Cafe Romance (16 page)

Y
vette tapped a pencil on the desk, thoughtfully. Leaning slightly forward in her chair she placed both her pencil and reading glasses on the wooden surface then powered down her computer. Sinking back into her chair, she closed her eyes momentarily.

Christine, an assistant manager, who preferred to be called Chris, was seated to her left. Both had been busy. A weekly routine, Chris had dropped off several business reports to Yvette, who was responsible for inputting them into the computer. While Yvette typed in the data, Chris casually reviewed the food purchase order for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

"Hey, how did we do yesterday on the health and sanitation inspection?" Chris asked, honking her nose into a tissue. It was the fabric of the chair, again. She was allergic to anything fibrous or close to the texture of wool, as she had acknowledged in the past.

"As far as I know, we passed with flying colors," Yvette replied tersely, and then as if an afterthought, "That's right, you were off yesterday."

"You bet your ass, I was!" Chris shot back, reaching down to retrieve a loose sheet of paper, then added, "And it was a well-deserved day off, too. Bought me an ice-cold six-pack after lunch yesterday, went home, and got fuck’n ripped. That end-of-the month inventory kicked my Norwegian ass the other night." 

A stoic Yvette, replied, “Must be nice.”

            Chris was not one of Yvette's favorite people. The woman was far too rough around the edges and wasn’t known for having a warm friendly personality. What she was known for was her foul-mouth, short temper, and arrogance. But Chris was good at what she did. She knew the restaurant business inside out. And Yvette respected that. But knowing her dislike for the woman, she usually kept her distance but today was one of those days she just grinned and bared it. Those reports had to be inputted into the computer, although she did everything she could to keep the encounter brief, business-like, and straight to the point.

As Chris wrapped up her purchase order, Yvette pulled open her bloated purse and withdrew a small mirror and comb. As one hand combed her hair, her free hand patted it in place. After a few adjustments she restored her vanity tools.

Opening one of several magazines on the wooden desktop to review, she quickly thumbed through it. In a little while she would head downstairs to have lunch. The restaurant had been open for business for nearly an hour earlier. And the aroma of gourmet food was having its effect on her. Having skipped breakfast, she had decided on an early lunch, but was running behind schedule.

After flipping through several more pages Yvette looked up and was startled to see Angelique, one of the newly hired waitresses, standing silently at the door entrance. 

"Girl, you just about scared the liv'n shit out of me!" Chris blurted out, having nearly jumped three inches out of her seat. “For Christ’s sake, say something the next time, gal.”

Yvette chuckled, as she collected herself too. "Angelique, feel free to knock or make some kind of noise when you enter," she said as she continued to chuckle. She was more tickled by Chris' reaction than Angelique's unannounced appearance. She’d only wished she could have captured Chris on video when she practically leaped out of her chair. She was sure she could send it to one of those humorous television shows. Maybe win a prize. Comedy just didn't get any better than this, she thought.

"Please, forgive me," Angelique promptly apologized. "It wasn’t my intent to startle you. Matter-of-fact, I was hoping one of you would look up. I thought if I spoke too suddenly I would startle you for sure, so I just waited while you combed your hair, hoping that you would notice me."

"And boy, did we," Yvette smiled. "Don't worry about it," she added thoughtfully. "Like Chris said, next time, just say something. Or just rap on the door."

"Okay."

"Now, how can I assist you?" Yvette asked.

"What I came to tell you was that your friend has return."

"My friend?" Yvette pondered. She couldn’t think of anyone she was expecting for lunch.

"The one you inquired about the other day. You remember, don't you?"

Yvette began to breathe arduously, as she slowly rose from the desk. "You mean the man on the bike that got away from me?"

"Yes, I believe that's the one."

"Sounds like someone special," Chris added, wiping at her nose again.

"It's just someone I met recently, that's all," Yvette said, almost defensively.

"Just go with the flow, girl," Chris retorted, leaning back in the chair and crossing her legs in a manly way.

Yvette started to fuss over her hair, all over again, then said, retrospectively, "Is he alone?"

"Yes, I believe he is," Angelique replied dutifully.

