Yesterday ended and Thursday came, Ely decided to wake up early that day. He had to get dressed and practice his facial expressions in the mirror. By default, his eyebrows burrowed, his eyes drooped, and his mouth fell emptily on his face.
With age, Ely only became more grimacing. There was no need for him to keep up appearances at his age nor did he have anyone he needed to please.
Today was the exception—Tamari was the exception.
He did have a bias against those with [Divinities] since the ones he met all believed they were top shit. Better than others or deserved more than others who work hard. They believed was the golden spoon and the ones below had to feed it to them.
But if Tamari had a [Divinity], and even if she acts in such a manner, Ely would tolerate it.
Ely's face was trained for this, interchanging its expression to the next. He could make you think he was either the happiest or depressed man in the room just by slightly changing his expression and body language. It was only his true nature that made him slouch into the man he was now.
The last thing he had to do was get to the restaurant earlier than the set time. He reached his door and looked at his place one last time before leaving, his apartment gave the same feel as looking into the eyes of an elderly man.
His father chose a restaurant a walking distance from his apartment to ensure his son would have no excuse for getting there late. He went to the women standing at the front doors with the image of the reservation in hand.
"Welcome sir! It appears you're guest has already arrived, follow me."
'Tamari was already here?'
Anxiousness had crept its way into Ely's legs as he stumbled behind the woman, this wasn't a part of the plan. He wanted to be the first one there to give him the security of having a look at the menu beforehand and gracefully greeting his guest as she stepped closer to the table.
The woman turned to meet Ely's eyes, "Here you are sir, call me over when you two have decided," she grinned at him then swiftly stepped away from the two. Creating an open distance between Ely and Tamari.
He quietly slid his chair out and sat. Tamari's eyes peered through every inch of him, he glanced up to meet her eyes as well.
She dressed in colors per Ely's—his father must've color-coordinated the two. His clothes were blue undertones and dark blue lining. Tamari wore a short skin-tight dark blue dress with a cut-through cleavage. Her chest...
Tamari quickly straightened her back with a slight blush after following Ely's gaze. With one hand residing on her chest, the other extended out towards Ely, "Tamari Rosemary, how do you do?"
Ely cleared his throat before shaking hands with her, "No need to speak casually with me Tamari," He took her hand with a gentleness before locking eyes with her, "Ely Calvillo."
Her smile gradually appeared as she retracted her hand. Handing Ely a menu, "I've met your parents already, I might have been out of line but I wanted to learn more about you."
'That in itself is weird enough,' unlike his thoughts he returned a welcoming smile to Tamari.
"I have no issues with that, but why be anxious to meet with me?"
She took a small sip from her water, her face flooding with emotions from the simple question, "I intend to marry you."
'She's more of a man than me.'
"As do I."
Her eyes widened at this, "You like me as well?"
Ely playfully replicated her mannerisms, taking a sip from his waters before nodding at her, "I wouldn't be here if I didn't."
Tamari let out a small chuckle when they shook hands her almond skin was as smooth as it could be and she had a pleasant smell radiate from her. Her voice was more down to earth than it was pitchy.
Ely concluded that he would have no issue tolerating her, despite her good luck and meeting most of his criteria. He still felt no attraction towards her only the same charisma you'd have with a good friend.
"I've ordered for us already," she paused before letting her excitement take over her, "If that's alright with you, I heard from Mrs. Calvillo as to what you enjoy eating. I wasn't able to choose drinks because there wasn't enough time to ask her about that," she smiled brightly as she spoke, "We looked at your baby pictures too—you were so cute!"
Ely's cheeks flushed. All the baby pictures his mother had were embarrassing, he was a chubby baby. His father would laugh at how long the birth took because of his weight when he was a toddler. Thus, Ely made sure not to be overweight as he got older.
"I see, he looked in the drink category of the menu before looking back at Tamari whose eyes never left him once, "I'll try something new, I'll have the same as you."
Her hair slowly floated from her shoulders as she hurriedly called a waiter over and she asked for two Heavenly Abodes. The waiter noted down her requests before swooping the table for the two menus, giving Ely a second glance.
His heart started to climb in his throat, Ely could not only Tamari's stare but everyone in the restaurant. If he had turned around he would've made eye contact with at least three people before they looked away.
Tamari tapped her fingertips on her thighs as she waited for Ely to initiate a conversation.
Ely decided to ask how she knew of him, he'd preferred if she wasn't a fan of his previous work since it'd be easier on him to communicate with her, "How did you learn of me?"
She let out a soft chuckle, "I was one of your sponsors for 'The Seashore's Daughter,' you must've had many sponsors...I tried so hard to meet with you," her mouth pursed at this and her eyes gloomed from their glisten state.
'Was she...'
Ely's face struggled to keep its composure, a few months ago he was notified that someone was lurking around his apartment complex, specifically the floor he lived on.
It was quickly resolved and Ely easily forgot about it but Tamari's words resurfaced the memory.
The thought of his father pairing him with a stalker disturbed him.
"I'm sorry to hear that, I was heavily focused on the project."
The waiter mutely placed their meals in front of the two, Tamari bobbed her hair at the waiter to thank them before responding to Ely.
"That is alright, no need to fret I was overseas at the time so it would have been difficult to meet in the first place."
Ely's worries about Tamari being a stalker settled at this, he picked up his knife and fork beginning to cut through his steak paired with Brussels Sprout soup.
He took a bite from the steak, "Is it alright to ask how old you are?"
Tamari commenced her eating as well, she had ordered the same as Ely—presumably to adjust her taste to his.
"Twenty-six."
"I'm guessing you know my age already?"
She grinned at him, "I've been familiarizing myself with you since back then."
Ely decided to make light of her words despite how strange it seemed, "We could skip the dating phase, couldn't we?"
Tamari looked at him with amusement, "We could."
Their dinner continued while each one spoke about something, Ely decided to make conversation from when he was acting. His memory never declined despite his age, almost as if his memories were all in one book. All he had to do was flip through the pages.
Tamari kept her cheery characteristic when speaking with Ely. She rambled over the wonders she saw out of state connecting the fact she's seen almost the same amount of places as Ely had.
Dessert came and the mood was well set. Ely found his time enjoyable with Tamari after a while, she had a soft-spoken attitude, she was quiet to others like the waiters but alive when she spoke with him. He could tell that there was no need to doubt her true feelings about him.
It was only when Tamari retracted to the past topic about the last season he ever did.
Ely tried to make the spotlight shine on Tamari with his inquiries, "What was your favorite scene?"
Tamari pulled away from the table and let a curl twirl in her finger as she tried to go back into her mind and name a scene that she particularly liked.
"It'd have to be when you go to the sea with her and she shows that she was a [Divinity] all along. That part still gets me, her hair changing color and the appearance change was a nice touch."
Ely smiled at her words.
The scene she liked was the one he despised filming.
"What was your favorite scene, Ely?"