The Waiter

by Bradleigh Collins

  “Dalton,” I said in the cab on the way back to his car, “thank you.” He didn’t say anything. He just reached over and grabbed my hand and kissed it.

  I looked over at him. He was still the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. And I was still in love with him. Then I did something I knew I was going to regret. I told him.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too baby,” he said. He put his arm around me and I leaned into him for the rest of the cab ride.

  We picked up his car. Then he drove me back to the Ford Factory. He pulled into a parking spot right in front of the entrance. The car was still running.

  “Well,” I said. “Come on.”

  He looked at me. Then he turned off the engine. I got out of the car. He got out of the car. I took him by the hand and led him into the building.

  We walked into my apartment. As soon as I shut the door, he pinned me against the wall. Then he kissed me. The kiss was passionate and possessive, as if he were reclaiming what was rightfully his and erasing the memory of The Waiter from my lips.

  I don’t know if it was because I was so grateful that he showed up when I needed him or that subconsciously, it was another way to punish The Waiter, but I’d never wanted Dalton more than I did right now.

  “God, I’ve missed you,” he said.

  “I’ve missed you too,” I replied. And then I started crying. “I’m sorry, Dalton.”

  “No, I’m sorry,” he said. “Don’t cry baby.”

  He picked me up and carried me to the bedroom. When he put me down, he lifted my dress over my head and tossed it on the floor. He smelled incredible. There was the familiar scent of Eternity, but he just smelled like a man. Like my man.

  He ran his hands down my waist to my hips, hooking his thumbs under the straps of my thong and then ripping it off with one forceful pull.

  “Hey! That’s Victoria’s Secret. It wasn’t cheap.”

  “I’ll buy you another pair,” he whispered. Then he laid me down on the bed. Feeling him on top of me again, the weight of him, the way he touched me...everything felt right. This man knew my body like the back of his hand. A hand that was now between my legs.

  “You’re moving to New York with me,” he said, looking down at me.

  His hair fell over my face. The Real Thing found its way inside. And just like that, I was right back where I said I would never be. Again.

  CHAPTER 17

  ◆◆◆

  It was our first Saturday night in the city. Dalton and I were on our way to Mercer Kitchen to meet everyone for dinner. We moved into a fully furnished apartment on East 74th Street on Wednesday. Dalton started his new assignment yesterday. I still had a week before my start date and was excited about having plenty of time to explore my new neighborhood.

  I met Katie and Lucy out for drinks at Korova Milk Bar on Thursday and told them the whole story about The Waiter and how I’d ended up back with Dalton. They were shocked at both developments, but happy that I was finally in New York. They couldn’t wait to meet Dalton tonight so they could size him up. Josh wasn’t surprised at all that I was back with Dalton. What he couldn’t believe was that The Waiter had bailed on me.

  We arrived at the restaurant around eight. I introduced Dalton to Katie, Lucy and Kyle. The eight of us descended down the staircase into a cavernous dining space with exposed brick walls and candlelight everywhere. We ordered a round of drinks at the bar while we waited for our table.

  “Damn, girl,” Lucy said. “I can see why you keep taking him back. He’s fucking beautiful. And so tall.”

  Katie was a little more cautious. “He’s obviously on his best behavior. But after everything you told me about him, I kind of just want to smack him. And you too, for taking him back.”

  “I know. But so far, things have been great. I love our new apartment. It’s right around the corner from Scoop’s east side location.”

  “Well,” Lucy stated, “since you’re not having to pay Manhattan rent, you’ll have a lot more disposable income to spend there.”

  “Cheers to that,” I said.

  “So,” Katie leaned in. “Have you heard from him since you’ve been here?” I knew she was referring to The Waiter.

  “No. And I don’t want to. I’m avoiding the Upper West Side.”

  “Girl,” Lucy said, “if you start limiting your neighborhoods because of bad dating experiences, you’ll be drinking and dining in Jersey.”

  “I just don’t want to run into him. It still stings. And I certainly don’t want to run into him when I’m with Dalton.”

