Chapter 130: Bonding Time.
The table filled up fast once the food started arriving — plate after plate, Mateo’s eyes lighting up with each new dish like he was watching a magic trick he couldn’t quite explain. This was just like he saw in the movies in all honesty and he loved every second of it as well, it was one of those things that brightened up his day if anything at all.
He’d ordered nearly one of everything off the appetizer section alone, unable to commit to just a single choice once he realized he actually could. Seared scallops arrived first, three of them perfectly plated with a citrus reduction drizzled across the top. Then a small plate of wagyu beef sliders, the meat practically dissolving the moment it hit his tongue. A truffle risotto followed, rich and earthy, and Mateo dug into it with the same enthusiasm he’d shown for everything else, clearly overwhelmed by the sheer range of flavors he’d never had access to before.
“This is so good,” Mateo said around a mouthful of risotto, not even bothering to fully swallow before starting his next sentence. “Like, actually insane.”
“Chew first,” Liam said, amused.
“Can’t. No time. Too much food.”
Darren laughed, watching the kid work through his spread with the kind of focus usually reserved for competitive eating events. Liam had ordered a filet, medium rare, paired with a small side of roasted vegetables he barely touched, more interested in watching Mateo demolish an entire table’s worth of dishes than eating his own. Darren had gone with a rack of lamb, methodically working through it with considerably more restraint than either of his tablemates. He wasn’t all that hungry considering he had eaten before coming here but this didn’t mean he wasn’t still going to put something in his stomach.
Mateo moved on to the lobster tail next, cracking into it with a fork like he’d done it a thousand times before, despite the fact that this was almost certainly his first encounter with shellfish that hadn’t come breaded and frozen. He paused halfway through, staring at his plate like a man reevaluating his entire understanding of food. It hit his taste buds in ways he didn’t even think was possible.
“I don’t think I can ever eat normal food again,” he announced.
“You’ll survive,” Liam said because he knew that Sophia would give him no other choice.
“I don’t think I will.” Mateo reiterated once again.
While Mateo remained fully absorbed in his personal culinary awakening, Darren leaned in slightly, lowering his voice enough that it wouldn’t cut through the kid’s focus.
“So,” Darren said. “That card.”
Liam glanced up. “Yeah?”
“Been thinking about it more. That company.”
“And?”
Darren set his fork down, expression shifting into something more serious. “I think I’m gonna take the meeting. See what they’re actually offering before I write it off completely.”
Liam studied him for a moment. “You sure about that? We still don’t know anything real about them. No online footprint, no verifiable history, nothing.”
“I know.” Darren shrugged. “But that’s also kind of the point, isn’t it? If it was some legit corporate gig, I wouldn’t need to be handed a black card outside a store like it’s a movie. Whatever this is, it’s not standard, and honestly—” he paused, searching for the right way to phrase it, “—I don’t exactly have standard options lined up right now.”
“You’ve got options.”
“Not many that pay like whatever this could turn into.”
Liam frowned slightly, turning his glass in his hand. “Just be careful. That’s all I’m saying. Something that opaque usually stays opaque for a reason.”
“I hear you.” Darren nodded. “But I’m not going in blind. I told you already — anything they put in writing, you’re reading first before I sign a single thing.”
“Good.”
“I’m not stupid, Liam.”
“I know you’re not. I just worry.”
Darren smirked slightly. “That’s cute.”
“Shut up.”
Across the table, Mateo had moved onto dessert without either of them noticing, flagging down the waiter to ask what the most expensive item on the menu was, entirely unbothered by the fact that he’d already eaten enough for three people.
“Chocolate soufflé,” the waiter answered. “Though it does take about twenty minutes to prepare.”
“I’ll wait,” Mateo said immediately without hesitation.
Liam shook his head, turning back to Darren. “You planning on telling me more once you actually meet with them? Or is this gonna be another thing I find out about after the fact.”
“I’ll keep you posted. Promise.”
“You said that about the card too.”
“And you found out within twenty-four hours. I’d call that pretty good turnaround.”
Liam huffed a laugh despite himself. “Fair.”
“Look,” Darren said, more serious now, “worst case, it’s nothing. Some weird recruiter thing that goes nowhere. Best case, it’s actually something real, and I finally stop scraping by on gym shifts and odd jobs.”
“And if it’s something in between? Something shady?”
“Then I walk away. I’m not desperate enough to sign my life away for money, Liam. I’ve been through worse than broke.”
Liam nodded slowly, accepting that, though the concern didn’t fully leave his expression. “Just keep me in the loop. All of it.”
“All of it,” Darren confirmed.
Mateo’s soufflé arrived a few minutes later, and the kid stared at it like it had personally been sent from another planet, prompting an immediate demand that both of them try a bite before he touched it himself.
“This is the best day of my life,” Mateo announced through a mouthful of chocolate.
“You said that about the lobster too,” Darren pointed out.
“Both can be true!” Mateo shouted a little too loudly drawing people’s attention to them.
Mateo expected to be scolded but neither Liam or Darren cared enough to react to this as it was normal.
Liam laughed, shaking his head, and let the conversation drift back into something lighter, the earlier weight of Darren’s news settling somewhere in the back of his mind for later.