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Adora doesn’t know how a passing comment led to this.
Actually, forget about that. She knows far too well how a passing comment led to this. After all, Glimmer is her best friend, and Adora should know by now that she needs to choose her words carefully when she’s within earshot.
But still, it was merely a tiny passing complaint. Not even a serious one. In fact, it was actually a joke. All she did was open her stupid mouth when Bow kissed Glimmer goodbye as she was heading out of their shared apartment to class.
“Try not to rub your love in my face,” Adora had joked, dramatically sighing, “I’m too single for that.”
It was just a lame joke. And now it’s biting her in the ass.
“Ooh, this one is good,” Glimmer says, pulling a dress out of Adora’s closet and holding it up for her, “it’ll show off your biceps, and she’ll love that, trust me.”
Adora stares at the dress, and when Glimmer holds it out for her to take, she takes it, but merely sets it aside. “I’m still mad at you.”
“For finding the perfect girl for you?” Glimmer retorts, sliding Adora’s closet door shut. “You’ll be thanking me when you get home tonight,” she pauses, smirking, “if you come home tonight.”
Adora rolls her eyes. “You know I’m perfectly fine being single, right?”
“Don’t give me all of that again,” Glimmer laughs, “come on, it’s just one little blind date. I’m paying for your dinner, all you have to do is turn up, have a good time, and thank me later.”
Adora knows there’s no getting out of it. Honestly, she wouldn’t even try, because the mystery girl is going to be at the restaurant later, and Adora’s not going to stand her up. That’s a dick move. But blind dates are always awkward, and awkward is Adora’s least favourite thing. It’s not like she’s not confident; quite the opposite, because she’s always been an extrovert. It’s more like she’s not exactly the smoothest when it comes to romantic situations.
So she puts the dress on, looks herself over in the mirror, and has to admit that Glimmer knows how to make her look good. She supposes that’s a given – after all, her best friend is studying fashion design.
“Okay, you know which restaurant it is?” Glimmer asks, and Adora nods, “you’ve got the money I’ve given you for the meal?”
Adora nods again, and Glimmer grins. “Good. That means you can’t flake. Have fun!”
“I’ll try,” Adora reluctantly promises, and with one last check over in the mirror, she leaves their apartment and makes her way to the restaurant.
It isn’t too far away from their apartment, thankfully, but when she gets there, she knows it’s out of her league. If Adora is going out for a meal, it’s normally at a burger place or diner, and the fanciest she gets is a lowkey Italian place a few miles away from the apartment. But this restaurant is like, fancy. At least by Adora’s standards, anyway. As she walks in, she notes that the wait staff are all wearing white shirts and black ties, and now she understands why Glimmer picked out a dress for her.
“Can I help you?”
Adora jumps, meeting the gaze of the front-of-house lady. She looks a little snooty, and she’s examining Adora like she’s not the sort of person she wants in her restaurant.
“Oh, um,” Adora says, “I have a reservation for two?”
The woman holds her gaze, that look of mild disgust on her face as she reaches out for her clipboard and asks impatiently, “name?”
“It should be under Glimmer Moon,” Adora says, and adds for context, “my friend booked for me. I have a blind date tonight. But if you can’t find Glimmer’s name, then it’ll be for Adora Gray.”
The woman – Adora squints at her nametag and reads the name Sharon – ticks something off her clipboard quite aggressively, grabs two menus, and says sharply, “follow me, please.”
She stalks off into the restaurant area, and Adora follows her hastily, thanking her as she gestures to her table and then curtly walks away. Once she’s sure the woman isn’t looking at her, Adora pulls a face and murmurs, “well, she was nice,” sarcastically.
The other seat at the table is empty, obviously. Adora is a little annoyed that she’s here first, but then she’s not sure if it’s more uncomfortable to walk in when the blind date is already there, or to be the one waiting. Not that it matters, because she’s here now.
Nervously, she bounces her leg under the table. She’s always fidgeted when she’s nervous, and it starts getting worse as she drums her fingers against the table.
“Jesus, chill out.”
