Page 32 of Five Days to Be Mine
“Sorry, Evan,” Steff says.
“Don’t worry about it.”
Steff is clumsy and scatterbrained but always willing to try new things and easy to work with.
“I got it, you don’t have to do that,” Steff says to Nevie, taking a fork from her.
I snatch the fork from Steff to walk it to the kitchen.
“Time for us to get going. Call me, Evan, we need to catch up properly.”
“Sounds good.” I shake Griffin’s hand.
“Remember what I said about not giving up,” Nevie says with a wave. “And no doors!”
I wave bye to them, as Griffin slings his arm around Nevie’s shoulders and ushers her out of the space.
“They’re a lot,” Steff says.
“But refreshing,” I say, still holding the fork.
“So I got pictures of seating to consider, but I have a couple in my warehouse I want to bring over to try in the space. Do you have any bookings on Wednesday?”
“Yeah, we have the Bear Daddies group for their monthly meeting.”
I stare at the ceiling, surprised by the swell of emotion.
This month we are full for Valentine’s Day parties and it’s a reminder that I don't have anyone to be mine.
But thinking of the Bear Daddies has me gritting my teeth.
The last time they were here was the same night that Mara’s bosses treated her and their other employees to the Sinful Bites experience.
The Wilsons stuck us with the three thousand dollar bar tab and they aren’t welcome back.
We open from Thursday to Sunday and take private bookings on Wednesdays for dinner. Special occasions like the Cartwright's anniversary were on a case-by-case basis.
In any other restaurant, this would be a poor model.
For us, it has only furthered our aura of exclusivity.
“I think these grey love seats could work if we swap out the chairs, or at least some of the chairs that line the middle of the room. Is this what you were thinking of?” Steff hands me a glossy picture of a tufted couch with a curve.
I wasn’t thinking of new chairs. I was thinking that the table was an obstacle to putting my arms around Mara and I didn’t want to be separated from her by a glass table or a hardback chair. The chair might have been perfect for bondage but I wanted to cuddle.
“I don't want to replace all the chairs. Would I lose seating?”
Steff shrugs and her traveller mug of coffee slips out of her hand, spilling onto the floor.
“Sorry Evan! I’ll go get a mop.”
“I’ll get it, don’t worry about it,”
“If you’re booked Wednesday, then let me call my guys to see if they can bring one of the loveseats over right now to try. Is that okay?”
“That works. I’ll be right back.”
Steff nods, her cell to her ear.
