Benign Boysenberry #4
Dining Out
After they get their salads, she sees the hostess seat an attractive couple in their late twenties in a booth across the room..
“So, the couple behind me to the left – along the wall – what’s their story”, she says in a hushed whisper, referring to the newest couple in the dining room. They’ve already made decisions about the first date in the far corner and the “let’s meet the new boyfriend” party at the round table in the middle of the Sizzler dining room. She was glad the couple was in their section, it is nice to have some fresh prospects.
He gets back into the game, they play it all the time at restaurants and airports. Quietly he says, “He’s an investment banker, she took a job as a Rolex salesperson to meet a rich guy. He’s bored with her, she thinks he’s getting ready to pop the question.”
“No, look at their body language, he’s really into her. Do you see him lean in when she talks and stand up when she comes back from the bathroom? He likes her, a lot… He’s a software salesperson and they met when he sold a package to her office.” She’s the romantic, always wanting to make situations better than they were.
“Get up and go to the bathroom and take another look,” he tells her. He thinks her need for romance messes up the game. Sending her to the bathroom or out to the car to get something usually puts her back to seeing them how they really are.
She sits down after yet another fake bathroom visit thinking they need to go to more places with a salad bar, at least she’d get some food out of the drive-by scoping out sessions. She has a new take on the situation, “He’s a soldier on leave from Iraq, she’s the girl he’s been e-mailing all along.”
“Yea, and he’s found love in a Hummer and wants out, but he feels bad because she keeps sending him care packages and stuff, and his mom likes her,” he says with a knowing nod. “He can’t figure out how to tell her that he’s leaving her for a guy he met in the military. When they get out they are planning to open an antique store in the Berkshires and live happily ever after.”
She thinks his cynicism is over the top. Not every young person is on the make just because you are a randy old goat who wants to fuck around. Is he trying to tell me he’s gay? At this age? Nahh. She eats some salad. “Maybe they are newlyweds and she brought him here to tell him she’s pregnant with their first,” she whispers a bit wistfully.
“No, no, I’ve got it,” he says excitedly. “He’s her baby’s daddy and he’s begging her not to go on Jerry Springer to get the paternity test. He says he’d be embarrassed and his mom would have a fit because all the women in her church group watch the show.” He knows this will appeal to her daytime viewing habits…. “In fact, I think I saw them on a preview… someone throws a chair, I’m sure of it.”
She blushes slightly, thinking for the millionth time that she’s glad paternity tests and Jerry Springer weren’t around when her son Josh was born…. No, she thinks once again, she did the right thing, she married the good provider, even if he was a bit weird and probably not Josh’s biological father.
He pauses for a second and wonders why Josh looks like Barry, his best-friend in high school… he decides for the millionth time that it is a coincidence, because he and Barry look like brothers themselves.
The waitress brings their steaks. She thinks that the 65 and over special just ain’t what it used to be. “Hey, over in the corner, isn’t that the mayor? That isn’t his wife he’s sharing a bottle of wine with… hmm”. She knows it isn’t really the mayor and she also knows that her eyesight is better than his, so she can keep him going for the rest of the meal and keep his thoughts off the nice couple in the corner.
Along the wall, a young construction worker is treating his sister to dinner to commiserate about how it is hard to find someone to love. He says “so, what’s the story on that couple --- over your shoulder, the older couple with the glasses eating the senior specials… I think they’re an old married couple, they are lucky they got together before people fucked around on each other.”
After they get their salads, she sees the hostess seat an attractive couple in their late twenties in a booth across the room..
“So, the couple behind me to the left – along the wall – what’s their story”, she says in a hushed whisper, referring to the newest couple in the dining room. They’ve already made decisions about the first date in the far corner and the “let’s meet the new boyfriend” party at the round table in the middle of the Sizzler dining room. She was glad the couple was in their section, it is nice to have some fresh prospects.
He gets back into the game, they play it all the time at restaurants and airports. Quietly he says, “He’s an investment banker, she took a job as a Rolex salesperson to meet a rich guy. He’s bored with her, she thinks he’s getting ready to pop the question.”
“No, look at their body language, he’s really into her. Do you see him lean in when she talks and stand up when she comes back from the bathroom? He likes her, a lot… He’s a software salesperson and they met when he sold a package to her office.” She’s the romantic, always wanting to make situations better than they were.
“Get up and go to the bathroom and take another look,” he tells her. He thinks her need for romance messes up the game. Sending her to the bathroom or out to the car to get something usually puts her back to seeing them how they really are.
She sits down after yet another fake bathroom visit thinking they need to go to more places with a salad bar, at least she’d get some food out of the drive-by scoping out sessions. She has a new take on the situation, “He’s a soldier on leave from Iraq, she’s the girl he’s been e-mailing all along.”
“Yea, and he’s found love in a Hummer and wants out, but he feels bad because she keeps sending him care packages and stuff, and his mom likes her,” he says with a knowing nod. “He can’t figure out how to tell her that he’s leaving her for a guy he met in the military. When they get out they are planning to open an antique store in the Berkshires and live happily ever after.”
She thinks his cynicism is over the top. Not every young person is on the make just because you are a randy old goat who wants to fuck around. Is he trying to tell me he’s gay? At this age? Nahh. She eats some salad. “Maybe they are newlyweds and she brought him here to tell him she’s pregnant with their first,” she whispers a bit wistfully.
“No, no, I’ve got it,” he says excitedly. “He’s her baby’s daddy and he’s begging her not to go on Jerry Springer to get the paternity test. He says he’d be embarrassed and his mom would have a fit because all the women in her church group watch the show.” He knows this will appeal to her daytime viewing habits…. “In fact, I think I saw them on a preview… someone throws a chair, I’m sure of it.”
She blushes slightly, thinking for the millionth time that she’s glad paternity tests and Jerry Springer weren’t around when her son Josh was born…. No, she thinks once again, she did the right thing, she married the good provider, even if he was a bit weird and probably not Josh’s biological father.
He pauses for a second and wonders why Josh looks like Barry, his best-friend in high school… he decides for the millionth time that it is a coincidence, because he and Barry look like brothers themselves.
The waitress brings their steaks. She thinks that the 65 and over special just ain’t what it used to be. “Hey, over in the corner, isn’t that the mayor? That isn’t his wife he’s sharing a bottle of wine with… hmm”. She knows it isn’t really the mayor and she also knows that her eyesight is better than his, so she can keep him going for the rest of the meal and keep his thoughts off the nice couple in the corner.
Along the wall, a young construction worker is treating his sister to dinner to commiserate about how it is hard to find someone to love. He says “so, what’s the story on that couple --- over your shoulder, the older couple with the glasses eating the senior specials… I think they’re an old married couple, they are lucky they got together before people fucked around on each other.”
posted by Anonymous at 6:13 PM
1 Comments:
See, this is just fun. It's a fun story to read and I really enjoyed it! Well done! :-)
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