Finger Food
16
October 1999
Orlando
sat down at one of the tables in the catering tent waiting for Elijah, Sean,
Dominic and Billy to finish getting their food and joining him for lunch. As he looked around the room his eyes came to rest on Tess, as
they usually did. He knew he was
smitten with her but he could not stop himself and to be perfectly honest, he
did not want to stop. He had
feelings for her but he wanted to wait before he thought about making a move.
He
certainly was not going to just put on the charm and try and get her into his
bed for a one night stand. He had a
feeling that that would not work on Tess in the first place plus he did not
think that just one night with Tess was all he wanted.
On top of everything it probably would not be an entirely clever idea to
put the hard word on your makeup artist and then pretend you could go back to
the way it was before, especially if she was not interested in the first place.
He
carefully watched as she settled herself down at the table and took out a
notebook and pencil and started to write or draw something.
He hoped she would never catch him staring at her but he could not help
it. Her skin looked so soft and he
wished he could touch it to see for himself at least once.
God,
Orli, you’re turning into a bloody wanker.
Ok, think about work this afternoon; take your mind of her.
You’re not doing anything about it right now, so think about your
lines.
He
was trying to remember where he had left his script pages for the day as he
continued to watch Tess pick at the food on her plate with her fingers and put
it in her mouth. He watched for a moment longer and she did the same thing
with the next mouthful of food. He
thought that it was unusual as he could see her knife and fork sitting on top of
a serviette next to her plate. As
she picked up a carrot stick he watched as she dipped it into some mayonnaise
before raising it to her mouth. Tess
was concentrating on whatever it was she was doing in her book and Orlando watched
as the mayonnaise ran down the carrot onto her fingers. Finally she stopped what she was doing long enough to eat the
carrot before licking the mayonnaise from her fingers.
“What
are staring at?” Elijah jolts him out of his X rated thoughts as he sat down
opposite Orlando.
“What,
sorry,” Orlando answered quickly. “Hey,
have you ever noticed the way Tess eats?”
“Tess?
Oh of course it’s Tess you’re staring at.” Elijah should have
realised.
Orlando
blushed “No I’m serious, look, she’s over there.”
“What
are you talking about?” Elijah turned around to see Tess by herself seated
about five tables away from them. Carrie
had not arrived as yet and was still in line for lunch just in front of Dominic
and Billy.
He
could not see that anything is unusual; just a pretty young lady sitting with a
plate of food in front of her while she wrote something in a notebook.
“I
don’t see anything weird, Man, she’s just eating lunch,” Elijah turned
back to Orlando
“Just
watch for a minute, Man” Orlando advised as he continued to watch.
Elijah
turned back towards Tess again and continued to watch as she turned her
attention to her plate, picking up a small slice of tomato and a slice of egg
before popping them into her mouth. She
reached for some more food and after she dipped them into mayonnaise she popped
them into her mouth. She lifted her
hand and placed the food into her mouth as a drop of mayonnaise began to dribble
down her finger. She slid her
finger into her mouth, licking the sauce from it, completely unaware that she
was being watched.
“That
just shouldn’t be allowed in public,” Elijah said quietly as he kept
watching.
“Tell
me about it,” Orlando answered feeling a tightening in his groin.
I really don’t think elves should
think like this. He couldn’t
tear his eyes away from watching her as she took another mouthful of food, this
one without incident.
As
Elijah and Orlando continued to watch they see Carrie walk up and sit down
opposite Tess as she put her notebook away in her bag.
She continued to eat her food with her fingers as she talked and laughed
with her friend.
As
the boys were starting to think about their own food and are about to look away
Tess absentmindedly dipped her finger in the mayonnaise and again took it into
her mouth with a smile as Carrie said something to her.
“I
think by the time she finishes lunch I’m going to need a cigarette.” Elijah
stated quietly. “She doesn’t even know she’s doing it, does she?”
“I
don’t think so.” Orlando replied in a low voice, trying not to let the
feeling below take over. He swallowed hard to keep a moan from escaping his
lips. “I think I’ll need a cold
shower.”
Elijah’s
head whipped around to look directly at him and when he saw the state that his
young elven friend was getting into he could not help but smile mischievously.
“You’re
not are you?”
“No,
I’m not.”
“But
it’s thinking about it.” Elijah started to chuckle.
“Oh
fuck off.” Orlando is completely embarrassed by the situation but is happy to
laugh at himself a little.
“You
really need to do something about this, Man,” Elijah told him quietly.
“About
what?” Orlando pretended to not know what Elijah was
talking about.
“About
you and Tess, you fool. What did you think I was talking about? Do you want me
to find out if she would be interested in a date; I could ask Carrie.”
“Don’t
you dare. I’ll ask her out when I’m ready; I want to get to know
her a little more first before I ask her.
She may not end up being my type after all.” Orlando joked with him.
“Not
your type, aren’t all women your type?” Elijah teased.
Orlando
could not help might smile at him. “Tess
is different, even you know that.”
“Yeah,
I know she is really sweet as well as gorgeous.
But seriously, don’t leave it too long or you might miss your chance.
Some other guys around here have noticed her too.”
“Who?”
Orlando asked trying to work out who else had been looking at his Tess.
“Just
some of the other people here, I’m not naming anyone but you better think
about it quickly.” Elijah told him as Dominic and Billy arrived telling them
that Sean was having lunch alone with his wife, Christine and their daughter,
Ally at another table.
With
the two others turning up at the table further conversation was stopped as they
all concentrated on their food before they went back to work.
Orlando stole glances over at Tess during the rest of lunch and saw she
continued to eat most of her food with her fingers before she picked up her
utensils to finish. This little
eccentricity only made Orlando more interested in Tess and finding out where it
had come from.