"Hey glen " I say as I hug him. He hugs back and ruffles my hair, "Hey short stuff." I narrow my eyes at him as he chuckles at my glare. Everyone looks on in amusement. "So…food now?" Someone asks, we gather our things and make our exit. I see a fat kitty cat on the way as we walk the few blocks to Denny's. I smile, pet her and keep walking with the others. We walk in, and are seated fast, having it be so late, means not many people are in there. We sit at a long table. Phil sits across from me, and randy sits next to him, glen sits next to me, and I don't pay attention to the others. The waiter gives us menus. Everyone around me discusses their options. The waiter comes back and starts jotting down each order. He gets to me but I don't notice as I look over the menu. He looks me up and down with a smirk. "So, what'll it be, cutie?" the waiter asks with a confident wink thrown in. I hand him my menu and give him my order or smoked salmon, veggies, white rice, baked potato bites and some lemonade with extra ice. He flashes a smile, puts his hand on my shoulder and says, "Sure thing. Coming right up, hun." Then walks away. By the time I'm done rubbing my shoulder as if to remove the memory, my friends are all looking at me. I look at glen with wide, curious eyes. Glen sighs, "It's always the cute, innocent ones, the creeps go for, isn't it?" I roll my eyes and reply with, "That would make 9 out of 10 guys creepy, besides, I wouldn't say I'm cute and innocent." Quite a few of them stifle a laugh while Glen out right chuckles. Randy's shoulder quakes and I see Phil trying not to laugh as well. I pout and glare at them, making them laugh more.
"You're too cute for you own damn good, little one." I glare at Glen again and remain mostly silent as we wait for our food to arrive. The waiter finally brings our food and smiles at me but I barely spare him a glance as we dig in. "So if you're not innocent, then when was the last time you got laid girl?" Nicole asks casually as we eat. I stammer with an answer as I bite my lip and turn bright red. Everyone is now leaning in, patiently waiting for my answer. Nicole has always been able to talk about sex easily, I have not. I stare down at my plate to avoid everyone's watchful eyes and reply with, "I'm guessing you haven't read my whole interview, let's just say there are a few shockers in there."
"I'll read the rest later girl. So how long has it been?" Nicole asks again. I cough nervously and whisper," A few years, you could say." Then eat a few bites, hoping that is the end of that particular discussion. The conversation is soon forgotten as we finish our meals. We all pay our share. I put my half eaten salmon and sides in a to-go container and we all leave.
We start walking towards our hotel which was close to the club we were at earlier. I'm in the back of the group, strolling next to phil as we pass the kitty from earlier and stop. Phil stops to see what's wrong. I go up to the fat kitty and realize it's pregnant. I grab a box next to a trash can and set it down next to the cat, on its side. I take off the hoodie I'm wearing and place it in the box, put her in it gently, and feed her the still warm salmon. She purrs and starts eating, and I walk away smiling. I glance at phil as we keep walking a ways behind the others. He's looking at me with a soft smile and I feel my insides turn to jelly. I quickly look down as we walk, hoping it's too dark on this Ney York street to notice my pink stained cheeks. I try to think of something to say,"GAH!" I scream in my head. This is why I'm so awkward.