Chapter Twenty #2
“Ooh, exciting,” I say as I allow the phone to lead me to what it claims is the most expensive restaurant in the area. I park and then lead Lane toward the front door. A woman rushes out and opens it for me as I smile at her.
“Thanks,” I say as I’m instantly sucked inside and up to a hostess.
“Reservation name?” she asks.
“Uh…no…”
She stares at me like I’m a fool for not having a reservation. “Hmm…how many?”
“Two.”
“It’ll be two hours,” she says.
“What?” I ask as I look at her like she’s nuts. “This food can’t be that good that people are waiting for two hours.”
She looks shocked that I would say such a heinous thing. “Of course it is.”
And that’s when I turn off my moral compass and smile sadly at her.
“My blind friend here is dying and…this is our last day in Nevada, and I just…really wanted to give him a good time. I heard such great things about this place,” I say as I squeeze Lane’s hand.
“I didn’t realize…I needed a reservation. ”
The woman’s eyes instantly turn sympathetic, and I realize that I probably should have told her that I’m the one dying because Lane is probably going to murder me.
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. Let me see what I can do,” she says as she hurries off.
Lane yanks me toward him. “Seriously?” he whispers.
“Shh, don’t cry. I promise I’ll get you in here if I have to wash dishes for the next ten years,” I say as I hug him.
About ten minutes later a man comes up to us and smiles at me gently. “We found a table for you,” he says.
“Lane? Did you hear that? They found a table for us!”
“I’m so happy,” Lane says as I pull him after the man.
He takes us over to a small table in the corner where I help Lane a little more than I needed to.
“Is that alright for you?” I ask Lane. “Are you comfortable?”
“Yes, thank you. This is so amazing I just…wish I could see it. Will you describe everything to me, Felix?”
“Of course,” I say, and the man looks heartbroken.
“Your waitress will be with you momentarily,” he says as he leaves us.
I turn my eyes back to Lane who is leaning back in his chair. “What happened to being all judgy?” I ask.
“Yeah, fuck that. I’m hungry.”
I laugh. “It’s not like we were lying . You are blind and at some point in your life, you will die. Technically we are all dying.”
He points at me and nods. “That’s true. I knew you were more than a pretty face.”
The waitress walks up and smiles at us. “I’m so glad you guys have come here tonight. My name is Kelly, and I’ll be your waitress. What brings you to town?”
“We’re heading to Las Vegas to get married,” Lane says as he reaches his hand out to me. I set my hand into his and he squeezes it gently. “Our state doesn’t allow gay marriage, so…this is something we’ve always wanted to do.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet. How long have you two been together?”
“Ten years,” Lane says.
“Oh my goodness, you two are so amazing.”
Lane smiles. “Thank you.”
“What can I get you started off with?”
“How about two glasses of a nice Chardonnay?” he asks.
“Of course. Here are your menus. Our specials are on top.”
“Thank you,” he says, and she smiles.
“Of course,” she says before leaving.
“Okay, so who is getting into this now?” I ask like I’m judging him.
“It’s actually my job to lie to people,” he says. “I’ve spent a quarter of my life pretending I’m someone I’m not.”
“There’s one issue though. Ten years? I would have been fifteen and you’d have been twenty-five,” I say.
“Twenty-seven actually.”
“What? You told me you were thirty-five!”
“I also told you that my name is Lane,” he says with a grin.
I stare at him in shock. “WHAT? What’s your name?”
He grins. “I’m joking. It is Lane. And I told you that I am thirty-seven, I don’t know where you got thirty-five from.”
“Huh…I don’t know. Maybe I was trying to make it feel like I wasn’t with an old fuck or something.”
“Thanks, make me feel good about myself.”
“You’re welcome!” I say. “Shush! The waitress is coming, we have to act like we love each other.”
He grins as he holds his hand out, and I quickly take it as I lean toward him just as the waitress nears.
“The decorations are just so beautiful. There are these cute little candles on each table…oh, I’m sorry, I was trying to describe to him what the room looks like…it helps him feel like he can see again,” I say to the waitress.
“Aw, that’s amazing,” she says as she sets our glasses down. “I just brought the whole bottle for you two instead.” She pours the rich liquid into the glass as I watch it.
“Thanks,” I say with a smile.
“So, are you wishing to go with the small plates? Those are fun to share and what most people order.”
“Sounds good,” I say. “Uh…Lane, what do you want?”
“Anything you want, I’ll enjoy sharing,” he says.
“Perfect,” I say as I pick multiple small plates for us to share.
“They’ll be out shortly,” the waitress says.
“You’d be good at my job,” Lane says after she’s gone. “You’re fairly good at conning people.”
“Thanks! It’s an art form I acquired young. Shush! She’s heading back.”
Lane doesn’t skip a beat. “You don’t mind taking my name, right? Mr. Felix Price. I just love the sound of it,” Lane says as she sets some bread down in front of us.
“I love it,” I say to him and she smiles at us before leaving.
When the food comes Lane and I eat until we both feel like we’re going to explode. It is so good that even after I feel close to dying from gluttony, I continue on. Just stuffing the bottomless pit that is my face. And not even a smidge of guilt is able to surface before I am stuffed full.
“Aw, that was so good,” I say as I lean back and admire the empty plates.
“It was,” Lane agrees as he pats his stomach.
“I wish you were rich, so we could eat here every night.”
“I wish you could cook, so we could eat something semi-edible.”
“I wish you would stick to your promise of never bringing that up again!” I say as our waitress returns with an older gentleman.
“Good evening, sirs. Was everything good?”
“Absolutely delicious. Best meal I’ve ever had,” I say.
“I completely agree,” Lane says.
“I’m so glad to hear that. I’m glad tonight was a special night for both of you and would like to tell you that we waived the bill. So please, just go and enjoy your night,” he says.
I’m sure the shock is showing on my face. I think it makes them smile more like they are proud of themselves for doing such a selfless act for two deserving people. “Uh…No! Really! We have plenty of money to pay for it,” I say as I pull out my wallet.
“No, it’s on the house. Have a good evening, gentlemen,” he says before walking away with the waitress.
“ Lane ,” I hiss. “Now I feel freaking guilty!”
“I think…we may have taken it too far,” Lane says with a grimace.
“You think? Oh my God. We’re going to hell for this. If I wasn’t going to hell for running over that police officer, we’re going to hell now.”
“Running over an officer? ”
Oops. “It was an accident. When I stole his car, I didn’t know he was in front of it.
I didn’t break anything, I just kind of…
pushed him out of the way. That was like ten years ago.
We have more pressing matters such as how we are lying assholes.
” God, please help me turn that moral compass back on pronto.
“Just leave a ridiculous tip,” Lane says. “And then we’ll flee and forget this night ever happened.”
“Yes, please,” I say as I toss the money on the table before grabbing Lane’s hand.
We then proceed to make our walk of shame out of the restaurant.
“Lane, I feel so bad,” I whine.
“Shush, we’re never going to mention it again, understand? We’re going to erase it from our memory.”
“Imagine if they knew that you dedicated your life to fighting the bad guys,” I say. “And then came in and became one of the bad guys!”
“What did I just say?” Lane asks. “We’re never going to mention it again!”