“Can’t you even call him back?” asked Lorraine.
“It comes up as unavailable on my caller identification system so I don’t know what number to call him back on; anyway, he did call me up this morning and told me he’d call me tonight.”
“Someone’s in love,” Jerry shouted, putting another plate in the window.
She gave him a glare. “How the hell can I be in love with a voice?” Marcie knew what they were doing. The last time she’d gotten interested in a guy, Marcie was picked on to the point of nonstop harassment by both Jerry and Raoul, the dishwasher. That was the last time she had bothered to bring anyone she was dating to her job. Actually, it had been a year ago yesterday since she had been out with a man, period. She was always too busy working and since she wasn’t much of a bar- or club-hopper, those days were done and gone for her.
The door opened and a group of construction workers who had been working the next street over walked inside, talking and shouting. It was as if they were making sure that everybody present was watching them as they sat down in one of the booths. Marcie grabbed everything needed for them and made her way over to their table.
“Well, look at this tender young thing here,” said one of the men. He looked dingy and had a five o’clock shadow that looked more like it was a quarter past nine instead.
She put their utensils in front of them, handed them their menus and said, “Take your time, fellas, and let me know when you’re ready to order. Do you guys know what you want to drink?”
“Two Cokes, a sweet tea, and water for Roy, over here,” another guy chuckled. He was messing with a guy who had amazing blue eyes. Marcie watched as he took off his construction hat and revealed tousled dirty blonde hair.
Nodding, she walked away from the group and Lorraine looked over at her while she was starting on their drinks, and whispered, “Watch out for those guys, they came in here and sat in my booth about two days ago. That one guy with the pot belly likes to feel up folks, if you know what I mean.”
Taking what she said into consideration, Marcie put their drinks on the tray, grabbed some straws, made her way over towards the group and asked, “Who wanted the Cokes?”
The Black man sporting a pot belly and the man with the quarter past nine shadow, who looked Mexican, raised their hands and she put their drinks in front of them. “And the sweet iced tea?” That went to the smallest of the four men, who was also Black. Marcie smiled at the man with the amazing blue eyes, “You must be Roy, then.” As she handed him his water she saw him blush a bit. “Do you guys need more time, or are you ready to order?”
“Oh, we already know what we want to eat, baby, I’ll have the club with French fries.” said ‘quarter past nine’.
“I’ll have the T-bone, well-done, with mashed ‘taters and gravy, ma’am,” said the small man.
“Cheeseburger with fries for me and make sure he puts cheddar cheese on that,” said the man with the pot belly with a wink. Marcie looked over at Roy who looked right at her and said something that shocked her for a moment. She never thought she’d hear a man say, “Can you give me the grilled chicken salad with the vinaigrette dressing on it?”
The rest of the men chuckled and the man with the pot belly said, “Our boy here is trying to lose some weight before his upcoming reunion and he thinks eating salads and drinking water will help.”
Marcie smiled and asked, “How much have you lost so far?”
“About forty pounds so far, I have about ten more to go and I take my bike into work,” Roy said with a irresistible smile which made her smile even more since she thought he was rather cute.
“Well, that’s pretty good, you’ll lose it in no time.” As Marcie walked away from the men she heard a loud whistle and shook her head. Marcie knew it had to have been from pot belly. Marcie never did like being around some construction workers, primarily because their behavior made her cringe. They acted like prehistoric cavemen with no sense of intelligence whatsoever. Unfortunately, you have to take what you could with people nowadays; you can’t change the way they are.
After serving them their food, she continued with the rest of her duties. Later, she noticed they were finishing their meals and asked, “All right, fellas, would you like dessert or another refill?”
“No, baby girl, we’ve got to get back to work, but thanks,” said ‘pot belly’ man as he burped loudly in front of Marcie.
Roy said, “C’mon man, respect the lady, for Christ’s sake.”
“Sorry, baby girl didn’t mean to be rude. We’ll meet you outside, Roy!” he said as they all got up from the booth, except for Roy who took out his wallet to pay for their meal.
“I guess they have you paying the bill today, huh?” Marcie said with a smile as he laughed and pulled out forty-five dollars and handed it to her.
“Sorry about my friends, they can be real jackasses sometimes,” Roy said with a sparkle in his eyes.
“No worries at all, I’m used to men like them. You have a great day, Roy.”
The rest of the day seemed to fly by as Marcie had hoped it would because she was waiting to hear from Jonathan. “How much have you made in tips?” Marcie asked Lorraine while they sat at their table and counted their money.
“Just sixty bucks, how about you?”
“Looks like I made my cable bill, I only needed about forty and I ended up making a bill, so at least I’ll have some left over for groceries and stuff, which reminds me that after this I need to go to the store.” Stretching herself to the point where it felt like a muscle started to spasm a bit, Marcie winced with tinges of pain and quickly stood up straight once more. “I don’t know why in the hell I did that.”
“Oh, I hate when I do that too, it feels so good and then I overstretch myself. Just walk it out and you’ll feel better.”
When she got home after going to the store, Marcie had just started putting away groceries when the phone rang. “Hello?”
