Clothes Minded

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Fifteen minutes later we were sitting on opposite sides of a table at a Japanese restaurant.  We had ordered our drinks and I was scanning over the menu.  “So what do you think looks good?”  I looked over the top of my menu at Noah.  I was debating against a California roll or something teriyaki.  I didn’t want to eat anything too heavy before I had to spend the next eight hours dancing my ass off.  Especially considering I’ll be doing it naked.

Noah folded his menu and laid it down.  “I’ll probably get a burger.”

I laughed.  “Yeah okay.”  I looked back down at all my options.  “Seriously what are you thinking?”

Noah shrugged.  “I’m definitely getting a burger.  I’m not really a fish guy.  Let alone a raw fish guy.”

This time I folded the menu I was holding out of my way.  “You don’t like sushi?”  Noah nodded.  “Then why did you agree to come to a sushi restaurant?”

Noah smirked.  “You were so excited when we passed it.  It’s not a big deal.  Most every restaurant makes a burger.”  He reached across the table and gently held my hand. 

Sometimes his kindness really astonished me.  Besides Vinnie, the guys I dealt with day in and day out were my clients.  They wanted one thing from me.  When you are expecting it, it’s not a big deal, it’s my job.  I think I am more surprised by Noah’s thoughtfulness than by my client’s chauvinism.  “Well what if you were wrong.”  The look of confusion crossed his face.  “What if they didn’t have a burger?”  I clarified.

Noah laughed.  “Lennie, it’s only food.  If it makes you happy I would have found something.”  It was something my father would have done.  In fact it was something he did do.  He was the pickiest eater but you would never know it.  He would go anywhere with us and never complain.  He would always find something he could eat or at the very least something he could silently scrape off, pull apart, or eat the middle out of.  I sat there silently staring at Noah when the waitress came over.  Noah smirked as he ordered his burger and I ordered my California roll.  “That’s fish right.”  Noah joked as the waitress walked away.

“Yep.  Raw.”  I took a sip of my water.  “You really don’t like it or you never had it?”

Noah hesitated.  “I plead the fifth.”

“What?!”  I exclaimed.  “What kind of stupid question is that to plead the fifth for?  You plead the fifth for questions like how many partners have you had, have you ever cheated on a college final,” I listed off, “not have you ever eaten sushi?”

Noah looked at me awkwardly.  “So exactly how many partners have you had?  Did you cheat on your college finals?”  

“Nope.  Un, uh.  I plead the fifth.”  I laughed out loud.  “You see that.  That’s when you cash it in.”

Noah shook his head.  “I don’t know.  It just seems like you are really just dodging the question because you don’t like the answers.”  

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