The Dinner

“Can I get one Meatball Spaghetti with Linguine, please?” Lena ordered her meal and smiled towards the waitress. “Lemonade will do, thank you” She continued.

“Chicken Sausage for me, Macaroni, with coke, thank you.” Kris ordered for himself, “Do you want any dessert?” Kris asked Lena.

“Do you want to share the chocolate mud cake?” Lena then asked and nodded towards the waitress and Kris gave her an agreement.

“I’ll serve the dessert after your meal” The waitress then noted and walked away.

Lena was fiddling with her sweater; Kris knew that she felt awkward being alone with him. Kris wanted to make her feel at ease. “How is work?” Kris asks.

“It’s been okay, good, the usual” Lena smiled and looked away again.

“I’m curious, how does working with kids feel like?” Kris asked, genuinely wanting to know how it felt. He never had any younger sibling.

“Interesting, working with kids are fun.” Lena immediately grins while remembering a few incidents that happened while teaching. “They make you think.”

Kris was happy to see how Lena smiled thinking about her work. “I can see, I can bet they tire you as well?” Kris says.

“They do, but they make the best company” Lena thanked the waitress as she put down their drinks on the table.

“I’m sure they love you” Kris blurted out; anyone would love spending time with Lena. She makes things calm despite the awkwardness.

Lena laughed lightly, “I’m sure they hate me as well” and took a sip of her lemonade. “I’m not the coolest teacher at work” She continued.

“Hey, I’m sure they really like you” Kris said again.

Now, it was Lena’s turn to be curious; “How did you remember I like pasta?” Lena asks, that question has been playing on her mind ever since she entered Kris’ car.

“You love pasta, we had to ask each other about our favorite food during our first day” Kris explained how he could remember the fact. Lena then remembers how she felt annoyed when her teacher told everyone to walk around and ask their classmates for names and a random fact about them. Kris was the first to approach her.

Lena felt bad for not remembering what she had asked Kris. She was trying to recall what she had asked.

“You asked me if I like books or movie better” Kris then reminded her, as if reading her mind. Lena smiled again, embarrassed.

“I remember your answer” Lena felt a little proud of her memory, “You like both” she continued.

Kris nodded, “I still do”. Their meals finally came and Kris immediately told Lena to eat hers.

“Yi Fan,” Lena suddenly calls out. Kris look towards Lena, she was smiling. “Thanks, for this” She said, she told herself to always say her thanks immediately as she felt those feelings.

“Thank you as well, you. Thank you for coming out” Kris thanked Lena and gave her the smile, she rarely sees him put up in front of others. Lena nodded.

Thankfully, the hours didn’t feel awkward, they were both comfortable with each other even with a few silences here and there but the silence was even more comfortable.

The waitress then served their dessert, Kris handed the spoon over to Lena. “Wu Yi Fan!” The two heard a voice calling out from their right. Kris looked over and immediately widens his eyes. “Ma” he says.

Lena looks over to the voice and saw an older woman waving while holding onto an older man. “It’s my parents” Kris immediately tells Lena. Lena almost choked on her food as she heard those words. The two stood up as they see Kris’ parents walking towards them.

“Ma, what are you doing here?” Kris asked clearly, panic in his voice.

“We were just walking around, Yi Fan, don’t be rude.” Mrs. Wu immediately looks towards Lena.