Nathan abruptly closed his mouth and took a deep swallow as he took me in. 

His eyes journeyed boldly from my cleavage line to my waist before stopping at my thighs. He seemed fixated on where the dress's slit had exposed a slither of skin.

I am not usually one to get embarrassed at men's stares, but for some reason the heaviness of his gaze along with how dark, and hooded his eyes had become; made my cheeks feel a little bit warm. 

 As though in a world of his own, his eyes remained on my legs for a handful of seconds. 

Finally, coming to my senses, I cleared my throat. "Natalie, not to embarrass you or anything, but I think you have a little drool right there," I said as I tapped the corner of my lips with a little smirk.

The weird look in his eyes vanished, and Nathan whipped his head up at a speed faster than I'd ever seen. 

His eyes narrowed into unamused slits. "Ha, ha, funny," he spat sarcastically. 

Sparing me one more look of disdain, he stormed his way out of the changing room, and back into the main shop.

 "That didn't sound like a denial to me," I sang out to him with a laugh as I followed behind him.

 He simply ignored me.

Lisa, sat patiently in one of the waiting chairs, quickly rose as we re-entered the room. A radiant smile stretched over her face as her eyes did a swoop over my outfit. "You look beautiful," she gushed. "Don't you think, Nathan?" she probed as she spared a glance in his direction.

Nathan stiffened but reluctantly moved his eyes back to mine. With a controlled look on his face, he did another quick scan of me from head to toe. "She won't get kicked out of the restaurant this time," he commented slyly. 

Suddenly, his eyes dropped down to my hands. "Actually, wait a second, what's that?" he said as he pointed at the tied-up plastic bag in hand. 

"Duh, my old clothes. What, did you think they were going to disappear by magic?" I snickered.

 With a sigh, he snatched the bag from my hand. "I'll get the saleslady to store them around the back. I can't have you embarrassing us again, he snapped rudely.

Then before I could say anything, he marched over to the till to pay for my dress. 

Wait a second, he was paying for my dress... As in, he was giving me money.

This was amazing, I wasn't even his friend yet, let alone his girlfriend, and he was already buying shit for me. I was way too good at this Gold-digging game.

When he was finished, we made our way back out of the shop and started to head towards the restaurant. I quickly saddled up to Nathan's side. 

"So, how much did this cost you?" I asked curiously.

 "I don't know, not much, a couple thousand or something," he mumbled dismissively. 

I stopped walking. "A couple thousand fucking, what!" I gasped, my voice coming out in practically a shout.

 An elderly couple happened to pass by as I said that, and they gave me a distasteful look from across the street.

  Oopsies... 

Nathan let out a dramatic sigh and angled himself slightly back to look at me. "Can you calm your dramatic ass down before I uninvite you," he grumbled rudely. 

I narrowed my eyes and then childishly pulled a face at him. 

Soon enough, we re-entered the restaurant, and like last time, the waiter greeted us at the door. His eyes glanced over my outfit, and he visibly relaxed as though the sight of me out of my ratty jeans was a comfort to him. 

"Excellent, let me lead you to your table of three," he smiled as he led us deeper into the restaurant. 

I didn't miss Nathan, slyly mutter, just loud enough for me to hear -' it should have been a table for two.'

Nathan and Lisa slid into the chairs on one side of the table while I slid into a chair opposite them. 

"Here are your menus," the waiter said as he placed them on a stand in the center. "Another waiter will come shortly to take down your orders," he explained with a curt smile. 

Then he turned around and hurried back to his post - likely eager to yell at some more unsuspecting customers who didn't know the dress code.

 Relaxing back in my chair, I let out a contented sigh and focused my gaze across the table, and particularly on Nathan. 

"Do you have to make annoying sound effects?" Nathan spat. I smiled. 

"Why? Does it bother you?" I chuckled as I quirked up a brow. 

"Yes, yes it does," he snapped. 

I smiled even wider before letting out an even louder sigh to piss him off even further. I snorted when I saw Nathan's eye twitch in irritation.

 I know annoying someone into friendship seemed like a pretty risky technique, but I'm pretty sure it was going to work. And if not...well shit.

