Jax put coins and a dollar bill in the vending machine. The bottle landed at the bottom of the machine. He grabbed it and removed the cap to take a sip. He decided to call the diner on the main street for a to-go order when he takes his lunch break. He's going to call thirty minutes earlier and pick it up when his break starts. The perk of a small town is that every place is nearby.
One hour later
Jax sat down and searched for the phone number for the diner.
Adam walked in the break room. "Hey Jax, you can take your lunch break now."
"I was going to after I placed an order." Jax indicated to his phone.
"Speaking of placing an order, you might not have to do that." Adam said.
"Why not?" Jax is confused.
"You have a visitor waiting on the picnic table outside and she brought food." Adam said. "Go ahead and take your lunch break."
Jax smiled. "I guess I don't have much of a choice. I can't keep her waiting." He joked. Jax got up and put his phone in his pocket.
"I know the guys like to tease you with the ridiculous nickname, but they're really happy that you're dating Kate. According to them, you hit the jackpot in the dating department." Adam explained.
"They don't let me forget about this. I get reminded about it almost every other day." Jax said. "Especially by Martin and Mike."
Adam chuckled. "Oh, yeah. Those two like to be the voice of reason all the time. You can't blame them. They always see the younger mechanics as their own surrogate sons."
"I get it. The brotherhood is very strong here." Jax felt a bit nostalgic after he said this. He thought about his brothers who are still among the living and those who are not.
"Go, Teller. You don't want to keep Kate waiting." Adam said.
Jax walked out of the break room and passed the front desk. He opened the front door and walked to the area where the picnic bench is. He saw Kate sitting on the bench. She didn't see him right away. When she heard footsteps, Kate turned around and greeted Jax with a big smile. She grabbed both bags and held them. After she put them on the table, Kate got up and wrapped her arms around Jax. He wrapped his arms around her waist.
After she pulled back from the hug, Kate looked up at Jax. "Hi." She smiled at him.
"Hi, Kate." Jax smiled back.
"I thought it would be fun to spend our lunch breaks here and I bought food from the diner." Kate explained.
"It's very nice of you to do this." Jax said. "I was actually thinking of ordering food from there just a few minutes ago, but Adam stopped me."
"Well, I thought it would be a nice surprise." Kate said. "This one is for you." She handed him the bag on the left.
He opened it and inside was a cheeseburger with French fries. Jax did bring the bottle he got from the vending machine. "This is great. I had a craving for a cheeseburger." Jax sat down on the bench. He lifted the lid of the box and grabbed the burger. He took a couple of bites and set it back in the box. "What did you order?" He asked.
"I got a Veggie Southwest Rice Bowl." Kate answered. She got out a fork from the bag and started eating. "I got an extra fork in case if you wanted to try it."
"I don't know. I never ate a rice bowl." Jax looked at her meal with a bit of skepticism.
"Then, how do you know if it's terrible?" Kate asked. "You should try it. Maybe you might even end up liking it."
"What's in this rice bowl?" Jax looked at the meal.
"It has many ingredients. It contains jasmine rice with queso blanco, sautéed veggies and marinated shrimp. It's topped with black bean corn salsa, chimichurri sauce, lime, scallion sour cream, and shredded Parmesan cheese." Kate listed them.
"So, it's Mexican?" Jax tried to figure it out.
"Kind of, but it does contain shrimp. Overall, it's got a bit of everything." Kate answered.
"I'm still debating." Jax took another bite of his cheeseburger and grabbed a fry.
"Don't be so closed minded." Kate said. "Just try one bite. If you absolutely hate it, then I won't ask you again to eat it." She grabbed the other fork and got a dollop. Kate scooted closer and put her hand under the fork so the food won't fall. "Come on. You don't know what you're missing out on." The fork is barely an inch away from Jax's mouth. His gaze flickered between the fork and Kate's big smile. He opened his mouth and she moved the fork forward. He closed his mouth and chewed the food. He swallowed it. "Well, what's the verdict?" She couldn't hide her excitement.
Jax tried to have a poker face, but he knew he is failing. "It's delicious. I like it." He ruefully smiled.
