Chapter 10 - late night dinner date

The lights came on around 1 in the morning and the music stopped. Red's friends had already gone home around midnight, Sofi was looking drained and Carla seemed a little unsteady on her feet, but slightly more sober. She grabbed both Red and Sofi by their hands and walked them to the door.

Outside, the cold air hit the three of them, waking them up a little.

"Im huuungry" Carla moaned, whilst giving a little shiver.

"Oh babes, Im worn out, lets go back, we can eat at home" Sofi replied

"Mister Red, do you want to get chips with me, Sofi is being boring."

Red was tired too, but was having a really good time and quite liked the idea of going for Dinner with Carla again. "Yeah, sounds awesome."

Sofi rolled her eyes, "Lead on, darling, two against one."

They walked a small distance along the street from the club and stopped in the harsh, bright glow of an all night waffle house.

"Red likes sweet things, we'll go here!" Carla grinned

"Oh fine" said Sofi who then dug her fingers into her bra, pulling out a badly crumpled spliff. "You know what I like... and piss off, get your own." She interrupted Carla who looked about to say something and wandered off down the side of the building.

"Ignore her, she's cranky when she's tired and hungry, she just needs her medication." She made ridiculous air quotes around the word medication and winked.

"I think I got the gist. Have you been to this place before?"

"Yup! lets get waffles!" She grabbed Red's hand and pulled him in.

They strode to the counter inside, there were several customers looking hungover, the air smelled sweet and the waffle iron made a pleasing hiss.

Carla leaned on the counter and looked at the brightly coloured menu. "Waffle, with nutella, whipped cream and sprinkles!... and a black coffee. Sofi will want a melted cheese pancake, another one of the waffles and a hot chocolate with marshmallows." She pulled Reds hand in, so he moved towards the bar. "My friend will have...."

Red looked at the pictures of doughnuts, waffles and pancakes. He wanted to select something to impress her and he was feeling hungry again. He did not feel like overdosing on sweet things so soon after the milkshake, but felt there was little choice. "I don't know. Maybe the strawberry and banana waffle or the caramel and toffee one, they both look nice"

"And those two as well, please." Said Carla to the cashier, who wrote down the order, Carla fished out her debit card and paid up.

"We bring them over" said a young waitress, who ushered them to a private booth to sit down.

"Both?" asked Red.

"Yeah! you liked them both! its my treat, don't worry!" She stuck out the tip of her tongue and gently bit it.

Sofi had returned,, she slid herself across the red vinyl bench, pushing in next to Carla, she smelled strongly of cannabis and her demeanour seemed more relaxed.

The food arrived, shortly after, the plates filled the table, the waffles came fresh and were steaming, the whipped cream had melted a little and dribbled onto the plates, the warm, doughy smell completely masked Sofi's herbal aroma, the whole set up looked appetising. Sofi picked up the folded cheese pancake with her hands and started eating without speaking.

Red picked a strawberry off the waffle with his plastic fork, they were enormous, but he was hungry, the late night had made him a little sleepy and his stomach was craving sugar. He took bite after bite, scooping up the cream and fruit then going for warm, stodgy waffle base. He looked up, Carla was pacing herself, she was picking off small bites from hers and looked to be savouring the flavours. Sofi on the other hand was making short work of hers, her pancake seemed to disappear in moments and she was well into the waffle.

"wow, you guys look like you're enjoying this" Carla interjected to break the silence.

Sofi's eyes looked wider and her face had flushed pink and she raised her finger at Carla to imply she was too busy to tlalk right now.

"yeah, its a lovely little place, they must know what they're doing." Red said. "What's yours like?"

"try it!" she said excitedly, and stabbed her for into the waffle, swished a big chunk of it through the nutella and offered it across the table. Sofi seemed to stifle a smirk with a fake cough.

"Oh, no thanks! You gave me enough already." He smiled politely.

Carla looked at him with dejected puppy eyes and wiggled the fork invitingly."

