Chapter Four
Duncan
When the driver pulled up to the delivery entrance of Chained, it felt odd. In the past, I’d parked in the members’ area or on the street, but tonight my role was different. And I wasn’t sure I understood why this was even happening.
Chained was my second home. The club where I came when the rest of the world didn’t understand. The one expense I would not consider giving up even to cover the rent increase. Truly, I’d have moved to one of the less appealing units in order to keep this haven in my life.
“There you are!” Ms. Lily appeared in the doorway. “I was getting worried.”
I glanced at my watch to be sure. We were on time, but I didn’t want to correct Ms. Lily. She had a lot of responsibility for the event and would want to know everything was in order. “Sorry to make you worry. Everything is here and ready.”
She smiled. “I’m sure it’s wonderful. Our staff will unload for you.”
I had half expected this, since my employee was not a member and wouldn’t be allowed in past the service area.
The driver opened the rear, and two young women wearing white aprons with the Chained logo over the left breast came out with a cart.
Our appetizers were on long trays wrapped in several layers of plastic, and they slid them out and trundled the cart back inside.
“It all looks divine.” Ms. Lily had stuck around, and when I came to shake her hand before leaving, she kept hold of mine. “I knew we were right in asking you to handle this for us. It’s such a special event.”
It was on my lips to ask why they outsourced when they had such wonderful food and so many appetizers on the menu, but then I didn’t.
Our pastry chef prepared these tiny, two-bite delights that had earned us a mention not only in the local newspaper, but he and I had been invited on the local morning news once.
And he was sharing the recipe with nobody.
Even if he had, his touch was an element that could not be replicated.
“We appreciate being invited. The owner wanted me to tell you that he’s giving the club a discount over the quoted price because it’s for a fundraiser. ”
“How kind. He’s not one of us, is he?”
“He is a very nice elderly gentleman who loves animals, and when I explained the charity’s purpose to him, he wanted to do something to help. He’d have preferred to donate it all but…”
“In this economy, who could?” she said. “So, shall we go in?”
“You wanted me to stay?” I glanced at my jeans and sneakers and back up. “I didn’t dress to be here.”
“You look great, and especially since your restaurant is being so helpful, don’t you want to be here to take advantage of the accolades?
” When she put it that way, how could I say no.
It was never easy to deny Ms. Lily anything.
Her position was club-wide, but she’d always put extra effort into the little room, an area many such places stuffed into a corner if they even had one.
So, I sent the van back to the restaurant, called the shift manager to let them know I would not be back tonight, and followed Ms. Lily inside.
Everything was bustling in the kitchen, and the staff setting up our trays had some questions about how best to display the trays, and before I knew it, the front doors were open and members and guests spilling inside.
I hung back by the buffet, watching everyone arrive, determined to represent the business since I was technically on the clock. It lent a different air to the whole thing, being here for work instead of pleasure.
And then, while I was thinking of how to describe our pastries without taking attention away from why we were all here, he came in.
Wearing a suit this time, rather than pajamas, and looking very corporate.
Gone was the vulnerability from the other night.
In fact, he was dressed like a daddy, and perhaps I’d just been seeing what I wanted to the other night.
He never said the octopus was his, no matter how sure I’d been of the idea.
How could I be so wrong? I probably had misheard what he said, as well, in the heat of the moment. All those people moving around and grumbling about the fire alarm. Anyone could have made a mistake. Lucky I didn’t have a chance to respond before he’d darted away.
I got into a conversation with someone I knew who wanted to talk about how much he loved the restaurant, and by the time I looked around, my fellow tenant was no longer in view.
If he was a member here, I’d never met him before, but with so many evening shifts lately, I hadn’t been able to come as often as I’d have liked.
“Hey, aren’t you the man who saved my octopus the other night?” I jerked around to find him standing there, his suit even more impressive close up.
“It is you. And the octopus is yours?”
“Oh yes, so sorry I acted weird.” His cheeks colored again, utterly adorable and even wearing the suit, his littleness showed through.
“It must have been scary for you to lose something so precious.”
A little smile brightened his face. “How did you know?”
“He’s worn by love. Did your mommy or daddy give him to you?”
The sparkle went out of his eyes. “No, my uncle gave him to me a long time ago. I don’t have a daddy anymore.”
Anymore…so he had one, and he was a little.
I wanted to speak longer with him, but other people were coming up to the table and I needed to represent my company, so we parted ways. As the evening wore on, I caught glimpses of him. Bidding at the silent auction, chatting with other littles, sipping a drink.
He lived in the same building with me. The one with the faulty alarm. They’d better get it fixed before a real disaster happened. I made a mental note to contact the management in the morning and make sure it was being taken care of.