A month after her unhappy experience at the concert, Julie had come to a decision about her future.
"I think I want to go home again, Aunt Eleanor. I can get a job at the same restaurant chain there; I've already checked it out. I'm considered qualified, experienced and a valuable employee. How's that for frumpy, dumpy and lumpy." she laughed. Eleanor hugged her and tears came to her eyes.
"You're ready girl." she said softly. "You go and be happy!"
So here she was, home again, with a good job only blocks from her parent's home. Within weeks of her return, she was made a shift manager and worked only afternoons; four to midnight, Tuesday to Saturday. She had met some new friends at work and at the gym where she was now working out regularly. One of her friends, Randeen or Randi as she preferred, worked the afternoon shifts with her and they went to the gym together; usually just before lunch. Randi was East Indian; or Indo-Canadian to the politically correct. Julie had never had a friend from a different culture and they spent a lot of time comparing notes about their teenage years, boys and parents. They had nothing in common in their backgrounds but they got along famously. Julie did not tell Randi her grad party horror story.
Randi had a secret boyfriend; a young man from South Vancouver. She said they were in love, but she was very afraid her parents would find out about him. She had been promised to another man by her parents and the wedding would be in the next year. Randi was determined that she would marry for love and not some promise she had no part in. It was an ancient tradition from their native India which applied just as strongly here in Canada. Julie could not understand how it could happen. She would never stand for her parents arranging her marriage. She worried for Randi when she told Julie what might happen to her if she defied her parents. Worse yet, what might happen to Randi or her boyfriend if she dared to reveal her love for another man. Murders had been known to occur when daughters refused to obey their parents. Julie shivered when she heard that.
It was about the third month after Julie's return that she met Robbie. He came into the restaurant just after nine one night and sat at the counter. Julie walked over and asked. "Would you like a menu, sir?"
"No thanks miss. I'll have a piece of apple pie, a scoop of Ice cream and a tea, please." he said pleasantly, looking at her name tag and smiling at her.
"My name's Robbie and I see your's is Julie." he continued. "I'll probably be coming in here regularly at this time." he smiled.
"Oh brother!" Julie thought. "Here comes the hustle." She looked at him and sized him up. He was small, very small; maybe five foot two. He was Latino, she thought, neatly dressed in a clean t-shirt. She couldn't see his pants or shoes, so she concentrated on what she could see. His hair was jet black, thick but short and trimmed very neatly. He had a thin black mustache, but was otherwise clean-shaven. His shoulders and upper torso looked very muscular. He was obviously very fit. His teeth were perfect, she noticed; white and even and his smile was genuine. Mr. Tiny Perfect she thought, amused.
"Have I seen you at the gym over on Lonsdale; maybe on the weekends?" he asked.
"Maybe." she said in a non-committal tone.
"The reason I asked is because I remember seeing your co-worker Randi there. I thought that might have been you I saw with her." he continued
"We go there together, so you could have seen me there." she agreed. She had busied herself with organizing the credit card receipts under the cash register and wasn't really looking at him.
Robbie finished his pie and drank the last of his tea. He looked at the bill, pulled out a five dollar bill and said; "Keep the change, Julie. See you tomorrow." He turned and walked out the door into the night.
Julie watched him go with a smile on her face. "Now that was different!" she thought. "He forgot to make a pass at me. Besides, I'm too big for him." she laughed and turned back to her work.
He was as good as his word. The next night he was there at nine, this time ordering the cherry pie with ice cream and his tea. He reintroduced himself and told her that he was going to B.C.I.T. night school to learn construction. Once more, he finished, paid with a five dollar bill and with a cheery goodbye, turned a left. After a few days, she began to anticipate his arrival. He was invariably cheerful, polite and neatly dressed. He was trim and athletic but a three quarter size man. If he was a bit bigger, she thought, I could go for him. She dismissed the idea and went back to work.
It was after about three weeks that he asked her out. He arrived at his usual nine oh five; the walking time from the night school to the restaurant being five minutes. Robbie strolled in with his usual big smile and said; "Hi Julie. How are you today?"
"Fine, Robbie. Which flavor of the usual would you like tonight?" she asked amiably.
"You choose, Julie. I trust your judgment." he grinned back.
"How does pumpkin sound?" she said.
"Pumpkin will be great, thanks." He stopped for a minute and then; "Julie, if I asked you out on a date, would you say yes?"
"I don't know Robbie. I don't usually date ... I mean ... you're a customer. I'm not sure I'm supposed to date the customers." she stammered.
"Does that mean if I wasn't a customer, you'd say yes?" he asked seriously.
Julie was stuck for an answer. She looked at him and then down at her hands and said; "I guess so."
"Great!" he exclaimed. "I'll quit coming and you and I can go on a date; say next Saturday night?" he pleaded hopefully.
"No," she said quickly. "I mean, I work on Saturday. Sunday and Monday are my days off."
"Oh, OK." He stopped for a minute and was clearly thinking about her answer. "Let me give it some thought, Julie. I'll see what I can come with; OK?" again with the hopeful look.
"OK, Robbie." she said uncertainly. "See you tomorrow then?" she said a bit flustered.
"Well, I was hoping to have that Pumpkin pie and my tea first." he teased.
Julie gasped and hustled back to the pie shelf and pulled out a fresh slice of Pumpkin, added a scoop of Vanilla ice cream, picked up a fork and napkin and hurried back to his place. She really was caught off guard by his request and she was aware that there was something exciting about being asked out on a date again. She picked up the small porcelain tea pot and filled it with hot water. She brought the caddy with the variety of tea bags on display and placed it in front of him as she had for the past three weeks. He was already enjoying his pie and ice cream and looked up at her and smiled when she placed the tea pot and caddy in front of him.
"Anything else, Robbie?" she asked from habit.
"Uh, how about a mug." he laughed.
"Oh, jeez Robbie, I'm sorry." she said, embarrassed. She was acting like a scatter-brain. 'What was this all about?' she wondered.
