Chapter Five

After arguing with himself, Jay decided keep his date with onemanrockband2k12 and head to Monty's.

It was true that Jay had exaggerated some details in the emails he'd sent to his anonymous friend. But before he'd been unceremoniously released by Hunter, he did have a good position in a company and a future. Perhaps he'd still have one, albeit somewhere else, so it really wasn't an exaggeration. Still, he felt like he had to set the record straight, so he went to the steakhouse. Anna, kindhearted soul that she was, stayed with him to provide moral support until it was time to go in...

"Why don't you go in now, Jay?" Anna asked, glancing up from the game she was playing on her cell phone. She and Jay were outside of Monty's sitting on a bench near a window, and Jay had just asked her to glance inside to look for his date.

Jay huffed. "Anna, I don't wanna know what he looks like yet. If he's not attractive, I've had enough bad news for today. If he's cute, it'll be more difficult, so don't tell me."

"Okay, I won't. Now, he's reading a Kindle, right? And it has a protective cover. What color is it again?"

"Red, just like my scarf."

"Red, like your scarf." Anna got up and peered through the window. "Now, let me see...Just a minute."

"Do you see anything?"

"Not yet. But there's a cute young man sitting by himself!"

"Really?"

"Very cute, but no Kindle."

"No Kindle." Jay joined his friend at the window. "Wait a minute. I think I see it."

"Yeah?"

"Right here under the window. Yes. It's a Kindle. I know what they look like."

"That's right. And a red cover. I can't see his face, though. He's sitting behind a clothes rack. There's a glass of iced tea on the table."

"Yeah?"

"He's taking a breadstick from a basket on the table. Reso, he is eating a breadstick."

"Why shouldn't he eat a breadstick?"

"All right. He is leaning forward now, and he..."

"Can you see him?"

"Yes."

"Is he cute?"

Anna nodded "Very cute."

"He is?"

"I should say he looks...he looks kinda like Heath."

Jay tore his gaze away from the window. "Heath? What, Heath of the tree lot?"

"Now, Jay, you must admit Heath's a very good-looking guy. Personally, I've always found him kinda cute myself, but I'm a married woman, so he's off limits, but even if he wasn't, I wouldn't go after him, because he doesn't swing that way-"

"He's gay? How do you know he's gay?"

"I have Gaydar. This guy, he's like you. Not flaming by any stretch, but you can tell."

"This is a fine time to talk about Heath!" Jay snorted in disgust.

"Now...If you don't like Heath, I can tell you, you won't like that guy."

"Why?"

"Because...it's Heath."

"No." Jay facepalmed in shock as he caught a glimpse of the young man reading the Kindle. Of all the people he could have fallen in love with online, he had to pick the one guy he disliked the most. It made him want to throw up a little in his mouth. "If this isn't karma coming back to bite me in the ass, I don't know what is."

"What are you gonna do, make him wait?"

"Why shouldn't Heath wait?" Jay exclaimed, flopping back down on the bench. "We've been at each other's throats for weeks!"

"But still, he wrote those lovely emails, Jay-Jay."

"I know. And don't call me Jay-Jay." Jay snapped. "Don't you have to be somewhere?"

Anna fumbled through her purse until she found her keys. "I do. I should be going, anyway. You can walk me to the truck if you want. It'll give you a chance to clear your head."

"Maybe I do need to clear my head. Good idea." He accompanied his lady friend to her truck. "Bye, Anna. And thanks."

Anna climbed in and started the truck up. Above the throaty rumble of the engine, she said, "Bye, Jay-Jay. And you're welcome."

