Love Undefeated (Unexpected #5) (26 page)

My father healing from his aneurysm.

Nalee recovering from the loss of our baby.

Nalee finding it in herself to accept me in her life, giving me another chance.

It’s been a slow, painful process but here we were.

She was finally looking at me, smiling at me, the way she used to.

Even better, she actually looked happier. More peaceful. Content.

These days I’m guilty of spoiling her. Nales wasn’t the one to ask for anything. A quiet night at home was her idea of a perfect romantic night.

Given that I had a few days where work was light, I’d been able to take her to a pop concert. Not my cup of tea but it was fun. Claire was able to get us last-minute tickets which were exorbitantly priced, but Nales’ expression the whole night, of awe and happiness, was more than worth it. When we got home, she couldn’t wait to show me her gratitude which Big X clearly appreciated.

“Sir, would you like to order?” the tall blonde waitress asked. The first time she’d asked, I was on my phone asking Nales what she wanted for dinner. The lady in front of me was probably wondering if I was here to take advantage of the free bread. Damned good bread, but the brown basket remained full because I got caught up in memory lane.

“Sure,” I said without looking at the menu. Claire was usually the one who picked up my order, but today I’d actually had the chance to sit a few blocks away from the office to grab lunch. “I’d like the roast beef sandwich on rye, double the meat, spare the mustard and mayo, add ketchup and everything else.”

She nodded her head and hurried off.

Lunch hour at Biscuitz was busy.

What I ordered could take up to thirty minutes with the fast growing crowd waiting to get in.

I looked around and saw guys in suits and ties, busy flipping through their phones or working on their computers.

Guys like me.

The few couples seated were busy on their phones too.

What happened to normal conversations?

These days most of my communication with Nales was through texts or when possible, Facetime.

When we were physically together, we put our phones away unless we were still working.

My relationship wasn’t with my electronic gadget.

It was with a live, breathing, beautiful woman who I got to touch and make love to.

Phones were just phones. Inanimate objects that enabled you to connect, but the real connection was between my girl and me.

Ping. Ping.

Nalee: How about Italian?

Nalee took awhile responding. She must’ve been in another meeting.

I texted back, “K”

Nalee: Alright. See you later.

I sent a thumbs up emoji.

I sat back on the metal chair, turning to my side, admiring the view. People going in and out of buildings. Cars parking on the street. The scent of the baked goods wafting in from Crummy Cakes a few feet away. I would grab half a dozen of their pistachio and raspberry tarts for Nales before I went back to work.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of the waitress approaching, my order piled high on her hand along with two other plates. It took special skills to balance those large ceramics.

“Roast beef on rye, no mustard or mayo, ketchup and everything else,” she stated while gently placing my plate in front of me. “Will you be needing anything else?”

I put my hands together, checking the delicious sandwich which made my stomach lightly growl. “Nope. I’m all good. Thanks, Kelly.”

She was new, but I caught the name on her badge before she left to punch in my order earlier.

Smiling at me with tired blue eyes, she said “You’re welcome.” Her voice softening, she explained, “It’s the lunch hour rush. Sorry if I was abrupt earlier.”

I raised my hands. “Hey, I’m good. Is today your first day?” Over time I’d become familiar with the regular waiters and waitresses in this joint.

“My third.”

“You’ll get the hang of it. Don’t worry. You’re doing great.” Sometimes people just needed a little boost, a drop of pep talk could be the only bright spot in their busy day.

She smiled again. “Thank you. Just let me know if you need anything, okay?”

I nodded and she left to serve the other orders.

I took a large bite of the sandwich and sighed. Damn, that was good.

The mozzarella and American cheese melted on the rye was the glue that held this masterpiece. I continued to devour my food and only paused a few times to drink water.

In less than five minutes, my plate was clean.

Grabbing my wallet, I took a twenty out and checked my phone. I didn’t carry cash with me all the time, but I already knew how busy this place got, so when I caught a glimpse of Kelly’s retreating back and took stock of the two other servers who were barely taking in the orders, I figured leaving the twenty for an eleven dollar and fifty cents bill was enough to cover my food.

Kelly saw me standing up, but I pointed the bill on the table and waved a hand.

She got the signal and waved.

I had to weave in and out of the close spaces between the tables to get out.

Just a few steps away from Biscuitz, I heard someone say my name. “Xavier.”

I stopped and swiveled my neck to the right. Nope, wrong way, everyone was busy talking or on their phone.

Before I could check my left, a hand tapped my left shoulder.

“Hey, man. I thought it was you.” The guy I knew from college spoke.

He was dressed up like me and everyone else.

Gone were the days of aloha shirts and board shorts.

I chuckled and stepped to the side. “I’d know it was you, you ugly beast.”

He wasn’t a beast in size, but he played Quantum for twenty hours straight, with minimal trips to the bathroom and food, just powered by booze. College life. College fun.

My phone buzzed. It was Claire, alerting me of my meeting.

“Hey, Devon, let’s catch up.” I shook his hand. It’s been a while since I last saw him. My memory was vague, but it was probably at grad night.

He nodded and said, “Yeah. Drinks?”

