Authors: Kari Ware
I put on my apron as I set my things in the back, and walked over to my back booth. Now I really looked at him. I only recognized him from his posture and his hair. Short, yet soft looking blondish-brown hair, almost sandy in color, sitting atop a very handsome head with a sharp jawline and a clean shaven face. His lips were thin and smirking as I approached, and his blue-green eyes swallowed me up inside their depths. He sat up straight, his broad shoulders and chest accented by a well fitted black suit jacket. There was a dimple in his right cheek, which came to look more like a scar the closer I got. He had to be at least ten years older than me. I stopped beside him, one had on my hip. "I really hope you didn't inform everyone sitting around you that I was a horrible waitress." I gestured to the empty booths.
"No," he replied with a smile, his voice smooth and handsome, "I rented your section. Table ten down, right?"
My jaw nearly dropped, and unconsciously I felt my heartbeat quicken. He repeated my words from the day before back to me in an almost arrogant way, like I was meant to be impressed by the attention he paid to me. Which, obviously I was. My flushed cheeks were obviously enough to satisfy him. "Can I get another coffee, perhaps in a cup and not my lap today?"
"Um...yeah." I awkwardly walked away, his clear pleasure with my discomfort somewhat unnerving. Leila rushed past me with a tray in her hands, giving me a nasty scowl as I almost walked right into her while I was lost in my own thoughts. What was Not-So-Mystery Tipper playing at? There are less severe ways of flirting with someone. Maybe he was some wealthy self-made billionaire that liked to murder waitresses in his Bat cave beneath his mansion.
I carefully walked his cup of coffee over to him, setting it down in front of him as he smirked satisfactorily. "So," I began, "Do you have a name so I can stop calling you Mystery Tipper in my head?" He sipped his coffee with an actual smile.
"Alex," He said simply. "And no, I don't do this often."
"Well then I guess I can rule out the serial waitress murderer M.O. as a reason for all this," I replied somewhat jokingly, tucking my ticket pad into my apron pocket. Alex chuckled, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly in his thick neck. He leaned back against the seat, adjusting his dark red tie.
"Nah, I got that all out of my system years ago." He glanced at me. "Kidding, of course." He added that I'm sure because he saw the unintentional quirk in my eyebrow. "No, actually I just wanted to get to know you a little bit."
Ah, lame attempt at flirting. "You know, you could've just asked for my number or something, right?"
"Now which guy are you more likely to want to get to know: The guy who asks for your number, or the guy who rents a section of a restaurant to talk to you? Besides, I don't half-ass things." Alex looked up at me expectantly. I couldn't hold back a smile, as much as I tried. I didn't want to feel flattered, get all giddy over some guy like some stupid girl in a thoughtless romantic comedy, but I couldn't help it.
I raised my hands in defeat. "Alright, you've got me there. You have my full attention."
"So your name is...?" He asked, glancing at me as he sipped his coffee. I leaned up against the side of the booth across the table from him.
"Winnie." I hated my name. Winifred was worse, obviously, but Winnie was something most people equated with 'the Pooh'. There wasn't anything to be done about it. I still maintain that my mother must've been drunk when she gave birth to me. But Alex simply nodded and made no comments about it, which was somewhat refreshing.
"Well, Winnie, are you busy Thursday?"
"Um..." I mentally pictured my calendar. "I work 'til three."
He nodded, finishing his coffee with one large sip. "I'll pick you up."
I was a little taken aback by his forwardness, but what could I say? I was intrigued, for sure. "And where will you be taking me?"
"I promise it won't be to an abandoned warehouse to murder you."
I considered it. "Fair enough. See you Thursday."
III.
"Please tell me you'll at least call Calder and let him know when you're in this guy's car. Please."
I rolled my eyes as I walked down the hallway steps towards my mailbox. Some part of me told me not to say a word to my mother about Alex, his incredible face and his strange courting methods. What a hypocrite she could be; My mother had spent many a night leaving the bar in some stranger's car after divorce number two, and she never let me know where she was until the next day when she miraculously reappeared. I dug for my mailbox key in my pocket. "Yes, Mother, I will."
