The Waiter by Bradleigh Collins (bill gates books recommendations .txt) 📕

had brought plenty of cash, as I was hoping to purchase one of those big mirrors I’d seen the first time I was here. Instead, I’d be walking away with a vintage 1960s Sears & Roebuck light blue suitcase-style record player, Dean Martin’s This Time I’m Swingin’ album, Frank Sinatra and Count Basie’s The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings, and The Waiter.

We walked across the street to Isabella’s and ordered cappuccinos. I sat across the table from him and told him everything. How I’d gotten back together with Dalton. How he’d taken a long-term assignment here in New York. And how he’d kicked me out onto the street when I confronted him about cheating on me. I was totally expecting him to say, “I knew it,” or “I told you so.” Instead, he just reached across the table and held my hand.

“I am so sorry you had to go through that. And I’m really sorry if my freaking out played any role in you taking him back.”

I smiled at him. “No, that was all on me.”

He got up and moved his chair over next to me. We were face to face.

“I just have one very important question for you,” he said.

“Okay.” I braced myself, knowing he was going to ask how he could trust me not to take Dalton back just one more time.

He leaned in and kissed me softly on the cheek.

“Is it okay for me to call you ‘Red’ again?”

CHAPTER 24

◆◆◆

The look on Katie’s face when she saw me walk in with The Waiter was somewhere between shock and glee. She and Josh were standing at the bar, but Josh had his back to us. As we got closer, Katie nudged him. He turned around.

“Hey man!” he said to The Waiter, shaking his hand excitedly. “Great to see you!” He seemed happier to see him than he was me. For a second, I thought he was actually going to hug him.

“Great to see you guys too.”

Katie hugged me as Josh greeted Dana and Simon. “Not too late,” she said under her breath.

“Not too soon,” I replied.

“So,” Josh said, smirking. “How did this happen?” Then he stopped himself. “You know what? I don’t even care how it happened. I’m just glad it did.”

“Me too,” The Waiter said, wrapping his arms around me. I leaned back into his chest. It felt incredible and familiar. And safe.

We headed to our table just as Lucy and Kyle walked in. Lucy immediately put her hand up in front of The Waiter and me.

“Wait! What’s happening here?”

I didn’t quite know how to answer her. After our cappuccinos at Isabella’s, the only thing The Waiter and I had agreed on was that he could call me ‘Red’ again. Then he headed to the gym while I went home to take a nap. We met Dana and Simon back at the hotel and then we all came here.

The Waiter responded to Lucy’s question. “Sam’s giving me a second chance and I’m not gonna fuck it up this time.”

She smiled at both of us approvingly. I smiled too.

“Good,” she said. “Don’t.” Then she locked her arm in mine as we walked back to the table. “I’ll need details later, of course.”

“Of course.”

All through dinner, all I could think about was how I just wanted to be alone with The Waiter. But Dana and Simon were flying out tomorrow morning, and I wasn’t going to bail on them, even though Dana would have totally understood. Plus, the anticipation was delicious. The way he would lean in close every time he said something to me. The sensation of his breath on my neck. His hand on my knee. Every touch. Every look. Everything felt as if it were happening for the first time all over again.

After dinner, we found the perfect spot to watch the parade on the corner of West 9th Street and Sixth Avenue, right across from the Jefferson Market Library and in the shadow of a huge black spooky spider that was hanging down from the building’s clock tower. The eight of us, all quite jovial from too many margaritas, packed in with the rest of the crowd and cheered on the giant puppets and costumed paraders. But the best thing about the parade wasn’t the costumes or the floats or the music. It was experiencing it with all of my friends, and with The Waiter.

“God, I’ve missed you,” he said as he buried his face in my hair. I wanted him more at this very moment than I did the first night we were together after De la Guarda.

We stayed at the parade for a couple of hours. Then Dana said she wanted to see Josh’s karaoke skills in action.

“Let’s go to Winnie’s,” Josh suggested.

“In Chinatown?” Kyle asked.

“Yeah. Bayard and Baxter.”

My libido would have to remain in check for at least another hour or two. We maneuvered through the crowd and over to the 6 train at Broadway and 8th.

The MTA on my daily commute to work is interesting enough. On the weekends, it’s what I would call entertaining. On Halloween night, it’s a freak show. Half the people were dressed in costumes, although I wouldn’t really describe them as “dressed” at all. If this year’s Halloween had a theme, apparently it was ass chaps.

We got to Winnie’s and headed straight for the bar. “Don’t order the Hawaiian Punch,” The Waiter said, “unless you wanna wake up on the floor.”

“I wanna wake up next to you,” I replied.

“That can be arranged.”

Josh began handing out drinks to everyone.

“What is this?”

“Hawaiian Punch,” he replied. The Waiter and I both laughed. Josh took his drink and went up to start his first karaoke song - Elton John’s “I Guess That’s Why They Call it The Blues.” It was a special request from Dana.

“Man, this song reminds me of Friday night football games,” I said to her. “And freezing our asses off in our skimpy majorette uniforms.”

“You guys were majorettes in high school?” Kyle asked.

“We were.”

Katie was