Outrageous Proposal

Chapter 1

     When Craig Greene woke up that morning, he was chipper and ready to take on the world. He usually didn't wake up this ready but for some reason he was in good spirits as he hopped into the shower to start his day. After cleaning up and dressing for work, he left the apartment with a hop in his step. Craig assumed he might have been excited to meet his brother for breakfast, but that couldn't have been it. He had been meeting Alex for breakfast at the food poisoning cafe for at least a year now, so there was no way his brother's weekly meeting was the cause for his excitement. He couldn't pin it down but refused to let the mystery spoil his good mood, as he trotted out to the small cafe, where Alex was already waiting for him. They had called this place the food poisoning cafe because on a few occasions, Craig had literally gotten sick not long after eating there. Then there was the toast incident, where Craig grabbed his brother's hand while he was trying to eat toast because he saw green spots on the bread. Despite their run ins with stuff that would warrant being shut down by the health board, the two brothers refused to eat anywhere else. They knew the owner and refused to stop supporting their friend and his dream. They almost felt like celebrating the day the chef was replaced, which significantly cut down the risk to their well being as well as improved the quality of the tots served with breakfast. When Craig sat down at the table, his brother could almost immediately tell there was something different.

     "Are you okay?" Alex asked, somewhat worried.

     "I'm fine," Craig replied, smiling like a complete tool.

     "Did you get laid last night?" Alex then guessed, "And I mean with a woman."

     "No," Craig said as he suddenly wished that were the case. "I happen to have a girlfriend, but she was visiting her mother."

     "I said woman," Alex said, grinning at his own comic brilliance. He was always making fun of Craig's girlfriend who was considerably shorter than the two of them.

     "I don't know what it is," Craig said, sighing. "I just feel like today is going to be a great day."

     "Good, then you can buy breakfast." Alex suggested.

     "It's my turn anyway," Craig said, refusing to let his brother spoil the mood.

     "Nice of you to remember," Alex added, "I hope you don't mind I already ordered. You get the same thing all the time anyway."

     "I don't mind at all," Craig said, still smiling. "It's all good. But I'm going to get some tea, so I'll be right back."

     As Craig got up from the table, he left his cell phone on the table and strolled up to the counter to get a cup of tea to go with his breakfast. As he was standing there, someone from another table hopped quickly out of his seat which was ten feet away from the table where Alex was still sitting. The young man walked over slowly strolled over to the table, acting as if he was walking to the same counter where Craig was waiting to order his tea. At the very last second, the young man grabbed the cell phone off the table and bolted for the door. Alex didn't see the snatch coming until it was too late and couldn't believe someone was swiping the phone right off the table. As the incident was occurring, Craig just happened to turn back to look at his brother and watch the theft occur right before his eyes.

     "Hey!" Craig called out, "That's my phone!"

     Both Craig and Alex bolted out of food poisoning cafe, running after the man who managed to get a very healthy head start and was flying down the street at top speed. Alex was the only one who had a chance to run after him but it was no use, the kid was just too fast as they watched him run away with Craig's prized smart phone.