The Devil's 5'5

Chapter 32 - Just Friends

March 23, 2:00 PM - Little Mario's, Chicago, IL Preston's POV

**********

He sat on the patio chair, rubbing his sweaty palm on his jeans. Part of him wanted to throw up, while the other part wanted to make a run for it. Neither options were pleasant, making Preston use all his willpower to stay put.

As his nervous gaze flitted to the door of the restaurant, he caught sight of the familiar chocolate brown hair. Veronica smiled at the waiter, who led her towards him. If it were possible, her smile seemed to become even brighter when her eyes met his. The happy expression she wore felt like a sharp stab to the stomach as he forced him to stand up to greet her.

"Hey!"

He tried to match the same enthusiastic energy as her delicate hand lightly wrapped itself around his waist. Her touch didn't make him recoil like the last time, and the softness of it was comforting.

"Hey, you look great."

She pulled back, quickly tucking a wisp of hair behind her ear. "Thank you, I mean you look great too!"

The small laugh escaped him thanks to her shy compliment, but it quickly faded as he remembered why they were meeting.

Why...why am I doing this.

They were quick to order their meals, each wanting some uninterrupted time together for very different reasons.

"Well."

"I..."

Starting at the same time, Preston was quick to give her the floor first. "Go ahead."

She smiled, raising her glass of water. Neither of them daytime drinkers nor fans of alcohol for that matter, the pair decided to keep it simple. Preston silently followed suit with his own glass of water.

"Here's to your kind, amazing and smart self. Congrats on the sponsorship and for helping amputees everywhere. Let this be the start of many more amazing projects."

Gulping air, he clinked his glass with hers, before quickly taking a sip. Yet even the cold water failed to soothe his dry throat.

"I have you to thank as well. Veronica, without you, I wouldn't have been able to finish everything. So, thank you for using all your spare time to help me. I swear it didn't go unnoticed."

She laughed, clapping her hands together. "Stop, you know I am more than happy to help a friend out."

Friend...

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

His vision was blocked as a waiter's hand came in front of him with a large bowl of steaming pasta. He placed the creamy alfredo dish in front of him and the pesto chicken in front of Veronica. With a smile and bon appetite, they were left alone again.

"Sorry, you were saying?"

He stayed silent as he watched her carefully select her utensils. Taking a few of the spiral noodles into her mouth, she covered her mouth with her hand as she chewed.

"What?"

The muffled laugh that followed made him awkwardly clear his throat before he too shovelled some food into his mouth. But with all the nerves that were swarming around his head, he failed to realize just how hot it was.

Then like a blubbering mess, he started to choke as his body desperately tried to get rid of the scalding hot food inside his mouth.

Finally swallowing, he gulped the entire glass of water, making a loud clank sound as he placed it back on the table.