He glanced at the
large neon sign above his head. Fatone's he read to himself, pulling the
door and stepping inside. The scent of pastas and lasagnas and
breads filled his nostrils. The host, a pretty girl in a black mini
skirt, lead him over to a table in the back.
"You
waiter will arrive shortly," she said, her southern accent drawling
as she spoke. He glanced at her nametag, which read 'Britney'.
‘What an original name,’ he thought
sarcastically.
He
tapped his fingers on the table, looking around the small
restaurant. It looked like one of those family places, that when you
came back the people there remembered you. He was so wrapped up in
looking around that he didn’t see the waiter approach his table.
"Hi,
what can I get you?"
The
man jumped, startled by the him. Looking at him, he saw that the
waiter had spiky blonde hair, a great smile, and the most unusual
green eyes he had ever seen. He also noticed that his name was
Lance, and he found nothing wrong with that name.
"Um,
well, I haven’t really had time to look over the menu, I..."
Lance laughed. "I’ll come back in say... ten
minutes?"
"Five," the man said, faster than he had
intended to. Lance nodded. "All right, five minutes it is, Mr..."
"Name’s Josh," the man said, and Lance smiled.
"Okay then, see you in five minutes Mr. Josh."
Lance walked back into the kitchen area with
two empty trays, putting them in the sink to be washed.
"Who’s the new guy?"
Lance turned and faced his friend. "I dunno.
Said his name was Josh."
Joey
peered out one of the circular windows of the two swinging doors
that lead into the kitchen. "I’ve never seen him before."
"Obviously," Lance said, rolling his eyes. "So
Lance, who’s the new guy?" Britney asked, coming in with more trays.
Lance sighed and Joey laughed.
"You
kids better not be messin’ around back here, I have a business to
run," came a gentle, yet deep and serious voice. "Calm down Dad,"
Joey said, grinning, "we’re just trying to figure out who this new
customer is." Britney looked out the window to get a glance of the
man, but spotted someone else and turned back to face the other
three in the room. "Justin’s here, I gotta go. See y’all later." She
grabbed her coat off the rack and left.
Mr.
Fatone sighed. "That girl is love struck, that’s what she is. Can
you both fill in for her?" Lance and Joey nodded. "Good. I just hope
none of you boys get love struck, then I’d really be in trouble,"
Mr. Fatone said, turning and heading back towards his office. Joey
was going to say something to Lance, but when he looked over, all he
saw was the swinging of the kitchen doors.
"So,
you decided what you want yet?" Lance asked, holding his order pad
and pen in his hand.
"Uhh, yeah, give me a plate of the lasagna."
Lance laughed. "What kind? We have millions of
lasagnas here, Mr. Josh."
"My
last name’s not Josh. It’s Chasez, my first name’s Josh."
Lance smiled, decided to tell Josh that he knew
that the whole time, and said, "That still doesn’t answer my
question."
"Oh.
Can I just have the regular lasagna?" Josh asked, a little
snappishly.
Lance nodded. "Sure, one regular lasagna.
Anything to drink with that?"
"Coffee," Josh replied.
"What kind of coffee, we have-"
"Just...coffee." The tone of Josh’s voice told
Lance that Josh was either having a bad day, or he just wasn’t a
very polite person. "Okay, lasagna and coffee. Got it. That order
will be right out."
Josh
waited until Lance had left before putting his head in his hands.
‘God, I’m so fucked up. I can’t even be nice to people I don’t know.
This is all Craig’s fault...’ Josh didn’t want to think of his
ex-boyfriend and their messy break up, but he had been in love with
Craig, he had given up everything to and for Craig. ‘And he ends up
cheating on me with his goddamn shrink.’
Josh
sighed and wished his food would hurry up so he could go home.
Joey
watched Josh from the kitchen. "He looks stressed. He’s pulling that
one pose, you know? The ‘I’m fucked’ pose."
Lance laughed, turning on the coffee machine.