“Hi, Joan darling,” he said. She honestly was getting used to the sound of him calling her darling.
“Hi there, how are you this evening?”
“I’m doing alright, it’s been a long day here and I sold two homes and an apartment today.”
“Wow, that’s great! Congrats to you. Yeah, it’s been a long day for me as well, I’ve been on my feet all day today.”
“Well, I would rub your feet for you, Joan. That way, you wouldn’t be hurting.” She smiled for a moment because it was pretty sweet of him to offer to rub her feet.
“You are too kind, Jonathan, and while we are talking, there’s been something that I’ve wanted to know about you?”
“Sure, what would you like to ask?”
“What do you look like?”
At first, all she could hear was a soft chuckle on his end and then a sigh. He said, “If I was to tell you what I honestly looked like, you wouldn’t believe me at all.”
“Try me.”
“All right, well I am six feet two inches and I weigh about two hundred twenty-five, I’m pretty muscular ‘cause I like to work out during the weekend and all. Dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and a killer smile or so I’ve been told. What about you, what do you look like, Joan?” he asked.
“Well I’m five feet eleven inches and my weight, well, I’ve been told that it’s not nice to ask a lady how much she weighs so let’s just say that I am thick in all the right places. My hair is naturally dark brown and I have it curled up sometimes or I poof it out in an afro, depending on my mood, and I have brown eyes.”
“Ah, a sista, huh?” Marcie started to really laugh when she heard him say sista and then he laughed as well at her response. “I know you hear this all the time from White men, but I do have Black friends, and I’ve dated some sistas back in the day, I actually prefer them.”
Jackpot!
“Well, I have to let you in on a secret, Jonathan, I’ve never been with a White man before most of my boyfriends have been Black.”
“Really? Well, I woul
d be very happy to be your first, Joan, that is, if you’d let me.” There was a seductive tone in his voice that she rather enjoyed listening to. It was something she hadn’t heard in a long time and somehow, it made her want to hear more.
“Would you like to play a game with me, Joan?”
Being apprehensive about where this conversation was going, she asked, “What kind of a game?”
“This is a fun game. Let’s just say it’s a way for us to get to know each other better. So, are you game, darling?”
Smiling she said, “Yeah, I’m always game.”
“Good, tomorrow I want you to go to the UPS store over on 10th and Pine, and ask the man for the key to mailbox 747. When you get to the mailbox, you’ll find a box inside. Bring it home and don’t open it until I call you, which will be in two days. I have to go out of town with Frank and take care of some business. Now, I know you will want to open it and all, but you have to promise me, Joan, that you won’t open the box. This is going to be a test of will to see if you can do what I’ve asked of you. Are you all right with this?” he asked.
Marcie found it unreal that he would even want to go through all of this. But she had to admit, it got her excited.
“All right, I won’t open the box until you call me back in two days, I promise. But there is another question I want to ask—- are you married?”
“No, darling, I’m not married. If I was married, then I wouldn’t be talking with you. I would be with my wife, that’s how faithful I am.”
“Well, just because you say it doesn’t mean it is so. I honestly find it hard to believe that a man with your looks and your job is still single. Are you sure you’re not a pervert or a serial killer?” That’s when he really started to laugh, loud and hard, this only made Marcie start shaking her head at what she said because it was really funny.
“You are too funny, Joan, but I swear on my father’s grave that I am very much single and have been for a number of years now. And when I am with my woman, I am very much faithful to her and only her.” Marcie didn’t know why, but when he said that her heart seemed to flutter a bit, a feeling she hadn’t felt for a number of years. She honestly couldn’t be falling for a voice over the phone, could she?
* * * *
The following day, Marcie saw Roy come back into the diner for breakfast. He was by himself this time and sat in the same booth he had used with his fellow workers the day before. “Welcome back,” she said with a smile as she placed his utensils in front of him.
“Hello there. I thought I’d come and get myself something to eat for breakfast. Do you have anything kind of healthy to eat here?” he asked. She snorted a bit because if there was anything healthy to eat, it sure as hell wouldn’t be here.
“No, but I can see what Jerry can do to make you something light to eat.”
Walking over to the kitchen, Marcie watched Jerry cooking up the next three orders on the grill. “What do you want?”
“Can you see about making something light for breakfast? My customer is on a diet and I know for a fact that none of what you have on the menu for breakfast is healthy. Can you make like something with egg whites or something like that?”
“Egg whites, what do you think this is a spa?”
Cocking an eyebrow at Jerry and shaking her head, Marcie tried to think of what she could get for Roy while Jerry made him something special to eat. “Just make a number 3, but use egg whites instead of regular eggs and whole wheat toast.” She got a fruit bowl from the fridge and a glass of water with lemon then walked over to Roy’s booth and put them in front of him. “Here you go, you can start off with this and I have Jerry making you something that will fill you up.”
“Thanks.” He looked over at her name tag and said, “Marcie.”
“You’re welcome, Roy.” And that’s when she heard another patron snapping his fingers to get her attention. Walking over to him she noticed he looked royally pissed for some reason. “Can I help you, sir?”
“Can I have some coffee please? I’ve been waiting for a refill.”
