Chapter 6: A Date with Her?

Zander POV

I drove to the café where I had a date set up with Cleo. My rock music was set to a higher volume to drown out my thoughts. I hoped the date would go wrong. If only I could've gotten out of it.

I couldn't believe Cleo had actually agreed to go on a date with me. I'd bet her parents had convinced her to do this. She may have been my mate, but I wasn't excited to see her again. I sat with a bored expression on my face.

There was no point in hiding how I felt about the night. I rested my hand under my chin and looked out the window. I wished to be anywhere but the café.

The café was a French style and had simple white tablecloths and triangle folded napkins with pictures of Paris scattered throughout the place. There were even authentic berets placed on a table near the cashier's counter. I was told to wear one but would never wear something like that.

Cleo entered the café. She wasn't trying hard to impress me. A thin purple shirt hung on her loosely, while her jeans were a faded blue. I saw no trace of makeup on her either. Cleo sat down across from me.

She looked at me up and down and her face turned into one of disgust. I had purposely worn ripped jeans, an old band t-shirt, and worn black combat boots.

I made sure to leave my hair in its natural mess for the date. I could tell she wanted to say something to me by the look on her face.

"This wasn't my idea, but I agreed to show up. But don't think it's for your sake."

I ran a hand through my hair and said, "It wasn't my choice either. I'd rather be back home."

Cleo suddenly told me, "I'm not giving up on Ash. I still love him, but my parents forced me here tonight. Consider this me giving you a chance."

I sort of admired her guts to say that to my face and resisted a smile. "Wow you're giving me a chance. I feel so honored," I sarcastically said.

"It's the last chance Zander," she told me in a bitter tone.

I knew this was going to be a long night and glanced at my watch. The date didn't have to be long, right? Maybe she would hate me so much that she'd leave within an hour. I looked at her again and saw her hair was in a ponytail. No way was she trying either.

Unfortunately, we had to do some talking. I waited until she said something again, because I wouldn't be the first.

"Why did you show up Zander?"

Her question almost caught me off guard, and I had to get my composure back. I looked around the café and back at her. "For the food of course."

She scoffed and said, "Well at least you have honesty."

The waitress came and got our orders for drinks. "What would you like to drink?" I heard flirtation in her voice and ignored it.

I gave her a quick glance and said, "Just water."

I picked up the pepper shaker and examined it. I heard the waitress ask Cleo for her drink order next.

Cleo said kindly, "I'd like a Diet Coke."

Seconds went by in silence, so I pulled out a pen from my pocket and started to draw. I glanced up at Cleo briefly and she asked, "Are you seriously drawing right now?"

I nodded my head yes and focused on making a wolf's ears. She bunched up a napkin and threw it at me childishly. I looked up at her and glared.

"Princess. Could you not throw things at me? We're supposed to be adults."

Cleo got pissed off and said, "I would act like an adult if you did too. I mean, c'mon. You're drawing, Zander."

I showed her the drawing so far. She scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. I continued to draw until the waitress came back.

She looked at me first and asked, "What would you like to order?"

"I'll have the tuna salad with fries."

I handed her the menu and picked up my pen and started spinning it between my fingers.

The waitress turned to Cleo and asked, "What would you like to order hon?"

Did she really just call her hon? I tried not to burst out laughing, because they looked near the same age.

Cleo smiled and said, "I'd like the BLT special."

The waitress wrote down her order and went on her way. After the waitress left, I was alone with Cleo again. She kept her eyes on me with a judgmental face and started tapping her fingers against the table. I set the pen down and looked at her sharply.

"Are you trying to piss me off? You're so noisy."

Cleo put her hands up defensively and said, "I'm not the one ignoring my date. Excuse me if I was trying to keep from boredom."

"Fine. I guess we can try to be civil."

"Whoa. You actually can be an adult."

I pushed my hair away from my eyes and said, "Yeah I'm not an animal." I laughed and said, "Oh wait, I am. Sometimes."

She almost seemed like she was going to laugh. I began to feel my lips go up into a smirk. I almost made her laugh. Did this Ash make her laugh? Not that I cared about their relationship. He could keep her.

Cleo stared at my band shirt a few minutes later and seemed like she was trying to read the name. I laughed because it had long ago faded.

"What's so funny?"

"You won't be able to read it. The band's name is long gone."

Cleo laughed in a bitter tone and said, "I wasn't looking at your shirt. I was looking at the dessert menu."

Sure, she was. What a nice cover up she had.

The waitress brought bread and set it down. I took a piece of bread and buttered it before taking a big bite of it. Cleo seemed disgusted with everything I did and watched me eat the bread in a few bites.

"You basically inhaled that. Did you even taste that?"

I gave a fake look of being offended and clutched my hand over my heart. "Wow a shot has been fired."

Cleo changed the topic suddenly and said, "I don't want anything to do with you."

I smiled in a knowing way and leaned in close to her. "That's one thing I can agree on. I don't want anything to do with you either."

I watched Cleo to see if she would respond to my words. I'm sure it secretly made her happy that I didn't want to be with her. She could keep her precious fiancé. I didn't care at all. It was better to tell her the truth than pretend I wanted anything to do with her.

Before Cleo answered me, a guy with blond hair strolled in. The blond spotted Cleo and me and headed right for us. Cleo's eyes widened at the sight of the guy. It wasn't hard to tell these two knew each other. They had a kind of magnet-like energy going on about them.