The Way to a Man's Heart

Chapter 17

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Dome's POV

"Why can't we just celebrate your birthday at home?" I asked my father when he informed me that he had made reservations at that far away seafood restaurant.

I had just come back inside my unit after a hard day's work and just wanted to rest and relax in private. I knew of course that I would not be able to get away from my father's birthday party celebration. But why did it have to be so far away.

Granted that the newly opened Wild Caught & Grilled seafood restaurant had been getting rave reviews from media and customers alike, I would have wanted to go there on a different date, when I was not too tired. (A/N: The restaurant name above is fictitious. Author does not know if such an establishment exists.)

"Be a good boy and humor your aging father on his birthday with your presence," my father said curtly.  "Be there promptly at seven," and then ended the call.

I plopped myself on my sofa and turned the TV on. I planned to relax a bit before taking a shower and changing into fresh clothes before driving over to that restaurant.

The late afternoon news was depressing as usual. A few minutes in and I turned off my TV and tossed the remote on to my coffee table before heading for my shower.

I snaked in and out of the busy lanes, earning some angry honks from the other motorists every now and then. At one point someone flicked a finger at me after honking at me angrily. Instead of doing the same I grinned back at him, making him angrier than before. Suddenly he cut into my lane making me almost crash into his back. I refused to get involved in a road rage situation. Too many deaths or crippling injuries had occurred from road rage. I wanted no part in that.

My father was glaring at me when I entered the restaurant. He was already there with my mom. I glanced at my watch. Shit, I was ten minutes late.

A uniformed waiter bowed to me and escorted me to my parents' table.

I gave my mom a kiss on her forehead. She patted my arm gently and motioned for me to take the chair just across from where my father was sitting.  I then bowed to my father and apologized to him for being late. I pulled the chair that my mom indicated and sat on it, preparing myself for a lecture from him.

"I got caught in rush hour traffic," I tried to explain.

"Then you should have planned to leave your place earlier to make allowance for it," my father did not honor my excuse.

I sighed and did not answer back. Let him have the last word, I thought. After all today was his birthday.

So instead I said to him, "Happy birthday, Pa! You don't look a day older!"

He did not acknowledge my greeting and compliment but just hmmph'd at me. I had to give him credit for easily seeing through my bullshit compliment, heheh.

The uniformed waiter approached us to get our order.

I picked up the menu booklet from one side of the table.

I was briefly distracted by the arrival of a familiar face. I tried to remember how and when and where I had met him before.

Then suddenly it dawned on me. He was the boss of my tenant Pavel. He had gone to my building to return Pavel's wallet which Pavel had left in his office. His name had been mentioned when Pavel introduced him to me but I just could not remember his name at the moment.  He looked very handsome in his business suit. It looked like he was here for a business meeting over dinner.

I was going to give a small wave of greeting to him but he did not see me so I went back to my menu booklet. The picture of the grilled calamari steak on the menu looked very inviting.

"Over here!" I heard Pavel's boss call out. Pavel's boss was seated just two tables away from me and my parents.

I looked up from the menu booklet and glanced at the restaurant's entrance to see who had just walked in.

I found myself gripping the menu booklet so hard that it started to shake.