Here, as promised and on time, is the 2nd chapter of 'Restaurant Love'!

I know in the last chapter, there were some typos and view mix ups. Obviously, it's been a while since I've written. :)

This actually was started months and months ago. But I had no idea of the direction till a couple of days ago.

This chapter was quite a bit longer, and I got it finished a few hours ahead of time! I don't think I'll be able to get a Christmas story out (Christmas is just sneaking up on me! So much left still to prepare...), but I believe I will have time to do a New Year's. Maybe. We shall see. The rest of this holiday season will be quite hectic. Gotta love it. :)

Date posted: December 21st, 2005.

Reviews: 4

A crash sounded. Tapioca pudding and salad splattered over Usagi's shoes, yet she didn't even noticed. All her attention was on him, Mamoru. He stood up.

"Usagi?"

He couldn't believe it. Was this really her, this beautiful woman? He ran across the room, handed her tray to one of his comrades, and grabbed her, lifting her up in the air. The man, now with the tray, just raised his eyebrow and turned back to his conversation with the attractive blond beside him.

Usagi gasped. What a welcome. Her hair spun around as she did. Mamoru sat her down and hugged her, his eyes closed.

"What a surprise! So this is where you've been hiding out all these years!" Mamoru said jokingly. His eyes opened and took in her appearance, much changed in the past few years. He lifted a strand of her hair. His eyebrows lifted. "Well, this is certainly a change. A nice one."

Usagi smiled, her white teeth flashing in the light. She spoke her first words to him in 4 years. "It's been a while, Mamoru." Her voice was slightly deeper, more serious. But her face still held the same silly smile. She glanced now at her shoes and the floor.

"Oops." She gestured for the trays to be put on the table, and said, "I apologize, sir, I'll have replacement dishes be prepared right away." She nodded to Momoko , a waitress that had helped her carry the trays, and told her she'd be there momentarily. Momoko smiled and bowed, her long black hair nearly touching the floor, then left with the other waitress down the hallway.

Mamoru's guests continued their chattering after he introduced Usagi and invited her to sit down. They sat at a small section of the table in the corner, pulling their chairs further away from everyone. Usagi sipped on a cup of coffee, her eyelashes fluttering as she glanced up every few moments. This meeting was a total shock to her. She was just thinking of him, and now here he is! Was she magic?

Mamoru was leaning bach, still studying her, his head cocked sideways. "Usagi, you really look terrific." He said finally, then leaned forward to take a bite of his meal. Usagi smiled again.

"Thanks, Mamoru. You don't look that bad, either." Usagi said. He smiled at that. "What have you been up to?" She asked, finding his grin unsettling. She did not like him. Right. She didn't. She had to keep telling herself that.

"Well," he began. "I'm a lawyer now. These people with me and I are celebrating my latest big case win. I'm still living alone, but now in an apartment near here, actually. I was engaged for a while, as I'm sure you know." Usagi nodded; she knew he was temporarily engaged to Rei a few years back.

Who knows why Usagi and Mamoru never tried to contact each other? They easily could have if they had wanted. Perhaps the fear of rejection and resentment grew as the years passed. Or perhaps Mamoru being engaged to her close friend wore off the feelings for a while. They had talked before, though, about a year after she left.

Usagi's cell phone rang. She was rushing to her pastry class, running late as usual. She rummaged around in her book bag for it. The number was unfamiliar, but Usagi still picked it up. "Hello!" she said cheerfully.

"Usagi? This is Mamoru." The voice said. Usagi dropped the phone (she has a habit of that). It bounced gently into some bushes. She shrieked and scrambled through the bushes for it, never mind that the thorns were scratching at her delicate skin.

"Got it!" she said happily, fingers closing around the pink phone. "You still there?" she asked into the phone. She heard a gentle laughing.

"Yes, I'm still here. And evidently, you're as clumsy as ever." He said playfully, but meaning every word of it.

"My, a whole year since you last insulted me." Her voice smiling on every word. They made small talk for a few minutes. Then:

"How'd ya get my number?" She asked, wondering.

"Rei." He replied, hesitantly.

"Rei, huh, I didn't know you guys were friends."

"Yeah, we are. She's actually not that bad once you get to know her, I discovered."

"Oh," Usagi said. "So, are you two close?"

"I suppose so." He said, knowing where this was leading.

"Like, dating close?" She asked, her voice raising in pitch a little. This didn't go unnoticed.

"Occasionally. I do like her a lot-" Here Usagi hung up the phone. She sat down hard on a bench. She couldn't believe the man she truly liked was dating one of her best friends. This was the first she'd heard about it! No one even bothered to tell her. 'Terrific,' she thought.

She glanced at her watch. Her class started two minutes ago. She sighed, then stood up. "Screw this, I'm going home!" She said stubbornly, and turned the other direction. Her phone rang again. Mamoru's number. She let it go to voice mail.