“Hey, this friend of yours, does he have a sister, by chance?” Chris asked, with a mischievous grin. “My type, perhaps.”

“Excuse me?” Yvette replied, locking her gaze onto Chris.

“Don’t give me that weird look. I know you’ve must have heard that my ole lady and I broke up recently. I’m just keeping my options open,” Chris returned, as she leaned further back into the chair.

“I don’t know if he has a sister or not,” Yvette said, then added, laughing, “But if he does, she’s probably too much for you to handle. May not even be your type, come to think of it.”

“Now how would you know that?” Chris shot back, as she boldly eyed Yvette’s round bottom before focusing on her eyes.”

“Just trust me.” Yvette quipped. “And Chris, I’m not your type either. Try your best to remember that.”

“Can’t knock a gal for trying, now can you,” Chris smirked.

“I’m outta here." With that a nervous Yvette hurried around the vast desk and descended the carpeted stairs, arriving in the dining room area breathless and anxious.

Up above, soft piano jazz played over mounted miniature speakers positioned throughout the
Café
. But this did little to put her at ease.

Having caught up to Yvette, Angelique guided Yvette's eyes beyond the flurry of business to where her mystery man sat alone eating. Yvette thanked the waitress again, pressed her dress down with her hands lightly and took a deep breath. Then she took the first step towards the reunion she had not given up on, but thought no longer possible.

As she made her approach she hurriedly exchanged pleasantries with the customers whom she knew, some she hadn't seen in weeks. As she refocused on her handsome Knight, she sauntered towards him, holding him in her line of vision until she found herself standing nervously before him.

"Hello. I am Yvette Roberts," was all that she could manage to say at first, with a smile and a touch of nervousness. The man was more handsome than she remembered. She wondered if he was available. But she quickly reminded herself she wasn’t look’n
…
wasn’t in the market.

Kurt glanced up bewildered at first as his eyes froze on her lean and voluptuous form. In the meantime his mind pondered whom this familiar face belonged to. Then it was as clear as the day it happened. Her enchanting dark eyes and gaze gave her away. But before he could respond, Yvette beat him to the punch.

"You may remember that I am the woman you rescued over a month ago, unless this is something you do on a regular basis."

"Well, well! What a pleasant surprise this is!” he said, as his eyes caught and held hers.

“Please forgive me Ms. Roberts. I do apologize for not recognizing right away. And no, I am not in the habit of rescuing people on a regular basis," he chuckled. "Are you dining with someone, or here alone?”

“No, I’m not with anyone,” she answered, her voice full of entreaty.

“Would you care to join me for lunch, then?" he said rising up.

"Why thank you," she replied, seating herself gracefully into the booth facing him.

"Do you come here often for lunch?" he asked, taking a generous sip of wine.

"Five days a week," Yvette answered.

“Five days a week?” he echoed incredulously. “You know, this place ain’t exactly McDonald’s.”

“No, it isn’t,” then with a smile added, "I'm employed here."

"Now, that’s a pleasant surprise," he said, wiping his lips lightly with a cloth napkin. "You’re a manager?  Part owner?  Owner?"

Yvette flushed, momentarily and chuckled, "I am a specialty accountant. I only handle this one restaurant chain.”

"Get out of here!" he smiled proudly, and then added, "That's great!"

There was a collective pause as the waitress placed a cold glass of water in front of Yvette, then whirled away.

"You know, you never did tell me your name that day."

"I didn’t? Well, I'm sorry," he said, extending his hand for her to take. "My name is Nathaniel Kurt Douglass. But my family and friends call me Kurt."

Yvette took his hand into hers. His hand was warm and his grip reassuring, she thought, then said, "I never thought the day would come when I would meet the actor who starred in Spartacus, Seven Days In May, Strangers When We Meet and The Final Countdown.” she said, bemused. “I love and admire your movies."

"Yeah, right," Kurt chuckled. "You know as well as I know that's Kirk Douglas. K-I-R-K," he spelled. "My name is Kurt, K-U-R-T, and my last name Douglass has two S’s."

“I would have never guessed,” she continued, trying hard to keep a straight face.

