DRIVE WEST

SEVEN - (Lie)

She felt intimidated by his seriousness, but dared, "You know what you're doing."

His semblance looked down towards the table— where his fingers played with the silver knife. His back was laid back on his chair, "I don't. Would you explain it to me?"

-

Soundtrack for the chapter
Better To Lie by benny blanco, Jesse & Swae Lee

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From a distance, she saw him.

Ezra. His hands shoved in his pockets like the shy boy he wasn't; his smile was the most brilliant idea God had ever had.
(Are those dimple I see?)

The dress she chose for the evening was simple; short with small puffy sleeves, white with a design of small red flowers on it. Childish, almost— It made her look innocent. She had fun deceiving men.
(Wow.)

Seeing her, he stretched out his hand, and she took it instinctively. He kissed the back of her palm very casually, bringing it up to his lips and not the other way around.

"I'm so glad you could make it." He said to her. "The whole will-they-won't-they sexual tension was driving me crazy. You felt that too right?"

She laughed. (He watched her lips.)

They walked the sidewalk together.

"Tell me how you got in the flower business." He asked, tilting his torso slightly to her but still walking forward.

"Well, I've always loved flowers," (lie) "and it's the family business." (lie)

He bobbed his head, agreeing, "See, that's so funny." He said to her, "I've never really liked flowers. They were always just a dying plant to me." He chuckled and opened the door of the restaurant for her, but Monday took a moment to look at him, amazed; quietly grieving the conversation they could have had, (in another life).

She stepped into the restaurant: The air harshly shifted from chilly to a solid frost in the conditioned environment. She grabbed her arms instinctively, feeling the chills in her arms peek without permission.

Upon arrival, Ezra Brightly did three things, and this was the following order: (1) From behind, he settled his jacket on her shoulders, and didn't even care to look her in the eye to accept a 'thank you', he simply touched her arm afterword, while he spoke of his reservation to the Maître D. (2) They were led to their table, where Ezra pulled out a chair for her to sit at before sitting on his himself. Finally, he (3) ordered them wine for the evening. Then, there was the invisible fourth step, which was (4) making sure she knew she'd have to get used to all of this if they were together.

As they waited for the wine, silence fell upon them both. The softly playing piano in the back served as a suiting soundtrack to Zen's mysterious smirk.

"What?" He asked.

She shook her head and raised an eyebrow, "Nothin'"

He smiled, "Come on, I know you want to say something."

She bit her lower lip and looked back at him, "You're really good at this, that's all."

He looked at her. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, (being looked at).

"I'm not trying to be good at anything." He told her, this time no smile graced his lips. "And I don't know what you mean by 'this.'"

She felt intimidated by his seriousness, but dared, "You know what you're doing."