We Could Be Something

Resting her head back against her seat, Adriana let out a small sigh, trying to swallow the bout of nausea that rumbled in her stomach. It was the first time in a while, for a few weeks, the hits of nausea had been fewer and further between, but as soon as she had woken up that morning, she had known that it was going to be a long day, something which hadn’t been helped by spending the day cooped up in her office with her very little other than paperwork to do.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she took a couple of deep breaths before she pushed herself to her feet, padding into the bathroom which adjoined to her office. Pushing her blonde hair out of her face, she carefully moved to crouch over the toilet, spilling her stomach.

“Adriana?”

Adriana, who’d moved to wipe her mouth, startled a little at the sound of her name before she stood up, levelling her eyes with Iker who stared at her, a confused expression etched onto his features. “Adriana, are you alright?” he posed.

Adriana smoothed out of the front of her blouse before she nodded, offering him a small smile. “I’m perfectly alright” she noted as she ducked out of the bathroom, moving to collect a bottle of water from her bag.

“You were just sick” Iker countered “I mean, I am not doctor, but that’s never normally a good sign” he added, his tone slightly concerned.

Adriana offered him a small look before she shook her head. It had a been a few days, after they’d had dinner together, they’d only seen one another in passing, and whilst Adriana had enjoyed getting to know him, she wanted to be careful, even if she doubted that Iker was likely to cause her a problem, she didn’t want to divulge too much too soon. “I’m fine, Iker” she noted.

Iker offered her another dubious look before he nodded. “Alright” he conceded gently.

“You didn’t come here just to check on me, did you?” Adriana quipped, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Iker spared a small laugh before he shook his head. “I didn’t” he noted “I was thinking about heading out to lunch and I was wondering if you were free to go with me. I mean, if you feel up to it” he clarified gently. It had been on his mind for a couple of days, the idea of asking Adriana to lunch, and with little else to do beside head back to his apartment, he had opted to go for it.

He had enjoyed spending time with her, even if they’d opted not to talk about certain things, and he wanted to do it again, even if their relationship was to remain platonic. He was confident he had found a good friend in Adriana.

Adriana smiled. “You want to go to lunch with me?” she posed.

“It was just a suggestion” Iker noted “I enjoyed myself the other night and I thought we could do it again. If you’re busy…”

“I’m not” Adriana interjected “I just like teasing you. You tend to ramble” she added with a nonchalant shrug.

Iker rolled his eyes slightly, something which made Adriana smile. She knew that it was only a start, whilst they had had a good time, it was going to take more than one dinner with her for him to feel comfortable in the city, but she wanted to help him, even if it did take a while. He needed someone to help him and, whilst she didn’t like to admit it, she needed someone removed from her situation for a while. “Come on” she quipped as she pushed herself back her feet “I know somewhere we can go” she added as she moved to collect her bag.

Iker offered her another small smile before he followed after her, more than slightly glad that she had agreed to go with him.

~#~
“So, what do you think of this place?” Adriana mused as she pushed the last of her food around her plate, her eyes glancing towards Iker who sat across from her. It had been a pleasant afternoon, despite a few awkward silences, and Adriana was pleased that they had done it, even if the sensation of nausea hadn’t quite faded, she was still glad that she had opted to go with him.

Iker, who’d been sipping on his glass of water, smiled. “It’s pretty nice” he commented “You have pretty decent tastes when it comes to restaurants” he added.

Adriana shrugged. “I used to dine out a lot” she noted gently “My…my ex and I, we used to head out to dinner at least one a week, and we found a few of these places” she explained, her voice faltering a little over the word ‘ex’.

Iker noted the slight stumble in her words, but opted not to push it, not wanting to upset her by pressing her on a topic which was clearly a sore one for her. “Well, maybe next time, I could find us somewhere” he suggested gently, offering her a small smile.

Adriana, who’d been frowning to herself, nodded quietly. “That sounds like a plan” she noted softly.

“I am sure that I can find somewhere nice” Iker enthused “It can’t be too hard, can it?” he added. He knew that he was babbling, but he didn’t want Adriana to dwell on the thought of her ex. It was clearly fresh, from the way she flinched whenever the topic of her past relationship arose, Iker could tell that the breakup was pretty recent, but he didn’t want to ask about it, not wanting to ruin any chance he had of forming a friendship with Adriana.

Adriana shrugged. “It’s a big city” she noted.

“I am sure that I will find somewhere nice for us to eat” Iker insisted “And if I don’t, I will cook. I’m not fantastic at it but I can give it a go” he added, offering her a boyish smile.

Adriana admired the warm look on his face for a moment before she returned his smile, a hint of pink playing on her cheeks. She knew that he had noticed it, as soon as she had stumbled over the word ‘ex’, Iker’s expression had softened, but she was glad that he hadn’t pressed it. She doubted that she would be ready to explain the situation to him for a while.

“We should think about getting out of here” Iker noted gently “Do you want a lift back?” he added, moving to wrap his jacket around his shoulders.

Adriana merely offered him another smile before she pressed a kiss against his cheek, wordlessly thanking him for not pressing her.