Dinner and Company (private rp play)
Connor Huxley had just gotten out of work after dealing with a messy scene. The other tech on duty had mishandled a bag of fluids and ended up soaking Connor’s clothes. After the hottest and longest shower at work, he’d changed into jeans and a plain t-shirt he had in his locker. He was cranky and tired. After looking at his watch, he realized it would take too long to go home and cook dinner if he stopped at the market for fresh vegetables. Instead he opted to stop and grab a burger.
He pulled into a parking spot near the Ship Inn. It was a little out of the way but they served good food and had a hefty selection of alcohol. Something he thought he could use after today. He was feeling a bit on the lonely side as his world was slowly disintegrating. His fiance had left and everything else he had built outside of his actual career had slowly come to a standstill, including personal connections.
He was about to head in when he spotted a young woman with dark brown, possibly red hair, standing by the door. She looked like she was waiting for someone. He hoped not. He walked up to her. “I don’t mean to be completely forward but don’t suppose you’d like to join me for dinner?”
After a long day fighting with her boss and extremely tired of being pushed aside, the only thing Emily felt she could do was accept the damn assignment and get away from that office as soon as possible. There she was, standing by the door of Ship Inn, waiting impatiently for her sister to appear, so she could pour her heart out about how she hates her job at The Golden Star, while doing the job she’s supposed to do, that is a review about the place. The thing is, Katie was awfully late, what was usual for her, but each second that passed would get Emily even more upset than she already was.
She watched the movement of people coming and going, and heard the loud talking, she felt the loneliness creeping into her, so she putted her hands on her jeans pocket and grabbed her phone to text Katie asking where she was, when suddenly a blonde man, walked up to her and asked “I don’t mean to be completely forward but don’t suppose you’d like to join me for dinner?”. She jumped a little, not expecting someone else other than Katie to approach her. “I’m waiting someone” she managed to mumble. She saw him start to walking in, when she felt her phone vibrate in her hand, on the screen she saw that Katie had just answered her “Just met a cute guy on my way out of work!! Raincheck? Katie sham”. She exhaled loudly at the disappointing message from her sister, then she quickly turned around, looking for the blonde man who’d have just entered the place. “Hey! The invite is still up?” She asked a loudly and blushing a little as she realized how loud she just sounded, while a shy smile creeped into her face.
She was much more beautiful than he’d appreciated as he walked up. When she turned him down, he simply nodded. “Of course. I couldn’t imagine you would be dining alone. Apologies.” He walked into the place and was immediately assaulted by the live musc. He took a moment to adjust. He thought of how company would have made the night better. He was looking for an empty stool .not needing a table when he heard her call out to him. He turned and smiled widely. For such a small person, her voice carried above the music and a few other patrons looked at her.
“The invite is very much there. Please.” He spied an open table in the back. “Follow me.” He led them both to the back of the restaurantas the band played on. He pulled the chair out for her and waited until she sat to push it back in. “I must say I’m delighted you could accompany me.” A server was upon them the moment he had taken a seat. “Oh.. two pints please. Unless you wish for something else?” The server looked at the young woman and waited until she replied before heading to fetch their drinks. “I’m sorry my manners.” He extended his hand. “I’m Connor.. Connor Huxley. And you are?”
Emily felt relieved that she wouldn’t be alone right now, they got to the table in the back of the restaurant and asked for pints, which she gladly accepted, she was really needing something to chill after the day she had. He introduced himself and extended his hand. She shook his hand and blushed slightly, “I’m Emily Fitch and sometimes I’ll blush out of nothing” she half joked and half admitted as she felt the warmth in her cheeks. She wasn’t sure why she was nervous, and she hoped he couldn’t tell, because down the table she was anxiously fidgeting her hands. She just met Connor, and didn’t have a clue of who he was, actually she didn’t even know why she had accepted his invite, this wasn’t something the reserved twin would do.
The server came back with the pints and she took a quick sip, letting out an appreciative sigh as she downed her cold drink. She decided she wasn’t let her timidity ruin her night and for at least one night, that night, she would be bold and try to have as much fun as she could, she knew she deserved. “So, who are you Connor? What do you do?” She asked with a beam.