Lisa sat up straighter in her chair. "Anyway, how do you guys know each other?" she asked curiously.

 I nodded my head over to Nathan. "Oh, Nathan's my project buddy," I replied chirpily. 

"Hmm, I'm not sure how I got so lucky," Nathan drawled sarcastically, the negativity in his tone a stark contrast against my own.

 Lisa looked back and forth between us with furrowed brows. "You guys have a very interesting relationship...," she laughed.

 I chuckled. "He likes me really, he just struggles to show it. Don't you, Natalie?" I asked as I gave him a cheeky little wink.

Nathan gave me a dry look and ignored me before reaching out for the menus. He placed a menu in front of Lisa and himself, and he was about to pass one over to me, but then he paused. Slowly, he retracted his hand and looked up at me with a smirk. 

"Sophie, should I ask them if they have a kiddie menu?" he asked in a sweet condescending tone. 

Oh, so this prick thought he was a joker, did he? Well, two could play at that game.

 "Well, you could, but I really think you should start ordering from the adult menu, like a big girl, Natalie," I answered with an innocent little smile. 

His eyes narrowed. "That's not what I-"

I put a hand over my lips. "Shh, it's okay, you don't have to pretend to be someone you're not. Lisa isn't going to judge you," I explained in an overly sweet voice. 

Lisa snorted, likely having found my teasing funny.

  Did I mention I like Lisa?

Nathan clenched his fists into tight angry little balls and didn't say a word in retaliation. Or, in other words - I had won.

 In the next few minutes, all of us quietly scanned over the menus in search of what to order. Soon, the waiter arrived with a notebook in hand. This one was a lot younger, perhaps in his late teens or early twenties, with a thick mass of curly blonde hair. 

"Are we ready to order?" he asked politely, as he did a quick glance around the table.

 I'm not sure if I imagined it, but when his eyes caught mine, they dipped slightly and quickly checked me out. 

Nathan cleared his throat. "Yes, we are," he said tightly. "I'll have the Pasta Con Pomodoro E Basilico and a glass of your most expensive red wine," he replied fluently without a single stutter of hesitation. 

I hated to admit it, but when he spoke Italian; it made him sound that much sexier. 

Stupid bi-lingual show-off...

"I'll have the same," Lisa answered sweetly.

The waiter nodded his head and jotted some words down briskly. Wait a second, did he say the most expensive wine? Who on earth orders the most expensive wine just for the sake of it? 

What a rich bastard...

The waiter focused his attention on me. "And what would the pretty lady over here, like?" he asked smoothly, his voice deep and gravelly, in a likely effort to make himself seem more charming.

"Pretty lady?" I smiled. "Hmm, I like that," I laughed.

I caught Nathan rolling his eyes from across the table.

 I tapped the table in thought. "And erm...can you get me the closest thing to a pepperoni pizza," I shrugged. "Oh, and a side of fries if you've got any, and a coke," I added in with a smile. 

Nathan broke out into a vicious coughing fit. "Sorry? What?" he choked out. "I buy you a beautiful dress, take you out to one of the fanciest restaurants, and...and...you order pizza and a coke," he scoffed in disbelief, his mouth fumbling over the word, 'coke' as though it was a foreign language.

"And fries," I corrected him.

 Nathan let out a tired sigh and started to massage his temples as though he was on the brink of a mental episode.

The waiter looked down at me, his eyes twinkling in amusement. "Lovely choice," he chuckled.

 He collected all our menus from us, and as he reached for mine, he quite purposefully brushed his hand over mine. I didn't mind at all since he wasn't exactly ugly.

 "Your orders will be ready shortly," he explained. Then with one final smile, he walked away and headed towards the backroom.

"Oh my god, he totally likes you," Lisa gushed as soon as he'd left the table. 

Before I could answer, Nathan let out a rude snort. "I'm sure he'd change his mind if he got one taste of her personality."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, simmer down, Natalie. I'm sure if the waiter was into guys, he'd like you too; no need to be jealous," I smirked.

Lisa's head jolted up at this, her eyes widening sharply. "Wait, you're not secretly gay, are you?" she asked in worry. 