“Anyway, are you some sort of movie buff or something? Those are actual movies Kirk starred in. Not many people under thirty-five know about him or his movies.”

“You’re right about that. And yes, you can say that I am somewhat of a movie buff.”

“Well, I must say that I likes that,” he came back, his eyes frozen on her beautiful face. “You should be on that Jeopardy show.”

“Only if you’d be my partner,” she came back with a toothy smile.

They both chuckled. The woman definitely had a sense of humor, he thought. It was a trait he admired in a woman. "Know any Douglass’s or Robert’s here in Tampa?" she asked.

"No. But mom always said that we were related to the acclaimed Fredrick Douglass. I never quite knew how we were. Just that we were related. Why?"

"I just wanted to make sure you and I weren’t related in any way. That's all," she replied with another toothy smile.

"I never thought of that. But you just never know," he said humorously.

Shifting a strand of hair away from her eye, she said, "Speaking of knowing
...
you’re probably unaware of it but you managed to get away from me a week ago, I believe it was."

"I did?  Where?  Here?"

”I spotted you as you were leaving the restaurant after having lunch. By the time I got to the entrance door you had taken off on your bike."

"I remember now," he said, with a thoughtful smile. "I wished I knew before that you worked here. I love the atmosphere here and the extraordinary cuisine. This is one classy place."

"I am glad you are pleased. And I am glad that you decided to return, though I wasn't sure if you would come back to visit us or not. I was really hoping that you would.” Get a hold of yourself, girl, she quickly advised herself. Don’t want him to get the notion that he’s been desperately missed
…
even if he was. “Well, I just wanted another chance to thank you for coming to my aid that day." That statement promised to bring things back under control.

"Anytime, Ms. Roberts," he quipped, his handsome gaze fixed on her. 

"Yvette," she admonished him with a warm smile.

"By all means," Kurt chuckled. “Yvette.”

There was a pause.

"You know, I often wonder how things might have turned out had you not shown up that day," she continued. “Those guys weren’t playing around. They meant business.”

"Well, I think they are thinking the same thing, or would be right now if they were behind bars. Fortunately, things turned out for the better, just the same."

"And I'm glad that they did," she said, her dreamy eyes studying his.

"Good," Kurt beamed, noticing how full and sensual her lips were.

Tossing him a solemn gaze, she said, "You know, on every occasion I've had to see you, you're always riding a bike. It's a beautiful looking bike but I was wondering, do you drive?"

"Yes, I drive," Kurt said with a chuckle, adding, "My car’s in the body shop getting restored.”

“Not interested in renting a car, I presume?”

“Naah, I like the weather here. Besides, I need the exercise.”

"I was just curious, that's all," she replied, circling the rim of her glass with her finger.

There was an awkward moment of silence. Both were searching for something else to say.

"By the way, did law enforcement ever catch those thugs?" Kurt finally said. "The guys that assaulted you?"

"Not to my knowledge. And I haven't heard from the lead detective working the case in over a month. You know how busy they can be at times," she added, raising her eyes to find him watching her.

Lowering her thick black lashes, she smiled with approval.

The waitress arrived to check on her customers, then asked Yvette if she wanted to order anything.

Yvette nodded saying, "Coffee, please. Cream and two sugars."

"And what would you like for lunch?" Angelique added politely, her order pad in hand.

"Nothing at this time, Angelique. Thank you," Yvette replied. "I'm going to eat later."

Tucking away the order pad in her apron pocket, the waitress spun off.

"Well I really must be going now," Kurt said, taking one last sip from his wine glass.

"Where do you work, may I ask?" she said, unable to tear her gaze from him.

"I work over at the job services center, about three blocks away. Are you familiar with it?"

"Yes, I know where it is," she said, sadden that their magic moment was drawing to an end. "I hope you'll drop by again." Starting to sound interested again, she chided herself for the second time. Oh hell! It wasn’t as if she wanted to bed him anytime soon or that he was even interested in bedding her, she told herself.

"I am sure that I will, especially now that I know you are here," he said with a toothy smile.

"Well, I’m certainly looking forward to your next visit Kurt," she said bubbly, now that he had committed himself to seeing her again.