"Oh okay." He said, admiring her persistence.

Carla beamed and thrust the chocolaty morsel further over. Red leaned into it and took a bite. "see, its good!"

Red nodded and went back to his own. He easily managed the strawberry banana topped one and began picking off the fried pineapple chunks from the next. These were not so nice as the fresh fruit from the previous one, so he ate them quickly to get them out of the way, before cutting into the waffle.

Sofi was sliding back out of the booth, she had finished her food and had nibbled the marshmallows out of her hot chocolate. "Screw it, one more." She said.

Carla clapped and started fishing for her purse, she seemed too overeager to pay for the food, she obviously could not hel be generous.

Sofi slapped Carlas wrist. "Oh don't be stupid, you pay for everything."

"But you're my guest!" Carla said. She looked like she genuinely meant her generosity.

Sofi grumbled and started to turn away.

"Can you get me another too, please?" Red interjected. He surprised himself, why did he ask for more, he hadn't even finished his second one. Did he want to compete with Sofi to tease Carla? He was starting to feel full, another one would push his limits and kt's not like Sofi would take it as a competition, judging how tight her dress stretched over her nearly spherical gut, she clearly thought nothing of eating whatever she wanted.

"Seriously, Red? You've not had anything to smoke." She said

"I got you a drink earlier." He mumbled.

"Oh, that wasn't a gift? Sure another. Nutella?"

Red nodded and took another bite from his one.

Carla looked across the table, a little shocked. "Oooh nice!" she beamed. She was obviously not surprised at Sofi going to get more.

"Yeah, need energy for the ride tomorrow, im already going to be tired and hung over."

"Aren't you athlete guys supposed to have protein and balanced meals?" She asked, with an exaggerated look of concern.

"Never said I was an athlete... food is energy, thats all I know."

"Ah!" she winked "I like simple logic too."

Red liked that she accepted this, he was not ready for her to think there was an ulterior motive, especially as it probably was not normal to see a slender person eat like this two days in a row.

Sofi sat back down a minute later and started making small talk with Carla. Red concentrated on his waffle.


When the food came, it looked less appetising now. His stomach already started to feel bloated. Sofi had also ordered pints of cola to sober the three of them up. They all leaned in and toasted their night out.

Sofi was eating her waffle with no problems, it was going down just as fast as the previous ones, she even seemed livelier. She was chatting to Carla enthusiastically between bites. Red was struggling to keep up with the conversation and the food. His stomach was protesting. He looked down, there was whipped cream stains on his chests and the buttons from his fitted shirt were starting to strain a small amount. His stomach was making funny motions inside, however thankfully it was inaudible. He casually leaned back and rubbed it quickly, applying some pressure to it. As he did that, he noticed Carla leaned towards Sofi and whispered. Sofi nodded in reply and went back to eating.

A few minutes later, Sofi had finished the waffle and the cola. She acted completely normal, her body really must have been used to this. Red on the other hand had been quiet. He had just about finished the third waffle, but the whole time, kept feeling very aware of his clothes. His belly was putting pressure on his shirt and jeans and they felt restricting. He couldn't wait to get home and take them off. He felt disappointed that Carla did not seem to notice, she was too busy nattering to Sofi.

Sofi yawned a little "Anyone ready to go?" her energy levels had tanked and it was well after 2AM.

Carla was infected by the yawn, she politely covered her mouth and nodded. "Yes, im sleepy. Red, you should stay, you look worn out, poor boy. I live around the corner and my sofa is free."

Red thought it was probably best to go home, but the offer was tempting. He was too full and tired to want to walk to far, or sit in the back of a moving taxi. "If you're sure, that would be great, ta."

Sofi slid back out, She used the back of the bench to help pull herself up this time, Carla shuffled across and stood up fine. Red got up and felt pleased to stretch, his stomach did not fight so much against his jeans. Outside, the fresh air hit him again, it made him feel more alert and a little less queasy. Carla hooked arms with the two of them and walked off along the road.