Not wanting to tempt his father's anger, Graham attends another date at a museum he's visited once before on his own. Salvatore tried so hard to find places his son would like, not knowing that said museum is one of the least liked by Graham.
Even then, the date with Mindy Vera was better than the previous ones. Not because he actually shared topics of interest with her, but mostly because Graham was excited to eat dinner at Indigo later that day.
"I really enjoyed today's evening", Mindy says with a smile as they walk to her car in the parking lot.
"There are better museums in the city."
"We could visit them all."
Graham purses his lips together.
"Yeah, maybe."
Although he really wanted to break any contact with Miss Vera, he's starting to think that he may need to waste more time to fulfill his plan successfully.
Mindy smiles widely at him. Due to the fact he spent most of the date in silence, she didn't have high expectations of meeting him again. However, she thinks he's interested in her at least a little bit.
"Call me."
The man nods, knowing very well that he may never call her.
And that's how his third blind date finishes: with Mindy driving home with high hopes and Graham starting his way to Indigo to meet the only person he sincerely wants to know more about.
He doesn't even know why he seems to be chasing another impossible love. It may be that deep down he doesn't think a relationship with Aiden is impossible at all. After all, his plan of leaving his family behind, if successful, will give him the freedom to finally love whoever he wants without being repressed by his own blood.
Graham starts the engine of his car and thinks about the experiences he actually never lived. Although those thoughts aren't as strong nor recurrent as before, he still smiles every time they take control over his mind.
It was impossible to think that something like this would be the reason why he's being distracted from work. Salvatore Larson, fortunately, blames that distraction on the fact that his son has been meeting charming, beautiful women in the past few weeks.
If only he knew, the son thinks to himself, he would remove me from the family tree right away.
But that's still a secret. The only people who know that Graham Larson has fallen for Aiden Millers are those two men.
Graham tries to drive as fast as possible to his destination. Sadly, he's very soon trapped in traffic again.
He had already taken into account that he would waste plenty of time driving slowly from the museum to the restaurant. However, he didn't think it would take him double the time he had foreseen.
Closing time had already passed when he turned left on the street where the establishment is. To his surprise, the lights of the dining area are still on.
Graham parks his car right by the entrance of the restaurant, trying to have a peek inside without leaving the vehicle. It looks like there's no one there, which doesn't make sense because every light of the building is on.
Feeling extremely curious about it, the twenty-five year old exits his car and walks towards the glass door. There's still no sign of humanity inside, but that doesn't stop him from trying to get in.
To his surprise, a gentle push is enough to open the front door.
Now he can only think of two possibilities: either someone is still inside working on something, or someone has forgotten to close properly and will be fired early tomorrow.
"Excuse me!", he yells from the entrance.
His voice is soon followed by a clank, as if someone had dropped a metallic utensil in the kitchen.
"I've told these kids a thousand times to close the doors properly and they never…" Aiden's rant cuts off when he discovers who is the man that startled him just seconds ago. "Mr. Larson?"
Graham smiles widely at the sight of the chef.
"I'm sorry, I had planned to come earlier but traffic caught me for a while. I had to drive by anyways, so when I saw the lights turned on I thought I should check that everything's fine."
Aiden fixes his apron after drying his hands on it. "Everything's fine. Thanks for your concern. I wish I could offer you something from the menu but we've already closed", he explains with an apologetic smile.
"What are you working on? It smells good."
The younger one looks over his shoulder towards the kitchen. He would like to pretend that he's not cooking anything, but knows that the smell won't let him lie.
"Oh, yes. Well, I'm staying until late tonight because I'm working on a new recipe."
"May I try it? I'm starving right now", Graham pleads. "I promise I won't say anything about it. I could even give you some feedback."
Millers finds his sudden excitement enjoyable, which convinces him easily of showing off his work.
"Sure. Let's go to the kitchen", he offers while already leading the way. "I hope the garlic didn't burn while I was away."
Graham enters the kitchen area for the first time, taking in the details of his surroundings and imagining how it would look during the evening of a very busy day.
"Working here must be chaotic", the older states with a smile, knowing that everything is in place just because the restaurant is closed.
"Don't even get me started", Aiden replies with a scoff, adding some parmesan over the creamy garlic sauce he's prepared previously."Are you allergic to anything, Mr. Larson?"
