Эллен Шрайбер: Love Bites

“Rare,” Sebastian said.

Alexander kicked Sebastian underneath the table.

“Rare?” Becky asked.

“We don’t serve hamburgers rare here.” With the tip of her pen she pointed to a small disclaimer on the bottom of the menu. “This isn’t a five-star restaurant, if you hadn’t noticed. You can order your burgers ‘burnt’ or ‘not burnt.’”

“Then four not-burnt burgers,” Alexander said with a grin.

Dixie blew a pink bubble, winked at Alexander, and wiggled toward the kitchen.

We all cracked up, and when our laughter subsided there was an awkward silence.

Sebastian checked out Becky, which caused her to fiddle with her napkin.

“Alexander and Sebastian grew up together in Romania,” I told her. “Just like us, best buds.”

“That’s great,” Becky said demurely. She wrung the napkin again.

Since no one else was talking and I was dying to find out more about Alexander, I figured this was as good a chance as any to steer the conversation in that direction.

“So what did you two guys do for fun in Romania?” I asked.

Alexander shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know—we just hung out.”

“And played golf?” I asked.

“No.” Alexander laughed. “We did the things kids do—”

“Yes—but you weren’t normal kids.”

Becky appeared puzzled.

“I mean, since Alexander’s grandmother was a baroness,” I said, covering my comments.

Dixie returned with our shakes. Becky hid behind hers and the rest of us began to devour ours.

“Did you get into trouble?” I asked.

“I did—” Sebastian said. “But Alexander was always there to get me out of it.”

I nestled into my boyfriend.

“What do you do for fun?” Sebastian asked Becky.

“Me?” she asked, surprised the conversation was directed toward her.

“Yes.”

Becky leered at me as if I were going to answer for her.

Sebastian waited, but Becky didn’t answer. She just played with her straw.

“We do girlie things,” I answered for her. “Talk, gossip, and talk some more.”

“Do you like cemeteries?” he asked.

“Me?” She shook her head vehemently.

“Was Alexander in his attic room painting like he is now?” I asked.

“Uh…yes. He always was working on some masterpiece. But he rarely showed me. He kept them hidden in an armoire in his room. Do you paint or draw?” he asked Becky.

“No—I’m not an artist.”

“Did you guys go clubbing?” I asked Sebastian.

“Sure, sometimes. Do you like to go out, Becky?”

“Uh…me?”

“Alexander,” I said, clearing my throat. “I left something in the car. Can we go get it?”

“Uh…sure,” my boyfriend replied.

Sebastian reached into his back pocket and handed Alexander his keys.

Once Alexander and I were outside Hatsy’s, I stopped.

“The car is over there,” Alexander said.

“I didn’t forget anything. I wanted to talk to you.”

Alexander was perplexed. “What do you want to talk about?”

“What is going on with Sebastian?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m trying to have a conversation with him and all he wants to do is talk to Becky.”

“He doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s just being polite.”

“Does he think we were fixing him up?” I asked.

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, he needs to back off. Don’t you see the way he’s staring at her? He’s hitting on her.”

“I think you might be overthinking it,” Alexander said soothingly.

“Did he ask me one question?” I charged.

Alexander paused. “Is that what this is about? That he’s not paying attention to you?” he asked sweetly. “He doesn’t always have the best manners. I do try to tell him….”

“No—I don’t care that he doesn’t ask me.”

But perhaps it did bother me. Maybe I was getting wrapped up in his attention toward Becky. Maybe I was oversensitive to his advances since they were not directed toward me. I felt like a heel, accusing Alexander’s friend of preying on Becky.

“Okay, okay. I guess I’m just being overprotective of Becky, like you are of me.”

When we returned, Sebastian was holding Becky’s hand and reading her palm. “This is your life line—and this is your love line.” He was seductively tracing her lines with his finger. “Very strong indeed.”

“See?” I whispered to Alexander.

“Now I’ll show you mine.” He scooted closer to her and held out his palm.

Becky giggled uncontrollably. She glanced at a long line running through his hand. She had a quizzical look on her face. “Wow—your life line seems to go on forever.”

Now Alexander wasn’t pleased with Sebastian’s flirting.

“How about you tell them about the time you drove your Mustang through the cemetery and it almost fell into an empty grave,” Alexander prompted his friend, taking charge of the situation.

Just then Dixie arrived with a tray full of food. Sebastian tore into his burger while Becky picked at her fries.

I could tell she wanted to say something to Sebastian. Normally, Becky was painfully shy, but with

Sebastian’s playful attitude toward her, she was loosening up. “What do you and Alexander do all day while we go to school?” she asked suddenly.

Sebastian was pleased with her interest. “Sleep.”

“You sleep all day? I can’t imagine not getting up when the sun rises.”

“Well, I stay up all night.”

“Like Raven? She has insomnia. She’d sleep all day and go to school at night if she could.”

“Or not go to school at all,” I chimed in.

They laughed, but I was serious.

“You are so different from other girls I meet,” Sebastian said.

Becky slunk down. “I know—I’ve never been to Europe or even New York.”

“No—I mean that as a compliment,” he continued.

Becky lit up. She wasn’t used to being paid so much attention by a good-looking stranger.

“Yes, Becky’s the greatest,” I praised. “Not like those other girls in school who are obsessed with everything

Gucci. We’ve been friends since the third grade.”

“I can see why you like it so much here,” Sebastian said to Alexander. “The people are really genuine. And cute.”

Becky turned as red as the bottle of ketchup she was reaching for. She squeezed it over her fries but then left them untouched.

“So, Alexander,” I said, taking over. “Now we know what we do all day. What do you do?”

Alexander sat up as we waited for his response.

“I spend it thinking about you, of course.”

After stuffing our faces with burgers and chocolate malts, Alexander gallantly paid Dixie and we headed for the parking lot.

We escorted Becky to her truck underneath a star-filled night sky.

“It was great meeting you, Sebastian.” She opened her arms to give him a friendly hug. Alexander cleared his throat when Sebastian squeezed her a bit too long.

“When will I have the pleasure of seeing you again?” Sebastian asked. Clearly, Sebastian didn’t want our visit to end.

Becky twisted her hair and shrugged her shoulders. She gave me a quick hug, hopped into her truck, and rolled down the window.

“Good night, Raven,” she said. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Good night, Alexander.”

We watched and waved as Becky drove out of the parking lot and down the street.

“So now what do you want to do?” I asked. “Hang out at the cemetery again?”

“I guess we should be dropping you off,” Alexander said.

“Me? But the night is so young,” I moaned.

Alexander put his arm around me and we headed for the Mustang, but Sebastian continued to stare in the direction Becky had just driven.