Dinner’s served

After turning off the tap, Darryl looked in the mirror as he wiped out his face. He was still stressed out since he left the cab. Darryl Faudner couldn’t toss away the thought of failing his meeting with Mrs. Delafosse for his promotion request. He wanted that promotion so bad only for the sake of his newborn baby. With a jobless fiancé having zero motivation to hustle, he had less time to argue. All charges in the house had burdened him until he would have that promotion. However, Darryl mostly thought of not failing than winning that promotion as an assistant manager in the marketing department of his workplace. Squeezing his loosening tie, he made a last check all over his body as he first smelled his armpits. His perfume was still top-notch. Glancing at his wrist, he straightened his watch and his Hermes belt. Darryl cleared his throat then tossed some mentos inside his mouth before going back to his seat.

On his way, Darryl limped as a waiter lifted a food tray full of chicken Alfredo crepes and salads. Passing below the waiter’s arm, Darryl quickly glanced by the entrance and recognized that diamond ring on the restaurant counter. That ring -that used to knock on his desk and give some impossible tasks to do- belonged to one of his old fears: Ms. Dale. Looking at all her moves inside Carinos, Darryl sighed when he found Ms. Dale sitting with an old dude. She won’t change that thirty-five years old lady. She always opens her legs to strangers.

Though the noise of dropping forks and knives and the smell of food made him hungry, Darryl was shaking as he took a seat. Within a timeframe of two minutes, a waitress came next to Darryl to take his order. A glass of water and some shrimp with rice would be enough for him. Right on time, he received a text message from Mrs. Delafosse asking for some slow-cooked T-bone steak and broccoli, and he quickly grasped the waitress’s hand. Both stared at each other, and Darryl didn’t want to release the girl’s hand. “I like you,” Darryl whispered as the waitress chuckled and left him alone. Yet, he didn’t feel lonely since the waitress took out all the stress he had been carrying out. Darryl didn’t take off that smile she put on his face easily until the familiar Giorgio Armani Si Passione fragrance dominated the craving smell of food. Mrs. Delafosse dropped her black Chanel bag on the table then took a seat in front of him.

“I hope I didn’t make you wait for too long”

“Not at all, ma’am. I just came here thirty minutes early to make sure everything is alright.” Darryl bowed his head down as if that would help him get rid of the old stress coming back.

“Relax, Darryl. This isn’t a only professional diner. It’s also a get to know each other moment.” Darryl stalled and looked at the far left corner of the restaurant where Ms. Dale was sitting. He felt a moment of déjà vu, a moment in which he miserably failed to get the same job because he declined to sleep with Ms. Dale. Darryl zoned out until he heard:

“Darryl, are you okay?” Asked Mrs. Delafosse with a lovely voice. “We can postpone that friendly meeting for another night.”

Yeah right a friendly meeting, Darryl thought as he felt his boss’s hand rubbing his.

“I’m okay. I just want to keep things the way they always are. You know what I mean?” He frowned his eyes. “Like keeping everything professional.”

“Sure.” Mrs. Delafosse removed her hands, and Darryl gulped. Thinking he shouldn’t have said that as he couldn’t guess whether his boss’s smiles were sincere or not, Darryl stopped the eye contact with his boss.

The waitress came back again to get Mrs. Delafosse’s drink and Darryl paid attention to her name tag: that young and wonderful woman was known as Helen. Looking at the waitress’s blowing hair and taking a sip of his drink, Darryl unconsciously spilled the water over his zip and gasped. Before he could even think of picking up a napkin, Helen helped him out by handing him a tissue from her pocket. Darryl cared less of her beautiful smile, for he was too amazed by her kindness as well. Ignoring the lady in front of him, he’d rather go lower than the social status of his baby’s mom to date Helen. Unfortunately, his happiness got shortened as Mrs. Delafosse cleared her throat and asked for two glasses of wine.

“I see you’re interested in young women.” Mrs. Delafosse crookedly smiled. “Is this why you’re rejecting me?”

“No ma’am. I respect you as my boss. I wouldn’t even try to date someone’s wife. This is out my limits.”

“I see you’re trying to look like a good guy. But you told me you need that job because of your newborn child. What happened to his mother?”

“She’s not stable right now, and won’t be until she decides to stop being little daddy’s girl. I’m sick of paying everything in the house.”

“I could hook you up for one condition.” Please don’t ask me to sleep with you. Darryl thought as she carried on. “Every weekend, I’m overloaded with work while you guys are out there taking care of your wonderful lives. I need someone to help me reduce my stress level at work. I need someone that could—“

“Hey, Darryl. How charming you still are.” Said Ms. Dale as she headed to the restroom.

“Good evening ma’am.” Ms. Dale glared at Mrs. Delafosse. “I never met your family, Darryl. It’s a pleasure to meet your grandma.” Darryl frowned as he snorted.

“You’re mistaking me for somebody else. I’m Mrs. Delafosse his boss.”

Darryl smiled and stood up. Knowing something bad could happen at any time, he moved away from the table then put his hands over his old boss’s shoulders.

“Ms. Dale, could you take your leave now? I’m in the middle of something important.”

“Like what? Hitting on your grandmother? Excuse me ma’am, but this is what he has done when he worked for me.” Mrs. Delafosse stood up yet Darryl grabbed her hands and asked her to calm down.

On her way back to Darryl’s table with the two glasses and a bottle of wine as ordered, Helen served Darryl and Mrs. Delafosse before she politely asked Ms. Dale to get back on her seat then took more information about what just occurred from Darryl. Worn out from those unnecessary arguments, he said nothing but threw his hands. Darryl listened to Helen’s wise words and sat down. He chugged his glass of water and got back on the conversation.

“So, where were we?”

“Excuse me, sir.”`

“Call me Darryl, please.”

“Okay. It won’t be long anyway. We have a shortage of rice. Would you mind change your side for some fries, beans, or broccoli?”

“Some broccolis should be fine.” Darryl smiled.

 After a conversation of thirty minutes, Darryl finally agreed to help his boss during the weekend in one condition, on the fact he could bring his baby. As his boss agreed and left the place, Darryl waited for his credit card while fishing some dollars from his pocket to tip Helen. When the waitress came back with his credit card, Darryl pulled her hands toward him to whisper in her ears. Helen smirked then wrote down her phone number. Darryl smiled more than before until a gunshot occurred in the restaurant. Gasping as he was losing a lot of blood from his shoulder, Darryl remained sat and looked at his aggressor, pulling harder Helen’s left arm, and pointing the gun on his forehead.

“I finally found you, you piece of crap, and you the man my girl’s been cheating on me with. Now, it’s time for you to say your last prayer. You’re dead.”

As another gunshot occurred, Darryl woke up from a nightmare. Looking at the phone clock, he sighed. “That was a close one,” Darryl said at 6:12 am.