“Chicken burrito, Mexican rice on the side.” Vanessa said almost immediately, her eyes going to the waitress again. She gave her just a tiny glare, one that wasn’t noticeable unless you were looking for it. Turning to her attention back to her drink, she went silent again, trying to guess what the other three were going to order and in what order they were going to say what they wanted.
Barry immediately butted in before the other two could open their mouths, taking almost 5 minutes to fully give his order. The poor girl's writing could barely keep up with the string of words. Lee was next, ordering a simple quesadilla and chips with queso. The director finished it off with two beef burritos, and the waitress walked off, taking a glance over her shoulder at Lee one last time before entering the kitchen.
Lee leaned close to Vanessa once again and asked, "What was with that look you gave her?"
Barry heard the question and asked, "What look?"
Lee answered without a hint of shame, "I was watching her. She gave the waitress the stink eye."
“Nothing,” She replied smoothly, glancing at him for only a moment before taking a sip of her lemonade. Tugging the hood of her hoodie further over her face so she wasn’t seen, she looked around the restaurant. Already impatiently waiting for her burrito.
Lee studied her for a few more seconds, trying to get a read off of her like he would an opponent in the ring. Alas, women's emotions were way more confusing than martial arts fighting styles ever will be. He gave up with a shrug and drowned out the conversation happening across from them. It took the food another 20 minutes to get to the table. The waitress was still stealing glances at Lee while she handed Vanessa her plate of rice and nearly dropped it into her lap. Lee watched this all with mild amusement, thinking it was just a slight slip on the part of the waitress.
She barely held back a curse word when she waitress almost dropped her rice in her lap, though she settled for a more noticeable glare to silently say ‘watch it’. One her food was in front of her though and she wasn’t in danger of getting rice dropped on her, she was happy, and started digging into the food like noting was wrong in the world. After the waitress had turned away to help another table, she glared at her again just for good measure.
Suddenly Barry turned to the two of them and said, "So, Vanessa, Lee-"
Lee cut him off with a look that could have shattered a diamond, but the damage had been done.
"I knew it!" the person Lee had noticed about 30 minutes ago exclaimed, hopping out of his seat and running over. "You're Lee Reddick! And you're Vanessa (You never told me a last name imao)!" the man looked about 50 and way to excited about meeting them.
A few others took notice at Vanessa's name and made their way over, giving similar reactions to the man's.
"You two are on a date, aren't you?" someone asked, and shortly after a camera flash came from someone's phone.
"Alright, alright, alright!" Lee said loudly, standing up. "Everyone take at least three steps back." He turned to Vanessa and said, "Let's get outta here."
Vanessa groaned and tugged the hood further over her face, just wanting to eat her food and keep rumors from spreading. “No, we’re not on a date,” She muttered, “We’re eating lunch and discussing music.” With not a care in the world she continued eating for a minute before realizing they probably wouldn’t leave them alone. She sighed and stood up like Lee said, her cheeks cherry red as she looked around for a to go box of some kind so she could take her food with.
"Do you want me to get the check and you can just go back to the car?" Lee asked, but Barry beat him tot it.
"You two go!" he said, already pulling out his wallet. "I'll get a to-go box for y'all's food. Just head back to the gym and we'll meet you there."
"Holy shit," Lee mumbled to Vanessa and he waited for her to walk out, "Barry did something helpful."
She pulled off her hood once people recognized her and waved to a few of them as she made her way to the door. She glanced back at her manager for a second with a look of thanks as she made her way outside amid the others who followed her and Lee out. “I know, every so often he does something crazy like that. It’s his hidden talent.” Looking around get the signature red car, she bounced on her toes and hoped this would stay out of the public eye. She didn’t want to get Lee involved with her crazy rumored relationships.
"Ay, buddy, back it up!" he said loudly as a creepy ass guy stepped forward and reached out for Vanessa hair.
Lee stepped in front of her and put an arm out, shoving the guy onto his ass like he was a toddler.
"We should probably get to the car, huh?" he asked, shooting a glance over his shoulder at Vanessa. "Follow me."
The crowd steered well clear of Lee after that particular interaction, choosing the safe option of taking pictures and videos of the two as Lee opened up the backseat door for Vanessa.
Vanessa cursed in her head the whole time she got into the backseat and closed the door behind herself, only choosing to actually let a swear word out when the door was closed. “Fuck. That sucked,” She said with a sigh, pulling the hood over her head again and pulling the drawstrings tight so just her nose was showing, “So much for a nice, peaceful meal. That burrito actually looked really good too.” All she could do was hope Barry got the food as she muttered something incoherently about creepy fans and just asking to take a picture with her instead of being asses.
