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*****
Standing in front of a small row of lockers wedged into the back of the storage room, Bradley Coleman changed out of the black jeans and gray top that served as his uniform and into a pair of tan slacks and a light blue dress shirt. His shift had ended twenty minutes before and the dark haired twenty-year-old was glad to put the day behind him.
An area landmark for over fifty years, the Liberty Bell was a place where you could have an enjoyable meal with family or friends and not spend a small fortune. Most of the staff were high school or college kids, working part time to put a few dollars in their pockets. Bradley had started there during his last year of high school, and had worked his way up from bus boy to server. It was a good job to have while he continued his education at the local college.
Stepping out of the storage room into the small anteroom off the kitchen that doubled as a break area, Bradley was surprised to find the rest of the afternoon shift still there. Since he had been the last one to enter the locker area, he had assumed everyone else would be already long gone.
"What are you all still doing here?" Bradley asked.
"Waiting for you, silly," a tall, curly haired blonde in the front of the group said.
Donna Haynes, who Bradley had known since high school, worked as one of the restaurant's hostesses. Vivacious and pretty, she had always had a soft spot for her former classmate, but, much to his regret, had never seen him as anything other than a friend.
"What for?" Bradley inquired.
"Rainbow Rhapsody is playing at the Blue Diamond tonight and we're all planning to go," Donna replied. "I thought you might like to come along too."
Standing next to Donna was Roger Weaver, a tall, brown bearded twenty-seven-year-old whom she had been dating the last few months. Lest anyone be forgetful of that, he had his arm wrapped possessively around her waist. The dissatisfied look on his face clearly said he wasn't happy about the invitation to Bradley.
Glancing behind Donna and Roger, Bradley saw Elaine Bishop and Jeffery Adams who, while not a couple, were still friends enough to go to the concert as such. They didn't seem to care one way or another if Bradley came.
"Thanks for thinking of me, Donna," Bradley said, flashing a smile of appreciation, "but five is an odd number and I'd hate to feel like a fifth wheel."
"Well, it wouldn't have to be five," Donna replied, "I could invite my cousin Gina to come along. You remember Gina, don't you?"
If there was one girl in the county that Bradley went out of his way to avoid, it was Gina Haynes. While he managed to maintain an impassive expression when he heard her name, he couldn't keep his thoughts from flashing back to his one and only date with Donna's cousin last winter. It had started with dinner and a movie, and had ended in the back seat of his car, where the red haired twenty-two-year-old had demonstrated make out skills that left him speechless. In less than an hour, she went from first base to nearly third, and only the fact that it began to snow heavily prevented it from going any further.
Bradley had, he was willing to admit, been pretty turned on by Gina's aggressive behavior, and while he wasn't sure if she was the kind of girl he wanted in the long term, he was willing to see where it might go in the interim. It didn't take long for him to find though, as the very next day, Gina showed up at his mid-afternoon football game, acting almost as if they were engaged. Evidently, as far as she was concerned, after last night they practically were.
It had taken Bradley nearly a month to finally shake her loose, and he had no intention of giving her a second opportunity to latch onto him.
"Yes, I remember Gina," Bradley repeated, this time out loud, "but I'm afraid I already made plans for tonight."
"Are you sure?" Donna asked, "I know she still has a thing for you."
'That's what I'm afraid of,' Bradley thought but prudently didn't say, instead just thanking Donna again for thinking of him and telling them to all have a good time.
"Oh, all right," Donna finally relented, "but if you change your mind, you can always catch up with us later."
Before Bradley could say anything more, Roger entered the conversation.
"Okay, you asked, and he said no," Roger said. "So, can we leave now?"
Bradley shifted his attention to Roger, who not only stood nearly six inches more than his own five four, but outweighed him by at least fifteen pounds. As much as he sometimes dreamed of knocking the arrogant idiot on his ass, Bradley knew that in any physical confrontation with the well-muscled jock would more likely end with him on his. So he just smiled as if he couldn't hear Roger, which, since he knew that annoyed his older co-worker, was at least something.
"You better get going or you won't get a good seat," Bradley said, turning his gaze back to Donna. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
Bradley watched as the quartet exited through the restaurant's back door and then peered out the small window to be sure that they were truly gone. It wasn't until they all piled into Roger's car and pulled away that he let out a sigh of relief and then sat himself down at the small break table.
-=-=-=-
Bradley hadn't been lying when he said he had something to do, but what he didn't mention was that it was probably the craziest idea he'd ever had. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a small strip of printed paper and stretched it out on the table. It was a customer receipt from one of his tables and he'd been carrying it around since mid-afternoon. Taking a small breath, he flipped the paper over and again looked at the hastily scribbled note on the back, still unable to believe it was real.
When he'd first seen it, Bradley had simply assumed it was a joke, a prank by a customer who'd had a little too much to drink. He'd been about to toss it in the garbage, then hesitated, slipping it into his pocket instead. It had sat there untouched as afternoon gave way to early evening, yet never left his thoughts. Finally, by the time his shift came to an end, what had initially seemed impossible had risen to simply improbable - which in his mind was a pretty big step.
Silently, he began to read it again.
"I think that you are really cute, so cute in fact that I'd love to take you to bed. So, if you are even the least bit curious as to how good a fuck an uninhibited old lady can be, give me a call when you finish your shift."
It was signed Maureen and had a cell phone number at the bottom.
Although not in Roger's class, Bradley had been called cute by enough girls to accept it was probably true, even though his experience with most of them had been little to none. He'd lost his virginity during his freshman year of college, in an event so brief and unremarkable as to have barely counted. And the only really good thing he could say about the few encounters since was that they had happened in beds rather than on an uncomfortable basement couch.
