Chapter 24 - Dinner Date Contd...

Chapter - 24

Soon Alex arrived at his destination, and Susan, dressed in a long skirt with a sling bag over her shoulder, was already there waiting for him. Alex stopped his bike in front of her.

"I guess I am late," Alex said, removing his helmet and checking his watch. There were still about five minutes before the meeting time.

"No, I am the one who arrived early," Susan said. Her heart started racing like crazy as soon as she saw Alex. Unlike women, where most of them after dolling up, look remarkable, men are usually the same. But once in a while, you come across a man who is a cut above the rest, and you can't find any imperfection in him. Alex was like in the eyes of women. His appearance was enough to attract them towards him, and those who get acquainted with him knew that he was sincere enough.

"So, have you thought of a place to dine?" Alex asked, looking around.

Susan was hoping that Alex would compliment her first thing when they met, but that didn't happen.

"Anywhere is fine," She said.

"C'mon say it. It's my treat and to be honest, I am not very familiar with this place. I have only been here once," Alex told her.

"Well, if that's the case. Then how about there," Susan said as she pointed towards a restaurant across the road which did not look so lavish, "I have been there a few times, and the food there tastes good".

"Then let's go," Alex said and put on his helmet again, and gestured to Susan.

"What?" Susan asked.

"Hop on," Alex said.

"We can just walk there," Susan said. Sitting behind him all of a sudden made her feel a bit flustered.

"I just can't leave my bike here. I have to park it in front of that restaurant, and since that's the case, why do you want to walk there? Just get on," Alex didn't understand what the problem was. 'She can't be afraid of riding the bike, can she?' Alex looked at Susan in doubt.

Having no choice, Susan finally agreed. Nodding in agreement, she got on the bike.

"Hold on tight". Alex said and rode his bike to the restaurant in front.

She wrapped her arms around Alex's waist, which left a tingling sensation in his heart.

And a couple of minutes later, both Alex and Susan were seated inside the restaurant.

Although the restaurant was not lavish, the atmosphere was ambient, and a piece of soft music was playing in the background.

"I almost forgot to mention this. You look lovely," Alex complimented Susan in between the conversation.

"Thank you, but don't you think it took you a bit longer to notice". Susan teased Alex. Finally, she felt relieved. From the moment they met until now, the thing that Alex did not compliment her, weighed heavily on her.

"Oh, I wanted to but couldn't find the right words, "Alex said with a smile. He almost forgot what his father taught him before leaving the house, "I didn't want to end up creeping you, so had to think of the right words and well, I guess I am not that creative..."

His father told him to compliment Susan as soon as they met each other. Geroge explicitly told him that girls like being complimented, and he needs to keep that in mind. Girls spend hours dolling up for work, parties or dates for just one word of appreciation. Even if it's a funeral, they won't shy away from outmatching any competition they might come across.

But he forgot all about it, and when he heard the guy from the table across complimenting the lady with him, all of this came flowing into his mind. He didn't consider the timing and ticked this off his to-do list on the date without any delay. Fortunately, Susan was not a party pooper, and from what he could feel, she didn't mind the late compliment.

"Well, as long as it is genuine. I won't mind it being simple," Susan said. Over the few days that they have been conversing. One thing that was clear to Susan was that Alex didn't have a lot of social contacts, and though he thought a lot before speaking, he often ended up saying whatever it's in his mind, which can be a bit rude sometimes.

"It's true, every word of it. Well, there were hardly any words," Alex said and laughed.

While they were chatting, the waitress came up to them with menus.

"Good evening, mam, sir. Here's the menu. You can take your time deciding. I will be back in a while to take your order," the waitress said, and handing them the menu, she left.

"You have been here already, right. Any suggestions?" Alex asked looking at Susan.

"We can go with something simple. Like Ummm... the steak and soup?" Susan suggested.

Alex nodding his head, agreed to the suggestion.

"Excuse me, we would like to order," Alex called for the waitress.

The waitress came and noted down their order.

"Two servings of steak and soup, please".

"Anything to drink, sir?" the waitress asked.

Alex looked towards, Susan to which she declined.

"That will be all for now," Alex said.

"Thank you, sir. Your order will be ready in ten minutes." The waitress said and walked away, leaving the two behind. They had a good flow of conversation a moment ago, but now that the flow was interrupted, no one spoke a word for a while. Maybe thinking of where they should start from.

"So..."

"You..."

Both of them said at the same time and paused. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds before breaking into smiles.

"You go first," Alex said.

"It's nothing. I just wanted to more about you. Like, who do have in your family?" Susan asked.

"There is me, mom, dad and my brother. My brother is studying abroad right now," Alex told her.

"What do they do?" she asked.

"My dad has his own company. Mom is a doctor while my brother, like I said, is out studying," Alex told her.

Susan didn't expect Alex's family to be so affluent. Surprised, she couldn't keep herself from asking, "Ohh..., then why are you not working in your father's company? You won't have to work as an intern there."

"I wanted to gain some experience working in a big corporation before I joined my father to help him, and what other company could be better than Theation? I will eventually join the family company, but it will take some time," Alex explained his situation to her.

"That's good thinking," Susan said. 'Maybe his father's company is just a small, local manufacturing factory,' Margaret thought to herself.

"Now that your interrogation is over, let me grill you a bit," Alex said.

"I was not interrogating you," Susan said, glaring in fake anger at him.

"Fine... fine... fine... But tell me. How are you free on Sunday night? Don't you have a boyfriend or friends to hang out with?" Alex asked.

Shaking her head, Susan said, "I don't have a boyfriend. Well, at least not at the moment. As for friends, I do have many, but before they could make plans for today, I already had plans with you."

"So, what do you usually do on your day off?" Alex asked.

"If I am not with my friends like not everyone is free every weekend. In that case, I am usually busy taking care of my laundry, cleaning my apartment, or I would just binge watch a movie or series at home. It's all the boring stuff", Susan said, "What about you?" She counter asked.

"Well, I never get bored on Sundays. Mom and dad always have a plan. Today too, they planned something, but I had to come here," Alex told her.

"Sorry. To keep a promise with me, you had to cancel your plans," Susan apologised.

"Hey... hey... There is nothing to apologise for," Alex said, shaking his head, "Firstly, I was the one who planned it, and secondly, they were happy to know that I was going out for dinner that too with a girl," Alex said. He suddenly remembered his father and couldn't help smiling.

Susan became curious, hearing Alex, "Why?" she asked.

"The same like every typical parent out there. I mean, look at me. I am just twenty-six and can't even take responsibility for myself, but they want me to find a girl and get settled," Alex said as he complained about his parents.

"Well, that's indeed odd, but they must have their reason," Susan agreed.

"That's very political of you. On one hand, you are agreeing with me, but siding with my parents too," Alex said, throwing his hands, "You won't believe what I have to go through daily". Alex said and went on complaining to the extent his parents, especially his father, went to tie him down.

The two of them got engrossed in the conversation, and Alex told her about all the blind dates his parents set up for him. They were chatting and laughing continuously, and there was no awkwardness anymore. Soon the food arrived too.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

*Ring...Ring...

"Tell me," Margaret said.

"He is having dinner with a girl, nothing out of the ordinary," the man on the other side said.

"Is that so?"

"Should I continue to observe?" the man asked.

"No need, just find details about the girl later," Margaret instructed.

"Okay," The man said and hung up.

"So, you are on a date, little Alex," Margaret said to herself with a smile, but it didn't look like she was happy about the situation.

* * * * *