24 Years (MxM)

Chapter 7

I woke to my alarm blaring. I had a 5-alarm hangover. I reflect back on the night. Last night was quite foggy in my mind. I look at my hand and see the two stamps and remember that we decided to hop bars. There was this other popular dance club where I got even drunker than the first and picked up a blue moon stamp. Marla kept me safe and wouldn't let any sleezy guys pick me up and take me home. I love her so much.

Then, I came home and puked it all up. Now I get the joy of facing a day of work at the restaurant while feeling like hell.

Saturdays are not too busy, mostly because this restaurant does most of its business during the week. We are close by to a ton of businesses, so lunch and dinner is slammed on weekdays. Also, we don't open until 11 am anyway on the weekends, so I can afford to party and still show up for work at 10 am.

Today it is just me and Tori. We only need one cook. I am in the back when I hear the door chime. I grab my pen and pad and go out to meet them.

They have already seated themselves. One man, the older one, kind of looks familiar. He is accompanied by another guy who is a bit younger than him. I can't seem to remember where I've seen the older guy before.

"Welcome. May I take your order?" I ask.

"I'll have the chicken katsu and a Coke," the younger guy says, and I jot down his order.

I then look at the other guy and ask, "What will you have?" I seriously can't shake the feeling I know this guy.

"Pork yakisoba and green tea," he responds, then folds up the menu and hands it to me. As he does, I noticed that on the back of his hand is a green star, and suddenly a flash of light goes off and the fog clears from my aching head. It's him!

"We meet again," I say, attempting to do so calmly though my heart feels like it's going to leap out of my chest.

"Hi," he replies.

I tell myself not to freak out. I need to get a grip. I don't know what else to do, so I smile and turn away to head to the kitchen.

I give Tori the ticket and he starts cooking. I prepare the tea and Coke. All the while, I'm thinking about last night. I thought I was never going to see him again. What are the odds that he would walk into this restaurant today? I wonder who he's with now? The guy last night was much older than the guy he's with today.

After putting everything together on a tray, I bring it all out at once. I smile again at the hottie and he smiles back. My heart flutters a little. Why am I so giddy? I don't even know this guy.

I leave them to eat and go back into the kitchen to splash cold water on my face. My head is hurting and my stomach is turning. I peek through the curtain and wait for them to get close to finishing before I go back out. This elicited an odd look from Tori.

"Would you like any dessert?" I ask. Suddenly it felt like hottie was staring. But they both decline so I ask for a method of payment. The hottie says he is paying for the whole meal. He gives me his card and I look at it and see his first name. Finally!

"James?" I ask. One could never be too certain. Maybe he went by Jim, or some other nickname.

"Yes," he replies.

"Ah. Nice to meet you," I say as polite as I can in this situation. He is a customer, after all. Inside, my stomach is doing summersaults.

"Nice to meet you too, Ken." At hearing my name, my stomach just did a backflip off the high dive. I think I may throw up.

I take the card to the cash register and start inputting the numbers. I realize there's something seriously wrong. The tip is 30% of the meal! 15% is standard, 20% is generous, but 30%? Huh? This can't be right. I look up but he's busy talking with his friend. I want to protest, point out this error, but I'm not sure I should. It doesn't actually look like an error has been made.

I start to wonder about what I should do. Maybe I can thank him personally. I grab one of our business cards and write on the back of it the words "Text me" and my cell number. I also concede that part of me wants to talk with him again, and if I don't do something, he may walk out that door and out of my life, again. I may not get a third chance.

I go back to his table and hand him the receipt, his card, and the business card. "Thank you for coming in today. I hope you will come again soon." I suddenly realize I'm talking directly to James. I make a smile to both men and give a tiny bow as they leave. Smooth. Real smooth.

After they exit, I turn and see Tori staring at me with a grin.

"What?" I ask.

"You were practically eye-fucking the dude. What the hell was that all about?"

I look about but we're the only two in the restaurant. "I was not!" I proclaim my innocence.

Tori starts laughing. "Isn't he a little old for you?"

I shrug. "I just met him very briefly last night and then he shows up for lunch. Nothing's happened yet."

"Yet," Tori says with a grin.

"Bah!"