"Joey, there’s more than one ‘I’m fucked’ pose." Joey rolled his
eyes. "Fine. He’s got his head in his hands. Maybe he has this
really tragic story, and he just needs someone to open him up."
"Joey," Lance said, putting the lasagna on a
plate and moving back over to the coffee machine to pour the coffee,
"you need to stop trying to pry your way into other peoples lives."
"I
don’t pry. And besides, I’m not talking about me. I’m talking about
you. Maybe he’s gay."
Lance rolled his eyes and set the cup of coffee
on the tray with the lasagna. "Yeah, and maybe the Backstreet Boys
suck."
"Now
-that’s- a debatable topic."
Josh
unlocked the door into his apartment and walked inside, throwing his
jacket on the floor, moving with the energy that was probably
supplied by the coffee he had earlier.
He
looked around, seeing that Craig had managed to clear out all of his
stuff. The apartment looked so empty and alone. "Well, looks like my
little outing gave you more than enough time to get everything out
of here," Josh said to the emptiness.
He
walked into his kitchen, grabbing a glass from the cupboard and
moving to the fridge to get some ice. He expected to see something,
a note, and apology, anything, but there was nothing.
Josh
pretended it didn‘t matter.
He
didn’t know why he had come back. He told himself it was because the
food was good. Really good. He knew, however, that the food wasn’t
the only reason.
The
same girl, Britney, was the host, only this time she had a guy with
her, and he had the wildest curly hair Josh had ever seen.
Britney lead Josh to the same table and gave
him the same line, "Your waiter will be right out." She then walked
back over to the front stand to wait for customers, and talk to her
curly haired friend.
"Welcome to Fatone’s, what can I get for ya?"
Josh looked at his waiter, noticing immediately that he wasn’t
Lance. The name on his tag read ‘Joey’, and he had dark brown hair,
a beard that didn’t leave his face, and brown eyes that reminded
Josh of chocolate.
"You’re not Lance," Josh said, stating his
thoughts, as well as the obvious.
Joey
laughed. "Yeah, there -are- other waiters that work here. So, what
can I get for you?"
"Why
isn’t Lance here?" Josh asked, before he could help himself. ‘Why do
I care?’ he wondered.
Joey
sighed. "He -is- here, but he's busy. Look, you want food or not?"
'I
want Lance,' Josh thought, and he put his hand over his mouth, not
believing he had just thought that.
"I'll give you a minute to think about it,"
Joey said, giving Josh an odd look before turning and going into the
kitchen.
"That guy is back," he said to Lance, who's
arms were covered in suds from washing the dishes.
"What guy?" Lance asked.
"The
regular lasagna and coffee guy. You know, Mr. Josh?"
"Oh.
He came back?" Lance asked, surprised. Last time the guy had been
in, Lance had gotten the impression he wasn't too happy with the
experience.
"Yeah, he's here. And he's asking for you,
wanting to know why you're not his waiter. He's kinda weird man, you
can take him. Besides, he doesn't look like he gives good tips."
Lance laughed and dried his arms off on a
towel, grabbing his pad and pen and going out to Josh's table.
"Hi
again," he said as he approached.
Josh
looked up. "Hello. What happened to the other guy."
"Joey? He uh... got dish duty. Is that a
problem?"
Josh
shook his head. Lance waited for a moment, to see if he would say
anything, before asking, "So, can I take your order?"
Josh
looked down at his menu. "I haven't even looked," he admitted.
"O-kay, I can come back when you're ready..."
Lance said, starting to leave, but Josh stopped him. "Why don't you
tell -me- what's good, since you work here?"
"Fettuchini Alfredo. It's the best dish here,"
Lance told him.
"Okay, then I'll have that."
"Anything to drink? Regular coffee?" Lance
asked with a smile.
JC
smiled back. "Regular coffee."
It became an everyday thing. JC would come
in, Britney would take him to the back table (sometimes Justin was
there, sometimes he wasn't), and Lance would come out and ask him
for his order. JC would ask Lance what was good that day, and Lance
would always say some new dish. Then Lance would ask JC what he
wanted to drink, and JC would always tell him regular coffee.
