Tony's restaurant was down a narrow side street that ran north-south off the town square. At seven-thirty on Monday evening the lowering sun still caught the tables and chairs arranged outside. It was quiet, too early for the evening rush which would start about eight, and we asked and were given one of the larger tables at the end. We ordered drinks, beer for me, wine for Ali.
Ali and I had decided we couldn't be bothered with cooking so she had persuaded me to take her out to eat. We walked through the warm evening into town and I asked what she felt like and she said Italian.
We had arrived back at my old house at noon after our dangerous night of almost love making in the seaside hotel. Driving back we had been quiet but not uncomfortable. I determined to spend the week trying to treat Ali like the sister I often felt she was, and to stop thinking of her in a sexual way.
Trouble was, every time I glanced at her stretched out in the seat beside me, her bare feet up on the dash, her long legs displayed where her skirt had ridden up high on her thighs, I couldn't help but remember the night before and how close I had come to fucking her.
Drinks had been delivered to the table and we were sitting talking about Mom's wedding when a voice cut through our conversation.
"Tom? Tom Graham? It is you!"
I turned. There were half a dozen other tables occupied, but no-one seemed to be looking our way. Then I noticed the waitress, tray in hand, grinning at me.
"Crystal?"
"Tom," she said, her grin growing wider. "I thought you'd moved away."
"Back for the week," I said.
Crystal moved across towards our table. "I heard your Mom was getting married. That was this week?"
"Saturday," I said.
"Cool. Good wedding?"
I smiled. "Yeah, it was fun." I looked at Alison and saw she was trying to keep a poker face.
"It's just... wow... so weird to see you here. You're looking good, Tom, real good."
"You too, Crystal." And I meant it. Crystal had been that girl in High School, the one all the other girls wanted to be, the one all the guys wanted to be with, but she seemed to only ever go out with the jocks, which had ruled me out. Now she had hardly changed. She was my age, though I couldn't remember if she was older or younger by a few months. She still had a drop-dead gorgeous figure, long, long legs, curly blonde hair and unbelievable boobs.
Tony's didn't have a uniform, just asked their staff to be fairly conservative, but they all had a small apron tied around their waists. Crystal's waist was tiny, then bloomed into wider hips.
Crystal was wearing a black tee shirt cut narrow over her shoulders, a short cream skirt that came half way down her thighs.
She stood for a moment, waiting for something, and I said, "This is my cousin, Alison. We both go to the same college in New York."
"Hi," Crystal said, and put her slim hand out to shake Ali's hand.
"Hey, listen," Crystal said, "I'm gonna swap your table with Pete so I'll be serving you, we can sneak a chat in each time I come out. Yeah?"
"Sure," I said.
Crystal grinned, turned and strode back inside.
Ali looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I looked back with a poker face.
"Old girlfriend?" Ali asked.
"Hardly," I said. "Wa-ay out of my league."
Ali leaned over, resting her elbows on the table, pushing aside her cutlery. That wicked smile I now recognized well was playing on her lips. "So tell me, Tom, who is Crystal? Did you and she have a thing back in school?"
"Me?" I laughed. "No way. Though if I'd had the chance I'd have jumped at it."
"I just thought, from the way she looked at you there must have been something in the past. You did notice how she was looking at you, didn't you, Tom?"
"Kind of," I said, embarrassed because I had thought Crystal was acting as though she was real interested, and still trying to get my head around that. In High School the idea would have been impossible.
"She was," Ali said. "She looked like she'd got the hots for you, Tom."
"She was the hot one in school, Al," I said. "I was just an art nerd. To be honest, I'm surprised she even remembers me."
"Seems to me she remembers you pretty well. Maybe you made more of an impression than you knew."
"Yeah," I scoffed. "And maybe you'll settle down with a nice man and turn into a perfect housewife."
"Hey, not fair. This isn't about me. It's about you and Crystal."
I burst out laughing. "Al, there is no me and Crystal, never has been. There is no nothing. She's just being nice to us. Hoping for a big tip."
"Yeah, they are, aren't they?"
"What?" I frowned.
"Her tits, they're big."
"Shut your evil mouth," I laughed. "Besides, maybe she's more your type."
"You think?" Ali mused. "Must say I wouldn't mind. She is, as you say, hot hot hot!"
"What I can't work out," I said, "Is why she's working at Tony's. Her Dad own his own chain of restaurants, more upmarket than this."
"This is nice," Al said, looking around.
"Yeah. I like it here. But I'm talking about $100 a plate style, Al. I don't know what she's doing here."
"Ask her."
"Just like that?"
"Tom, one of the best things I ever discovered is, if you've got a question, you either ask it straight out, or if you don't want to ask it, forget all about it. Don't sweat on it, worst thing you can do."