“Sure. Six thirty?” I rattled off my number and he stored it in his phone.

We’d lost touch after college.

“Cool if I bring my girl?” I asked, maybe Nales and I could just have Italian tomorrow. Devon’s a cool guy and it would be fun to catch up on old times.

A strange look passed his face.

Another second passed before he said, “Sure. Bring her.”

“Later, man,” I smiled before I sprinted towards my office.

I didn’t want Claire to suffer from cold sweats and clammy hands. She had before, when I was thirty minutes late to a very important meeting.

Nales would like Devon.

It was nice to have another friend in the city.

By the time I got to Hayden’s Pub it was hopping; the booze was flowing from the tap, and ladies and gents were happy for the hour.

I spotted Devon right away.

He was the lonely guy leaning over the bar without a phone in his hand.

I guess I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like selfies.

Tapping on his back, I said, “Hey, how’s it going?”

He angled his head while signaling the bartender. “Hey, man. It’s going good. Been a long time. Has it been over three years?”

“Jeez, you’re that old?” Chuckling, I removed my navy suit jacket and plopped it on the back of the bar stool.

“Speak for yourself, asshole. I’d still beat you in beer pong.”

Now he was baiting me. “Punk, you couldn’t beat me if you tried.” I was the official King and Master of Beer Pong. I reigned for two years. I lost the other two to John.

The bartender finally approached our seats. Hayden’s needed two to man the area during the busiest times of the day.

“Sorry guys, my partner’s on break.” He raised a hand to the two ladies sitting on the far right end, letting them know that they were on his radar.

“Just a Bud for me,” I replied. I needed to go light. I was driving home tonight.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I grabbed it and saw Nalee’s text, “On my way.”

Texting back, “Okay” and I gently placed it facedown on the table.

She was taking Uber to get here.

Devon rattled off a bunch of appetizer orders and the bartender took off.

“How’s work?” he started. I didn’t know what he majored in for college. We belonged in the same frat and he was one of the good ones. There were frat members who were just there for the women and the booze and social connections. Devon actually helped me take the new recruits under our wings.

“Eh, busy. As always. Nothing new,” I said, rapping my thumbs on the solid wood. “I’m actually working with Dad now.”

“Oh yeah? Hold up, doesn’t your dad own an accounting firm?” His eyes glazed over the three flat screens on top of the bar area. A basketball game was showing on one, another was hockey, and the furthest right, Sports Channel news.

“Yeah. My old man needs my help so…” I put my palms up to gesture. “I still design on the side but not for work.” Computer design was my art. One day I would work in that field again. “Maybe I’ll start something up on my own once my dad’s business is handled.”

He looked like he was going to say something and stopped. Then, “As much as it sucks for me to say this, you’re great at what you do.”

Huh?

“Are you crushing on me, man? It’s really flattering but someone’s already got dibs on me.”

“You’re an ass.” He smiled, setting his glass down. “What I meant was that all the shit you did in college, for our frat, they were pretty good.”

“Good?” I raised a brow, “They were more than good. They were outstanding.”

He threw out an air punch and I met his right hand in the middle with a punch of my own.

Fist punches were men’s way of showing brotherhood, comparable to women tag teaming to the bathroom which always raised the question
why do they do that
? Do they need to pee at the same time or what? And they usually announced it too.

“How about you? What have you been up to? Still working on that degree from Xbox and Nintendo University?” The guy was a master gamer. I wondered if he ever went to class. I was actually surprised to see him walking on grad day. If there was a degree for Gaming, he’d be racking up the highest honor.

“Unfortunately those degrees aren’t worth shit in the real world, so I’ve managed to snag a job at Briles and Sons.”

“That’s a big company,” I said, grabbing the beer that the bartender placed in front of me. “You bring the boss coffee and muffins every morning?”

He laughed. “Fuck, I missed this. Nah, I help the big boss sort out which toilet paper to use – 2 ply or 4 ply.”

“There’s 4 ply ones?” Wonderment in my voice. “You gotta hook me up.”

“Will do.” His shoulders still shaking. I could tell that he’d grown up too. We’d been lanky, college kids.

Now we both looked like we’d grown into some stage of manhood. He didn’t look like he ate ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner anymore. We saved a lot on food so we could pay for all the booze that we had at our parties. Fun times.

“I manage contracts now and oversee day-to-day operations,” he said while shrugging his shoulders, “We gotta grow up sometime, you know. After college, I got accepted to an internship in Texas. Moved to Chicago to work for Dietz. Did my time there. Paid my dues. And I realized that I’d rather do what I wanna do here in the Bay Area. Nothing beats being close to the murky waters of the Pacific.”

“I hear ya.” I never left San Francisco, but I’d been to many places around the world. This was home for me. But if Nalee wanted to move somewhere else, I would do so in a heartbeat. More than a place, she was my home. “How’s business then?”

“It’s been great,” he replied.

With the truffle fries, boneless spicy chicken wings, and ahi tuna in front of us, I dug in and started eating.

“I’ve actually met with Shawn and Samuel for drinks last weekend,” he continued talking in the middle of eating the wings.