Spoiler! :
Eating for Two
“Um, hi there…can I…help you, miss?” The waiter spoke gently to the woman now seated at a table near the back of the restaurant. She wasn’t looking at him, but towards the large revolving door at the front, as if she was expecting someone to come through, just as she had ten twenty minutes ago. He hadn’t seen her amidst all the departing evening patrons, but nobody else would be coming in. Ten o’clock PM was closing time.
She sighed, and rested her chin on her small hands, elbows on the table. The waiter was a little uncomfortable, as he knew that it was time to lock up, but he didn’t really want to tell her to leave. This was the fourth time this week she'd been in, but he'd never seen her eat anything. She always just came in, sat for a while, and left. Tonight hadn't been any different, except for the fact that she was still here.
“Well, okay…I guess I’ll be going then,” he said, turning slowly on a heel. He heard her sniffle as he finished his sentence and stopped moving just for a moment.
“I wonder if that’s what Michael was thinking,” she almost whispered. “Just…walking right out…”
Against all better judgment, the young man turned around again and pulled out a chair, lowering himself into the red cushion. He laid his hands palms down on the white satin tablecloth. “What’s wrong miss?” he asked, genuinely curious.
“Oh, it’s nothing I’d want to bother you about. There’s really nothing to be done…” she hardly even seemed to be talking to him, as she looked away toward the windows on the opposite wall of the small dining room. Her voice even sounded out of focus, like her mind was somewhere miles away from this table at Sicilia’s Italian Bistro.
“Well, is there anything to be said?” he persisted. It was decidedly obvious that if he was going to be breaking his general manager’s trust as he stayed past hours with the keys, he might as well figure out what was troubling this young woman.
“There was something…I was…we were supposed to say…” her voice cracked a little, and her face fell into her palms. “We were supposed to say ‘I do.’”
“What’s your name, miss?”
“Kathryn…Kate,” she said through the tears that were starting to escape from her eyes. They dripped through her fingers, making a sad dark spot on the tablecloth.
“I’m Tyler,” he responded quietly. He waited, tapping his fingers on the chair, and after a few moments when the soft sound of crying had become inaudible, he moved his chair around so that he was sitting around the table on her right. For the first time, he really noticed her. She was wearing an elegant dress, which cloaked her in sapphire blue with many entwining shades of purple. It hugged her body, and feathered out a little at the waist, making a lovely skirt that ended just above her knees.
Kate seemed to feel his gaze, because she wiped her eyes and turned her head to him. Her shining blond hair waved a little, and flowed down to just touch her shoulders with the delicate strands. Tyler couldn’t help but stare for a moment; he was so taken with how amazing she looked in the low light of the chandeliers he should have turned off twenty minutes ago.
“Thank you so much for letting me come here,” she said sincerely. Her voice was a little more conversational now. “I’m sorry I’m keeping you, I just…”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Tyler offered a comforting hand, but slowly lowered it when she didn't notice. “I understand.”
For the first time since she’d been in the restaurant, Kate gave a small smile.
“Tell me about it, only if you want.”
“Are you sure I’m not being any trouble?”
“Hey, I’m just a waiter at Sicilia’s. It sounds like you’ve had more than enough trouble tonight. I can spare some.”
She smiled a little bigger, and adjusted her hands in her lap. “Well, I was waiting at my apartment for my boyfriend, Michael. We were supposed to go out on a date. It was our nine-month anniversary, and he'd even proposed to me.”
“Did he stand you up?” Tyler asked tentatively. He'd noticed she wasn't wearing a ring, so she must have left it behind.
“You could say that…I was waiting for him, and he was running late. So I went down to check my mail while I waited, and I found a letter from him.” Kate started to sniffle again, and Tyler gently placed a hand over hers on her lap.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to say it,” he repeated, almost whispering to keep his voice nonaggressive.
“He said that because of…recent events, he didn't feel comfortable with the way things were going. He didn't think it would work out between us anymore. The last sentence…it just said ‘I’m sorry you had to hear this way. I’m in North Carolina, and thinking of you.’” A single tear rolled down her smooth cheek once more. “Yeah, he sure thought a lot about me when it mattered…”
Tyler blinked away the tears he noticed forming in his own eyes. Poor, beautiful, deserted Kate had been through such a tragedy; anyone with half a heart would have been moved by it.
“That was a month and a half ago. I don't know why, but I thought he'd be back by now. I didn't want to believe it was over. I came here because this was where we'd met on a blind date. I knew…I knew if he were thinking of me at all…he'd come looking here…" Kate's eyes started to tear up again, and she let her head hang in sorrow. She picked up a fork and turned it over in her hand before setting it down again.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” Tyler set his hand near hers on the table, trying to show his sympathy. “I know I probably can’t do much, but is there anything I can help with?”
“Well, I never did get to have any dinner tonight. Is there anything laying around that you could spare maybe?” Kate’s voice was low and unambitious, but her lovely green eyes were open, staring into his with hope.
