"I don't believe that you've never been a difficult customer before," Oliver chuckled as he spotted Desmond coming over from the kitchen.
Vinny gave him a sly smile, as they watched him slowly approach the table.
"Hello Master, how are you this afternoon?" He asked cheerfully. Oliver could see he was trying to get in the vampires good books. It also annoyed him that Desmond completely ignored him.
Vinny didn't answer. Instead, he gave him the menu.
"Can you read out every drink you sell please?"
Desmond sighed and opened it. Oliver could see Vinny glaring at him and he knew it was making him very nervous. As Desmond started speaking, He zoned out. He looked around the room to see people staring so he smiled at a few of them, clearly making their day.
Fame is a strange thing. It was still extremely odd to have all these people talking about him and wanting to get his attention.
He then felt Vinny's arm move around his shoulder.
"What would you like to drink?"
"Oh um, just some water please," Oliver looked up to Desmond who turned and slumped back to the kitchen. "Are you going to make him read out all the food too?"
Vinny looked like he was seriously considering it.
"Maybe." He took Oliver's hand and watched it for a while as he caught a glimpse of his bandage, underneath his sleeve. "I think you should get your dressing changed after lunch."
"Oh, yeah," He saw that the blood had seeped through and reached down to pull his sleeve back over it. Vinny was still incredibly hard on himself for what he had done but Oliver made him agree that they would no longer talk about it. It was only upsetting Vinny more.
A few moments went by before Desmond walked over with the drinks.
"Oh, actually I changed my mind. Can I have the same as Oliver please?" Vinny asked with his famous glare. Oliver could see Desmond chewing the inside of his lip as he picked up the drink and turned away. Vinny saw his soulmate shaking his shaking his head. "Am I being difficult yet?"
"I think you could be worse."
"Oh really?"
Oliver grinned and bravely intertwined their fingers. Vinny loved that feeling.
"So uh, what did your dad want?" He ignored a group of teenagers who just spotted them, sitting in the corner.
"He was just wondering how we are, after... you know," Vinny trailed off as Oliver nodded, showing he understood.
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him that I still hated myself. But we're strong and getting past this," He said truthfully. Oliver couldn't stand to hear that he hated himself over something he couldn't control. But he knew he would feel this way for a while.
"We are getting past it because I'm giving you no other choice." He expressed a comforting smile.
Vinny's eyes immediately soften.
Just then, someone sat down in their booth. They both looked up to see a woman who looked about the same age with bleach blond hair that was pulled up into a high ponytail. She had heavy makeup and wore a fitted jumper with fur around the neckline.
"Hi Oliver," She smiled.
"Hello," He returned the smile but had no idea who she was.
Her gaze then wondered to Vinny who was, of course, glaring at her. But she ignored him and started playing with her hair.
"Do you not remember me?" She asked. Oliver tried rattling his brains but he has never seen her before in his life.
"Um, no sorry," He said quietly and looked at Vinny.
"Seriously?" She asked. "We dated in school."
Oliver raised his eyebrows. He might not have discovered he was gay in school but he would have remembered if he dated anyone, which he didn't.
"yeah... that never happened." He had a growing frown.
Vinny could see what was going on here. She was pretending to know Oliver just so she could talk to them.
"Go away." He spoke bluntly.
The girl raised her eyebrows, almost like she was offended.
"But I'm just-"
"He has no idea who you are, now leave us alone." He felt Oliver lean into him when he also realised what she was doing. The girl wanted to argue back but the Master was rather scary and the Vanderwood's are the last people who she wanted to irritate. So she reluctantly walked back to her group of friends.
They both stared at each other with confused faces.
"Did that just happen?" Oliver chuckled as Desmond came over with some water.
"I hate people," Vinny grumbled.
"What would you like to order?"
"Hm, What do you think we should order?" Vinny asked with a questioning frown. Desmond must have clicked on by now that he was annoying on purpose.
"Uh, we have sandwiches that are okay."
"Just okay sandwiches? If this was a normal customer, would you say that to them?" He asked.
"Well, yes because-"
"Because of what? No, you should never tell a customer that things are just okay. Even if you think they are. You need to be enthusiastic and pretend like they're great."
Oliver nodded, Vinny did have a point.
Desmond cleared his throat before trying again.
"Okay so, the chicken salad is good and so is-"
"No," Vinny interrupted him. His face was completely blank and he didn't break away his gaze. Desmond sighed as he started becoming impatient.
"Well, what about the burgers?"
"What about the burgers?" Vinny wanted him to expand on his question.
"I'm sorry, but you have the menu in front of you, why don't you just have a look?"
Vinny's eyes were building up a storm.
"Because I'm asking for your opinion," He said through gritted teeth.
"Well I never eat here so you'll have to ask someone else," Desmond sighed with clear attitude rolling off his tongue. He then turned and walked away.
Oliver felt Vinny tense up and his aura grew very dark.
He couldn't believe that Desmond just walked away. If he had the guts to walk away from the Master, he wondered what he did to other customers if they were being difficult.
Vinny started to get up but Oliver held onto him.
"It's fine, I'll go and ask for someone else," He smiled.
"He is getting fired," Vinny growled and watched his soulmate get up.
"I'll be back in a minute."
Vinny watched as Oliver made his way through busy tables on his quest towards the kitchen. He saw people stare at them both but he simply crossed his arms and zoned out.
Oliver opened the door to the kitchen to see staff picking up bits of broken glass from the floor.
"What happened?" He asked and edged around it.
"Desmond stormed in, knocked a tray out of my hand and stormed out," A girl sighed.
"He's so immature." Yes, Vinny was being difficult but Oliver has had worse customers than that, much worse.
"Um, could you come and serve our table, now that Desmond has gone?" He asked the girl.
"Of course I can," She smiled and followed him back into the noisy restaurant. They both walked over to Vinny who zoned back in when he felt Oliver sit down next to him.
"Are you ready to order some food?" The girl asked kindly.
They both then picked up the menu and decided among themselves.
When the girl had taken their order and had gone, they both relaxed.
Oliver nervously put his arm around Vinny's waist and moved in closer. They felt warmth in their chests as their bodies leant into one another. Vinny had excited butterflies in his stomach when Oliver's face get closer.
He was going to kiss him on the cheek but Vinny swiftly turned his head, just in time to catch his lips instead.
Oliver pulled back and went a little pink. He would not mind if he did that anywhere else but the majority of the people in the restaurant saw it.
"You've gone red," Vinny said with a little smile. Oliver chuckled before looking down to his hands. "I like it."
He looked back up to see affection in his eyes.
"I can't stop," Oliver squeaked with embarrassment before covering his cheeks. The vampire chuckled and pulled his hands away. All he could do was show a smile. Oliver was now the highlight of his day and would be, for the rest of his life.