Tonight was interesting. I’m not sure what happened during dinner because Caroline was angry and miserable the whole time, but that’s because Casper and his girlfriend tagged along. Not only does Caroline hate Casper, but his new girlfriend has got to be her least favorite person on the planet. I think we had a good time, though.
-_~* Week 5 *~_-
The second she walks through the door, her features drooping and hard, Santiago is certain that it’s not going to be a great evening. There’s no doubt about the reason for her sour attitude, though, when another guy enters just behind her. And then girl too…
Casper and his girlfriend, he suspects. Very few scenarios come to mind that would explain why she’s brought them along to their regularly scheduled dinners. Whatever the reason, though, Santiago cannot help but smile.
“Hello,” Caroline grumbles as she approaches behind the others.
Standing to greet everyone, he holds his hand out first to Casper who is eager to take the inside seat of the booth he chose prior to their arrival. Perhaps he shouldn’t be surprised based on what he knows about the guy, but instead of shaking hands with Santiago he simply swats his hand and scoots along the seat. Thankfully, his girlfriend has a bit more decorum than that and grips his fingers delicately before stepping into him.
“You’re being good to her, I hope,” she remarks while making a sideways glance at Caroline. It’s not coy at all and Caroline hears her clearly. It prompts her to push Santiago hard into the booth as she snarls a reply.
“I can handle myself, thanks.”
Nobody talks straight away, not beyond introductions. Casper’s real name is Jeremy and his girlfriend’s name is Kayla. Having that information isn’t exactly useful to Santiago, but he will stash it away for later. It will probably be relevant at some point, even if only during dinner.
He had decided to bring Caroline to Bailey’s & Bros to get out of the cafeteria for the first time all week. Besides, Baileys & Bros is where Santiago always ordered pizza when his parents went out for work dinners. Bringing Caroline here was special because it reminds him of his parents. The idea was to repay her for taking him to a special restaurant that reminded her of her grandma.
“Do you want to get something and share it?” Kayla asks Casper, or rather she asks Jeremy. He grunts in reply, though, so his name doesn’t actually matter. Or at least it shouldn’t if Santiago’s opinion was any value to his girlfriend. It probably won’t be, though, because Kayla tries again. “We could get a pick three platter.”
Caroline snorts, grabbing her phone from her pocket and unlocking the screen. While nobody else in the restaurant can see how awkward it is for them, Santiago can feel it as plainly as he can feel the tightness of his hair tie. He put it back up to keep it off his neck because the shop is very hot and sticky. Without a doubt, most of the discomfort comes from sitting across the table from Caroline’s ex-boyfriend as he treats his new girlfriend with very little respect.
“Okay, if you don’t want to share anything, do you want to get two slice meals and swap one?” her effort sounds more spirited this time, though her facial features contort in displeasure. Kayla isn’t impressed with Jeremy’s cold shoulder treatment. On the opposite end of that spectrum, Caroline can hardly hold in her laughter. She keeps a hand pressed over her lips while she texts with her free one.
Apparently, she’s texting him, too, because his phone goes off at the same time she hits send. The vibration settings are different and nobody texts him anymore, not late into the evening like this is, so it has to be her. When he slips his phone out and checks the banner across his screen he’s proven right.
CWthey r always like this
Wafting scents of pepperoni, hot sauce, garlic, and melting cheese temper the tense atmosphere of bad company, but only marginally. Jeremy finally gives Kayla the reply she’s been trying to get out of him, but it’s not the one that she wants to hear. “We’re going to order separately today, alright?”
Moaning in defeat, or maybe in relief, Kayla leans her body into the table and tries to lower her voice. Unfortunately, Santiago and Caroline can still hear her clearly, and it’s no walk in the park listening to her pick at Jeremy about why they’re ordering separately when they usually order together and share any other time. It makes the uncomfortable situation worse.
“I am so glad I’m spending the evening with my two least favorite people in the world. Listening to the sweet, sweet tune of a bickering couple has really brightened my entire day.” If sarcasm were an accent, Caroline would have mastered it at this exact moment. Her lips are pulled thin against her face in the perfectly faked grin; her brows arching high onto her forehead. In her eyes, though, she’s showing all of her cards, as his parents used to say. The only reason she’s not losing her mind is the fact that she can bite hard without remorse.
Servers zip past quickly, stopping at every table to take orders and deliver food, and someone eventually stops to get their drink orders and offer appetizers. Hopeful for something, Santiago orders breadsticks for the group so that eating will deter any conversation attempts after the order arrives. It isn’t going to help right away, but it will be worth it. It has to be worth it, he thinks.
“So, on a cheerier note, Bryan, my boss, was talking with a patron and decided he wants to diversify the menu. Fall drinks are all about the pumpkin spice but that’s overdone. We’re going to put together some new recipes this week at a staff meeting and then hold a Taster’s Night event next week sometime,” Caroline offers something legitimate to discuss, and with a cheery tone too. Immediately, Kayla shows an interest and begins asking questions about work and how long she’s been there as if she’s never heard anything about it before – Caroline texts Santiago to let him know that none of this is news to Kayla – and gawks at her in a trance.
When the conversation turns back to the Taster’s Night, Kayla asks how long it’s been around. Caroline reports that it’s something that Bryan started when he took over at The Chipped Coffee Cup. Feeling left out, Santiago poses his own question. “Is it open to the public?”