  We were seated at the end of a long communal table right next to an open-style kitchen. I sat between Dalton and Josh. Lucy sat opposite me on the other side of the table between Kyle and Katie.

  Our almost two-hour dinner was filled with hilarious Josh stories, toasts to my new status as a New Yorker, and several bottles of wine. I had smiled so much throughout the evening that my face was actually sore.

  When we finished, Dalton picked up the tab for everyone. I was so proud of him. He’d made a great first impression on my friends, and I was really starting to feel like we had indeed started a new chapter.

  Then Josh decided it was time for karaoke. “Let’s head up to The Parlour,” he announced. I quickly shot him a you know why I don’t want to go to the Upper West Side look and shook my head. “Oh, right,” he nodded. “We’ll go to K-town instead.”

  “Wait,” Dalton said. “What was that about? Why don’t you want to go to The Parlour?”

  “Um, Sam had a really bad food experience there,” Josh replied, in his best attempt to cover for me. Dalton wasn’t buying it.

  “No, she’s afraid she’ll run into her boy-toy,” he said snidely.

  Suddenly everyone at the table was uncomfortable. Josh looked at me apologetically. I could feel my face turning red. I needed to do something quickly to lighten the tone. I thought about Lucy’s advice on not limiting my neighborhoods. Why should I let what happened with The Waiter keep me from hanging out with my friends on the Upper West Side? I had way more good memories there with Josh than I did with The Waiter. Plus, Josh had become something of a celebrity at The Parlour. Why should he have to suffer because of my bruised ego?

  “Fine,” I said. “Let’s go to The Parlour. Dalton needs to witness your karaoke prowess in action, anyway.”

  We made our way upstairs and out into the street to hail a cab.

  “You guys take this one and Dalton and I will grab the next one,” I said as a cab stopped in front of us. I wanted a chance to be alone with Dalton and talk about what just happened.

  “Okay,” Josh said. “See you guys up there.”

  As they left, I turned around and looked at Dalton.

  “Did you really have to do that?”

  “Do what? Call you out on your little fling?”

  “You didn’t have to make everyone uncomfortable. We’d just had such a perfect time.” I held my hand up to the approaching cab.

  “I just wanna know why you’re trying so hard to avoid this guy. Sounds to me like you might still have a little thing for him. If that’s the case, we have a problem.”

  The cab stopped. Dalton opened the door for me.

  “Dalton, you’re being ridiculous.”

  “Get in the fucking cab, Sam.”

  “86th and Broadway,” I informed the driver.

  “I just don’t want anything to ruin our new start, Dalton. That’s all.”

  “Well, maybe you should have thought about that before you fucked somebody else.”

  It was a long, silent ride uptown. The joy I’d felt throughout dinner had quickly dissipated. Now all I wanted to do was get to The Parlour and get drunk. Dalton and I had been back together for a little over a week, and up until now, everything had been blissful and passionate and exciting. But I was starting to realize that he had no intention of letting my little dalliance with The Waiter go unchecked. He was going to make me pay for it.

 
When we got to The Parlour, Josh was already queued up to be next for karaoke. Dalton and I went to the bar, and I quickly ordered a drink.

  “This is for you cuz,” Josh said as he grabbed the microphone.

  I had absolutely no idea what he was about to sing. When he started into Cheap Trick’s “California Man,” I started dancing like a maniac. In the mid-eighties, when Josh and I started driving, this song was constantly blaring from either his Jeep or my Pontiac Fiero. It was exactly what I needed tonight. And Josh knew it.

  I looked over at Katie. “Your man is the karaoke king!”

  “It’s just one of the things I love about him.” She saw the look on my face. “Oh god, I can’t believe I just said that out loud.”

  “Katie, are you in love with my cousin?”

  “Don’t tell him, okay?”

  “I promise.” I was pretty sure Josh felt the same way about her, but knowing him the way I did, it would be a long time before he said it.

  When he finished singing, I gave him a big hug.