Nathan shook his head frantically "No, no, of course not, no! Trust me, I'm not," he stammered out in a panic, clearly sweating at the idea of ruining his evening fuck plans.

"Hmm, that sounds like a suspicious amount of panic to me," I sang, deciding to torture him some more.

 He threw me a dirty look and then turned back to Lisa. "Don't listen to her; she's crazy," he spat.

Deciding to take a break from tormenting him, I pulled my phone out of my bra and checked through my messages. After a few minutes, I briefly glanced back up at them, and the second I did, my head recoiled back a little. The sight before me was quite simply disgusting. 

Nathan had his arm wrapped around Lisa's neck and was in the process of whispering something in her ear. From the way her cheeks slightly redden, I knew that whatever he was whispering to her was not something of the PG-13 variety.

Then when I thought things couldn't get any worse, Nathan's eyes caught my own, and smirked – clearly as a way of taunting me for being an awkward third wheeler. 

Well, if he was going to act like a dick, then I was going to act like the worst bitch around.

 I surveyed my surrounding area for an appropriate weapon of attack, and then my eyes landed on the jug of sparkling water on the table. A small smile rose to my face as the most perfect plan came to mind.

I leaned forward on the table as though I was reaching for it, but then I suddenly gave it a harsh shove at the last minute. As planned, the whole thing spilled and splashed right into Nathan's lap.

 "Fuck," he hissed as he lurched away from Lisa and rose to his feet. 

I widened my eyes as I saw the water had soaked all around his crotch area, making it seem as though he had an accident. I immediately burst out into a fit of giggles which I poorly tried to muffle by covering my mouth. Even Lisa looked a little amused and was biting her lip.

 Nathan looked at me with so much fury that I was surprised steam wasn't pouring out of his ears. "You did that on purpose," he yelled as he pointed an accusatory finger. 

Yes, and I would do it again. 

"It was an accident. I just wanted some water," I replied innocently as I batted my eyelashes. 

He gave me a nasty look before snatching a napkin off the table. Then with a furious effort, he started to dab away at his pants while muttering profanities about me under his breath.

Once he was settled back in his seat, the blonde waiter returned with a trolley full of our dishes and drinks, which he handed and poured out swiftly.

 "Is there anything else I can get you?" he asked. 

"Or do to you?" he said as he caught my gaze. 

I raised my eyebrows in shock, surprised at the forwardness of the waiter. As an ex-waiter myself, I knew it definitely wasn't correct protocol to openly flirt in the manner he was.

"She has a boyfriend," Nathan randomly announced. 

The waiter swerved his head back towards Nathan in horror, and his cheek burned red. "Oh, sorry, are you two together?" he asked in embarrassment. 

"Maybe we are, maybe we're not, it's none of your business," Nathan hissed.

The waiter gulped. "Y-yeah, you have a point. Apologies, I'll leave you guys to enjoy your meal," he stuttered before hurriedly wheeling his empty trolley away.

As soon as he left, I let out an amused little chuckle. "Natalie, I wasn't aware I was your girlfriend." 

Nathan rolled his eyes and was about to reply when he was suddenly interrupted.

"Why did you imply she was your girlfriend?" Lisa snapped. 

I looked over at her in shock, and I was surprised to see her happy demeanor had left her, and a harsh frown was etched on her face. 

"I...er..I," Nathan stuttered as he clumsily tripped over his words. 

"Yeah, that's what I thought," she muttered out with a bitter laugh. "I'm not an idiot, Nathan. You bought her a dress; you have all this weird sexual tension, and you're quite clearly jealous of that waiter. She's so obviously your ex. Who the fuck brings their ex to their date?" she yelled.

 Nathan sat frozen in shock and seemed to have lost the ability to speak. Even I was a little taken aback by her random outburst of assumptions, and from the looks, we were getting, I think a few other customers were too. 

"Maybe you should sort out your feelings for your ex instead of using people to make her jealous," she spat. 

Then like that, she threw her napkin onto the table, rose to her feet before storming out of the restaurant.

Both of us sat in silence and stared at the door in shock, wondering what the hell had happened. 

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Author's note: 

So yeah, that happened... but yeah anyway, hope you enjoyed xx

Next update: Friday (6-8 PM - UK time)