Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 147673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
“I’ve heard they have very good beef. But if you don’t like that, they have all kinds of options,” Beast was quick to add as they approached the stand where patrons would wait to be seated. There was a fair amount of people peppered all around the restaurant, but with it being the odd hour between lunch and dinner, it was not too crowded either.
“I’m willing try anything once,” Laurent announced, showering Beast with smiles.
Beast committed those words into his memory, to pull them out between the sheets.
The server approaching looked professional and calm from afar, but the closer she got the more Beast could recognize signs of wariness in her eyes. Just typical. But yes, he knew he looked scary, and that was the reason why he was always incredibly polite in stores. He wasn’t in the business of making strangers uncomfortable on purpose, but the tools for it had been burned into his flesh even before he added the tattoos.
“Good afternoon. We’d like a table for two,” he said and gave her his best grin, the halfway one that didn’t pull on the tightened skin of his left cheek too much.
“No problem at all. I will go check if there are any available,” she said with a fake smile plastered to her lips and walked off quickly, making Beast’s heart sink. Would there be trouble? All he wanted was to treat Laurent to something nice. Yes, he didn’t look like most other people. He was tall, maybe even a bit menacing, and he was a member of a biker club, but that didn’t mean he’d be gutting someone as soon as they gave him a steak knife.
He wanted to do some small talk with Laurent but couldn’t bring himself to speak when a slightly older woman in a pantsuit peeked from behind a column at the back of the restaurant. He smiled at her. She smiled back and ducked behind the divider. Seconds later, the server strolled back their way with an even wider smile on her face. Everything was in order, it seemed. At least until her eyebrows gathered in an expression of studied apology.
“I am very sorry, but we are booked for the day.”
The look of disappointment on Laurent’s face carved a hole in Beast’s heart.
“We have spent all day shopping, with barely any breakfast. Are you certain no space can be found for us? We wouldn’t take long,” Laurent said.
Beast pressed his lips together and squeezed Laurent’s hand as shame and anger mixed into a black, thick, bitter goo choking his throat. “It’s fine, Laurent. We had this other place in mind, too. Let’s go there,” he lied, for the sake of appearances. He would not give these damn bigots the satisfaction of having him beg for a place in their fucking third-rate restaurant!
Laurent didn’t protest when the waitress apologized profusely once more. It was all lies. She would sigh in relief as soon as they were out. The one time Beast actually had someone to bring here, and they wouldn’t have him?
“Ow! Beast? You’re hurting me,” Laurent whined, and only then Beast realized he was squeezing Laurent’s injured hand far too hard.
He let go and stormed out into the main hallway of the mall. “Sorry. I’m just angry, and I didn’t think,” he said tightly. If only he could punch something.
“Is it because you wanted steak that much?”
Beast looked down into the eyes that seemed to reflect genuine confusion. As if Laurent was somehow able to look past Beast’s otherness and lacked understanding of what happened. This alone was making Beast’s heart beat faster. “No. No. People are shits anywhere fancy. Let’s go somewhere else,” he said, already knowing that they wouldn’t be eating in. He couldn’t risk another humiliation like that with Laurent around.
Laurent followed with a focused expression on that perfect face, and Beast couldn’t help but bitterly think that if Laurent went to that restaurant on his own, or with someone else for that matter, he would surely get royal treatment from all the staff.
“Do you like Chinese food?” asked Beast, leading the way to the food court, when he couldn’t stand the heavy silence anymore.
“I would gladly try it. Are you upset?”
Beast clenched his jaw, not wanting to reveal how agitated he was with this situation. “I’m angry. But there is more food available, so it’s their loss if we take our business elsewhere.”
“Did they assume we have no money?” Laurent asked and stopped right in front of the escalator so abruptly Beast had to jog back down the moving stairs to join him.
It only then occurred to Beast that if Laurent had never seen a TV, he surely had no reference to escalators. “Come on, don’t be afraid. It’s just another mechanism.”
“I’m sorry, I just wasn’t sure how to ride those.”