Crystal came back with menus and handed them to us. My fingers brushed against hers as I took the big printed sheet. It might be I did it deliberately.
She hung around a moment. "So how's college, Tom? Art, isn't it?"
"Yeah, art," I said, although I didn't recall telling her that. "College is great. What about you, Crystal? You go away, or still here?"
"Still in Denton," she said, her voice relaxed. "I know I'm not the world's brightest bulb, Tom, but I understand business well enough. I'm going to college in Baltimore part time, catering and business studies, and then I'm gonna go work with Dad."
"Great. So what are you doing here?"
She laughed. "Dad won't let me work for him until I've gone through the mill. He said he had to work his way up, and I've gotta do the same. And he won't employ me in any of his places until I've learned somewhere else. He said I've gotta make my mistakes at someone else's expense, not his."
"And you're OK with that?"
She shrugged. "Sure. I can see the sense. And besides, this is kinda fun." She looked at me, about to say something else, then glanced at Ali and stopped herself.
"You were going out with... what was his name... Mike? Marty?" I asked. "You and he were a big item, I recall."
"Mike, yeah. He moved away. Got a football scholarship on the West Coast."
"Shame," I said.
"Oh no, it's fine. Made me realize jocks aren't all there is to life." She glanced at Ali again, and I couldn't quite work out what message she had passed. Was she wondering about and me and Ali? I looked beyond her to the doorway.
"I think Tony's wondering why we're being so long ordering," I whispered.
Crystal glanced around, pulled her mouth down. She had a beautiful mouth however she twisted it out of shape. Wide, full lips, no hint of lipstick but they still looked glossy. "I'd better scoot," she said. "I'll come back in a minute and take your order."
We both watched her go, staring a long time. She was real easy to look at. I could guess what Ali was getting out of the view of her long legs, the round cheeks of her ass swaying beneath her short skirt. And I think Ali knew what I was getting out of it too.
She leaned across to me and whispered, "Think she'd be into a threesome, Tom?" and laughed.
"Behave yourself," I said.
"Want her all to yourself then?"
"No. You have her if you want," I said.
"Don't think I won't," Ali smiled. "Do you know if she swings both ways? Any school rumors?"
"Not so I heard. Tell you what, Al, when she comes to take our order why not ask her? You can apply that rule you were telling me about."
Ali's grin widened. "I might just do that," she said, then went back to studying her menu as though we had been discussing the weather.
She leaned back in her chair, legs crossed, hair tossed back over her shoulders, lightly tanned skin glowing in the evening light. There was no contest between her and Crystal, not in my eyes. But then, Ali wasn't going to fuck me. But also, I thought, inwardly laughing, neither was Crystal.
I drank some beer, read the menu, and made my choice.
Crystal returned. Ali has decided on the seafood pasta. I picked gnocci and tagliatelli. I asked for a bottle of house white to come with the meal, then sat back and listened to the hum of conversation from the other tables. It felt good, out in the warm evening air, sitting across from my beautiful cousin.
By the time Crystal brought our food the light was starting to go and the lamps under the awning had come on, attracting insects that batted and fluttered around them. The restaurant was filling up now, and though she tried to hang around Crystal was too busy for any kind of conversation.
I ate my food, drank half the wine, talked to Ali and, when Crystal served the other tables enjoyed watching the way her long legs stepped around the chairs, the way her ass moved as she walked, the way her breasts shifted beneath her top.
She came back and cleared our plates, offered the sweet menu and we declined, but we ordered coffees and relaxed, looking out over the street, cars driving slowly, people walking through the dusk.
When Crystal brought our coffee her fingers brushed mine again. She made a little pout with her lips and shrugged apologetically as she placed the bill on the table. I glanced at it, saw service was not included.
After she had gone Ali said, "You going to give her a big one, Tom?"
I widened my eyes at her.
"Tip," she said. "Think she deserves a big tip? She has been a very attentive waitress. Very hands on."
"Couple of dollars, maybe," I said.
"Last of the big spenders," Ali smiled.
The coffee was good, very strong and very hot and we sipped it slowly.
When Crystal returned I placed $100 on the plate. She picked it up and searched in her money belt to make change.
"Keep the change," I said.
"Hey, you sure? That's a big tip, Tom."
I saw Ali trying to suppress a laugh. She lifted her coffee cup to hide her mouth.
"My pleasure," I said. "It was really good to see you again, Crystal."
"You too, Tom, really. And here," she passed me a slip of paper. "It'd be great to get together if you're staying around for a couple of days. You know, catch up. Call me, yeah? Before you go back to New York?"