“Sorry about that, did you have regular or decaf?”
“Regular, of course.” He gave her a look like he was angry as hell and Marcie just let him go on being irked because she hadn’t jumped when he wanted her to. She got a pot off the burner and poured him some coffee, then stood there for a moment as he looked at her and said, “Yes?”
“I was just wondering if you needed anything else, since I wasn’t here for you to have a fresh cup of coffee. So while I’m here and not waiting on my many other customers, I want to make sure you have enough coffee, food, and anything else you might need.” Marcie wanted him to feel little at that moment it was working just fine.
“I hate assholes like that, don’t you?” Lorraine said, forcing a smile.
Marcie gave her a smirk as Jerry put Roy’s order in the window. She walked over to Roy’s table and put his plate in front of him. He looked up at her with those amazing eyes and she wondered how good he would look cleaned up.
“Thanks, this looks good. I didn’t think you guys made egg whites for breakfast.” Roy said, taking a bite.
“Well, I told Jerry that he needed to make this special for you since we don’t usually have folks around here eating while on a diet.”
“Yeah, I need to try and start bringing in my own stuff to eat and snack on because everything around you seems tempting while you’re on a diet.”
“That’s very true, but I know you’ll lose the weight you have left for your goal. You have the will power to do it,” Marcie assured him.
“Listen, Marcie, what are you doing for lunch?” Roy asked, to her surprise. He flashed that dazzling smile of his and she couldn’t help but smile herself. Marcie was about to say yes, but suddenly realized she had to go and pick up the package from Jonathan.
“Well I have to go and get a package and then make it back here before my break ends, so I probably won’t have time to eat anything unless Jerry gives me a couple of minutes to put something down my throat. So I don’t know if I will have time for lunch today, how about tomorrow instead?”
He smiled and said, “That’s fine, we can go someplace else for lunch instead of here. I know of a place that serves some food I can have without having to bother the cook to make changes. When do you have your break?”
“Around twelve thirty, I’ll be right here.”
When her break came, she went straight to the UPS store and spoke to the attendant. “I need the key to mailbox 747, please.”
The balding man looked at her and asked, “What’s your name, miss?”
“Joan.” She was just about to say her real name, but remembered that Jonathan knew her as Joan and would probably have put it under that name.
Reaching underneath the counter, he pulled out a small cardboard box and looked through some keys, before handing one to her. Marcie went over to the mailboxes, scanning each one until she found 747. It was one of the bigger boxes. She opened it and found something that looked like a shoebox which she retrieved before starting to make her way back home. After entering her apartment she put the box down on the kitchen counter and hurried to use the bathroom before heading back to work. Grabbing her keys off the counter, her eyes immediately wandered towards the box. She immediately could hear Jonathan’s voice in her head reminding her, “Now, I know you will want to open it but you have to promise me, Joan, that you won’t open the box. This is going to be a test of will.”
She had to remember those words.
“If only I can hold out until he calls me back, heck it’s just one more day,” she said to herself. Marcie refused to let it worry her so much because of her anticipation of the lunch date tomorrow with construction man Roy.
When she got back to the diner, Mr. Jones was just about to walk inside so she shouted, “Hello, Mr. Jones!” just before he opened the door.
He jumped while trying to balance himself against the door and looked up to see her coming towards him. “Goo
d lord, Marcie, what in the world do you think you are doing, scaring the hell out of me like that? And I am an old man too. I can’t take too much and you’re coming up behind me screaming like a banshee!” By this time, Marcie had opened the door and helped him inside as he continued to give her a piece of his mind about her behavior.
“Mr. Jones, I’m very sorry about scaring you like that. Listen, why don’t I buy you your meal today?”
He looked up with those black eyes of his in that confused manner of looking that he always had. “Have you met somebody or something?”
“No sir, I haven’t, I just thought I would do something nice for you.”
“Fine, I’ll take my usual.” He walked to his booth as Marcie walked over to clock herself back in, until she saw that she still had at least thirty more minutes left for her lunch break. Walking over to the window, Marcie told Jerry about making Mr. Jones’ meal and poured him a cup of coffee. Then, she reminded Lorraine about Mr. Jones’ food order before making her way back out of the diner again. Marcie suddenly decided to go try and find Roy to have lunch.
Making her way to the construction site, Marcie heard a lot of hoots and whistles from the workers. Ignoring the noise, she asked the nearest worker, “Is Roy around?”
Someone shouted Roy’s name and eventually he peeked down from one of the upper floors to see her waving at him. “Hold on, I’ll be right down!” It didn’t take him long and he was soon walking off the elevator with a smile. “I thought you weren’t going to make it for lunch with me today?”
“I thought so too, but I have about thirty minutes to spare before I go back in, would you still want to have lunch with me?”
“Travis, clock me out for lunch, man, I’ll be back in fifteen!” he shouted as he and Marci started to walk down the street towards the square.
They ended up going to The Salad Bar, which of course, was just as the sign stated—- a big salad bar. After picking out their salads, the couple went outside to one of the tables on the balcony and started to eat. “So, do you enjoy construction work?” Marcie asked, so there wouldn’t be silence while they ate.
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