As can happen at 1am, my fiancée, Christina, and I were hungry and decided to go out to eat. It was transitioning from a Saturday night to a Sunday morning, so we knew there was a chance we could encounter an interesting crowd at whatever restaurant we patronized. Given the hour, our choices were also relatively slim: Perkin's, Denny's, Waffle House, and IHOP.
While waiting for our food, a couple of women walked in that appeared to have arrived straight from a bar. One was kind of staggering, appearing drunk, something her companion announced along with telling their waitress that she needed a pot of black coffee. As she seemed unable to say anything without laughing, it was highly improbable she was sober.
As they sat in their booth, I turned myself casually to my side, sitting length-wise in my booth seat, giving me an ability to survey much of the restaurant. The sober of the women couple that walked in took off her jacket before she sat down, her black tube top allowing her tanned shoulders and her equally tanned cleavage to openly express part of her body to the world. Her long, chestnut hair rested on her shoulders, as if leading a glance of her body from her darker eyes down to her cleavage. Though she shared in the coffee that their waitress brought to the table, she didn't seem intoxicated.
Elsewhere in the restaurant was a table of at least six college students who also noticed the women. It didn't take long for a young man at the end of the table to decide, after being somewhat egged on by his friends, to descend upon these women, to what end I could only speculate and it'd probably be a pretty accurate guess. His light blue baseball cap backward on his head, he appeared to be fresh out of high school and certainly not nearly mature enough to handle two women who appeared to be about ten years his senior.
He sat in right next to the woman with the chestnut hair, practically, and somewhat rudely and obviously immaturely, pushing her over, butting in between the two women uninvited to initiate conversation. Sitting across from the least sober of the two, it is with her he seemed to focus his entire conversation. In overhearing that conversation I would learn that the two women were sisters, and the one with the chestnut hair was in her late 20s and only a couple years younger than me, and the tone of her voice wasn't pleasant, and the young man certainly wasn't taking the hint.
He made what little conversation he could before his meal's arrival beckoned him back to his table. However he kept peering over his shoulder, almost completely turning around in his chair, to look back at the women while he was eating, though the women never paid their young intruder any additional attention. After seeing that a couple times, I spoke up to the young man, "If you have something else to discuss with them, walk over and talk to them instead of just peering over your shoulder." He did nothing, however, only turning back around and continuing his meal.
Seeing this, I walked over to the women and asked if I might join them for a moment. Allowing me, I sat down next to the one with chestnut hair, across from the woman who was having no problem drowning her drunken state with coffee. I wondered if the white shirt she wore under her denim jacket would be completely dyed a shade of brown before they left. Her darker than blond hair rested cleanly upon the shoulders of the denim jacket, framing her face and allowing her bright blue eyes to stand out.
In a short set of introductions, I learned the coffee drinker is named Kailynn, while the woman next to me is named Sandy.
"So why have you joined us?" Sandy asked, pointing to my fiancée sitting in the nearby booth. "Won't your girlfriend be disappointed?"
"She trusts me," I replied. "Plus given you pointed her out, you know my intentions are purely innocent."
"Oh, and what might your intentions be?"
"Well, I just want to apologize for that horny college kid over there." Both women perked up right away, and Kailynn seemed to become immediately, if only momentarily, sober. "The one who seems to think he actually has a chance with you."
Kailynn's eyes looked as if they needed a night's sleep instead of a pot of coffee, "And why do you say that?"
"Think about it, did you come to IHOP to pick up men?" Just that moment, their waitress arrived at their table. "Enjoy your meal, and if that kid gives you any trouble..." I stood up next to the waitress. "Whatever they order, it's on me."
"That's not necessary," Sandy replied. "After all, your intentions aren't entirely innocent now."
"Sure they are," I tried to sound mockingly insulted, "after all I haven't asked for anything more than your name. And I insist, your meal is on me tonight." Not wanting to give them another opportunity to decline, I walked back to my booth and sat back down, just in time for my food to arrive.
* * * * *
Given I had offered to pay for their meal, something Christina found both flattering and mildly upsetting at the same time, I had to stick around to pay their tab. On their way out, Sandy dropped a folded piece of paper on my table before leaning in to kiss me on my lips in front of my fiancée, "Thanks for the meal."
After watching them walk off, I glanced toward the table of college students. The young man with the backward baseball cap stared back at me, his eyes wide and his jaw dropped. His friends were certainly good at mimicry as well, as they were also wide-eyed with their jaws on the table.
I looked at the paper and unfolded it to see a phone number written on it. I looked out the window and saw Sandy standing next to her car. I pulled out my phone and called the number. Sandy picked up and I saw her standing next to the car talking to me. After a short conversation, we said our parting words and she got into her car and drove away.
The young man came over and butted his way into our booth and next to Christina. "Okay dude, I'm dying to know, what did you say to them?"
I leaned back in my seat to gain better access to my jeans pocket. "It's called candor, young man. Learn it." I stuffed the paper with Sandy's phone number into my pocket before dismissing the young man.