"How exactly does he feel about this?" My mother pressed on. I opened the mailbox with the painted on letters 201 on it, dipping down to see a measly two envelopes and a jewelry store flyer. I scooped them up and tucked them under my arm.
"He thinks its fine, Mom." I lied. Calder absolutely did not think it was fine. I was honestly somewhat surprised at his concern, given his careless lifestyle. He had made me pinky promise him that I would text him the entire night, and call him as often as possible. How lame. So some slightly eccentric guy wants a date... why was everyone panicking? He didn't scream serial murderer to me. He just seemed like an eccentric, wealthy man. The kind of person you're supposed to me when you move to Los Angeles from a tiny, pinprick-sized town in Washington.
"Well you should give me his number, honey. I'd like to chat with him anyways. I bet it would just
kill
Daniel to know he's a stripper." My mother said more to herself than me. I reached my front door and nudged it open with my hip after twisting the knob. I sighed, tossing my mail on the end table. I really wasn't in the mood to listen to her badmouth Calder's dad again.
"I'll give him your number, okay? But I gotta go now. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
My mom sighed. "Alright, sweetie. I'll talk to you then. Love you, Winnie."
"Love you too. Bye." I hung up the phone and set it down on top of my mail pile. It was Wednesday, my date with Alex the following day, and I was getting giddier and giddier with every thought about it. I couldn't help but wonder where he would be taking me. I felt like I was in a movie, like Pretty Woman without the prostitution and Julia Roberts's ridiculous laugh. For all I knew, Alex could be the guy to sweep me off my feet, and I wasn't one to not take a chance like that.
I heard footsteps down the hall accompanied by humming. It was Anna, walking to her own door. She hummed almost constantly. I poked my head out the door to see her carrying a brown paper bag and fumble with her keys. She noticed me, turning towards me with a smile. "Hey Winnie. How's it going today?"
Her blue eyes were merry, as if they were smiling at me. Anna was always in a good mood, whether she was going to a party, a casting call, or knocking at my door at 8 pm with a tub of ice cream she needed help finishing when she bombed a big audition. That's how I knew she and Calder would hit it off: They were way too similar. "It's alright. Tomorrow's the big day."
She beamed, her brunette ponytail brushing against her shoulders as she got up on her tiptoes with glee. "Oh my God, it is! Make sure you come over afterwards and tell me everything, mmkay?" I felt a blush creep up on my cheeks as I smiled back at her.
"Okay, for sure. As long as Calder isn't totally up my ass about everything." I complied, and Anna reached into her grocery bag and fished out a rather large bottle of tequila.
"Don't worry. He will be thoroughly distracted."
Alex was grinning at me from booth ten for most of the afternoon, only asking for coffee once as I ran around like a mad woman serving the lunch rush. I had honestly wished I'd brought another outfit after seeing what he was wearing: A nice suit, like always, dark blue with a pale blue tie. His face was a little scruffy, making it seem a little less formal to me. But still, I had only brought a cute red pencil skirt and flowy black top with matching flip flops to change into. I felt a little under prepared.
"Ready?" Alex asked eagerly as I came out of the back room at the end of my shift, shaking my wild curls out of my ponytail and letting the hair splay over my shoulders freely. He was standing in the doorway, holding out a hand to me. I felt myself grin like an idiot as I took it.
"Let's go."
IV.
"I can't believe I'm on a date with a billionaire."
Alex chuckled as he stood beside me, arms crossed over his chest and what felt like his gaze lingering on me. I was far too preoccupied to check and see if my gut was telling the truth; the wall-sized picture window before me gave me an entire view of the lower half of Los Angeles, all the way down to the edge of the ocean. It was possibly the greatest view I had ever seen, even better than the ones in all the travel magazines I had read throughout my high school years. "Well, millionaire actually. I didn't invent Microsoft, you know."
On the limo ride (I sighed merrily inside at the thought), Alex had explained that he worked in the stock market in New York with his father as a young adult, and after saving for a few years he turned to his real passion: customizing homes. He'd revamped homes in the Valley for some has-been socialites and actresses, and now he'd turned it into a world-wide venture as a project manager with a small personal staff. He explained to me that he would be flying out to London next week to go over blueprints with some big investment banker guy, and that he was really excited about it because he had a new carpenter on his hand-picked staff that he hadn't had the opportunity to work with yet. His eyes sparkled, like sunlight reflecting on the ocean, when he told me about it.
