The smells hit me like a Tsunami, overloading my senses with the smell of cooked meats and vegetables hitting my nose. It smelled divine. Blue walls made up the tiny space, and there was a single counter toward the back of the room with Niko’s name proudly displayed. A friendly woman greeted us upon arrival, and when she saw Cap, her smile got even wider.
“Nicholas!” she exclaimed. “So good to see you again. Look, Niko, it’s our favorite customer.”
A man from the back waved at Cap, said a few things in what I’m guessing was Greek, which Cap replied to so easily.
“You speak Greek?”
“I speak quite a few languages, actually. I was our unit’s active interpreter whenever we went off base.”
“What other languages do you speak?”
“I’m fluent in Cantonese, Spanish, and Mandarin. I speak very little French, and I’m subpar in Hindi and Sanskrit and Greek. Oh, I am also learning Italian. It’s amazing how close Spanish and Italian are in their inflections,” he stated proudly.
“Wow, I was lucky to pass Spanish. I actually took a class in high school that taught us how to speak Cherokee because I thought it be easier than Spanish. It wasn’t. I dropped out to finish my Spanish electives so I could graduate. Cherokee was just so hard to learn.”
The trick to learning foreign languages is to use it in everyday life. “See anything you like?”
I read down the menu, deciding on a Gyro that sounded absolutely scrumptious. Cap then proceeded to order our entire order in Greek, making the woman behind the counter smile.
“You always brighten my day, Nicholas. I wish you came in more often.”
“It’s hard to come in, Nicoleta, you know that.”
Wait! Is his name really Niko and her name Nicoleta? How bizarre.
After receiving our food, Cap ushered me over to one of the few booths in the room to sit. The seat kind of squeaked under my butt, making Cap’s eyes crinkle in amusement. “It was the chair, not me.”
He nodded, stuffing his face with the Pita he ordered. “Mmm, I love this food,” he moaned through a bite.
I inspected the Gyro thoroughly, then shrugged, taking my first bite. Flavor exploded in my mouth as I experienced Greek food for the very first time. Whatever this sauce was, was absolutely divine.
I tested it with my finger, and Cap laughed. “It’s called tzaki sauce. And that meat inside is lamb.”
“Wait, I’m eating lamb?”
He nodded.
“Oh, poor sheepy.”
He laughed. “But it sure is delicious.”
Unable to deny what he said, I kept eating, doing my best not to picture the poor baby lamb who was sacrificed for this amazing meal. Now I see why people go vegetarian.
After we were done, Cap cleaned off our table, like actually grabbed a rag from the bag and wiped it off before returning it to Nicoleta behind the counter.
She grabbed his face and squeezed it. “You’re such a good man, Nicholas. Are you sure you aren’t Greek?”
He laughed. “Nope, I have a lot of different roots, but Greek isn’t one of them.”
She stopped squeezing his cheeks and waved goodbye as we exited the building.
“They seemed like nice people.”
“They are. They aren’t usually both here, so you really got a treat today. They must’ve been short on staff. I need to get some gas before we head back to Rising Star. I saw a gas station just up the road. Do you want something to drink?”
“Just a water bottle is fine.”
Enamored by his smile, I didn’t even realize we left the building holding hands until I stared down at our interlocked fingers, not wanting to let go.
