Merlot for Two

Short Story: Merlot for two

Written by Jamie Hainer (Oblique)

Static noises pass and a few stations play when they skip by on the radio. (93.3? ew, I hate Taylor swift... maybe 92.5? YES! I love Halsey!) Bad At Love by Halsey plays on the radio. (Maybe I shouldn't listen to this song. I have been having therapy sessions lately and I 'm supposed to be working on building my self-esteem. Like is this even helping? I'm not sure if admitting I am bad at something will help me work on it, or just help me stay bad at that problem. It's also pretty ironic, I mean, I am on my way to a restaurant for a date... and I'm playing this song of all songs... God, I am such a mess. Wait, I think my phone buzzed) She pulls out her phone. (I have texted while driving before, I know I can make sure I stay in the lines while I do it. It's Cody! What did he say!) her heart sinks for a second. (Cody is gonna be a little late. I really hope I am not about to get stood up. What if Cody got second thoughts about me and what if I’m not good enou... no! I am good enough! I need to believe this. I have to, and I will continue to believe I am always good enough). She proceeds to type a message to reply while still peaking up constantly to look at the road. "It's okay, I’ll get us a table!", (fuck I can't send it. I have no bars, figures. I mean I’m literally driving next to telephone polls and of course, I have no service) She rolls her eyes, drops her phone, and continues to drive. She arrives at the restaurant (I am so hungry and I don’t even know why I decided on this place, seafood doesn’t really hit the spot for me. Cody asked me where I wanted to go, and of course, we couldn’t just go to another casual restaurant like every other stereotypical first date. I wanted something with a little more… adventure and excitement).

As she gets out of her car her eyes are locked on the big glowing neon sign “Chuck’s Lobster house”. (they need to fix that sign, Chuck’s name isn’t even lit up. At night people wouldn’t even know Chuck exists. Whatever, it’s not my problem) she continues through the two big red entrance doors and walks into the restaurant and makes eye contact with the host.

"Table or bar?" the host says, looking up and down her body

"Umm, table!" with that she gives a nervous chuckle.

"Right this way ma’am" then the host ushers her to a table in the back of the restaurant near the bathroom. There is a nice elderly couple the host waves to as they pass by. A menu is set down by the host in front of her while she is sitting down.

"I’ll actually need a second menu, I am waiting for someone."

"Of course, I will have your server bring it to you.” and with that, the host turns around and heads back towards the main entrance to greet other people.

"Thanks!" She sits there for a minute replaying her social interactions so far with the host in her head. She gets a smile on her face and feels like it was a good first impression. (Oh! before I forget I need to message Cody!) she pulls out her phone and looks at it. (why is there no servi... oh right, I turned off my service because I was drinking last night and I didn’t want to message someone drunk. wow, I am soooo smart, How do I forget stuff like this...) she digresses as her thumb scrolls through her settings to turn it back on. Her waitress makes her way to the table.

"I am Hailey and I’ll be your server for today, can I get you started with anything? drinks, appetizers?" as Hailey asks, the other menu is placed down by the server Infront of the vacant seat.

"Yes! can I get started with two glasses of Merlot?"

"Of course, I will be right back with those" Hailey walks off with a friendly smile. (I know I shouldn't be drinking after drinking last night, but it is a special occasion. I mean, I never thought I would start dating again. I love that my counselor has been helping me with my self-esteem and she is helping me start to feel ok with looking for someone else to be with. I am ecstatic that I can actually find a person to care for, I deserve it… I think. Ugh, it’s so hard to believe in myself)

She sees that Cody has walked by the main enterance and is looking around. They lock eyes, she gets chills down her back. The clothes on Cody have a few oil marks and there is a huge dirt smudge across Cody’s forehead. (i wonder what made Cody’s clothes so dirty). She smiles as Cody approaches, "Hey can I have a minute in the bathroom? my truck broke down and that is why I am late"

"of course! get yourself cleaned up a little, I already ordered wine for us! I can order the food for us too if you want?"

