Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
I mean, my dad wouldn’t be caught dead with his back to the door. But, Frederick not only took the chair with his back to the door, but also the more comfortable of the two spots to boot.
The one and only time that I’d tried to sit next to him, he’d had a conniption fit because he ‘liked his space’ and ‘didn’t like to sit too close.’
I rolled my eyes, and started to sit down, but the hostess paused and said, “Oh, this one.”
Since Frederick was already sitting down, and the hostess was blocking the chair spot for me to take, I took the booth spot of the next table over, and she winked.
Frederick stood, then glared hard at me as if he expected me to get up.
I stayed where I was, and barely contained the urge to giggle my ass off when he took the hard chair, almost reluctantly.
“Thank you.” I smiled at her.
“No problem.” She patted my shoulder. “Enjoy your dinner.”
This place we were at would’ve been any woman’s dream. The owner, a woman in her thirties, had designed it to have pretty much every food imaginable. Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Mexican, American, and so many more. You could get a sushi appetizer while simultaneously getting a British style breakfast, following it up with a Russian dessert.
And, even better, there was a section labeled ‘girl dinner’ on the menu.
I usually ordered off of that, because honestly it was a genius idea that was not only progressive, but also great food to boot.
“Would you like to split a meal?” Frederick asked, as he always did.
I nearly rolled my eyes.
What was it with this man and splitting meals? My God, I wanted to eat my full fucking burger!
“No,” I immediately said. “I don’t like splitting meals.”
Which he damn well knew.
But Frederick’s idea of splitting a meal was more like this: He ordered what he wanted. He ate as much as he wanted. Then he gave me what was left on his plate when he was done.
I’d tried it once, and once only.
That time, we’d been here as well, with Dolly as our waitress.
By the time he’d eaten everything good on the plate, I’d realized my mistake.
And since Dolly had never come around to ensure everything was going okay, I couldn’t order another meal.
When she had come around, I’d been so freakin’ mad that the last thing I wanted to do was order any food from her and give her a bigger tip.
“What are you going to order?” he asked, sounding bored.
He liked coming here because Dolly was a ‘delight to be around’ according to him. Really, she gave him all the attention he craved. And when we weren’t seated in her section, Frederick tended to act like his world was ending.
“I’m going to get the girl dinner that has chicken strips, sushi, and the appetizer of chips and hot sauce,” I answered, excited about what I was about to eat, yet still bummed about who I had to eat with. “You?”
“Breakfast. Pancakes,” he answered. “Can we get the cornbread instead for an appetizer?”
I perked up at that.
“Can I have a bite of your pancake if we get the cornbread?” I asked hopefully.
They looked good. And though I wanted a bite, I didn’t want an entire stack of pancakes.
“Sure,” Frederick murmured, sounding annoyed with me.
I nearly rolled my eyes but caught myself in time.
He didn’t like it when I rolled my eyes. He insisted that it was ‘rude.’
Whatever.
The waiter came by, we ordered our food, and then we were left to actually speak to each other.
Frederick started talking about work, and I studiously ignored him because when he talked about work, he made himself sound way more important than he actually was.
Truthfully, I knew where he worked, and what he did for work.
I knew that he wasn’t that special.
He worked for the city in the sanitation department. He was a boss, but not the boss.
He acted like he was the best thing since sliced bread when really, he was the coordinator for the people who called and said that their trash was skipped that day.
Truthfully, he made pretty good money. He got great benefits.
How did I know so much about his job?
I’d worked there myself while I was putting myself through school.
I knew everyone and everything that went on up there because, once upon a time, I was his boss.
Though, he didn’t know that.
I’d never tell him.
The waiter finally brought our food out, and I started to eat the small portions that made up my girl dinner.
“Don’t forget to save me a little bite,” I begged.
Because man, those looked fantastic. As in, I wanted more than just a bite, but I knew that wouldn’t fly.
I watched carefully as the pancakes were slathered in so much butter and syrup that it was spilling over the sides of the plate—again, something I’d told him was ridiculous for him to do, yet he continued to do it.