He hesitated and then sighed before leaning on my desk with a defeated expression. “I don't know what's up with me. I can't get that one guy out of my mind. Am I supposed to just forget about him because he works at the café?” He groaned and buried his face in his arms. “Why couldn't I have fallen for somebody who works at some other restaurant? Like the Italian place?”
“Which omega are you even talking about?” I asked. “Our server?”
Rafael's gaze shot up to meet mine. “His name is Sammy.”
So I had to hit the nail on the head after all. I tried to look sympathetic as possible, hoping I could let him down gently. “Raf, I just don't think it's a good idea. They have those rules in place for a reason. The omegas that work there are just trying to do their jobs, not pick up dates. What is it you like about this guy in particular, anyway?”
Rafael seemed a bit embarrassed. He wouldn't meet my eyes as he said, “I don't know, he just seemed really nice. Maybe it's part of their job to kind of flirt with customers a little, but I got that kind of vibe from him, you know? Like he might have been interested.”
I gave him a grim smile and put my hand on his shoulder. “Sorry buddy. I just don't think that's the case.”
Then I remembered that Jake's roommate, Skylar, was an employee at the café. Maybe if I spoke to Jake about it, he could help me let Rafael down easily.
“Listen," I told him. "I'm friends with somebody who knows somebody who works there. If you want, I can talk to him about it.”
His eyes lit up in glee. “Really?”
“I'm not guaranteeing you a date,” I stated. “This is just to find out if it's a faux pas to date customers or not, if it's even allowed in the first place. Okay?”
Rafael thought this over and decided it was a better outcome than being shut down.
“Yes! Please!”
“Tone it down with the excitement, all right? I don't want you to get your hopes up for nothing.”
Rafael nodded, and some of the overeagerness drained from his face, replaced with a more realistic expression. “I won't.”
He seemed like he was about to leave, or ask me about lunch, when suddenly a sly look slipped onto his face. He watched me with a smug expression, like he was waiting for me to speak.
“What?” I said blankly.
“You sly dog,” Rafael said with a grin.
“What are you talking about, Rafael?”
“You didn't think I would miss that, would you?” He pointed to the upcoming Saturday that I had circled.
I withheld a groan. I should have known that Rafael would have commented on that. In my excitement, I'd forgotten to keep it a secret. I should have written down something more vague, like simplydate, even though Rafael would have questioned me about that too.
“Fine,” I said. “You caught me.”
He leaned in again, obviously interested. “Caught you doing what? Dude, you haven't told me anything about this! Are we not friends or something?”
“Settle down,” I said. “I was going to tell you eventually. This happened recently, so I didn't have time yet. Lunch would have been a good opportunity.”
With his hands on his hips, Rafael stared intently at the name on my calendar. “Why does that sound familiar?”
Does he not remember?I wondered. Maybe I could use to my advantage.
“He was the friend I ran into at the café, remember? That's why I was away from the table for so long.”
“Hmm…” Rafael didn't seem entirely satisfied with this knowledge, but didn't spend any more effort trying to dig through his memories. “So you're going to ask him about the dating thing on Saturday, is that it?”
I see, I thought.He's more interested in his own situation, so he doesn't care so much about Jake in particular.
“Yes,” I confirmed. “We were going to meet up anyways, so it will be a good opportunity for me to ask him about you.”
“Cool,” Rafael replied, nodding, although I was sure he wasn’t entirely convinced with my half-baked explanation. “What do you two usually talk about? And why haven’t I heard of this guy before?” He mock gasped. “Do you have a new best friend that isn’t me?”