"Hey Josh, what can I get for you?" Lance
asked, sitting down in the booth and laying his head down on the
table, groaning.
Josh laughed. "Tired?"
Lance nodded. "Joey's got some virus or
something, and Britney's off with Justin, so I'm the only waiter
here."
"Well," Josh said with a smile, looking
around, "it's not like this place is booming with business."
"I know," Lance said, sitting straight up,
"but I have to do all the work in the kitchen too. So, what do you
want?"
"What's good?"
"Today? I'd try the spaghetti, with butter
and garlic sauce."
Josh nodded. "Okay, sounds good. Don't
forget my regular coffee."
Lance smiled. "How could I?" He got up and
got out of the booth. "That order'll be right out."
Lance walked into the kitchen and Mr. Fatone
was there, standing by the coffee machine, a box of tools next to
him.
"Is it broken?" Lance asked. Mr. Fatone just
grunted his reply. Lance put the already cooked spaghetti noodles on
a plate and got a pot out to make the butter and garlic sauce.
"Will it be fixed anytime soon?"
"I don't know, I don't even know how it
broke in the first place," Mr. Fatone said, sighing. "Maybe I should
just close up early tonight. Sound okay?"
"Well, I have a customer out there, and-"
"How about I leave now, and you close up the
place when your customer leaves."
Lance nodded, and Mr. Fatone smiled. "Thank
you," he said, handing Lance the keys. Grabbing his jacket, Mr.
Fatone walked to the back exit, muttering something about calling
someone to fix the coffee machine in the morning.
Lance finished up with the sauce and poured
it onto the spaghetti, poured a glass of water, and went to Josh's
table.
"I hope water's okay, the coffee machine is
broken."
"What's the problem with it?" Josh asked,
and Lance shrugged. "Well, can I take a look at it?" Lance laughed
and said, "You must -really- like your coffee."
"No! It's not that, I worked in a mechanic
shop when I was in High School, I think I can fix your machine."
"Okay, follow me," Lance said, and Josh got
up, following Lance into the kitchen. "So, you're a mechanic?" Josh
shook his head as he kneeled down in front of the machine. "I used
to be. Now I'm a music teacher over at Sean F. James Middle School."
Lance watched Josh looked around for a tool
in the large box Mr. Fatone had gotten out, and was suddenly
fascinated by the older man's hands. At least Lance -thought- he was
older. "Can you flip the on switch?" Josh asked, and Lance came back
to reality. "Oh! Yeah, sorry."
Once Lance flipped the switch, the machine
made a loud groaning noise, then it made a high pitched squeaking
sound, then it died. Josh stood up and tapped the side of it,
listening to see if anything was loose inside as he tapped.
When he started to laugh, Lance was
confused. "What?" he asked. Josh looked at him with a large grin.
"Who was trying to fix this?"
"Mr. Fatone. He owns the place."
Josh was still grinning. "Does Mr. Fatone
usually handle to coffee machine?" Lance nodded, and Josh couldn't
help but laugh again. "The only thing that's wrong with this machine
is that it needs to be restocked with coffee beans."
Lance looked at Josh in disbelief for a
moment before he started laughing, a small little chuckle and warmed
Josh's heart. "Thank you, I'll be right out with your coffee."
Josh left the kitchen grinning to himself.
He sat back down and started to eat his spaghetti, and soon Lance
came out with his coffee.
"I've got to finish up in the kitchen, but
I'll be right back, okay?" Josh nodded and watched Lance walk away,
wondering what it was about him that Josh found so... irresistable.
Lance came back out a moment later, and he
took a seat in to booth again.
"Is it good?" he asked. Josh nodded, his
mouth full of food. Once he swallowed, he asked, "How much do I owe
you?"
"Just five bucks for the spaghetti, the
coffee's on the house since you fixed the machine," Lance said with
a small smile. Josh fished around in his pocket for money, and
pulled out a five.
