Cherry - part 25

Percival

Candles

He arrived alone at 7 o'clock, sharp. He had to walk to the restaurant, even though he knew he would probably sweat a little. He was so darn nervous he had to walk some of the anxiety off. Half an hour left, and his mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Waltz and Cherry would arrive. They'd sit a table and eat, and his dad and Mr. Waltz would talk business. His mom and Mrs. Waltz would probably talk about the other housewives and gossip about the latest news inside their own circle.

And himself and Cherry? He had no clue.

A car pulled up to the entrance. His parents walked out of the car and the driver drove home.

“I didn't think you'd beat us to it.” His dad said teasingly. Percival laughed nervously. His mother hugged him with one arm. Percival stood perfectly still.

“We'll just go to our table now and take a good look at the wine card. Would you like to come?” His dad was almost inside the restaurant.

“I'll just breathe some fresh air. I'll find you in there.” He answered, and his mother muttered 'fine', and so they walked away. What should he do if Mr. and Mrs. Waltz came? What would he say to them? Should he also decline their offer to join them in entering the restaurant, if it happened that they asked? What would be the proper thing to do? He started pacing back and forth, and sometimes he got eye contact with the head waiter, who gave him a strange look, even when he was on the phone. When he saw the black car, his heart seemed to beat in his throat and his head started to spin. He knew it was her. The Aston Martin V12 Vanquish shined as if it had just been polished, and who would drive a car like that, other than Cherry?

And he was right. Her driver, a short guy with big eyes and messy, spiky hair, opens her door. He smiles with scarily white teeth, and she looked ten times as beautiful as he remembered her. Her fancy shoes was high and made her really tall, she wore a light green dress reaching her knee, like she was the most fancy gift wrapped in a simple, but beautiful wrapping. Just the way she walked seemed different. Maybe it was the shoes.

“Hello, Cherry.” He says as she approaches him. She flashes a wonderful smile. The flutter in his stomach is getting worse. Wonder if he can eat anything tonight?

“Percival, it's so good to see you again.” And she hugs him. The feeling from their first hug flashes in him again like heat waves.

“I really like your car. It's so cool.” They walk together into the restaurant.

“Yes, it's pretty neat. Have my parents arrived yet?” She checks her watch at her wrist, and Percival stares at her and gets lost in thought. He doesn't even listen. She looks at him, waiting.

“What?” He asks and looks down at himself. He doesn't notice anything different.

“Have they arrived?” She asks, slowly. As if he's an idiot. He might be, in her presence.

“Who?” He asks, and her awaiting gaze looks so puzzled he cannot help himself, and laughs.

“My parents?”

“Not yet...” He says, and wants to say something more, but he doesn't. He is afraid of losing his ability to speak when she's around.

“May I help you?” The head waiter asks. He can tell they are important people. It's a fine place, but no one dresses that fancy if they are not important in any way.

“The Cryx party awaits us.” Percival says in a fine, deep voice.

“Right this way, Mr. and Mrs. Waltz.” They laugh, nervously.

“No, we are not Mr. and Mrs. Waltz. That's my parents. That's Mr. and Mrs. Cryx's son, and I'm the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Waltz.” Cherry explains to the waiter. He smiles.
“I'm so sorry. You are a cute couple. Have a nice evening.” They laugh again.

“Thanks, but we're not really a couple. Just... friends....” Percival looks into her eyes as she explains to the waiter again. Her voice cracks when she says that they are not a couple. And then she smiles again, along with the teacher, who mumbles something like 'well that's a shame', and they are walked to the table, where his parents are waiting. The talk goes on wine and which one would fall in Mr. and Mrs. Waltz's taste.

“Hello Mr. Cryx, hello Mrs. Cryx.” Cherry says and her and Percival places themselves at the far left of the table, away from his parents. Only a few moments later Mr. and Mrs. Waltz arrive. Percival doesn't dare say a thing. He looks at Cherry from his menu card when she's not looking. Their fathers are already talking about business. Their mothers gossip about the housewives. It's exactly like he expected.

They order. He doesn't listen to what the others order, and when the waiter leaves, he can barely remember what he ordered himself. The wine comes and he and Cherry both ordered a Coke. Hers was a diet, his was a regular.

“So how was work today?” Cherry asks, and he has to think about how to talk before he answers.

“Well, my dad is right there,” he answers in a low tone, “I cannot answer that.” And then they laugh.

Cherry's laughter fills the room and he's wondering why the other people are not looking at her. Why wouldn't they wonder where such a laugh comes from? He looks at her mouth as her lips slightly moves. It's only for a few seconds, but it feels longer in Percival's head.

“Is it really that bad?” She whispers, peaking towards his father. He nod and they laugh again, this time silently.

“I'm sorry to hear that.” And when the last word slips out of her mouth, silence falls and they are quiet until the food arrives. The waiter talks about the wine – it is apparently a very fine wine and it will go smoothly to whatever they ordered. He does barely listen, he's lost in her. Then he thinks about Zia, and how many men have been lost in her. Will it be like that when Cherry gets older? Will boys call her an angel and stare at her on the street? He shivers by the thought of icky boys drooling over her.

“What?” She says, and he realizes he had been staring at her this entire time he was lost in thoughts.

“Nothing, nothing. I was just lost for a while.” And he tries to remember how to smile.

“So what are you doing at the moment?” He asks after a few seconds. He failed to smile so he tries to save it by talking. Maybe she'll forget the weird look he had on his face when he tried. She looks embarrassed.

“Not much. I'm taking some time off. I wish I had the guts to just... go out and do stuff, but I'm slacking the day away. I guess I need it.” She's embarrassed because I have a job and she doesn't, he thinks for himself. She looks down. If only she could look him in the eyes and see how it really doesn't matter to him.

“I wish I could take some time off.” He confesses in a low voice, so his father wouldn't hear it. Percival is scared of his reaction if he heard.

“Why? We should get on with our lives, not just be stuck where we are. The big decisions are to be taken now. I feel so guilty... I don't contribute to society.”

“Because if I had the time to think about what I wanted to do, then I'd probably end up choosing the right thing, and not just choosing something because I had to. You're right, the big decisions are to be taken now, but who said that, anyway? I say it's my life, and I should be able to decide whenever I'm ready. Unfortunately, that's not how it works. I have to contribute to society because my dad says so, and as long as I live under his roof, I do as he says. I could have ended up with a much worse job, so in a way, I'm glad I'm stuck there for a while. But believe me, whenever I can escape, I will.” His voice cracks from whispering. His throat feels a bit weird. Cherry seems to relax more and she nods slowly.

“That sounds about right.” She says and add: “I shouldn’t feel guilty. Thanks.” She flashes yet another wonderful smile and he dazes off into a world where he and Cherry are running in the fields towards each other, only to collide in a warm embrace.

They eat in silence and only partly listens to their parents talk. It seems so mundane and boring. Cherry seems absorbed in eating her food. He wonders how she can stay so thin.

When they are all done, they both look at each other for a long, long time, before Cherry mutters “do you want to take a walk while they finish their special wine?” His smile is wider than it have been for a long time, and they leave the table.

All the candles on the way out flicker a bit when they walk by.