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

The Waiter said as we joined the others at the bar.

“Did I tell you?” Lucy asked. “Did I not tell you?”

“She’s a little loud, but sweet. Where in the world did Darryl meet her?”

“Off the Wagon,” Katie replied.

“‘Off his rocker,’” Josh added.

“What does she do?”

“She’s a kindergarten teacher.”

“Get the fuck out,” The Waiter said.

“Actually, that kinda makes sense,” I added, looking over at them. “Darryl seems pretty happy.”

“He’s getting laid,” Josh said. “Of course he’s happy. Here. I ordered shots for all of us.” He motioned for Darryl and Molly to come join us and began handing out Kamikazes.

Josh held up his shot glass and looked at The Waiter.

“To your success in Los Angeles, and to you and Sam officially becoming bi-coastal.”

“To Sam becoming bi!” Darryl yelled.

“Hear hear!” Everyone laughed and drank.

“And now, if you guys will excuse me,” Josh said, “it’s time to get my Bon Jovi on.” He walked over to the karaoke host who handed him a list of songs.

“Man, Josh is like royalty in here,” The Waiter said.

“Well, he is the karaoke king,” Katie replied.

“Oh my god!” I said. “Now I know what I’m getting him for his birthday.”

“A crown?” Katie asked.

“We should probably get him one of those too.”

The sing-along continued as Josh started belting out “You Give Love a Bad Name.” Molly and Darryl were right in front of him, head-banging and singing at the top of their lungs.

“Jesus, it’s fucking Sid and Nancy,” Kyle said, causing The Waiter to laugh hard enough to spit out his beer.

“Damn, I’m gonna miss this,” he said.

“Don’t! Don’t start that! I am not crying again tonight.”

“Okay, it’s time for you to sing!” Lucy pointed at The Waiter.

“I think I’m just drunk enough to do it,” he said. I grabbed his hand as he started to walk over to the karaoke book.

“If you sing ‘Never Say Goodbye,’ I swear to god I will slit my wrist and bleed out right here at the bar.”

He laughed. “I’ll try to choose something a little more upbeat.” He kissed me and walked away. I watched as he ran his finger down the list of songs and then stop. He showed it to the host who nodded.

As soon as Josh finished, he handed the microphone off to The Waiter. The music started.

“Born to be My Baby” blared from the speakers and the entire bar started singing the opening chorus. The Waiter smiled at me and I nodded my approval as he sang the first verse.

“Oh my god! He can sing!” Lucy shouted.

“Yes, he can. He’s fucking perfect!”

She and Katie put their arms around me as we all sang together and cheered The Waiter on. He sang the entire song looking directly at me as I mouthed the words along with him, smiling through my tears. Tears that were thankfully interspersed with bursts of manic laughter watching Darryl and Molly dance spastically in front of him.

Nobody in the bar, aside from our core little group, had any idea the significance of the moment. It wasn’t just another Bon Jovi song sang at a karaoke bar on a random Saturday night. It was my swan song.

The Waiter was leaving tomorrow. And I was dying inside.

CHAPTER 38

◆◆◆

The next morning, The Waiter and I were strolling 77th Street and reminiscing our first date. We’d just picked up bagels at H&H and planned on washing them down with ice cold grape juice at the GreenFlea. We were denied.

“What happened to the grape juice dude?” The Waiter asked as we stood in front of the stand, which was now offering hot cider.

“He’s seasonal,” the cider-man said. “We share the space.”

“We’ll have two ciders then.” The Waiter handed him some cash and he handed us two cups. Then we began browsing the market. We stopped to say hello to John and Adriana. The Waiter started flipping through their latest collection of vintage albums.

“Oh Red, you have to have this one.” He held up a copy of The Mama’s and The Papa’s If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears. “It’s got ‘California Dreamin’ on it.”

I smiled at him as he paid John for the album while I made small talk with Adriana. We waved goodbye to them as we left.

“Wanna go for a walk?” he asked. “Over to the park?”

“You asked me that on our first date.”

“Yes, I did.”

“I’d love to go for a walk with you.” And off to the park we went, hand-in-hand.

“You know, I was really nervous the first day I met you here,” I said. “Walking past those brownstones back there, I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking.”

“Really? I didn’t think you were gonna show up.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. I thought you might think it was weird that some random waiter dude asked you out the second he met you. That you might think I was psycho.”

“I thought you were hot,” I replied. He laughed.

“I just couldn’t believe you were the girl I’d seen in the park that morning. I’d been thinking about you all day.”

“Get the fuck out!”

“No, I’m serious. We made eye contact, remember?”

“Of course I do. Josh told me to stop leering at you.”

“Did you know that wasn’t even my section you guys were sitting in at the restaurant?”

“I did not know that.”

“When I saw you walk in, I made one of the other guys switch with me so I could talk to you.”

“How come you never told me this before?” By this time, we’d made it into Central Park and over to our bench.

“I don’t know. I didn’t want you to think I was some kind of freak. And I didn’t wanna jinx it, ya know? Like what are the odds?”

“That was my first authentic New York moment. And look at us now. Right back here. On our bench.”

“This is our bench,” he replied. “You can’t sit on this bench with anyone else but me. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Look, Sam. I know we talked about seeing other people and I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it. I