She sat at the bus stop, waiting for the number two bus. Her phone vibrated, signaling that a voice message had been left. Usagi thought about just deleting it, but then she picked up the phone to listen.

"Um, Usagi, I guess we just had a bad connection or something," 'You don't know the half of it', she thought. "But, anyway, call me. Or I'll try to talk to you later. Bye." Usagi pressed the call end button. Her eyes narrowed.

She got on her bus, and didn't pick up any calls from him or Rei for the next month, till the phone finally stopped ringing. She's talked to Rei briefly since, but not Mamoru. She refuses to. Or did, at least. She received the information about the engagement and then the break up through her other friends. She moved on with her life, dating often, but never seriously. And here, they meet again.

"Well, that's fascinating." Usagi said, trying to forget their last conversation.

"So, you're a waitress here?" He said uncomfortably, no doubt remembering the phone fiasco as well.

"Actually, I'm a chef. I prepared most of this meal that we're eating, and some that is on the floor as well." She smiled. "I was late for work today, and when that happens, to discourage it, my manager makes me work waitressing for half an hour."

Mamoru chuckled. "Surprise, I guess you really haven't changed that much, meatball-head." He then remembered her new hairstyle. "Well, I guess I can't call you that anymore, can I?"

Usagi shook her head. "But, knowing you, you'll just come up with another nickname."

Momoko arrived with the replacement dishes; they had just been small side items that were easy to recreate. Usagi took notice of this arrival and stood. "It's great to see you again, Mamoru, but I must get back to work now. I have to keep going till this place closes in three hours."

Mamoru nodded, and stood, hugging her tightly. "I'll stop by again soon, okay?" He looked at her, wondering how angry she was still at him.

Usagi thought, her face showing her hesistation. "Alright," she said finally. She waved and made her way back to the kitchen.

XOXOXO

'Whew!' Usagi breathed a sigh of relief nowthat her work was over. The stove was off, her apron neatly folded, the hair net laying beside it. She pulled on her gloves and stepped outside, her breath making puffs in the air as she looked for a taxi.

She didn't see one, but she did see a dark car close by, a man leaning against it. Mamoru had waited for her! She smiled, and ran over to him.

"Need a ride?" He asked, pleased that he had made her smile again.

"Sure," she said. He opened the door for her and took her hand, helping her in. She looked at him from the inside of the car. He was so handsome. He crossed in front of the car and slid into his own seat.

"Where do you live?" he asked. She gave him brief directions. They made small talk, Usagi talking about her family and Mamoru talking about his job. They carefully steered clear of talk of the broken engagement or their last meeting and phone call.

Soon they arrived at her apartment building. Usagi thanked him, then started to step out. She hesitated, her foot pausing above the pavement. She turned backwards. "Would you like to come up? I just bought this deluxe coffee machine that I've been meaning to try out, and it would be fun if I had a guest with me!"

Mamoru smiled, a lot of that going around lately. "Of course I will, dear Usagi." She blushed at the term as he stepped out of the car. They walked up the steps to the apartment, and Usagi entered the code to the building. The buzz sounded, and she grasped the handle. Her room was only on the 3rd floor, so they took the stairs, to avoid the horribly annoying elevator music..

Usagi bounded up them expertly, as she was used to it. Mamoru however, was little slower. "Hurry up, slowpoke," she teased.

"Funny," he said. "I'm just not used to stairs. My apartment's on the top floor, so I always use the elevator."

"Ooh, a penthouse man, huh?" She said almost flirtingly. Mamoru chuckled. They reached her door. Usagi pulled her keys out of her sparkling, black purse to unlock the door. It opened smoothly and they stepped inside. She immediately went to the kitchen to prepare the coffee, calling out to Mamoru to make himself at home.

Mamoru walked around her apartment after taking his shoes off, poking random anime characters and admiring the beautiful art on the walls. "Where did you get all this?" He asked, admiring one piece of a meadow, deer playing off to one side.

"An artist friend of mine. Actually, you've met her before, we both modeled as a favor to her at one time." Usagi said, her face in a cabinet selecting a blend of coffee.

"I see that now", he said, noticing the picture of them, sitting awkwardly beside each other, drawn about 7 years ago. Even then you could see there was something between them. They weren't willing to admit it, but it was very noticeable.

'I wonder if there still is something now?' He thought. He decided to test it. He knew he still liked her, but he didn't know her feelings. He had to know. He'd waited all this time, he did not feel like waiting any longer.

He prepared himself (a mint and a deep breath), crossed to the kitchen, spun Usagi around, dipped her backwards, and kissed her directly on the lips.

Hmm...I didn't really want to end this here, but if I didn't, the last chapter would be a little too short. I actually added more than I thought...

See you readers on Saturday!