Adora jumps up to stand, expecting her date, and almost sends the table flying over. It’s not her date, though, merely a waitress, looking at her with an eyebrow quirked up in amusement.
Adora clears her throat, aware of the way she’s blushing embarrassedly. Not just because she’d made a complete fool out of herself, but also because the waitress is pretty, and she’s looking at Adora like she’s a total idiot.
Whoa, Adora notices, her eyes are different colours. And then she realises she’s staring and tears her gaze away.
“Um,” Adora sits back down, cringing, “can I help you?”
The waitress smirks, pulling a pencil from behind her ear. A few messy strands of chestnut brown hair fall out of the equally messy but styled ponytail the waitress’ hair is up in. “Just wondering if you wanted to order a drink while you wait for the rest of your party.”
“I’m okay, thank you,” Adora answers, “I’ll wait until my date gets here.”
The waitress raises an eyebrow, like she’s surprised someone as awkward as Adora has a date. She smirks, and questions, “blind date?”
Adora feels herself blushing and wonders how the woman knows. “Uh, maybe.”
“Thought so,” the waitress says, and before Adora has time to unpack that, she tucks her pencil behind her ear and adds, “I’ll come back when your date gets here.”
Adora watches the waitress go, and wishes she’d asked for a glass of water. There’s no way she’s calling her back, though. She’s already embarrassed herself enough.
She goes back to tapping on the table, glancing over at the door at regular intervals. Then she checks her phone, texting Glimmer to make sure I’m definitely meeting this girl at six, right?
She’s waiting for Glimmer’s response when the restaurant door opens and a woman walks in. Adora blinks in surprise, and once she’s taken in the woman’s full body and realises that she’s definitely walking over, she glances at her own biceps and mumbles, “damn, maybe I should hit the gym more.”
She stands up to greet the woman and says, “hey, I’m Adora.”
“Huntara,” the woman answers gruffly, taking her hand in a firm shake. Strong grip, Adora thinks as she sits back down and pulls herself into the table. Huntara looks her over quite obviously and asks, “you work out?”
“Uh, yeah,” Adora nods, “I’m actually on a soccer scholarship at—”
“Which gym do you go to?” Huntara asks as she picks up her menu and glances it over. Adora blinks in surprise at the abrupt interruption, but Huntara just looks over the menu expectantly and asks, “well?”
“I just use the gym at the university,” Adora says slowly, reaching out and taking her own menu, “it’s free for me to use because I’m on—”
“So, you don’t go to a real gym,” Huntara says, “it’s no wonder. Your arms are okay, but you seem a little… soft. Anyway, let’s order, I’m starving.”
Adora blinks in surprise, watching as Huntara waves the waitress from before over. She’s still smirking amusedly, and her smirk gets bigger when Huntara decides that she’s going to order for Adora, thanks to her obviously superior knowledge of nutrition.
As the date goes on, Adora wonders what the hell Glimmer thinks of her, if she thinks this woman is the perfect girl for her. Like, Adora has barely gotten three words in. Huntara talks about her gym routines, her personal records, and when Adora goes to mention her own athletic accomplishments, Huntara butts in with something else.
By the time the date is coming to an end, Adora already knows she’s not going to see this woman again. Huntara, however, seems to think otherwise.
When the highly amused waitress brings the check over, Huntara takes both of the after-dinner mints for herself despite Adora reaching for one.
Huntara pops both mints into her mouth and says, “your glittery friend said you’d pay.”
Adora grits her teeth and holds back the irritable my glittery friend is the one paying. She takes the cash and counts it out, leaving it with the bill. She even leaves a tip for the waitress out of her own pocket, despite the fact that she was obviously enjoying the show of Adora’s misery.
“We should do this again,” Huntara says as she gets up, pulling her coat on, “you’re a good listener.”
Adora lets out a non-committal hum as Huntara turns and heads out of the restaurant. No offer to walk her home. No attempt at getting to know her. How Glimmer thought she’d be into her… Adora has no idea.
(Well, she has some idea. Huntara was, objectively, hot.)