Lee slipped in from the other door, slamming it shut and letting out an exasperated puff of air. "Remind me to never get as famous as you, alright? I'd have so many assault charges filed against me my lawyer would have a heart attack."
Even after the fiasco, he had a small grin on his face after glancing over at her. Everything connected in his mind while he was shoving the creep onto his ass. She was getting jealous. That waiter was getting a little flirty.
“Honestly, that’s the worst part about being famous. You can’t do anything without it being documented.” She huffed a laugh and shrugged, “Hey, if you were this famous, people would probably love being shoved over by you.” She sank down into her seat and pulled the hood off her head again, glancing at the window to try to see if there were any creeps peering through them to get a picture of her and him.
"You didn't like that waitress, did you?" he asked, his grin growing slightly. There was still a group of people on the sidewalk next to the car, but the threat of Lee stomping them out on video kept them at bay. The could see Barry and the director trying to worm their way through it, so they still had a few more moments of relative privacy.
Vanessa scowled at the back of the seat and didn’t answer for a moment, choosing her words carefully, “She was eyeing you up, and I figured you didn’t want to deal with another girl bothering you, so I just scared her away. You’re welcome.”
"Alright," he said, chuckling slightly as the other two finally made it to the car and threw open the doors with a huff.
"Your food," Barry said, twisting around in his seat to hand Vanessa a to-go box.
The car drove off in relative silence as Lee mulled over the events that happened during lunch, deliberately not looking over at Vanessa.
She pumped her fist into the air with a happy smile before taking the box, “Yes! Barry you’re magic.” The only sound that came from her on the ride was a hum of happiness as she dug into her burrito again, careful not to make a mess in Barry’s car. He had just got her food for her. Even the director didn’t talk much to her manager as they drove, probably because he was still trying to figure out what in the world just happened at the restaurant.
They reached the gym once again in 5 minutes and Lee couldn't have gotten out of the car faster.
"I absolutely hate the intention of the backseat," he grumbled. "Why can't every car just be a two seater?"
The interns were still mulling about the gym, making him slightly irritated.
"I hope you motherfuckers are gonna clean this up," he said as Vanessa and the others walked thorough the doors.
She raised an eyebrow, as she got out of the car as well and followed him back into the gym. “Who pooped on your parade? Geez.” Setting her food to the side, she motioned for the interns to do what he said and clean up. Barry and the director followed her in and immediately went back to planning and talking as Vanessa started helping the others clean up. Cleaning things up didn’t bother her in the least, and she actually enjoyed being helpful and not sitting around like every other celebrity while others did the work.
(Yo?)
(Im not gonna let thus die, i just need a bit of time for my brain to stop acting stupid)
(Oke doke)
"Hey, man, I've got a fight in two weeks," he grumbled, walking back over to the locker in the corner and opening it again.
He pulled out two gloves and slipped his hands into them, pulling his fingers into fists to slide the holes into place.
“That’s two weeks away though, I don’t think one afternoon of not training is going to make you loose your fight.” She looked around, studying the gym as everything was being taken down. With the equipment gone the gym seemed bigger, and she could only think of how lonely practicing alone here would be.
"It most definitely could."
He walked over to a punching bag hanging close to the corner where his locker was and began warming up his arms with simple jabs at shoulder level.
The inters started carrying the equipment outside to the van where it was stored and Vanessa walked over to one of the walls, watching as Lee warmed up. It was interesting to her and Barry wasn’t around so she wasn’t sure if she could leave yet. The last thing she wanted to do was leave and be called back so she decided to just stay and watch the punches and jabs he was doing, “What are you practicing right now? Does it get any more complicated?”
"I'm just warming up," he said over his shoulder without breaking rhythm. "Get the blood rushing through my arms."
“Ah, ok,” She continued watching him as he warmed up, shaking her head as she saw Barry and the director walk right by her outside without a second glance. They were deep in conversation and seemed to not even notice her, talking about who knows what, probably another music video or song.
"I can't really do much today," he continued, his slight frown the only sign he was exerting energy. "My trainer has the next couple of days off."
Vanessa nodded, “Makes sense, you don’t want to hurt yourself before this fight.” She relaxed against the wall and looked to the ceiling, thinking as she listened to the sound of his fists hitting the punching bag, “So, who are you fighting? Is it a big match?”