“I would love to go, if it is,” Kayla announces with a flat tone that is supposed to hide her excitement, Santiago suspects, but only makes her sound like she’s trying to hold in a yawn. Just before Caroline is able to answer her, breadsticks get dropped off at the table, and she grabs two from the basket and takes a bite from each. Apparently, she really loves breadsticks.
During this time, however, Jeremy takes it upon himself to explain Taster’s Night, and he’s staring down Caroline the entire time he’s spouting off details. “Whenever they want to create a specialty menu, the staff gets to invite someone to an after-hours dinner. Bryan and the staff members put together a tasting bar and when the guests arrive they discuss what works, what doesn’t, and whoever actually shows up gets a gift card for their time and feedback. Generally, the employees bring someone they’re close to, though sometimes regulars get invited along too.”
Even though he doubts there are crickets in the restaurant, Santiago swears he can hear a collection of them just chirping away in the painful lull that follows Jeremy’s bitter explanation. Kayla is fiddling with her half of the breadstick, the other one sitting in front of Jeremy untouched, and Caroline is taking alternating bites from her own breadsticks in slow motion. Unsure what the appropriate response is, Santiago begins laughing. It builds up so quickly that he has to grab Caroline’s arm just to keep himself from falling out of the booth.
“You must have been to quite a few when you were dating, I guess,” Kayla mutters in defeat, unable to look at anyone sitting around her. A part of him wants to offer some sort of solace in the form of a joke, but Caroline eases the tension pretty easily with her usual brashness.
“I never invited Casper,” she says evenly. “He didn’t give two shits about my job so I always invited my grandma. Plus, he hates coffee.”
Santiago stretches a smile across his lips. The awkward eye contact that Jeremy is making with Caroline breaks when he glances away, meeting Santiago’s gaze instead. Without worrying what it may look like, he makes a suggestion to Caroline. “Has Bryan ever served horchata? Or café con leche?”
Jeremy’s face twists, turning sour, as sure of what comes next as Santiago. As Caroline considers what he’s saying, trying to remember if she recalls any menu item by the name. During the silence, he explains what the drink flavor profiles would be: vanilla and cinnamon. Each drink would fit in nicely with fall-themed drinks and would diversify the menu.
Caroline shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t think Bryan has done anything like that since I’ve been there. Bryan’s uncle used to own café and his uncle wasn’t as innovative as Bryan has been, the way I hear it.”
She goes on to talk about the previous owner’s format being bland, though successful. He didn’t like to stray far from the proven formulas that were already successful for other cafés. The thing that made his place successful was, in part, the location. Located on the same block as dozens of law firms, government offices, and small gym studios. As for the other reason, Bryan’s uncle was someone who insisted that coffee is best enjoyed with pastries. There are six menu items that are sold as meal deals, for a lack of a better word, and people love that because they can save money on items they’d already be purchasing.
Since taking over, Bryan has made it a point to change those menu items regularly with an even more successful formula. Two of the ‘meals’ are classic drinks that are always around, and then four of the drinks are seasonal. Three of the drinks are warm, three are cold; three drinks come with pastries and the other three come with cold cut halves. Caroline babbles and babbles so long that the server hovers nearby waiting for an opportunity to ask for their order.
“You know what, Santiago, I think he would really like to include something more cultural on the menu. I’ll suggest both drinks if you can get me recipes for them,” the shift away from her ‘The Chipped Coffee Cup” history lesson is welcomed. Kayla is struggling to act interested and Jeremy is rolling his eyes. While Santiago finds all of the information interesting, it’s only because Caroline is the one sharing it.
“Actually,” she says abruptly, “why don’t you just come to Taster’s Night as my guest? It’s really cool and it’s going to be next Thursday night anyway so we could kill two birds with one stone.”
Jeremy groans and throws his hand in the air. “Server? We’re ready to order!”
A server comes up to the table and apologizes for the delay. He didn’t want to interrupt the conversation, which is respectable. Santiago takes it upon himself to start his order first. Well, kind of. “I’ll pay for the drinks and the breadsticks. Is there any way you can have that check ready at the register? My partner and I need to go, something has come up.”
Beneath the table where nobody can see, except maybe the server, Caroline places her hand on his thigh. His body warms involuntarily, but he cannot let on that anything has changed. Maintaining his smile and composure, he waits for the server to confirm that this isn’t a problem as well as for Jeremy’s inevitable outburst.
“Absolutely, it’ll be ready at the register in just a couple of minutes,” he says, tearing a page off of the pad of paper he’s writing on. Then he turns his attention to Kayla and Jeremy. “Will your checks be together or separate tonight?”
Kayla goes straight into ordering after specifying that their order is separate with a deep frown carved into her face. She watches in defeat as Caroline and Santiago scoot out of the booth. Before leaving, though, Caroline says one last thing. “Thank you for the terrible conversation.”
Locking arms, they walk away from the table as fast as they can manage in the crowded restaurant so that they can wait for the check at the counter.
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Acknowledgements:
Thanks again to Ouranose, my ever-present editor! She has her own blog and you really should give it a look! She writes wonderful short stories and is now posting art to go along with the themes and stories she’s got planned for the year. You will not be disappointed.
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