Adora is pulling her coat on when the waitress comes back to take the check. She waits for some kind of joke – obviously the woman had found Adora’s disastrous date quite hilarious – but instead, the waitress takes the bill. With her other hand, she quietly offers something out.
Adora frowns, but upon realising what it is, she actually smiles for the first time tonight. She takes the after-dinner mint from the waitress and unwraps it. “Thank you.”
“Hey,” the waitress shrugs, “least I could do after the free entertainment you provided. Have a good night.”
Despite the awful date, Adora leaves the restaurant with a smile.
“No.”
“Come on,” Bow replies, and Adora shakes her head, “okay, you let Glimmer do it.”
“That’s because she went behind my back and organised a date without my permission,” Adora replies, “but I know that you wouldn’t do that.”
Bow winces, and Adora realises that maybe he would do that.
“Tell me you didn’t,” she says slowly, and when he doesn’t, her stomach drops, “Bow. Please tell me you didn’t.”
“I would, but I don’t want to lie to you,” Bow admits, and Adora rolls her eyes irritably, “hey, if it means anything, I know for sure it’ll be better than the last one. This girl is really cool.”
Adora groans, shaking her head. “Nope. No more blind dates.”
“But I’ve already organised it,” Bow says, “and you said you liked the food at the restaurant from last time. And last time you went because you didn’t want the girl to feel bad.”
Adora snorts. “I don’t think Huntara would’ve noticed if I stood her up, considering she barely let me speak.”
“Well, this girl will notice,” Bow says, “I promise it’ll be better than last time. I’m pretty sure Glimmer just walked into a gym and cornered the first buff girl she saw.”
Adora wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case, but it still doesn’t change the fact that she’s done with blind dates. “I’m not interested in a blind date. Honestly, if I’m going to meet someone, I’d prefer it to happen naturally.”
“Just give it a shot,” Bow says, holding out a wad of cash, “even if it’s only for the free food?”
“Okay,” Adora takes the money before he can put it back in his pocket, “only because you enticed me with free food.”
The next night, Adora reuses the dress from her date with Huntara – partly because it’s the only fancy clothing she owns – and heads to the restaurant at the arranged time. This time, she’s not the first one here. At the table the stuck-up front of house lady leads her to, a woman is sitting.
The woman smiles, stands up, and immediately pulls Adora in for a hug. Adora is a little stunned, mostly because it takes her a little while to build up to hugging with people she’d just met, but she awkwardly pats the woman on the back before pulling away.
“Hi,” the woman greets, and Adora wonders why she’s wearing a flower crown to a fancy restaurant, but doesn’t comment, “my name’s Perfuma. You’re Adora, right? Bow has told me so much about you.”
“Uh, yeah,” Adora says as she sits down, “it’s nice to meet you. How do you know Bow?”
“We’re in the same yoga class,” Perfuma says, “Bow mentioned you’re also athletic. Do you enjoy yoga?”
Adora laughs before she can help it, and Perfuma looks taken aback. Quickly, Adora apologises. “Sorry, it’s just, I wouldn’t really say yoga is athletic. It’s more like fancy stretching.”
“Well,” Perfuma says tightly, “perhaps if you actually tried it, you would see how beneficial it can be.”
“Oh, I’m not saying it can’t be helpful,” Adora says quickly, “I just wouldn’t consider it a sport. Sports are competitive.”
“You’re one of those types then, are you?” Perfuma asks, and before Adora can ask what she means, their waitress appears, and instead Perfuma addresses her. “Hi. I’ll just get a water for my drink, please.”
Adora meets the waitress’ gaze, and she realises that it’s the woman from last week. She’s smirking again, playful mischief shining in her multicoloured eyes. “And for you?”
“Um,” Adora shrugs and answers, “I’ll just take water too, please.”
“Okay,” the waitress notes that down on her pad and asks, “are you guys ready to order your food, or do you want a few more minutes?”
After a customary glance over at Perfuma to make sure she’s ready, Adora says, “I’ll have the bacon cheeseburger, please.”
Perfuma turns her nose up in disgust at Adora’s order, and Adora doesn’t get why. At least until she orders herself, and asks the waitress, “could I get the vegan lasagne please?”
