la dolce vita

Vi wasn’t expecting the silence that followed. She felt bad for a moment, after all it wasn’t his fault that she was having a bad day. However it was a fleeting feeling. Whatever damage she had done to his ego, she was sure he’d be able to recover. Ignoring his apology, she took his order, rolling her eyes at his suggestion. It was almost comical what he was saying. People like him did not intermingle much with everyone else, and frankly Viv was hoping that this would be the last time she saw him. When she looked up, she was stunned to see a $100 bill in front of her face. She had only seen those on tv, and it was strange to see one in real life. Soon enough the shock she had faded, and anger took its place. Was this a joke? Or maybe he thought her to be a charity case? Whatever it was, she didn’t want to be apart of it. Sure, having that kind of money in her pocket would help her family for at least the next week. But if there was anything Vi hated, it was handouts. She worked for everything, and even though she wasn’t always sure how to solve the problems they had, she was confident she could figure it out on her own. She took the bill from his hand, putting it in the cash register and handing him his change. “I don’t need your money. Your order will be ready in 10. Next person, please.”

The fact that she seemed to completely ignore his proposition initially didn’t faze him much — honestly, he wasn’t so blindly confident and egocentric that he had expected her to jump up and down in excitement as she agreed to going out with a guy who had offended her mere moments ago. That didn’t mean, though, that things wouldn’t eventually changed and Luke was sure he would be capable of changing them if he only showed a little dedication.

What he hadn’t bargained for, however, was that she would refuse his generous tip, the ultimate proof of what a gentleman he was after all, never mind his earlier recklessness. Dumbfounded, blue eyes fixated on the returned change in his hand, brows knitting in disbelief. If only people weren’t indeed queuing behind him — where they used to this kind of food and actually expected to get a tasty meal out of this or why were there so many of them? — he’d have time for a discussion and would undoubtedly manage to make her take all of the money but for now the goal was to get her to at least accept a somewhat reasonable tip and show her that he surely couldn’t be all that bad.

“What, no, that’s just a regular tip for good customer service even though I haven’t been a good customer to serve,” he rushed to protest, quickly picking out a ten dollar bill among the cash and placing it on the counter. “Here, that’s got to be reasonable. Take it.” 

It had been a hard day. To be fair, every day was difficult, but this particular day was just harsh. Not only had she overslept that morning, she was given a horrifyingly embarrassing lecture in front of the whole class, on how being timely is an important asset to have for the ‘real world’. Please. If the life she was living didn’t qualify as the ‘real world’, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever want to leave the confines of college. When that class was over, she stopped by the store to grab groceries for the house, noticing this morning that the fridge was almost completely empty save for a ketchup bottle, a half finished tub of butter,and a single grape. She had skipped breakfast that morning, only hoping that her siblings had found something to eat.

Viviana didn’t have much in her cart. A couple boxes of microwavable dinners, cereal, milk, and apples. Which is why she was surpised when the cashier told her that her card had been denied. Despite the numerous times she had frantically swiped the card, the result was always the same. She left the store defeated, having no idea where dinner was going to come from. Vi picked up the phone to call her dad, only to set it back down when she remembered that the poor guy had just been laid off and was struggling to pay the bills.How could she ask him to get groceries?  She let out a long sigh and set the car to drive. If worse came to worst she would sneak a couple of burgers after work tonight. 

Although she was stressed and tired, she still had classes she had to attend. Her grades had been slipping for the past couple of weeks, something she would have to correct unless she wanted to lose her schlarship. So she went about her day, comforting herself with the thought that nothing else could go wrong. 

She had been wrong. Viv had spotted him from the moment he walked into the food court. It was obvious he did not belong, with his shiny shoes and immaculate dressing. He looked uncomfortable here, eyeing his surroundings with a look of disdain. Although she wasn’t usually the kind of girl to prejudge people, she couldn’t help herself. She knew his type, and she absolutely resented them. They had money, but were exceptionally greedy with it. They thought themselves as kings and queens, and regarded everyone else as commoners. They had faced no hardships in their lives, and were almost alway guaranteed to inherit some kind of family fortune. Unfortunately for her, he was headed her way.

She tried to hold her composure, but that lasted all of two seconds. It had been a long day, she was tired, and the last thing she wanted to deal with was some self entitled brat. “Can you read? Because last time I checked my nametag doesn’t say ‘sugar’. As for your question, it’s just food. It’s not gonna kill you, so either relax and order a sandwhich, or pick somewhere else to eat.”

Years of careful conditioning had made it all too easy to grow used to a certain despicable attitude he had just exhibited without shame. A clear downside to being used to be waited on, to getting everything one desired with a snap of a finger or a slightly irritated gaze had to be taking staff (often called servants by the less civilised among his crowd) and their services for granted, grotesquely so, to a point of disgust they all too often reached. In fact, it wasn’t unusual for his group of friends to go out to show off their entitlement in front of the first undeserving employee below them in class. They’d take turns and today it was his. An overall rare occasion as he had never quite found as much fun in being a dick than the majority of his friends but he was no stranger to the game.

Usually, they would keep it going regardless of the victim’s response but this time he couldn’t seem to. Maybe the girl’s comeback had caught him off guard but Luke couldn’t help but think that there was something else to it, something that prompted him to straighten up his act and try his luck at the best damage control he could manage without damaging his reputation in front of his entourage. 

For a split second, his comeback solely consisted of him staring back at the girl with slightly parted lips, a clear sign of surprise quickly covered by the act of wetting them before shooting her another signature half smile, though now lacking in former confidence. “Alright, I’m sorry...” he squinted slightly as though her name tag was hard to read, “Viviana. That was inconsiderate of me.” Not that he could get away with a simple sincere apology and remain in his friends’ good graces. “Okay, how about we take four of today’s special,” Luke proposed, fishing for his wallet, knowing all too well that now was the time to attack and keep his honour intact, “and maybe you’ll let me make it up to you sometime when you’re off work.” The million dollar smile returned in full swing, accompanied by a $100 bill. “Keep the change, of course.”

In this entire city, perhaps even in this entire world — granted, slight exaggeration — there was no place he would rather be far, far away from than this, soles luckily still clicking against the wannabe marble flooring despite his fear that he would step into something sticky any minute now. How his friends had managed to convince him to go to the mall in this part of town of all places was beyond him, still, although he had reluctantly agreed only less than an hour ago. Luke Carrington was never to be spotted at such a place, under no circumstances whatsoever — and perchance that was the fun his peers had seen in this manoeuvre, as proven by their wide grins while he could barely stifle a smile beneath layers of annoyance.

Nonetheless, he had always been a strong believer in carpe diem — so, alas, why not try to make it most out of a horrible experience? Next on the list after seeking out the two stores he could tolerate spending a decent amount of money on had to be food of some sort, though he supposed the only form of nutrition he could expect to purchase at a place like this had to be dripping in grease and was probably capable of devouring his insides slowly and painfully.

The sight of the girl working the food court was a small aid to his lingering ailment but his overall disgust with his surroundings sadly outweighed even the slightest bit of relief spotting someone who didn’t seem like a lunatic (but was, for that matter, actually surprisingly attractive) had briefly sparked and hence, though his tone didn’t lack the usual charm he appeared to ooze by default at this point, his choice of words was severely lacking. 

“Alright, sugar,” he sneered absently after studying the menu above her for a mere moment with his brow furrowed, “what would you say I should order here if I’d like to still be alive the next day?”