Always bring a book. Thank god I remembered this time. I'm not even reading really, but it just gives me a prop with which to ignore the way-too-chummy waiter. He's touched my arm nearly every time he's come to the table. Not my inner arm or near my tit or anything, but still, his fingers have slid twice across the bend in my elbow, slowly enough to make the hair on the back of my arm stand up.
He's not ugly, just overeager. Maybe thirty, swarthy—might be Italian but probably more likely Middle Eastern. He's brought me a third glass of wine "compliments of the house." It's a crappy chardonnay, filled to the absolute top of the glass, sloshing slightly as he sets it down. I smile and put down my book, figuring a free glass of shitty wine demands at least a minute of chat.
Heavy accent, still not sure from where. He asks a question, then while I'm answering his eyes rove from my breasts, down as far as he can see before the rest of me disappears beneath the table. He's glanced at my hand several times; I finally realize it's to check for rings.
Anyway, enough of this. Not that I have to be back at the hotel at any particular time, but I'm tired of smiling politely for this guy. I ask for the check, which he brings with another brush of my naked arm. I wait until he walks away before reaching my purse tucked against my chair on the floor. It's light, and I realize in a panic that my daytimer/wallet isn't in it. Shit, I left it by the phone at the hotel. Cash, checks, credit—it's all in there. I watch the waiter turn the lock in the door, flip the sign to closed, and I think.
When he comes back, I say, "Excuse me, I have a problem." He looks panicked and apologetic, like whatever it is he's hell-bent on making it right. "My wallet isn't in my purse. I must have left it back at the hotel where I'm staying." He just stands looking blankly. I try again, "I don't seem to have my money or credit cards with me. Can I leave my purse with you, go get my money and come back to pay?"
Still, he stands for a while. Then, he smiles a big smile. "Let me ask the boss." He zips through the swinging doors into the kitchen and I am left alone in the dining room, all the other patrons long departed. It has that spooky silence that restaurants have after the music is turned off and customers all gone. Even the smell of food has dissipated and the kitchen is quiet.
My waiter returns and says, "The boss will speak with you, please." He turns back through the doors and expects me to follow him into the kitchen. I grab my purse and tuck my book inside.
The kitchen is immaculate, a shock for such a mediocre restaurant. It's small, with eight burners, two reach-in refrigerators, a big square mesquite grill. Everything is gleaming stainless steel. Standing at the room's center, a man who could be my waiter's older brother sharpens his knives. Maybe forty-five, he's trim and slightly built, his chef whites another anomaly in such a crappy restaurant. He's sliding a ten-inch chef's knife with great skill against the side of the steel. Back and forth, he watches me approach. He's not smiley like the waiter. His face hardly registers any emotion at all.
"You cannot pay?"
"Well, of course I can pay. I just need to go grab my wallet from the hotel."
"No good. Different plan."
I figure he's waiting for me to come up with another acceptable plan, so I start blathering on, trying to figure out something that would work for him.
"Shut up. I have plan." No one tells me to shut up, so my mouth kind of drops open before I start getting pissed off.
"First, you show us tits. Then, we like tits, you bargain with us for meal. Ehoud, how much she owe?"
My waiter gets his copy of my bill out of his apron. "Appetizer, $9. Entrée $28. Two glass wine, $16. Dessert $6. And coffee, I give free."
I'm not exactly getting scared, but I feel a prickle of sweat on my back. It's funny—I'm pissed off, appalled at this jerk. But maybe just a little turned on, too.
"OK, you show us tits, this is for coffee."
"Wait, I thought you already gave me the coffee for free." Shit, saying that was practically like agreeing to his plan.