"Ah, no it wouldn't be rude," Cassidy said. "You don't have to eat anymore, we can go." She started to slide out.
Aena desperately reached out and grabbed Cassidy's hand. She gave a forced smile.
"Wait," Aena said. "I don't think you're actually full yet since I ate some, why don't you order some more?"
Cassidy smiled and sat down. She looked satisfied. Why? Aena thought. Was spending money fun for her? She didn't understand what exactly was so entertaining.
Aena tore her gaze away from Cassidy's smug expression and glanced around for a waiter. She spotted a couple romantically spooning each other food, trios of students gossiping, and an elderly man enjoying some pasta by himself. Oddly enough, she didn't see any attendant.
Aena had only been scouting the area for a moment or so when she heard a commotion nearby. Her head snapped to the disturbance, and she spotted several young men yelling at one of their companions.
Although they were separated by two tables and half the room, Aena could hear their voice clearly.
"You bastard! Know your place!" One of the guys jabbed his finger in another one's chest.
The victim of the belittling words kept his head down so Aena couldn't see his face. The other guy's faces were beet red, probably from alcohol, but they looked a bit familiar… had she seen them somewhere?
"You should be lucky to even be in my presence!" The guy shoved his face in the other boy's.
"I haven't been having the greatest day so far, and you wouldn't want to make it worse, would you?"
Aena saw the boy furiously nod his head. The perpetrator sneered.
"That's what I thought," he turned away from the boy, and Aena saw his face more clearly. Again Aena was hit by a sense of deja vu, but she couldn't quite put a finger on it.
"Hey," Cassidy's smooth voice drew her attention back to their own alcove.
"You look cute when concentrating." She smirked.
'Huh?'
Aena didn't know how to respond to that, so she opted to remain silent.
"So what's so interesting?"
Aena shrugged. When she saw that Cassidy was waiting for her to continue, she explained it more extensively.
"There's a commotion going on over there." She inclined her head in the direction of the yelling.
"You didn't notice," Aena asked, surprised. They were a distance apart, but it was still pretty loud. She found it hard to believe that someone could just ignore it all.
"I did, but why should I care? Especially when you're right in front of me."
Aena didn't know how to respond to that either. So Cassidy did notice, but she just didn't get why Aena would be so interested. What could she say? Humans were stupidly curious creatures. Curiosity killed the cat, but it killed countless more foolish humans. What did that last phrase mean too?
Cassidy said she didn't care, but she looked at the scene anyway. The lines on her face grew sharper. Her eyes narrowed as her eyes focused and flickered around.
"Do you know them?"
"Not really," Cassidy replied. Aena was confused. Then why did Cassidy seem like she had some vendetta against them?
She turned back to the scene. At this point, there was still shouting going on, but it was escalating. Now they weren't only yelling at the withdrawn guy, but also one of the waiters that had arrived, trying to control the situation and stop them from bothering the other diners.
"Do you know who I am?" the guy shouted loudly, his eyes unfocused. "You don't order me around!"
"Please sir, I'm just asking you to keep the volume down," the waiter said with admirable patience.
"I'm going to speak with your manager!" he yelled, clearly still infuriated.
"Very well sir, but please show some self-restraint first."
The guy narrowed his eyes, and instead of sitting back down compliant, he forcefully pulled the nearby boy up and shoved past the waiter.
"We're leaving!" he declared like some all-important prince.
The waiter brushed off the front of his uniform and stared blankly at the departing group. He sighed. The manager would understand, but someone like him couldn't afford to offend anyone random who dined here. There really were some crazy people in the world.
Now that the boy was standing, Aena got a closer look. His head was still lowered, long, brown locks concealing most of his face, but Aena could now tell that he was at least half a head shorter than all the other members of the party, and he seemed like more of a servant than an actual member.
He had a diminutive presence with his small frame and unassuming posture, but through the gaps in his bangs, Aena caught a glimpse of his face. He definitely wasn't bad looking. More beautiful than handsome though. From the intelligent gleam in his eyes, Aena could tell he was the only one at the party that wasn't drunk, or at least had a higher alcohol tolerance.
The party stumbled one way, and reaching a wall, they confusedly looked at it for a second before turning and heading another way. The previous servant stepped forward and attempted to direct them, but the arrogant guy was too stubborn to accept any help.
Aena watched the scene with interest. This was almost as good as the holomovies. It was really funny. The short boy seemed to know which direction to go in, but he just followed behind.
The supposed leader of the group growled in frustration and charged in their direction. Aena quickly swiveled her head back forward and pretended to sip furiously on her water.
She heard the drunken steps of multiple people growing closer when they suddenly stopped.
Aena was confused. She was pretty sure that they were actually going in the correct direction of the exit.
She lowered her glass of water and shifted her eyes to the side.
She saw the boss of the group staring straight at her with his jaw hanging out. He was staring at her, right? Aena shifted her eyes back to in front, not moving a single muscle. She slowly pivoted her head in the opposite direction and looked at the empty seat beside her.
Erm. Maybe he was looking at the captivating painting hanging on the wall?
A few moments passed in awkward silence. By silence, Aena meant actual silence. It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath at that moment. The quartet was the loudest one in the restaurant previously, and now that they were quiet, pretty much everyone was staring at them, watching.
"What's wrong bro?" one of the other guys asked, stretching out the words. The guy to the side also looked at him confusedly. Only the guy in the back seemed apprehensive.
He didn't answer them, instead raising an arm and pointing shakily at Aena. His arm was shaking so hard that Aena was sure that he was having a localized seizure. At this point, she would've had to be pretty ignorant to ignore the fact that he was, in fact, actually pointing at her for some reason, so she turned to face him with confidence.
His face of shock twisted into one of anger. His brows drew in and his facial features contorted.
"It's you!" he said in an incriminating tone.
Aena just stared back fiercely. Beside her, a shadow passed over Cassidy's face.