"Right, of course. My bad for just assuming." I replied, still staring out at the view and all the palm trees swaying beneath me. "I just can't believe this. It's so surreal."
"Welcome to LA. It's all surreal out here, kiddo."
I turned my head towards him, a smile creeping up on my lips. He was looking at he with a smirk, like he was laughing at my disbelief. His eyes met mine, and I shied away, feeling as if I would fall into them completely if I looked any deeper. "Well," he said, obviously his favorite segway, "Let's get going to dinner before Senator Greyleck arrives home."
I felt my eyebrows shoot up into my skull. "This isn't your place?" I laughed out my words, and Alex put his arm around my waist as he led me to the door. As we walked past the solid oak end table by the door, I glanced down and saw Alex's face on a business car tucked beneath a glass bowl of almonds. Of course.
"Nah, the view is much better here than my place."
"So, you're what, twenty?" Alex twirled his fork around his fettuccine and eyed me as I did the same across the small table. I nodded as I took a bite, not wanting to look like a total goober and speak while I was eating. I was a sophisticated adult, at least for tonight. My phone kept vibrating in the pocket of my skirt, and I knew it was Calder still trying to check up on me. I had texted him when we were leaving Agacelli's jokingly letting him know that if they didn't find my body to check the trunk of a limo, and now I was beginning to think that maybe he hadn't found it quite as funny as I had.
"Well, not to seem like a dirty old man or anything, but I'm old enough to be your dad if I had knocked someone up in high school." Alex said with a quirk of his brow, and I swallowed my food as I smiled.
"Oh no, how old?" I asked lightly.
"Thirty-four." Alex almost winced when he spoke the words, like it was something that tasted awful in his mouth. I just nodded at him; The age difference didn't phase me as much as it probably should have. My mother had married a man twelve years her senior, her twenty-three at the time, and they had a pretty decent marriage, as much as I could have remembered in my toddlerhood. Alex took a bite off his fork, waiting for my reaction. My hip continued to vibrate endlessly.
"That's not horrible. You look younger than that, if it's any consolation." I offered up a little smile, feeling my body grow warm as the compliment left my lips. Alex smirked, the corner of his lips pulling up on the cheek opposite of his scar, much like he had smiled all evening.
"Well, thanks. I try." He caught the glance of our waiter and waved a few fingers, and the scrawny blonde kid nodded his head and rushed off to get our bill. I scooted my now empty plate aside, and Alex pulled a brown leather wallet from his back pocket. "So, Winnie, is there absolutely anything else you'd like to do tonight before I take you home?"
I felt a knot tie up in my lower stomach, uncomfortably resting on me and making my thigh give a small inward twitch. I knew what else I wanted to do, but I didn't want to seem like that kind of girl. The type who wanted to bag the rich guy as soon as possible, like I needed a sugar daddy. I wasn't like that, and I knew that. I also knew that Alex's charm was getting to me a lot quicker than I had expected it would, and how curious I was to know what his body looked like underneath that Armani suit after I had felt the strength of his lean arm around me earlier. Irritatingly, my phone kept vibrating, leaving a warm spot on my hip where my phone was heating up from the continued texts and calls. "Um... my phone is vibrating. Excuse me for a minute."
I looked down at the screen as I rose from my seat, sighed irritation as I saw Calder's name and picture. "What?" I snapped into my receiver once out of Alex's earshot, heading towards the ladies room.
"What the fuck is your problem, Win? I've been calling you for a fucking hour! I was about to call the cops!" I hadn't heard Calder sound so angry in a long time, not since he and his father had their last big argument. He had left after that, calling a cab in the middle of the night and emptying his closet into a duffel bag before leaving. He'd never talked to me like that before. I really didn't like it.
"And tell them what? My ex step sister isn't answering her phone while she's on a date, go get her?" I leaned up against the wall behind the bathroom vanity, the brown sugar colored walls making my skin look decently tan and my dark roots strand out more than I hoped they were. This only added to my irritation. "You know I was joking with that text earlier, right?"