Christopher pulled out the chair from the table that they were led to and he waited patiently for Emilia to sit down.
Emilia looked around in awe.
"I didn't realise that this place existed."
"Neither have I until recently. One of our clients recommended it to me. What do you think?"
"It looks very fancy. I hope their food matches the level of care they took in interior design."
"Hopefully." Christopher looked at the menu.
"It looks like a good spot for a date." Emilia noted as she looked around and noticed a couple sitting together on the other side of the room, whispering intimately into each other's ears.
"And who would you bring here? Mr Bleam? Mr Cosby?" Christopher asked feeling a sudden Lang of jealousy that he wasn't used to. Emilia widened her eyes at an accusatory tone.
"Maybe Grace." She admitted.
"Grace Bleam?"
"Yes."
"Oh." Christopher felt awkward as he just now realised that he didn't consider that there might've been an additional reason as to why Emilia could reject him. "I'm sorry. My assumption was rather narrow-minded. I didn't consider that you're into women."
"No." Emilia chuckled nervously. "Grace is a close friend of mine. Since we met a few months ago, we really clicked together."
"Oh."
"Besides, I'm into no one."
"No one?"
"I'm not really into men or women." Emilia admitted omitting the fact that she only felt that tugging feeling towards Christopher. "What about you? I don't remember any scandals with you in recent years."
"I'm straight." Christopher answered honestly. "But I haven't been interested in dating for a long time."
"I-… I don't mind if you date. As I've said, I am happy with you living your own life during our… arrangement." Emilia lied outright. She wasn't going to say otherwise to someone like him.
"I'm not really interested."
"I see." Emilia felt awkward with their conversation so she hid her blushing face behind the menu. "At those prices, it better be the best food I've ever had."
"If it isn't, I offer you an alternative."
"Is it the sushi place you spoke of?"
"No." Christopher shook his head. "I wanted to offer my own culinary skills. I'll make you dinner some time this week."
"Can you cook?"
"I wouldn't offer it otherwise."
"You're a bag full of surprises."
"And so are you, Dr Vincent-Hayden."
"I do not go by doctor."
"You've told me that before, but why?"
"I am not a medical professional."
"You've spent years studying to earn that title."
"It feels ostentatious."
"You earned it."
"I just don't like it."
"That's fine. I still think that you should use it."
"I don't want to flaunt that I seek academic and professional validation to feel somewhat worthy as a person from the get go."
"It never once crossed my mind. I just thought that you were truly dedicated to your research area."
"After three years of dwelling on the same thing, I've hated every part of it."
"That's dedication though." Christopher leaned back in his chair and he attentively watched Emilia who was still trying to hide behind the menu. Her light hair was tidily in a bun, with two streaks escaping on each side of her face. Her eyebrows were arched in a smooth curve above her large eyes under the curtain of eyelashes. "Was it Mystery Vincent-Hayden?" He corrected the title used which made Emilia chuckle.
"Mystery Hayden was meant to be your new title."
"I'm not really a mystery though."
"More so than me." Emilia shrugged. "Did your client recommend anything in particular from this menu?"
"No. I was going to pick the first thing anyways."
"Mhmm… I need to work out what I am in mood for first."
"White or red is my only question?"
"Sorry?"
"Wine."
"No, thank you."
"Champagne?"
"I'm quite alright, thank you."
Christopher furrowed his brows.
"One glass isn't going to be an issue at work." He said reassuringly.
"I don't really drink." Emilia admitted.
"I-…" Christopher shifted uncomfortably.
"You go ahead." Emilia put down the menu and waved her hand. "I don't mind. Which do you prefer? Red or white?"
"I think I will abstain." Christopher looked back at the menu, unsure what to order instead of the wine he had in mind. His mind was blank. It was long since he started drinking, and some days he definitely drank much more than he should have. "Do you not drink much then?"
"Very rarely I will have a sip of champagne. And mostly because many event venues do not offer non-alcoholic options, or not very good ones. I feel like having orange juice every time I'm at a fancy event is just wrong. Although, there were a few events where they offered sparkling grape juice! That was nice. Not as fancy but easily disguised as champagne so no one seems to judge me. Or come up with some obscure gossip."
"Obscure gossip?"
"The drinking culture is very ingrained into the society. When someone spotted me opting out for a non-alcoholic option at the beginning of the grad school, they straight away assumed that I had to pregnant. That gossip spread like wildfire, and to the point where my supervisor started to ask some suspicious questions."
"And you weren't?"
"No." Emilia shook her head. "I didn't even date anyone at a time."
"That's ridiculous. And only because you didn't drink alcohol?"
"Yes!"
"That sucks."
"It did for a while. Then I have learnt to laugh at it."
"That's good."
The waiter came over and they've ordered the food, increasingly comfortable in each other's company.
"You might enjoy this story. A blast from the past." Christopher started with a grin on his face. "I think I was about 14 when the infamous Twilight movie was released."
"I'm already liking where it's going." Emilia leaned closer, resting her arms on the table.
"The rumour that I was a vampire spread like a wildfire. Some girls in my year concluded that my introverted self, my pale complexion and dark hair, were the evidence of me being Edward Cullen." Christopher burst into laugh as he said it. Emilia's mouth dropped open before she started laughing.
"You're kidding?"
"Not at all. I was tall for my age so I had to be a good two hundred years old. Although, it did get weird. The number of people that tried to lift my shirt at the school field during breaks when it was sunny to see my glittery and sparkly skin was utterly ridiculous."
"Oh my God." Emilia covered her mouth to hide her laugh, completely ineffectively.
"It wasn't the best time in my life. During the prom my classmates threw a glitter bomb at me and I couldn't get it out for weeks after."
"That's horrible. You poor thing."
"The question is, where you team Edward or team Jacob?" Christopher asked which made Emilia laugh even harder.
"I am ashamed to admit that I was always team Carlisle, but I've only seen the first movie and I have read the first book. I couldn't stomach it."
"Carlisle is a fair call. And you've missed out on a whole movies of cringe."
"You've seen them all?!"
"And I've read them all."
"Wow." Emilia didn't hide her amazement any more. "That is the kind of information that really should be on your Wikipedia page."
"My Wikipedia page? I forgot someone did that."
"Yeah. It's not very good. I'm pretty sure that they've got your birthday wrong."
"Re-write it."
"I have a better idea. I should write a blog. 'Mystery Hayden through his fake wife's eyes'."
"I don't feel like there would be much to put in there."
"The glitter bomb story definitely deserves a spotlight."
Christopher sipped on a newly brought glass of cola with a smile still on his face.