Summer walked through the glass door of the diner, a bell attached to the top tinkling as she stepped inside. The quiet murmur of people conversing mixed with the soft tones of the music playing overhead. It was quite busy, but not packed, and she approached the register to wait for service. The green-haired woman from before was working. Monet, if she recalled.
The waitress finished ringing up another patron, handing them their receipt, before Summer stepped forward and smiled. Upon seeing the blonde, the woman's smile faded just a bit, but a noticeable amount. Obviously, she recognized her.
"Welcome to Caeser's Cafe. Just one this afternoon?" Though Monet's voice was sweet, there was no denying the cold dislike in her brown eyes. It was hard to believe it's only reason was because she'd gone on a date with Law. What had Summer done to spite her? Dismissing the issue, Summer nodded, then followed the waitress to an open booth.
"Can I start you off with anything to drink?"
"Just a water, please."
"Of course." Monet smiled again, but it didn't reach her eyes. Without another word she disappeared behind the counter into the kitchen. Sighing from the pain in her legs and her growing hunger, Summer opened the menu and glanced through the choices. Most of the items were greasy and fattening, but there were a few grilled entrees that looked delicious.
The blonde was engrossed with the laminated menu, too preoccupied to notice the man walking up to her booth. "Is this seat taken?" He said, and she looked up with a small jump. Her surprise quickly turned to joy, and she smiled widely. Her favorite bartender.
"Oh, Law! Fancy meeting you here." She gestured to the seat across from her eagerly. "You can join me if you'd like."
Grinning at this unusual but pleasant development in his morning, he moved to sit in the open seat across from her. Law then noticed her attire and chuckled. "Went for a run?"
Summer pursed her lips. "Yeah, I was getting bored at home watching tv for hours. And I don't have any appointments today, so I decided to do something different." She shrugged, resting her head on her hand and smiling back at him. "Do you work today?"
He shook his head a negative. "I'm off every Sunday. Unless Corazon has dire need of me. Though, he's training a new kid to take the afternoon shift and to cover for my days off, so he can focus on operating the business."
"That man works too hard." Summer shook her head slowly, sighing at the thought of the older man being too overloaded to even work on his own business. "You've told him to take a vacation, right?"
Law shrugged, leaning back in his seat. "Tried, several times even. Too stubborn for his own good, though. Thinks the bar will go up in flames without him there, or something."
Summer laughed, interrupted by the arrival of Monet with her glass of water. "Oh, will this be a party of two?" The green-haired woman asked, that note of bitterness still present. Law smirked, crossing his arms comfortably.
"Yes, and I'll have my usual." Law replied, and Monet turned to Summer for her order, begrudgingly. If it wasn't her job, she would have refused any request she made, Summer was sure.
"Ah, I'll have the grilled chicken wrap, thank you."
The waitress accepted her menu and retreated back to the kitchen without another word, but Law and Summer simply chuckled at the suppressed temper tantrum Monet was probably internalizing at that very moment.
"You come here so often you have a usual?" She raised a brow, and he only smirked.
They chatted for several minutes about small things, waiting for their food to arrive. Summer hadn't known that Law came to the cafe every Sunday, until he told her then. It had her thinking, maybe she should do the same. Then panicked. What if he didn't want her to join him for lunch? Maybe she'd get annoying? Well, she'd have to see how things went today.
"Only two weeks away, huh? Then you're out of college." Law mentioned, watching with a grin as Summer leaned back in her seat, slumping dejectedly.
"Ugh, I know. It can't come fast enough, but I don't want it to happen at the same time. It's hard to explain." She reached for her glass of water, sipping through the straw. "I just want it to be over with, really."
"Have you decided what you're going to do for your graduation party yet?" He waited for Summer to finish drinking her water for an answer.
"I'm pretty sure I'm going to take up Corazon's offer and have it at the Heart Seat. It's easy to get to, and I'm not having a huge gathering of people anyways."
"Just promise you won't go crazy with the shots. I don't want a repeat of that bachelorette party." He grimaced, recalling the loud women and their constant catcalls, urging him to take off his shirt. Summer giggled, amused by his expression.
"I'm pretty sure the only person you have to worry about is Nami, and her mom's gonna be there so she probably won't go wild."
"Nami? I feel like I've heard that name before." He mused, tilting his head, trying to recall who she was. Just then, Monet returned with their food. She didn't say anything, but simply walked away, leaving them in peace again.
"Hmm…maybe you know her mom? Bellemere? She's the owner of Mikkan Apartments, where I live."
"Oh, that's right. Corazon is an old friend of hers." It clicked in his head. He'd heard his boss talking to the violet-haired woman before, and Nami had been brought up a few times. He didn't mention how he'd seen Bellemere the night of their second date. Nor would he mention their bet.
"Really? I didn't know that." Summer smiled, enjoying her meal. While she was hesitant to call it particularly healthy, it was still better than most of the items available on the menu. Still, the taste of grease and whatever fat they use to flavor things was rather strong. Tasty, but probably still fattening.
"Hey, Law. There was something I've been meaning to ask you." Summer started, nearly finished with her lunch. It had been on her mind since he came into the cafe. The bartender glanced at her, sipping at his shake.