  “That was epic!”

  “Yeah man,” Dalton said. “You’re like a rockstar here.” Then he looked at me. “I’ll be right back, babe. I have to go to the bathroom before I piss myself.”

  As soon as Dalton was out of sight, I apologized to everyone.

  “Guys, I’m so sorry about what happened at the restaurant.”

  “Why are you sorry?” Katie asked. “You weren’t the one being a jerk.”

  “Yeah, Sam,” Josh said. “He’s still pissed, obviously.”

  “I think he’s just stressed with the move and the new assignment and everything.”

  “Girl, you are so making excuses for him,” Lucy stated.

  “I know guys. I just really, really, want it to work out this time.”

  “I’m staying out of this,” Kyle said. “I just met the guy.”

  Just then, I felt someone come up behind me.

  “Hey Red.” I panicked. I turned around. It was Darryl. Thank god it was Darryl. I’d never been particularly happy to see him, but this time was different.

  “Hey Darryl!” I gave him a quick hug.

  “Um, Darryl, you probably shouldn’t be touching my cousin when Dalton gets back,” Josh warned him.

  “Who’s Dalton?”

  “Sam’s boyfriend.”

  Dalton came back to the bar. I introduced him. “Dalton, this is another one of Josh’s friends Darryl.”

  Darryl looked up at Dalton.

  “Dude, you’re a beast!” he said. Dalton laughed and shook his hand.

  “I should have known Conan the Barbarian was your boyfriend,” Darryl said to me. Then he looked back at Dalton. “I hope you treat her right, dude. She wouldn’t give me the time of day.”

  I laughed. Dalton didn’t.

  “Let’s do a song,” Lucy said. “The three of us. You, me and Katie.”

  Katie grabbed the song book and began looking through it.

  “You guys know I can’t sing. I didn’t get Josh’s voice.”

  “You’re singing,” Katie said.

  “I’m gonna need a little more alcohol in me.” I turned to Dalton. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

  “I’m not mad at you, baby.” He put his arms around me. I stood on my tip-toes and gave him a long kiss.

  “Jesus, get a room,” Lucy said as she handed both me and Dalton kamikaze shots. She had ordered them for all of us. “To Sam making her karaoke debut!”

  “Hear, hear!” Josh said loudly. We all downed the shots and then Lucy grabbed me by the hand and pulled me and Katie in front of the karaoke screen.

  “We picked the perfect song,” Katie said. And then I had no choice but to lose my karaoke virginity to The Spice Girls. We sang “If You Wanna Be My Lover.” Apparently we weren’t that bad. We received a rowdy reception from the crowd. Not Josh-level rowdy, but respectable.

  Afterwards, Kyle was craving pizza, so we decided to go to Big Nick’s. We stumbled out of The Parlour and began walking down Broadway. I couldn’t believe this was my first Saturday night living in Manhattan. I’d done it. I’d made my dream come true. And while I never expected to be living here with Dalton, here we were.

  Then I realized where we actually were. We were stopped on 77th and Broadway, waiting to cross the street. We were right across from On The Ave Hotel. Memories of The Waiter flooded my thoughts. Suddenly I couldn’t breathe. My entire demeanor changed. Katie noticed and caught my eye.

  “Are you okay?” she mouthed the words. I nodded “yes” even though I wasn’t.

  Standing there on the corner, I finally felt the heartache I’d been trying to avoid since he said the words. I’m just not ready for a serious relationship right now.

  It took every ounce of control I could summon in my drunken state not to burst into tears. The truth was, I did still have feelings for The Waiter. Strong ones. And that was definitely going to be a problem.

  CHAPTER 18

  ◆◆◆

  Today I was officially starting my new job. I woke up incredibly early and spent two hours getting ready. I wanted to look perfect and make a great first impression.

  I spent the previous week exploring my new neighborhood and shopping at Scoop. I also signed up for a flexible membership pass at New York Sports Club so I could work out with Lucy and Katie. All week long, I had been hitting the gym hard to keep my mind occupied with anything but thoughts of The Waiter. Plus, Dalton had been working late every night, so I had plenty of time on my hands.

