No Thanks, Mate [Completed]

Chapter Twennty-four

Chapter 24

 

When Katie got off work she came over to my room in a black tank top trimmed with gold zippers.  “Hey, you want to go check out the lounge?”

“What lounge?”

“The lounge everyone’s talking about.  Apparently there’s foosball, a pool table, and coffee.”

I smiled.  “You had me at Foosball.”  I stood up, grabbing my phone.  “Where is it?”

“I was told every dorm building has one on the top floor.”

We walked up three flights of stairs and wandered around for a few minutes before passing a door with a window.  We looked in and saw a few students, mostly girls, walking around a fairly large room.  There was a pool table in the back right corner, and a few feet away were a few foosball tables, and there was an air hockey table against the wall.  In the front right corner, was a TV and a few sofas.  There was a coffee counter on the back wall with a girl behind it, wearing a red blouse and red visor.  We walked in and saw the entire left side was a study area with desks and chairs.

We walked over to the coffee counter and the girl, who’s nametag read ‘Lisa,’ greeted us with smiles, asking what she could get for us.  She had dark hair pulled back in a short pony tail, and I think she was part Mexican, but her skin was so light, she could have been Caucasian.

We gave her our orders and she turned to her coffee machines and so we turned to each other to talk.

“How cool is this place?  There’s pool, air hockey, foosball, and TV!  Not to mention coffee!  It’s like heaven right above our dorms!”

I smiled.  She tended to get over excited sometimes, but I had to admit, I was loving this place.  “Agreed.”

We waited a bit until Lisa handed us our coffees.  I pulled out my wallet and she stopped me.  “No, no.  It’s free this week.  On the school.  But I am accepting tips,” she hinted at us, while looking down at her little tip jar at the edge of the counter.

I pulled out a five dollar bill, feeling generous, and dropped it in the jar.  I never tipped that much, unless I pay a lot for the thing I’m buying.  Katie got out a few bucks and put them in the jar.  We walked over to the sofas to watch tv while we finished our drinks and then we went to play foosball.  I always loved foosball, since the first time I ever played it.

I assumed it would be a lot busier next week when more people hear about this place, so we enjoyed having the remote all to ourselves.  We flipped through the channels and stopped on an old episode of ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’ that was playing on some random channel.

We hung out at the lounge for a while before my phone started ringing.  I looked at the screen and the caller ID, of course, displayed the name Caleb.  I pressed the little green button to pick up the phone and put it to my ear.

“You know, you ought to stop stalking me.  It could give someone the wrong idea,” I joked.  It seemed everything I ever said to him was a joke.

“Well, let people think what they want to think.”

“I suppose.”

“So, is there a movie you want to go see?”

I frowned.  I had forgotten to check on those.  “Um, you know, I just can’t pick one.  Why don’t you?”

“If I do, it’ll have guts and blood everywhere.”

I smiled, thinking about all those cheesy tv shows where a guy chooses a scary movie for an excuse to snuggle up to his date.  “I’m fine with that, I really am.  Just let me know when you’re coming to pick me up.”