Page 28 of Resting Grump Face
“Right. Do you need anything else?” I ask.
“Not unlessyouneed anything else…”
“Uh, no… oh, wait. Can you make sure we pay all of them triple their usual fee?”
“Absolutely. Would there be anything else?”
“Nope.”
“Very well. Have a nice day and thank you for using Dreams On Demand.”
Mindlessly, I put the phone back in my bag and notice that it suddenly has gotten even hotter in here than it already was. Or maybe it’s just the excitement-sweats one gets from exacting revenge on one’s former bosshole.
“That the guy who fired you recently?” Ryker’s deep voice calls me back to the here and now. He seems a little different today. I’m not sure how, but maybe he’s a little less grumpy than usual, which should probably be cause for concern.
Before I can explain, there’s more commotion at the table next to us. Now the lady is sending back her almost finished scallops, while her date is demanding a new steak that isn’t ‘as bloody bloody’ as the medium-rare steak he has somehow already gulped down almost entirely.
Even Ryker is shaking his head with disapproval, when a moment later, our own server puts the beer down in front of him and the champagne by my plate. Ryker thanks him with unusual politeness, then swaps the drinks.
“Oh, right,” the server apologiezes. “Do you know what it’ll be already?”
Before he can answer, I jump at the opportunity. “I’ll have the jackfruit tacos and my… Mr. Grayson over here will have the vegan mac ’n’ cheese.”
The server looks again to check in with My Mr. Grayson Kill Me Now Please, who seems even more amused than he did before. Instead of pushing back, he decides to play along, nods politely and sends the server off with a thank you.
The guy from the next table uses a cough to thinly cover up an insult that is clearly meant to emasculate Ryker. I am somewhat impressed by him not jumping the guy’s throat in return. Instead, he turns his head, looks him straight in the eye and retorts in a low, grumbling voice, “I’ve been called worse things by much better people…”
I can’t help but laugh and watch as the guy takes a few seconds to process the insult, while his date starts making eyes at my—at Ryker.
Hitting that guy’s pride was definitely a good start, though clearly not enough. So I get up and try to think of a good explanation of why I have to leave the table. When I can’t come up with anything plausible, I imitate Arnold Schwarzenegger, say‘I’ll be back’,and then walk towards what I assume to be a side exit.
11
RYKER
When the food arrives, Sienna is still nowhere to be seen. I consider having a waitress check the bathroom in case something happened, but I think it’s safe to say she bolted.
A low grumble involuntarily echoes from my throat as I look at the food on our plates.
It is unfortunate… about the food, I mean.
So, instead of leaving as well, I dig into the mac ’n’ cheese, which does not taste like something a restaurant of this reputation should serve, and much less charge an almost three-digit amount for. I swallow the bite and switch my plate with the one sitting abandoned on the opposite side.
The awful couple next to us —or rather me— is being served the same course once again. I’m almost glad Sienna is gone because if I had to watch him stare at my… soon to be new employee for much longer, I would have had to turn that guy into dessert.
The tacos she ordered are actually delicious, and I have finished almost all of them when Sienna, unexpectedly, drops down in her chair again. Her hair is in disarray and if I hadto take a guess, I’d say she just had sex in the broom closet. Probably with the valet she was flirting with earlier.
Is that what she does? Random sex with random strangers?
“Hey,” she draws her full eyebrows into one angry line that makes something in my chest flutter and my throat seize up. “That’s not my food! You thief!”
“You’re one to talk,” I reply after swallowing the last bit of taco. “Thought you’d run out on me… again.”
“You still have your pants, don’t you?”
An ‘uhhuuhuu’ echoes from the table next to us, followed by what sounds like a rather vulgar proposition to take off his pants instead, which is when I’ve had enough. I’ve had it with this guy. I get up and am about to force feed him my fist when I hear Sienna quietly instructing me to sit back down. Somehow that only makes me even more aggravated. My eyes dart back to the woman across the table, who insistently nods for me to take a seat.
Who the fuck does she think she is?