Her hand was soft when she introduced herself. He smiled at the way she did seem to blush easily. He liked that- the innocence of her Thoughts began to form in his head about something more than dinner but he needed to foucs, to keep himself in the present. “Emily, a pleasure to meet you.” Her composure was less confident than when she’d accepted the dinner. It was alluring to him. He really did enjoy the aspect of a hunt. She drank from the glass and he took a sip of his. He was being somewhat discrete but he was obersving her mannerisms as much as he was observing the crowd around them. Always alert.
When she inquired about him, he gave his warmest smile. “I don’t suppose I can lie and say I”m a gentleman of leisure. It would be more attractive.” He chuckled. “I work for the forensics unit with the Bristol coroner. Nothing too exciting and rather dull.” He played with his glass after taking another drink. “As for who I am? That one is ever more boring still.” In his mind, he flashed to his former life of duality - forensics for his career and anonymous criminal in his work. “I come from a well to do family. Though we aren’t close. I live on a farm estate left me by my grandparents, I enjoy puzzles, not dining alone and incredibly beautiful women for company.” He almost laughed as he pretended to be his brother oozing charm. He wasn’t that nice. He wasn’t that good at acting the suave dapper chap. But he was learning. “Tell me Emily Fitch… who are you?”
She couldn’t help but giggle at his compliment, she never knew how to react when someone was flirtatious around her. When Connor asked Emily about herself she wasn’t able to avoid the frown in her face, the response for that question was unknow even for her lately. For a moment she seemed lost in thought, until she remembered that she didn’t need to tell him everything about her true self, even though she strangely wanted to. His features were calm and light, and it made her feel comfortable. She decided that she was going to stick with the basic answer. “I write food reviews for The Golden Star newspaper, but I hope someday I can write about something that really matters like equality, or climate change, or feminism, or any kind of ism,” she said with a sigh. “I’ve never had a boyfriend” This time she laughed at her own joke, she remembers precisely of that first day at Roundview College, she said that exactly phrase, but in that time, she wasn’t sure about her sexuality. She paused a second to take another sip of her drink and steal a quick glance at him. She adjusted herself on the chair as she started speaking again “The Fitch family can be a bit demanding and messy at the same time, but they’re good people. I have a twin sister and a creepy little brother… My parents own a gym and we’re the kind of people who have family dinners every Sunday.” She could only smile at that part, ‘the infamous Fitch dinner is unpredictable, it could be peaceful and fun, but also could be a world war right at my mother’s six-seater table’.
Emily sensed that even though the night wasn’t going as she planned, she was delighted with Connor’s company, as she found out that he’s a good listener. That was exactly what she needed when she asked Katie to go out with her, she secretly thanked to any invisible force, that it wasn’t Katie there with her that night, she knew Katie’s topics only involved Katie.
“You said you don’t like having dinner alone, how come you got here by yourself? Is this how you get your girls? She smirked at her tease.
Her laugh was a delight. The frown was genuine and implied even more how purely innocent she was. He didn’t know which he was hungry for now - the burger or her. He continued to watch as she sorted her thoughts. WHen she spoke about the job, he smiled wider. She was an intellectual of sorts. A journailst. He burst out laughing when she mentioned never having a boyfriend. It seemed both out of the blue and preposterous that a woman like her wasn’t sought after. But it made sense that she was still bright eyed if she hadn’t been damaged by love and its faults. He took another drink and let her go on about her family. He made mental notes. “Family dinners every Sunday. You’ve a brave family. Mine would likely end up bloodied.”
Emily asked him about him having dinner alone and made an attempt at flirting which he was pleased by. He laughed again. “Hmm... not always how I get my girls but it’s definitely an idea.” The server came by and interrupted them. He waited until she’d placed her order and then told the server he wanted a double burger with a side order of fries and another round of ale for the two of them. “I wasn’t planning on having dinner out at the start of my day. Expected to be out of work in time to go to the market and pick up a steak and possibly vegetables. Make a meal at home but a poorly coordinated coworker made my day... long.” He finished his first glass. “It would take too long to do that all by myself. So... here I am.” He stared into her eyes. “I should buy my coworker an ale. Good fortune given my present company.” He decided to push his luck. “You are a vision Emily. Tell me... how have you never had a boyfriend? And more importantly, you mentioned if this was how I got my girls... does that mean you’re mine?”
