I thought you were the silent type, so I find it amusing that you actually talk, like, a lot!" She teased her.
"Well, I usually talk a lot to people I like and find interesting, and when I start talking, it's hard for me to stop." Z declared and chuckled.
When Kaye heard the woman across from her laugh, she unknowingly smiled. She wondered how such a simple chuckle would evoke something in her.
Kaye resisted asking which category she belonged to, fearful of the answer, and instead said, "I'll hit you up if you agree to take a selfie or two with me to post online."
Z threw her a confused look and said, "That's it? Easy."
"Consider it done." Z asserted. "Well, shall we take it now?"
"That would be great!" Kaye moved to the side of the table and pulled her phone out of her pocket.
She closed the distance between them; their shoulders met, which sparked something inside of her all the way down to her belly. She tried to brush it off and snapped a selfie. The photo didn't turn out well in her eyes because it captured her reddened face. Obscured by the fact that Z also felt the same.
She cleared her throat. "Uh, that didn't turn out well. One more time."
This time they were able to smile at the camera.
She glanced at the photo and admired Z's timid smile, which almost looked like she'd pursed her already thin lips even more.
She quickly returned to her side across from Z after exchanging contact information with her.
'Damn, I finally have her social media account, and now, we're friends!' Z thought to herself before saying, "Wow, you've got a lot of followers." Without looking up, Z told Kaye as she nodded, her brows shooting up in agreement.
Both of them decided to browse through each other's accounts.
"It's not that much! Most of these people are from high school and college." Kaye answered before checking the other's follower count.
"Oh, wow. I mean, you don't get to say that when you have more followers than me." Kaye scoffed playfully.
"Ah, that's also from school. I don't know; it baffles me why they follow this account." Z shrugged as she kept looking down at her phone.
"Are you serious, right now?" Kaye asked the raven-haired woman, not knowing if she should be annoyed or what.
"Why?" Z asked innocently, this time looking up and meeting the strawberry blonde's eyes.
Kaye just studied her face, pondering if she should stress the obvious. Her eyes trailed down the dark-haired woman's eyes to her lips which showcased a tiny smile.
"Well, I think it's because you're hot." Kaye rolled her eyes at the woman who just scratched her nose at her compliment.
"No, I'm not. You are." Z's eyes traveled back to Kaye's, and she looked down again, trying to suppress her smirk by biting her bottom lip.
Kaye could feel the rush rise from her neck to her ears as she reflected on how unfair this was. There goes that biting again, but it's cute rather than hot this time.
It confuses her how Z was able to affect her with the smallest gesture. She decided it was because she liked the woman sitting across from her. She knew that its a fact and nothing was ever going to change it. She hopes there isn't.
"I can see that you love shoes." Kaye tried to change the subject and scrolled down to look at most of her posts, and most of them are her shoes and shots of landscapes.
"Mmm, yeah I do." Z nodded in response. She smiled at her and stopped looking at her phone at put it on the table.
Kaye gave the woman one last look before looking back at her phone. She could still feel the heat resting on her ears. There are occasional pictures of herself, but most of them are pictures of other people. There were also other women besides Z at some point.
She even battled with herself not to ask her who these people were. She thought of maybe checking their profiles later on, but she's sure she wouldn't have the time since she doesn't really go over other people's accounts. Z is an exemption.
They were both going over their social media accounts when the food came. Kaye put her phone down on the desk and gawked at the food on the table.
"Wow, all of it looks delicious!" Kaye exclaimed.
"Indeed, c'mon, let's eat so we can walk around some more," Z agreed, and both of them ate their hearts out.
After they finished their lunch, they went outside once again, and they continued to walk around the beach resort, taking pictures and engaging in small talk.
There was even more than one occasion when they both almost fell after stumbling over something, making the both of them laugh at their silliness.
They trailed along the shore while admiring the scenery surrounding them. Kaye just watched Z as she snapped here and there not bothering to engage in small talk to let the woman do her thing.
The sun was threatening to start setting with the change in its hue to a mild orange, turning a wonderful, clear blue sky into a hint of purple. If it were the summer, they would have dreaded the day.
No one said it out loud, but they were thankful that it was autumn and the sun wasn't such a bitch to them. Their feet started hurting, so they decided to call it a day and head back.
Back to the car, Kaye raised a question that earned a chuckle from Z: "Do you want me to drive us back?"
Z replied with a playful smirk, "Why, am I too much of a slow driver for you?"
Kaye wanted to answer yes but didn't want to offend her. She didn't really mind, but she still wanted to offer. "No, I don't really mind, but I thought you might want to take a rest from driving."
Kaye paused, then added, as she tapped the car's roof, "You know what? Never mind and forget about it. You do the driving; I don't want to pay for anything if I damage this car."
Z did not respond and simply walked toward the strawberry-blonde girl and stopped just a few inches away. Z's hand reached for the roof while the other was on the other side, locking Kaye in between her arms.
Kaye's breath hitched as she felt nervous when she saw her invade her personal space, catching her off guard. She swallowed a lump in her throat as she watched Z's sideways smirk play on her lips.
Z leaned over, surprising Kaye with the next thing she did.