"Aha, I knew that you were going to change your mind." Kate playfully lifted her arm in triumph.
Jax laughed at her sense of humor. "You got lucky." He said.
"I've recommended this rice bowl before to others. Just like you, the others were hesitant at first. Once they take a bite, then they change their minds." Kate said.
"So, what are you, a scientist?" Jax teased.
"Maybe." Kate smirked. "So, you never told me which films will be featured for the double feature at the drive-in."
"I didn't." Jax confirmed.
"Can I get a hint?" Kate asked.
Jax shook his head and smiled at her. "No. The surprise would get ruined if I told you. All I can tell you is that both films are from the 90s and they're comedies."
"Well, you're no fun." Kate let out a dramatic sigh.
Jax laughed and put his arm over her shoulders. "Did you just say I'm not fun? I'm a very fun person. When you find out which films will be featured, you're going to take back your words."
Kate tilted her head and they ended up having a staring contest. She broke first and he laughed. "Fine, you win."
"I can't believe you doubt that I would pick terrible movies." Jax sarcastically said. He changed the topic. "I had an interesting customer this morning."
"Oh, really? Why was the customer so interesting?" Kate got curious.
"She was an older woman, probably in her 70s. Anyway, she needed an oil change for her car. After I got done with the oil change, I came to return her keys. When I approached her, she froze in her seat and didn't even try to get the keys back."
"Okay, so what happened next?" Kate asked.
"I tried to hand over the keys to her, but she couldn't talk. Her granddaughter sat next to her. The granddaughter ended up taking the keys from me. After they left, Martin decided to throw his two cents in. He started laughing. I asked him why he was laughing. When he calmed down, after laughing for almost three whole minutes, he said to me: Damn, Calvin Klein model. You made Betty speechless with your new haircut. She couldn't even get up from the chair to pick up her keys. We shouldn't allow you to make any more appearances at the front of the auto shop. You should stay in the back from now on." Jax recalled.
Kate burst out laughing. "Oh no, poor Betty. She was in a daze from your haircut. That's a good one. Martin should change careers and become a stand-up comedian."
"So, now you can see why there's a Catch-22 with this haircut." Jax mentioned.
"Why is there a Catch-22?" Kate couldn't stop smiling after hearing the story.
"I wanted to get a haircut because I got tired of having long hair, but on the other hand I became the center of attention at work and the mechanics keep calling me Calvin Klein model." Jax explained. "It's a curse."
"Now hold on for just a second. You better not be pinning this so-called curse on me. No one forced you to get a haircut. If you can recall, I didn't even want to do the haircut when you showed up at the salon. You wouldn't take no for an answer when I refused to cut your hair. You created this issue. In fact, you opened this can of worms. What is the moral of this story, Mr.Calvin Klein model? You should be careful what you wish for." Kate joked.
Jax smirked at Kate and leans in to kiss her. She giggled against his lips and kissed him back. She felt Jax's hands on her waist pulling her in closer to him. They're sitting on the bench facing each other. She put her hands on his shoulders. She cradled his jaw and deepened the kiss. It didn't take long for their lips to part. He flicked his tongue into her mouth and she sucked on it. His hands slide down to her lower back.
Kate pulled away from Jax to get some air and rested her forehead against his. "So, am I right?" She asked.
"You are. This is on me." Jax chuckled. He touched her cheeks. "I suppose there's also a silver lining to this."
"What's the silver lining?" Kate giggled.
"You did this haircut and you're the only one who has complete access to it. You can touch it whenever you want." Jax teased.
"Well, you do make a very good point." Kate had a big grin. "I didn't think about this situation from this angle. That's right. I should be the only one who gets to touch it whenever I want. Well played, Mr.Teller. Just for saying this compliment, you get another kiss." Kate leaned in and pressed her lips against his. Her hands slid to his hair and gently ran her fingertips over it. She felt Jax smiling against her lips.
Jax pulled back from the kiss. "See, you get all access to this. 24/7." He had a big smile.
His smile is contagious and she smiled back at him. "Yes, I'm very lucky." Kate teased.