The waitress is smirking as she notes that down, and she’s quite clearly holding back a laugh when she says, “sure thing. I’ll be back with your water in a moment.”
As the waitress leaves, Adora looks over at Perfuma with an awkward smile. “So… you’re a vegan. For health reasons, or…”
“Ethical reasons, actually,” Perfuma says, “I don’t believe in butchering animals for our personal enjoyment.”
“Oh, well,” Adora starts, and she doesn’t really know where she’s going with the sentence as she starts it, “that’s cool. Good for you. My mom’s actually a vegetarian but she decided to let me make my own choices as I was growing up.”
“Vegetarians pat themselves on the back but they’re worse than the meat-eaters. Dairy farming is just as harmful—” Perfuma cuts herself off, takes a deep breath, and when she looks back at Adora, there’s a strained smile on her face, “enough about that.”
Adora flashes an awkward smile, and the rest of the night is spent almost entirely in silence. Perfuma lets out a curt, “goodbye,” and leaves quickly once Adora pays for the bill. Adora knows she should be somewhat upset that the date didn’t work out, but honestly, she’s just looking forward to getting home and putting this whole blind date thing behind her.
“So, I’ll see you again this time next week?”
It’s the waitress again, coming to collect the payment for the bill. She picks up the little black book Adora had put the cash inside and tucks it away.
“Yeah, hopefully not,” Adora says, and she doesn’t know why she says it, or why she cares what one waitress thinks of her, but she explains, “my best friends set me up on blind dates because I joked one time that I was too single.”
“Sure,” the waitress smirks like she doesn’t believe her, “I guess you’ll be hopping back on Tinder when you get home.”
Adora denies that accusation quickly. “I swear, it’s my meddling best friends putting me up to this. I let each of them set me up, and both times sucked. That’s it. You won’t see me again.”
The waitress raises a disbelieving eyebrow, that mischievous smirk still in place. Something in Adora’s stomach flutters, but she pushes the feeling aside. There’s a tiny thought in her head as she remembers what she said to Bow, that she’d rather meet someone naturally, but quickly pushes that away too. Don’t be silly. She’s just humouring you.
“Alright,” the waitress says, “but a word of advice? Buy a new dress for the next girl, loser.”
As she turns and walks away, ignoring Adora’s spluttering protests, Adora ignores the nervous butterflies at the pit of her stomach.
Adora doesn’t know how she’d been talked into coming back to the restaurant, on yet another blind date, but somehow, she’s here. Sitting at that same two-person table in the back, drumming against the surface with her fingers, waiting nervously for her date to arrive.
This time, it wasn’t Bow or Glimmer setting her up, and considering how disastrously their two dates had gone… Adora isn’t sure if she’s mad about that. No, this time, Adora is being set up by the goalie from her soccer team, Scorpia.
Scorpia had heard Adora and Glimmer talking about the past two nightmarish dates, and said she knew one of her friends was newly single and looking for something. Maybe not something serious, but something. Adora had opened her mouth to decline, but naturally, Glimmer was present and accepted on Adora’s behalf, naming the restaurant and promising Adora would be there.
And she is. Against her will, but has she ever really come here willingly? She did buy a new dress, and told herself as the cashier swiped her card that it wasn’t because of the pretty waitress.
When someone comes over to the table, Adora expects her date, but it’s the waitress. She smiles knowingly and says, “so, apparently I can tell the future because… look. One week later, here you are. Hey, you even bought a new dress. The meat market on Tinder is obviously treating you nicely.”
“It’s not a Tinder thing.” Adora rolls her eyes and goes to look at the waitress’ name tag. Naturally, she isn’t wearing it. “My friend set me up again. I think they’re both competing, and whoever successfully gets me a girlfriend wins.”
The waitress doesn’t look like she believes a word Adora’s saying, and she opens her mouth to reply, but then a woman sinks down into the seat across from Adora and groans, “ugh, let’s just get this over with. To be totally honest, I’m literally only here to make my boyfriend jealous.”