"Sure!” as Cody proceeds to flip through a couple of pages and points into the menu. “I couldn’t remember the name at first, but I would love the ‘Southwestern Lobster’”

“Alright, I’ll let our server know!” Cody smiles then walks off to the bathroom. As he disappears, Hailey comes back with Two glasses of Merlot and sets them down on each side of the table. "I think I am ready to order"

"Of course hun, what would you want?"

"Well, I want the ‘Shrimp and Dip’ dish and the house salad with ranch.”

“Alright, will that be all?” as Hailey finishes writing the first order down“Actually my date just went to the... bathroom, but we picked out the ‘Southwestern Lobster’ dish''

"Alright, and the side?" Hailey replies while writing that down. There is a brief pause (I forgot to ask Cody the side. Of course there is always a side that comes with the meal, can I make it five minutes without messing up, PLEASE).

"Uhh-" is all she could say until Cody appeared coming from the bathroom. "Oh over there!” she points, “Cody can tell you the side order". Hailey turns ready to greet someone, but stops and adjusts into a confused posture. Cody squeezes past Hailey and sits down." our server wanted to know what you wanted as a side"

"Oh! ummm, I just want the steak fries as a side" Cody says. She looks back at Hailey who is just now starting to look back at her.

"Sorry hun, what did you say?" Hailey says with a puzzled face.

"Cody said that the side on the order was steak fri-" while she says this, she is gesturing towards Cody who is across from her. Her head follows shortly after to look at Cody who then starts to flicker then begins to fade away and vanishes completely. She freezes. (What the fuck) is all she could think as she looks wide-eyed and blankly at the empty seat. Hailey turns back and looks at her with eyes of concern.

"Is everything ok, do you need hel-"

"-can you give me a minute?" She says, cutting Hailey off mid-sentence.

"of course" Hailey walks off towards the kitchen, pausing for a minute on the way to look back at her, then deciding to continue into the kitchen. (Nononono, I got a message from Cody earlier!) she pulls out her phone. Her thumb scrolls through the messaging app on her phone.. (what, no! Where is the message! Where is any chat with Cody? Oh my god… was Cody made up in my head?) She starts to panic. and her heart starts to race. She pours the two wine glasses together and drinks them in a few seconds. (I need to leave, I am embarrassing myself!) She gets up and stumbles a little, the elderly couple leans away from the walking aisle, as she catches herself on their table. She stands up and heads to the exit.

As she finally makes it outside, she proceeds to frantically search for the keys to the car and starts to hyperventilate. She grabs the keys and drops them because her hands are shaking so much. (not now, please, I need to get away from all of this!). She picks them up and opens the door and then slides into the seat and slams the door. She turns on the radio and turns it up loud and starts to compulsively cry. as she does ‘Alone’ by Alan Walker plays on the radio. (What the fuck is wrong with me, why am I not normal)

Later, Hailey is wrapping up her last few tables so she can leave for the night. The manager comes up and starts talking.

“What happened with this void payment earlier?”

“So the girl at table 7 ordered two meals, and a few drinks, however, she only drank the two glasses of wine and bailed on her check.”

“The girl that just scrambled out the door earlier making a scene?” The manager asks.

“Yeah, that one.” Hailey says with a couple of nods and a sigh, “She seemed a bit off, or something. I didn’t get a chance to really talk to her before she left Though”

“And the discount on table 6?”

“As the girl left she fell on the couple’s table right behind her, and they were a bit upset so I took a 10% off their check” Hailey says with a nervous look.

“It happens, so don’t blame yourself. People come in, thinking they own the place, looking for ‘free’ drinks just to bail on their check. It’s rather annoying.” the manager says looking irritated. “Will you go and add it to our profit and loss report, please, I have stuff I need to do. I just can’t deal with this right now.”

“Yes, I can” Hailey is silent for a few seconds. “It’s just that it seems like she truly needed help, from someone, you know?” there is a pause. Hailey looks over to see the manager isn’t there anymore and has already left. The only thing left is the uneasy feelings and thoughts about the interactions Hailey had with the girl. As if there was a way to be more direct with helping her in that situation. Hailey sits there for a moment thinking then leaves, heading towards the manager’s office to start working on the profit and loss report