"Please, call me Graham. And no, I'm not allergic to anything that I know of."
"I think you could be a decent judge, then."
Although Larson would like to argue, he knows that he lacks a lot of knowledge about gastronomy. Thus, he lets silence reign over them as he looks at every careful movement of the chef.
Aiden is more than aware of his stare, but doesn't mind. Hell, if he could turn around to get lost in those charming brown eyes, he'd completely forget about the already cooked shrimps that he's now serving on a plate.
Graham is even more immersed in Aiden's hands, which pour the sauce over the shrimps to assemble the dish perfectly, as if it was a piece of art.
"You really like garlic, don't you?"
The red-haired chuckles at that comment. It's true that most of the dishes he's created involve garlic, even in small doses. However, he thought it wouldn't be too noticeable to someone who has just met him.
"What can I say? It's an intense flavor."
"Maybe that's why vampires don't like it."
Aiden's laugh grows louder. It's as if he had just heard the best joke in the world, which makes Graham smile with confusion.
"I'm sorry, I just had never thought about that. But yes, I guess my dishes aren't made for the immortal. I'm sure that hungry humans like you will find this delicious, though."
Graham accepts the plate and cutlery he's offered, still puzzled about his companion's reaction. Fortunately for Aiden, he forgets about that weird interaction as soon as he takes the first bite of shrimp.
The businessman has the same shocked reaction he had when tasting Millers' food for the first time. It's as if he could feel its warmth spreading through his body, and that each bite could take him straight to his strange definition of heaven, which consists of him in his new house working on his laptop.
"How can you make such delicious recipes?"
Aiden smiles proudly to himself, crossing his arms in front of his chest with confidence after seeing the expression his dish caused.
"So, do you think it's good enough?"
"This is more than just good enough for the menu. You haven't even tasted it, have you?"
"Oh no, I don't taste the dishes I prepare for customers."
Graham rolls his eyes before taking another shrimp with his fork.
"Here, taste it."
Aiden refuses to eat but his companion doesn't seem to want to give up any time soon.
"Fine, I'll eat one", he finally accepts before opening his mouth widely.
Unlike Larson, he doesn't feel like the shrimps are too delicious to be real.
"And?"
"I think I can make it better." His lips form a pout as he goes to his notebook that was resting on a nearby metallic table.
"What do you mean? Any other restaurant would kill to have a mastermind like you in the kitchen. You're the youngest sous chef I've met. You must trust in your abilities."
Aiden is flustered with the praises served left and right. However, there's still discomfort in his expression.
"Well, it's not exactly that I don't trust myself. I do think this dish is good enough to be on this restaurant's menu. However, that's not the reason why I've created it." He sighs, not believing that he's about to share something he promised not to tell anyone. "I'm considering joining a contest soon. Only five of the best young chefs in the country will be selected based on the recipe they send and I don't think this dish in particular is enough to be in that top five."
"Oh, I thought this was just for the restaurant."
"Yes and no. I'm trying to change Indigo's old recipes, but I also want to upgrade my creations until I'm certain that no other tasty dish in the world can be compared with them."
His ambitious tone lights up a spark in his green eyes without him noticing, which captivates Graham interest with more intensity than before.
"Let me help you, then. I may not be an expert, but I can help you decide the recipe for your participation in the contest. Send me all your ideas, I'll pick the ones that stand out the most and we can taste them together to choose the best one."
Aiden doesn't say a word because he isn't sure of how to respond. It had been so long since the last time he had a close friend that he had forgotten how it felt to have any sort of support for what he does.
"Please, I still owe you one for that time I took your coat", the older man insists, feeling embarrassed while remembering how terrible he should have looked when he got drunk less than a week ago.
In all honesty, he doesn't see Graham just like a friend, but he's aware they can be nothing more than that. With that said, he's still unsure about how much he could let him inside his world without hurting him in any way.
But can he really say no to the pair of brown eyes that look at him with fascination?
The answer is no, he can't.
"Alright. Pick a couple of recipes from here." Aiden gives Graham his notebook. "Let's meet here tomorrow. I'll give you my number to keep in touch", he suggests, trying to convince himself that this is just a friendship and that it will only last till he's done with the contest.