  I rehearsed my morning commute every day, figuring out the subway and how long it would take me to get to work. I would take the 6 train downtown from East 77th Street and transfer to the N&R at 59th. Then I’d get off at Fifth Avenue and walk across Central Park South. I could make the trip in about thirty minutes, but I would always give myself at least an hour. I had already found a shortcut through Central Park right past Seventh Avenue that put me out directly in front of the Columbus Circle fountain. I’d been stopping at the Starbucks on the corner each morning and ordering a Venti Iced White Chocolate Mocha. I was trying to get over the memory of The Waiter sitting there the day I got the job. And the memory of how we celebrated afterwards with a three-hour sexcapade that made me almost miss my flight.

  The weather was starting to feel more like fall, which gave me the perfect excuse to break out my Kenneth Cole camel-colored knee boots. I wore them with my latest Scoop acquisition - a black long-sleeved Helmut Lang asymmetrical dress. My hair was pulled up in my signature messy bun, and between my Coach backpack and Scoop tote, I had packed everything I’d need for my first day.

  I skipped Starbucks this morning. I didn’t want coffee breath while meeting my new co-workers. I also remembered there was a full cappuccino bar inside the office, which I planned on taking full advantage of.

  When I walked in, George greeted me immediately.

  “Sammy! You’re here! I’m so excited!” He ran over and gave me a hug.

  “Hi George! It’s so great to see you again.”

  “Can I just say that I am loving this outfit?”

  “George, you are so good for my ego. I love you already.”

  “I love you, Ginger Spice. That’s your official nickname. I nickname everyone. It’s part of my job description.”

  “What’s Jackie’s nickname?”

  “Oh, The Queen, of course. Come on,” he said, locking his arm in mine. “I’ll give you a tour of the office.”

  He began explaining that the loft was arranged by departments. Directly across from his receptionist desk on the left was IT. Then about midway through and stretching all the way back to Jackie’s office was Creative. Behind George’s desk in the middle were two small areas covering HR and Finance, and then a larger area for Sales and Marketing. On the opposite side in the back corner was a kitchen and the cappuccino bar. Next to that was a decent sized photo studio and a lounge area that led back to the elevator and bathrooms.

  He showed me over to my desk i
n the Creative Department. It was next to an enormous window that looked out at a brick wall. I wasn’t complaining. This was still the coolest office space I’d ever had. My desk was an ultra-modern curved design with a lever to adjust the height in case I wanted to stand. On top of it was an orange iMac and behind it a matching orange Aeron chair.

  “Wait, I have an Aeron chair? Are you serious?”

  “Everybody’s got one. Herman Miller gave us a great deal in exchange for photos of all of us fashionable people sitting in their chairs. Apparently the buzz worked because now the wait for an Aeron is longer than a Birkin.”

  I laughed. Then I looked around and noticed that each department had different colored modular furniture, chairs and iMacs. The Creative Department was orange. IT was purple. Finance was blue. Human Resources was red. And Sales and Marketing was green. The entire office reminded me of The Time, a hotel in Times Square I’d stayed at once when visiting Josh where all the rooms were designed according to a primary color.

  I sat my things down at my new desk, and then George began introducing me to everyone. I was blown away by the diversity of the company. It was about an even split men and women and it was the first place I’d ever worked where the majority of the people weren’t white. Just another reason I loved New York.

  Around nine-thirty, Jackie arrived at the office carrying an enormous vase of beautiful fall flowers. She walked over to my desk and set them down. I stood up to greet her.

  “Welcome Sammy!” she said, giving me a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “Thank you. Me too! Your flowers are gorgeous.”

  “These are your flowers,” she replied. “I got mine yesterday.”

  I had never met anyone like Jackie. She was the freaking CEO of the company and she was bringing me flowers. I adored her already.

  “Come with me,” she said. “I have another surprise for you.”