his.
Grant held the door
open and we all stepped out into the hallway outside of Callie’s office. To the
right of us I heard the standard kitchen racket of sizzling food and cooks
yelling out orders. As we moved to the left, towards the bar, those sounds
faded and were swallowed up by live music and loud drunks.
I led Grant and Dominic
into the main area and spied my tray at the end of the bar. Jason initially
smiled when he saw me walk in, but that quickly vanished when he saw Grant and
Dom behind me.
“Hey Jason, this is my brother Grant and this is
Dominic.” Jason reached across the bar to shake and when he shook hands with
Dominic, didn’t let go right away. They studied each other and I noticed their
hands were turning an alarming combination of red and white as if they were
asserting all of their maleness through their grips in a true test of
dominance. Oh Jesus Christ, really? I didn’t have time for this and for once,
was grateful I had to go back to work.
“Grant, please make sure they don’t kill each other,” I
pleaded before heading into the crowd, holding the tray up in front of my chest
like a shield.
Work was a wonderful
distraction. After a few initial glances in Dom and Grant’s direction, I
realized the threat of a fight with Jason was over and I was able to focus on
taking food and drink orders. When I went by the bar to get the drinks, I
avoided where they sat and favored Collin’s side of the bar.
“So, what’s with all the drama?” Collin asked when I
first went up to him.
“More than I can explain in a few minutes.”
“I see the way that guy with the dark hair is looking at
you and Jason’s my bro, is he going to get burned?”
“I hope not,” I answered, looking across the bar at Dom
and sure enough he was watching me. Shaking my head I turned my attention back
to Collin. “I really like Jason.”
“But?”
Shit, Collin was
perceptive. He knew there was a “but”. While I liked Jason, I didn’t love him.
No matter how hard I tried to deny it, I still loved Dominic. Having him in the
same vicinity only reinforced this fact. “Collin, I can’t talk about this now,
the people at table eight are thirsty.” I looked pointedly at the pint glass
underneath one of the taps that was overflowing.
“Fuck!” He quickly turned off the flow of beer and wiped
the glass off with a towel before setting it on my tray. “Guess I’m out of the
running for you anyway, huh?” He winked and I laughed before leaving for table
eight.
I set down coasters on
the wood table before setting three full pint glasses down. “Do you guys want
the check now or want to start a tab?” I asked.
One of the guys, who
looked vaguely familiar, handed me a fifty dollar bill. “Just keep checking on
us.” I smiled and stuck the money in my apron before moving onto my other
customers. Fifteen minutes later I circled back to table eight and they ordered
another round. When I returned, the guy had a twenty dollar bill in his hand.
He really looked familiar and it was bothering me. “Have we met before?” I
asked.
“Yeah, well, not officially. I work at Vettucci’s; you
were in the other night.”
“Oh, right! Good memory.” I remembered now, he was our
server during dinner. “Got the night off, huh?”
“Yep, came in to checkout this band. They’re not bad.”
“They are good – kind of a Black Keys sound. Can I get
you guys anything else?”
“No, we’re good Natalie. I’ll see you again soon.” He
winked at me before turning his attention back to the stage. “Oh and keep the
change.”
I thanked him and
walked away. Only when I got through the crowd to pick up an order of
Grant held the door
open and we all stepped out into the hallway outside of Callie’s office. To the
right of us I heard the standard kitchen racket of sizzling food and cooks
yelling out orders. As we moved to the left, towards the bar, those sounds
faded and were swallowed up by live music and loud drunks.
I led Grant and Dominic
into the main area and spied my tray at the end of the bar. Jason initially
smiled when he saw me walk in, but that quickly vanished when he saw Grant and
Dom behind me.
“Hey Jason, this is my brother Grant and this is
Dominic.” Jason reached across the bar to shake and when he shook hands with
Dominic, didn’t let go right away. They studied each other and I noticed their
hands were turning an alarming combination of red and white as if they were
asserting all of their maleness through their grips in a true test of
dominance. Oh Jesus Christ, really? I didn’t have time for this and for once,
was grateful I had to go back to work.
“Grant, please make sure they don’t kill each other,” I
pleaded before heading into the crowd, holding the tray up in front of my chest
like a shield.
Work was a wonderful
distraction. After a few initial glances in Dom and Grant’s direction, I
realized the threat of a fight with Jason was over and I was able to focus on
taking food and drink orders. When I went by the bar to get the drinks, I
avoided where they sat and favored Collin’s side of the bar.
“So, what’s with all the drama?” Collin asked when I
first went up to him.
“More than I can explain in a few minutes.”
“I see the way that guy with the dark hair is looking at
you and Jason’s my bro, is he going to get burned?”
“I hope not,” I answered, looking across the bar at Dom
and sure enough he was watching me. Shaking my head I turned my attention back
to Collin. “I really like Jason.”
“But?”
Shit, Collin was
perceptive. He knew there was a “but”. While I liked Jason, I didn’t love him.
No matter how hard I tried to deny it, I still loved Dominic. Having him in the
same vicinity only reinforced this fact. “Collin, I can’t talk about this now,
the people at table eight are thirsty.” I looked pointedly at the pint glass
underneath one of the taps that was overflowing.
“Fuck!” He quickly turned off the flow of beer and wiped
the glass off with a towel before setting it on my tray. “Guess I’m out of the
running for you anyway, huh?” He winked and I laughed before leaving for table
eight.
I set down coasters on
the wood table before setting three full pint glasses down. “Do you guys want
the check now or want to start a tab?” I asked.
One of the guys, who
looked vaguely familiar, handed me a fifty dollar bill. “Just keep checking on
us.” I smiled and stuck the money in my apron before moving onto my other
customers. Fifteen minutes later I circled back to table eight and they ordered
another round. When I returned, the guy had a twenty dollar bill in his hand.
He really looked familiar and it was bothering me. “Have we met before?” I
asked.
“Yeah, well, not officially. I work at Vettucci’s; you
were in the other night.”
“Oh, right! Good memory.” I remembered now, he was our
server during dinner. “Got the night off, huh?”
“Yep, came in to checkout this band. They’re not bad.”
“They are good – kind of a Black Keys sound. Can I get
you guys anything else?”
“No, we’re good Natalie. I’ll see you again soon.” He
winked at me before turning his attention back to the stage. “Oh and keep the
change.”
I thanked him and
walked away. Only when I got through the crowd to pick up an order of
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