"Don't call me—" Jay started, just as Anna rolled up the truck windows and drove off. "Oh, forget it!" Sighing in despair, he wondered if maybe he should just up and go home. But he decided not to. Might as well get this over with, he thought, taking off his red scarf and putting it in the inside pocket of his coat...

~~~TLATS~~~

"Excuse me, young man, could I have this chair?"

Heath glanced up from his Kindle and shook his head at the young busboy. "No. I'm sorry. I'm expecting somebody. He should be here any minute."

"That's all right. That's..." The busboy noticed the color of the e-reader. "Red Kindle, huh?"

"Yeah. My guest is gonna wear a red scarf. My Kindle cover's red so he'll know who I am."

"A few nights ago we had a case with red roses. Turned out pretty happy. But once, about three months ago, we had a very sad case with a red gardenia. She waited all evening and nobody came. And when we cleaned the restaurant, underneath one of the tables...we found another red gardenia. Imagine, the man must've come in...taken one look at her, said, "Phooey," and threw away his gardenia."

"How sad."

"It has a happy end, sort of. We gave the flower to one of the girls who had a green thumb. From what she told me, she got it growing in her garden pretty nice."

"Is your clock a little fast? My watch says 8:27, and the clock up there says 8:31."

"Listen, you have nothing to worry about, a cute guy like you. If he doesn't come, I'll put on a red scarf myself," the busboy smirked, making Heath laugh in return. The exchange was cut short as the busboy was called away by his boss,

Meanwhile, Jay had wandered into the restaurant, trying not to call too much attention to himself. He stopped at Heath's table and watched the young man as he read his Kindle. A moment passed as he screwed his courage to the sticking place: "Hello, Heath."

Heath glanced up from his Kindle and his eyes widened in surprise. "Uhhhh...Hi, Jay."

"Quite a coincidence. I had a date here, too. You haven't seen Anna or her husband by chance?"

"No, I haven't."

"All right. Well, I think I'll wait." Jay glanced over at the empty chair across from Heath. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

"Yes, I do. You know, I have a date, too, Jay."

"Oh, yes, I remember. Yes. And your friend seems to be a little late."

"And I'll thank you not to be sarcastic. I know you've had a bad day, and you feel very bitter. Still, that's no reason..."

"Bitter? Me? About leaving the tree lot?" Jay snorted. "When I got home and checked phone messages...in five minutes I had what amounts to two offers, and Anna's husband has me penciled in as a new employee at his office if the offers don't pan out."

"Congratulations, Jay. I wish you luck."

"I see you've got a Kindle. What are you reading on it?"

"Yes, I have a Kindle, and I'm reading Dean R. Koontz, do you mind?"

"No, no, I just didn't expect to meet you here, reading Dean R. Koontz on a Kindle, that's all. It's quite a surprise. I didn't know you cared for his work."

"There are many things you don't know about me, Jay."

"Have you read It by Stephen King?"

"No, I haven't."

"I have," Jay answered, pointing to himself for emphasis. "There are many things you don't know about me, Heath. As a matter of fact...there might be a lot we don't know about each other. People seldom go to the trouble of scratching the surface of things to find what's inside."

"I really wouldn't care to scratch your surface, Jay because I know exactly what I'd find. Instead of a heart, a wreath. Instead of a soul, a bunch of pinecones. And instead of an intellect, a cheap gift card."

Jay cocked an eyebrow. "That's very nicely put."

"You think so?"

Jay sat down in the empty chair. "Comparing my intellect to a gift card. Yeah, that's a very interesting mix of poetry and spite."

"Spite?" Heath glared at his ex boss hotly. "Let me tell you something about..."

"Hey, cool your jets," Jay interrupted, putting a hand up. "I'm only trying to pay you a compliment."

"Jay, please! I told you I was expecting somebody."

"Look, if your party doesn't show up, could l..."

"Don't worry about that!" Heath snapped, cutting Jay off before the sentence could be finished. Jay decided to get up; he knew when he wasn't welcome. "My date will show up, so you don't have to entertain me." With those words, Heath bent over his Kindle once again, his posture saying, Get Lost!

Dejected, Jay walked away from the table. He was accosted by a waiter. "Is everything okay, Sir?"

"Uhmmm...whatever your nightly special is, can I get it to go, please? Medium rare, with a baked potato, and salad with honey mustard?"

"Of course. You can pick it up at the counter."

"Thank you." Jay was about to sit on a bench up front and wait for his to-go order when he spotted Heath glancing up from his Kindle to look out the window for his date. At first, he thought, Forget him! Break it off with him online. It's not worth the heartache. His next thought was Talk to him. He's hurt, and he deserves an apology, or at least an explanation.

He decided to go back. Unfortunately, the Pandora's Box of all of Jay's secret hateful parts—his arrogance, his spite, and his condescension—had sprung open. Mr. Nasty was about to make an appearance, whether Jay wanted him to or not, and Jay had an urge to zing Heath for all he was worth.

Jay found an empty table right next to Heath and sat down, positioning his chair so that he was facing away from the young man. "Have you read Ghost Story by Stephen King?"

"Ghost Story was not by Stephen King. It was written by Peter Straub." Heath recognized the voice and turned around in annoyance. "Jay, are you still here?!" he snapped, as Jay turned to face him. "Are you deliberately trying to ruin my night? Why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't."

"I suppose you love me."

"Why should I?" Jay snarked. "What've you done to endear yourself to me? I don't want you to love me. I don't!"

Jay became aware of the cheery holiday music that was being played in the restaurant. He nodded as he recognized the tune. "Recognize that music? Sleigh Ride by The Ventures. Do you know what that tune reminds me of?"

"Yes, thank you. Wreath kits and frou-frou K-cup coffee."

"No, no. Wrong again. It was playing in the lot when I said good-bye to everyone. It reminds me of a man out of a job. A very nice man, too, I thought."

"You thought that?" Heath gasped. "How you can lie!"

"But that was before you started to make fun of me...and giving imitations of me in the break room. And I'd like to take this opportunity, Heath...to inform you that I don't walk like a duck...and I don't go commando!"

"Well, do you?"

"NO!"

"Well, Kurt said that you go commando, and you wear Duluth Trading Ballroom Jeans so nobody notices how much you waddle."

"That's not true! I wear boxers!" Jay got out of the chair he was in so quickly, it nearly fell over. "So that's the kind of a man you trust. No! I wear boxers, and I don't waddle! And if you think for a second that I go commando, I'll...I'll drop my pants in the middle of the street!" Jay plunked himself down at Heath's table and glared icily at the young man. "And furthermore, would you like it if I called you a dumb ginger?"

"That's what you did."

"After you started making fun of my legs."

"I am not a dumb ginger!"

"No, you're not! You're a ginger-headed, fourteen year-old girlish SHOWOFF! Let me tell you something, Heath. You may have beautiful thoughts, but you hide them. As far as your actions, you're cold and snippy, and you bark stuff out like a drunken pirate! You'll have a tough time getting a man to fall in love with you."

Heath began to laugh. "So, no man could fall in love with me? Jay, you're getting funnier every minute. I could show you emails that would open your eyes. On second thought, maybe I shouldn't show them, because you wouldn't understand what's in them. They're written by a type of man so much better than you, it isn't even funny. I have to laugh when I think of you calling me a dumb ginger who barks like a drunk pirate. You insignificant…TREE SALESMAN!"

Silence fell over the table, so thick, it could be sliced. Finally, Jay gained his composure. His voice was cold. "You know what? I think I'll call it a night before I say something to you that I know I'll regret." He rose from the table, patting his coat to ensure that he still had his wallet. "I'll pay for my dinner and head home. Good-bye, Heath."

"Good-bye, Jay."

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: This one was considerably shorter than the last couple of chapters, but I think it works. The fourteen year-old girlish comment was a nod to Edge and Christian. I'll have a couple more chapters up tomorrow. This story is wrapping up faster than I thought it would, which I'm quite happy about.

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