Tyler did recall that there was one extra plate of lasagna that one of the cooks had made. It had been sitting on the kitchen counter for almost an hour, but it wouldn’t take more than twenty minutes to reheat.
“I’ll be right back,” he said with a smile.
“Whatever you have is fine. And I don’t mean to be greedy, but the more you can give, the better. I’m, uh…I’m eating for two.” Kate looked down a bit as she finished speaking, and Tyler got the message. She hadn’t really started to get a tummy, so it was probably the first or second month. Might have even been what made her ex decide to leave.
The kitchen was still pristine, just as the cleaning staff had left it when the rest of the kitchen crew clocked out for the night. Tyler remembered his own timecard, and left a note on the general manager’s office door saying that he’d stayed late to give the floors one last quick sweep. Just so that he wouldn’t be misunderstood.
He walked over to the stovetop counter, where the plate of homemade lasagna still sat. He’d planned to take it home himself, but this was a much more worthy cause. He lit the stove and put the square of pasta into a stainless steel pan. In ten minutes, it was steaming again, and the cheese was nice and melted. Tyler returned it to the plate, took a fork from a drawer, and walked back out to Kate’s table.
“Lasagna for two,” he said with a wink, setting it in front of her, and giving his black vest a quick adjustment.
“Thank you so much!” Kate said, smiling and taking up the fork. She ate a little quickly at first, then looked up at Tyler and blushed. As he chuckled, she began to eat more slowly.
“I normally don't take special orders, but I'm glad I made the exception tonight."
“You’re so sweet. I can’t thank you enough for helping me.” Kate continued to eat slowly, enjoying her charity meal.
When she finished, Tyler took the plate and the fork and said that he’d clean them for her. “You sure are a gentleman,” Kate said with gratitude.
Tyler cleaned off the dishes and returned them to their places, all with a smile that never left his face. As he reentered the dining room, he saw that Kate was standing right in front of the doorway. She slowly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck in a thankful hug.
“Thank you. Thank you so much for all you’ve done,” she said softly. Tyler hugged her back, holding her delicately, as if he were in danger of damaging her frail emotions any further.
After they let go of each other, Kate said goodbye and turned to leave. As she went to go, she turned to him one last time and waved, which he returned. She opened the door, and slowly let it creak shut behind her as she walked out.
Tyler walked quickly back into the kitchen, his black loafers clacking on the tile floor, and clocked out his card. Then he locked the back door, and went outside, locking the front doors behind him. Thankfully, Kate was standing on the curb, likely waiting for a taxi. Although just like New York City at night, the cars were slowly inching along.
“Hey, Kate!” he called, walking over to stand alongside her.
“Oh, are you waiting for a taxi too, Tyler?” she asked, immediately looking back at the street, scanning for a yellow car.
“You probably won’t have too much luck with the cabs. Let me drive you home, I’ve got time,” he offered.
Kate looked over at him with shining eyes, as if he’d just offered to carry her home on his back.
“If you don’t mind, of course.” Tyler added.
“I’d like that.”
Tyler led the way to his red Honda Element parked just a little further down the sidewalk, and after they were buckled in, he pulled away from the curb, and turned down the road Kate had named to him.
On the whole way to her apartment, Tyler and Kate talked and laughed about everything and anything that came to their minds. Tyler mentioned how his last date had been two years ago, and Kate rolled her eyes.
"That's ridiculous," she said, shaking her head.
“Hey, I could let you out right here!” Tyler retorted.
“No no, that's not it! I just can’t believe someone as sweet and kind as you could be single,” she quickly covered.
After they pulled up to the curb in front of an apartment building, Tyler walked her up to the door, and they hugged again.
“I’m so glad I met you tonight, Tyler.” Kate’s pretty green eyes glimmered in the porch light, meeting his gaze intensely.
“Likewise,” Tyler replied, with a nod of his head. He smiled at her once more, then turned to leave, but she grabbed his arm before her could. As he looked around, she immediately pulled her hand back and held her hands clasped on her chest, blushing a deep red. Her head drooped for a moment, and she laid a hand on her stomach. When she looked up, her cheeks were still a light pink. He could see determination behind the innocence in her expression.
“Wait, Tyler…um…would you…come by and go out to…dinner with me tomorrow?” She asked tenderly. “I mean, if you don’t have any other plans.” Her beautiful face looked almost childlike as she stared hopefully at her gentleman waiter.
Tyler chuckled, and gave a sigh. He didn’t work on Saturdays, and he could see that Kate wanted to see him again. In all honesty, he wanted to just as much. He rested a hand on the short sleeve of his white work shirt and nodded.
“That sounds wonderful. Saturday night, dinner for two.” He realized his mistake as he said it, and put one hand over hers on her stomach. She smiled the biggest she had all night, as did he. “I’m sorry, for three.”
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