Adora blinks in surprise, and the waitress doesn’t even bother stifling her laugh. She at least has the courtesy to stop when the snooty front-of-house lady looks at her sternly.
“He’s over there,” the woman, who still hadn’t introduced herself says, and Adora follows her gaze over to a guy at a table alone, pouting petulantly. “So, like, if you want to start acting like you’re into me, that would be cool.”
The woman – Mermista, as Adora later learns – leaves with her boyfriend before their meals are served. Adora is almost going to pay for the drinks and leave when the waitress comes back to the table with the food.
“I know the bacon cheeseburger is yours,” the waitress says as she puts it down in front of Adora, and then with a knowing smile, she adds, “you disgusting meat-eater.”
Despite how unsuccessful this date had been, Adora smiles. It almost feels like an inside joke. “Thanks.”
The waitress puts the other meal – Mermista’s chicken fajitas – down across the table. “Attempt number three gone to the bathroom or something?”
“Uh, no,” Adora says, eating one of her fries, “she left with her boyfriend about ten minutes ago. I don’t think she’ll be coming back, so you can take the other meal back to the kitchen. I’m just going to eat this and then get out of here.”
“You don’t look too disappointed,” the waitress says, and she doesn’t pick up the other plate, “most people would be crushed if their date walked out on them.”
“I told you,” Adora says, “it wasn’t a real date. Just my lame friends setting me up.”
“Sure,” the waitress says, still like she doesn’t believe her, and then says, “if you’ll excuse me,” forgetting to take Mermista’s unwanted meal with her.
Adora figures that either way, she’ll probably end up paying for it, so maybe she’ll have a fajita or two after her burger if she’s hungry enough. She doubts she will be, but she’ll try and fit it in if they’re going to make her pay for it.
Adora is halfway through a mouthful of burger when the chair across from her gets pulled out, and the pretty waitress sits down.
“Hey,” the waitress smiles, “I’m Catra. I know you probably don’t know that, since I’m like, your fiftieth date this week, but that’s no big deal.”
“Date?” Adora mumbles through a mouthful of burger, and then blushes, chewing and swallowing and trying again, “uh, I’m sorry, did you say date?”
“What, suddenly you’ve got a problem with blind dates?” Catra raises an eyebrow, grabbing one of the tortillas and a fork to fill it with the still sizzling chicken, peppers and onion. “Damn. I don’t know if I should be offended or not.”
“No, I didn’t mean—I just—” Adora stops, takes a breath, and tries not to embarrass herself, “you’re interested in me? After you just watched me have three disaster dates?”
“Thought they weren’t real dates?” Catra retorts, but then her expression softens into a smile that makes Adora’s stomach flip. “But to be totally clear, yes. I’m interested in you. You’ve definitely made my job interesting over the last few weeks, anyway.”
Adora laughs. “Because you’ve had fun laughing at me?”
“Yeah,” Catra says, “but…” she smiles again, and Adora notices again just how beautiful her eyes are, “you’re cute, and I’m a sucker for blue eyes, so… are you going to tell me your name?”
“I’m Adora,” Adora introduces herself, “and—uh, thank you for this. You didn’t have to sit down with me.”
“I wanted to,” Catra says, and Adora knows she’s being sincere, “honestly, I thought you were cute when you first walked in here and started treating your table like it was a drumkit.”
Adora laughs, suddenly aware that she’s drumming her fingers against the table, and pulling her hand back to her lap. “Uh, yeah. Nervous tick, I guess.”
Catra smiles. “Don’t be nervous. After all, you’ve been on like, a thousand dates this week, right?”
“Sure,” Adora rolls her eyes, “but this is the first real one.”
“Put a hold on the girls you’ve got lined up for next week,” Catra says, “I want a second date, and definitely not at this dumbass restaurant. I spend enough time here as it is.”
Adora meets her gaze across the table, and she feels this weird spark. Like a certain connection had just been forged between herself and the woman across the table. She doesn’t know how, but this feels right.
Adora smiles. She reaches across the table with the hand she’s desperately trying to stop anxiously fiddling with. She takes Catra’s hand in her own, and it fits perfectly.
“Deal.”