"What?" He asked finally.
"Uh…you can say no if you'd like…but do you want to come to my graduation? We can invite close friends and family to watch." She scratched the back of her head, giving a small hopeful smile. He raised a brow before grinning back.
"Why would I say no?" She pursed her lips but only shrugged. Chuckling, he began finishing off the fries that came with his sandwich.
"Sure, I'll come. What time is it at?"
"2 pm, and it should last several hours, so I hope it doesn't interfere with work." Law simply waved away at her concern.
"I'll just take the day off, don't worry. I doubt Corazon would have any problems with it anyways." Well, she supposed he was right. Her smile returned.
"I'll get you the ticket for entrance beforehand." She promised, feeling elated once more.
'See? That wasn't so bad. What were you worrying so much about?'
After awhile of talking over their food, Summer figured that they'd taken up the booth for long enough. The diner was pretty busy and there were people waiting for a seat, so she waved for Monet to give them a check. The green-haired waitress simply looked away.
"Leaving already?" Law pretended to pout, but Sumer only laughed.
"Well, I keep seeing that older couple give us dirty looks, so I think it's about time we got out of here." Law looked over his shoulder to the couple she mentioned, suddenly on the receiving end of one such dirty look, but he shrugged.
"I suppose."
Soon Monet came with two checks, but Law accepted both of them. Summer opened her mouth to say something but he held up his hand. "My treat."
"You must think I'm poor or something. If I can pay for my drinks, I can pay for my lunch too, you know." She giggled, holding out her hand for her check. Law refused to give it to her.
"Think of it as a thank you, for brightening up my day a little." He flashed a genuine smile, one that Summer wished she could see more often. It made her blush, and she tilted her head to try to hide it.
"Not such a good morning?" She asked, noticing his eyes took on a faraway look.
"Just a usual Sunday." He replied somewhat cryptically, the smile never shifting. Summer only stared at him quizzically. He stood, glancing back at her to see if she were following.
"Well, now to get back home so I can binge watch tv with Max." She chuckled, grabbing her purse before standing as well. Law grinned, waiting for her to get everything in order.
"How exciting."
"What about you? What are you going to be up to?" They walked up to the counter, waiting for Monet to ring them up. Law had one hand stuffed in his jacket pocket, the other holding their checks. He shrugged.
"Nothing special, I guess. I'll probably beat Penguin and Shachi at Halo and hope they don't come over." Summer's eyebrows rose.
"Why not? I'm sure they'd be fun to have around?"
"Don't get me wrong. They're great and all, but sometimes I prefer the quiet. If they could just be silent for ten minutes, I'd be fine with them being over." He grinned ruefully, knowing full well they honestly weren't capable of such a thing. Summer smiled, watching Monet approach the counter further away.
"How fun can playing video games all by yourself really be? Isn't it more fun with others there?" The blonde hadn't played a video game before. Well, besides the few times her foster homes had gaming systems. And even then, her temporary brother or sister which it belonged to never really let her play for long.
Law looked down at the blonde thoughtfully, still clutching the checks. Monet approached and reached for the checks silently. "Will this be-" She began, but Law interrupted her, still quite lost in thought.
"Those will be together." Monet snapped her mouth shut at being stopped, but she simply added up the checks and gave him the total. Law quickly paid for their meals and received a receipt. They stepped outside, passing by the bitter-looking older couple. Once they were outside, Law made up his mind.
"You know, you're right." He suddenly said, and she looked up in confusion.
"About what?"
His signature grin settled onto his lips, and he made his way over to his bike, parked a little ways down from the cafe. Turning to Summer, he waved her to follow him. "About games not being as fun by yourself."
"Oh, well, yeah I suppose." She frowned, not quite understanding why that was such a big deal to bring up again. She followed him to his bike, and he reached into one of the satchels on the back, pulling out his second helmet.
"Would you like to join me this afternoon? Since neither of us have much to do anyways."
Her surprise overcame her confusion, and not a moment later her mouth broke into a wide smile. "Sure! Sounds great. But I should probably go home and change first." She gestured down to her workout attire,
He held out the helmet to her. "I planned on it. We can swing by your apartment and grab anything you need. You can even bring Max, if you want. I know you don't like to leave him alone for too long."
"Ok!"
And so saying, she accepted the helmet and shoved it over her head, hearing the muffled chuckle from Law as he did the same. They mounted the bike and he started the engine. In no time, the two were speeding down the road towards Mikkan Apartments.
The man watched as Law and the girl sped off, out of sight. Lowering the newspaper he'd been pretending to read from the other side of the street, he folded it up and placed it on the bench seat beside him. He pulled out his phone, calling one of the only contacts he had saved in his phone.
"What?" A male voice answered after a few rings. The man sounded neither angry nor delighted to hear from him, but that was besides the point. Standing, he began to walk away towards his car.
"It seems things are progressing as we thought. My suspicion was correct. Should we make contact?" There was a pause on the other end.
"No. We wait. If you're right, she won't be going anywhere. The closer they are, the easier things become. We may lose him if we act too soon."
"Understood." The man agreed. And with that he hung up the phone, stuffing it back into his pockets and fading into the crowd of the busy city.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