"This is all I have," he said, reaching out
across the table to hand Lance the five. "I can't tip you."
"That's okay," Lance told him, reaching out
to take the money. Their hands touched, and they both looked up at
each other. Josh spread his hand out so that it was now fully
covering Lance's. Lance looked down at their hands before looking
back up at Josh.
Before either of them knew it, they were
kissing.
Josh came into Fatone's late one night,
dripping wet from the downpour outside, and saw that the small
restaurant was unusually crowded.
"Hi Josh," Britney said, pulling out a menu.
"Hey Britney. Why the big crowd tonight?" She sighed. "Mr. Fatone's
whole family decided to come visit their pride and joy, the family
restaurant."
Josh nodded his sympathy, knowing how busy
Lance, Joey, and Britney would be. Britney took him to his usual
table in the back and told her that Lance would be right out.
Josh smiled, the mere mention of Lance
making him smile. They had kissed that night, and afterwards, they
had just talked. Talked about their lives, their interests, anything
that would help them get to know each other better.
Josh had given Lance his phone number that
night, and the rest was history. They soon spent all of their free
time together, and Josh came to the restaurant every night until
Lance got off, and then they'd leave together and go to either Lance
or Josh's apartment. Josh couldn't believe how far they'd come in
just a month.
"Hey," said a tired voice, and Josh smiled.
"Hey you. Busy night, isn't it?" Lance nodded. "So, what do you
want?"
"You," Josh said with a grin. Lance blushed
and looked down. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed," Josh told
him, and Lance just turned redder. "The pasta, that's the meal of
the night. You should have that," Lance said, looking up, his face
still slightly pink.
Josh nodded. "Sounds good."
"Okay, be right back."
Josh looked around the restaurant, watching
the families, the little kids playing with their napkins and dipping
their hands in the water, the parents scolding them, and the middle
aged people talking away.
Lance was back before Josh knew it, setting
the food and cup of coffee down. Lance couldn't sit with Josh like
he usually could, because the place was so busy, so Josh kept
himself entertained by watching Lance when he would come out to wait
on other tables.
After he was done, Lance came over and took
the plate and empty cup into the kitchen. Josh thought about just
leaving and waiting for Lance to get home, but Lance came back out
and over to Josh, taking his hand. "Come on," Lance said with a
smile.
"Where are we going?" Josh asked. "We're
leaving," Lance told him.
"Lance, all these people-"
"Britney does it all the time, it's my turn
now," Lance told him, giving him a smile, and Josh didn't know why
he even argued with it in the first place.
Joey and Britney watched Lance from the
windows in the kitchen doors. "Yep, he's gone," Joey said with a
grin.
"Who's gone?" Mr. Fatone asked, coming into
the kitchen. "Lance," Britney replied. Mr. Fatone sighed. "Why? Did
he not -see- the massive amout of people we have here today? Where
did he have to go that was so impor-"
"Dad," Joey said with a smile, interrupting
his father, "Lance is... how did you put it? Love struck."
Mr. Fatone looked back and forth from
Britney and Joey, before smacking his forehead. "Ay-yi-yi," he
muttered, shaking his head. Joey and Britney laughed, and Mr. Fatone
walked back towards his office muttering something about needing his
"No good, camera loving son to get his keyster in gear and do some
real work."
Josh smiled as he stroked Lance's face.
'God, lying here, just like this, in his arms, is all I could ever
ask for,' he thought.
"Can I ask you something Lance?" Lance
looked at Josh expectantly. "You're always going to be here, right?
With me?"
Confusion marred Lance's face as he asked,
"What do you mean?"
"Okay, it's like, if I come into a
restaurant, are you always going to be the one to be at my table?"
"If you're asking me if I'll always be with
you, Josh, there's nowhere else I'd ever want to be."
Josh smiled and Lance snuggled closer to
him.
Before Lance drifted off to sleep, he
muttered, "I'll always be there with your regular coffee."
Josh smiled. That's all he'd ever
need.