An indulging aroma of brewing coffee tickled Sumati’s stomach, out of reach from her hands, but will grace her in due time. She sat straight across from Eliu from their booth that was pressed up against the window that had more window than wall, allowing her to people watch on their date. The cafe embraced with its warm tones, paneled mainly with birch and white with touches of salmon reds and cherry wood springing life to its insides. Instrumental jazz complemented the calm atmosphere and drowned out the noises of the open kitchen that sat at the center, only separated from the dining area with half walls. 

The couple caught up about their lives, how their jobs had been going—both lying, with only Sumati knowing the truth—and flirting throughout their conversations. They shared enthusiastic laughs and intrinsic gazes, leaning in towards each other so closed their noses practically kissed. Eliu’s gaze stooped below her shoulders several times, following up with a smirk, and Sumati would just reciprocate with several more laughs. 

“You’re wearin’ an awfully showy dress for a cafe date,” Eliu said. There was no other way to describe Eliu’s cocky smiles other than wolfish. Whether or not his intentions were good, Sumati thought she was being ogled at like a piece of barbecue sometimes.

She received his smirk well, and gave back with her sweet southern inflection, “Well, it’s a third date. I ain’t have anything to hide.” 

The showy dress he was referring to was her tight-fitting spaghetti strap dress, accompanied by a pink crop cardigan that she hung over her chair. She didn’t explicitly think he would have a problem with it. Truly, she picked the outfit knowing it would bring out a suggestive side for him, even though she didn’t see the appeal. She had no issue wearing spaghetti straps, but knew other people conceive them as promiscuous. 

“It’s cute.” His stare felt to have sharpened. “I just don’t want anyone else lookin’ at you.”

She wasn’t sure to take that as a good thing. Even if she was dating him for herself, they weren’t considered boyfriend and girlfriend yet. But she still giggled. “That’s sweet.”

“You’ve got a nice figure.”

The waiter swooped by, saving Sumati from the awkward ‘compliments’ to deliver their food. He cautiously set a plate of toasted paninis in front of Eliu, a brimming parfait glass for Sumati, and the coffee of their choice in front of them. And just as quickly as he came, he left.

“You said you’re twenty?” Sumati said, and was given a nod. “And you’re already a CEO? How’s that treatin’ you?”

“Just regular work. I want to get it outta the way now so I can settle down later.” He stirred a myriad amount of sugar packets into his coffee. “Family time’s really important to me. I wanna be a father in a few years, and I want my kids to live comfortably by that time.”

She took a sip of her coffee to mask the disbelief on her face. This was almost priceless to her. A gang leader who wanted to be a dad at his age? And then she set her cup down, and watched the solemn Eliu, immediately feeling bad about the remarks in her head. Was this his true self, or was he trying to play it up for a date? To talk about having children on the third date was an audacious move to say the least.

“Sorry, I said too much.” He focused on the whirs of his drink with an introspective gaze. His eyes mirrored the crème that melted into the coffee. “You should know how serious I am by now, though. Otherwise this would be a waste of your time.”

“Oh, no, you’re fine—” she stuttered, realizing her silence wasn’t helping “—I’m not settled on the future. I think there’s lots of time,” she added immediately.

“Yeah, of course,” he laughed nervously, but then he went straight back to flirting into his comfort zone. “You’re smart, girl. It’s attractive.”

She had no clue what indicated that she was smart in that conversation, but it was a free compliment. “Smart girl for a smart guy,” she flirted back cheekily. She felt her heart plummet with cringe. Eliu ate the bait enough for it to be worth it, though.

“And she’s smooth,” he whistled. “I’ll be back in a minute, alright? Gotta go to the restroom.” She nodded with her folded fingers beneath her chin, her eyes rested on him until he was out of sight.

After Eliu finished washing up, he unfolded a comb from his pocket, angling his arms in awkward positions to get the ideal position for his curls as he intensely stared at himself in the mirror. The sudden buzzing of his phone tingled his thigh, so he picked it up and snugged it between his ear and his shoulder to continue focusing on his hair. “What’s up?”

“What’s up? You haven’t picked up any of our calls. I can tell you how many you’ve missed,” Kip said, immediately coming out for blood.

He knitted his brows. “Huh? Whaddya mean? I only got your call now.”

“We’re under attack by the CRK right now. We thought they got you.” His voice was amazingly calm. Only the tiniest annoyance slipped through.

“No, I’m on my date right now. What do you mean we’re under attack?”

“They hit us all at once. Key’s getting reports of our businesses being robbed or destroyed. A lot of our shipments have been stolen, too. Our members are getting together for a clash and—” A roar of cheers and screams coming from a crowd exploded from his side of the phone. Eliu presumed it was their members.

“Why are you there? Just let ‘em fight.”

Kip grimaced and hugged his phone closer to his ear, cupping the speaker. “We can’t! We were trying to get you to order them to stop but we couldn’t reach you. We’re getting attacked by that third group at the same time!” he yelled progressively louder.

“Okay, I gotta come up with a good excuse to leave, though. Help me think of one.”

He pinched his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. Eliu was the most helpful with work, except for when he’s talking to women. “Nevermind. I’m already here. Have fun,” he said passively aggressively as he ended the call. He turned around back to the crowd, watching doggedly at the border of pink-orange and the red that made slight appearances over the hundreds of heads. There was a thin line of him surviving in a crowd like that, afterall, he had no allies other than his friends. But he could make a convincing argument, because it wasn’t only The Prisms under attack—it was also the Cross Road Kings.