The Boy Who Solved Crimes

26: Dinner with the Detective

cw: profanity

Aaron

Tony was a really well-dressed fellow, but he also did not hold back in claiming that his occupation was far superior to mine. His nose was stuck so high up his ass that he couldn't see anything but his fat ego. He'd occasionally scowl at anything I said and that made me ready for the challenge. He'd been undermining my character for the last twenty minutes, sneaking little jabs in every direction. And I'd decided I'd had enough.

"Tony," I addressed him just as he was about to take another bite of the broccoli Violet had made. He glanced up at me, fork mid-way through the air, "when's the wedding, doc?"

"Aaron!" Violet hissed from across the table. She'd seen me there, watching her reject Tony's proposal. But she hadn't said a single thing to Tony when he'd undermined and berated me. I quirked a brow; I didn't realize we'd have to take sides tonight. And admittedly, I might be on the loosing one.

His face immediately turned a beet-red; it was kind of fun to rub salt on Tony's wound and watch him squirm.

Clearing his throat, Tony turned to look at me with a silent anger boasting throughout him, "there... uh... isn't." He looked at Violet and back at his plate.

Because of you. Once I figure out why the hell you keep messing with my girlfriend, I'm removing you from this god-forsaken planet. He thought, glaring at me like a rabid animal. I sighed, crossing my arms and leaning back against the chair.

"Yeah, I figured." I said, leaning back in my seat as Tony's mind flung a dozen angry thoughts and profanities my way, I could only smirk.

I had as much intention of befriending Violet's boyfriend as I did lighting myself on fire.

Stop! Violet sent my way, giving me a warning look.

Relax, he can handle it. I shot back, mimicking the look of Mufasa. It was payback time and my pride would stop at nothing until it was repaired.

"Why's that?" Tony fired back. It was like he wanted to have this fun little argument.

"Why's what?" I responded, taking a bite of Violet's food and wanting to laugh. She'd really worked hard on this meal because the Violet I knew couldn't put together bread and jam properly.

Aaron, calm down. Violet shot again and I decided to simmer down a little.

Only because you're cute. I responded and she gave me an open-mouthed, 'what-the-hell' sort of look.

"It's just... you know Violet. She's a great girl," I said, and though I tried so hard, the next words left my mouth involuntarily, "makes me wonder what the hell she's doing with someone like you."

"Aaron." Violet stood up this time, metal utensils clattering on the table as the tablecloth shifted and dropped forks and spoons to the floor noisily.

"What?" I asked, sitting up. Tony and I were glaring at each other and I was patiently waiting for him to act on his anger so I could fling him across the room.

Stop or leave. Violet glared at me now. I raised an eyebrow in her direction, so confused why she was defending him so hard when a couple minutes ago, she'd refused to open her mouth while Tony spluttered on about how being a doctor is so hard and that he'd much rather have an easy job, like being a detective. He'd continued on to say that he wouldn't have had to suffer through medical school or work as hard as he had. I took all of it, letting him say whatever bullshit he wanted about how unhappy he was in his career.

I hid my grimace as I stood up and picked her utensils up off the floor, "here, you dropped this." I said, feeling Tony's gaze all over me.

"So Aaron, you're a detective, right?" Tony asked, but we had established this long ago. It didn't make much sense why he was bringing it up again. Actually, it made a lot of sense considering he could pull insults out of thin air without ever thinking about what he was going to say first.