He's two hours late for his reservation and the kitchen is closing up. But he's a regular, and so we keep them a little longer to take his order.
My day has just gone to hell.
The entire afternoon, serving a single table of two. Time I'd usually spend staring vacantly into space, or sitting down having a coffee. Or napping. But it's all gone to hell now.
He introduces me to his date, and as I'm the only person there, and by talent quite invisible they converse as if I weren't in the room. He has it all, all he needs now is a woman to share it with...
...and she, she's a little bit older and maybe not so interested right away, and so they talk about their children and their families...
and they talk and drink wine and more wine and talk some more. I do endless sidejobs, polish glasses, check on them every half hour or so, they don't need or want a lot of attention. But I'm there, close by, abstractedly eavesdropping....
The Cellphone Rings
And he takes the call...he's talking for a moment and then explodes at whoever is on the other end "What do you fucking mean! I'm pre-approved!!!".. and then the tone gets a little more conciliatory..."I make about a hundred, a hundred fifty thousand per year base salary, then there are dividends, another couple of hundred thousand a year...all told about half a million a year..."
He's without shame. This is possibly the most transparent and vulgar pick-up I've seen, worse even than the Bosses Nephew's suggestion that he be allowed to rape a girl in the ass...
When he's done giving out the intimates of his financial life he hangs up and apologizes to his date; "I have quite a temper" he confesses. There's no explaining why he was subject to the telephone audit, and she doesn't query him, it's a man's business after all...
I can't believe this hasn't been staged.
She's impressed with his temper and they leave shortly thereafter. Together.