Socializing

Chapter 4. Courage

I could feel Ana's nails digging into my arm from her excitement. I was stunned. All the customers who walked in automatically knew our names from the silver tags we had on our uniform but, none bothered to give us theirs, even the lady who always came in at exactly 9.05 am every day.

Jake.

We finally had a name to the face, and it was about time! I turned to Ana and I realized she was holding her breath.

"Hey, breathe."

"Donna, his name is Jake."

"Yeah, I heard."

"Are we-"

"Yes, we will look for him on Facebook and Instagram," I finished. "And let's hope he uses his actual name and picture as most people should."

"But, what do we do now?" Ana asked.

"Well, we wait," I replied grabbing the dish towel to buff the few glasses we have.

"Or..."

"The next time he walks in, you give him your number."

"Isn't that a bit too straightforward?"

"We're in the 21st Century Ana, it's either that or we stalk him for months on social media and that is not healthy for either one of us."

"Morning," said Adrian walking in from the front door. "Could I speak to you Donna?" he added.

"Sure," I said following him to the office. What could he possibly want?

"Have a seat, please." He said slipping his jacket off. I took a seat and looked up at him as he hung his jacket by the window. His brown skin shone with the light and he had neatly shaved this morning. His hair was just like Malcolm's in Jessica Jones and his t-shirt fit perfectly. How had I not noticed that-

"Could you work this Saturday?" He asked breaking my train of thought. "I know it's your day off, but I could need your help."

"Yeah, of course," I said. "Around 10 am?"

"No, 8 pm. We are catering for a party downtown."

"Oh, is Ana coming too?" I asked scared of being alone.

"No, she'll take the Sunday since we need more catering for a Bar Mitzvah."

"Ah."

"So, Saturday, don't wear the usual Uniform," he said calmly but I was racking my brain as to what I could possibly wear.

"Then, jeans or..."

"No," he chuckled. It was the first time I had heard him laugh. A dimple appeared on his left cheek and then vanished. "It's a classy party. So, a dress. A black one would do."