Jay gave Aaron a nod, letting him order first.
“I’d love a large bowl of miso soup, and a deep-fried spicy tuna roll,” Aaron said, watching her scribble a quick note.
“Same roll for me and a house salad, no tomatoes, please.” Jay had barely finished the sentence before she grabbed their menus and took off.
“There’s not a lot left without tomatoes. Not a fan?”
“I’m actually allergic to tomatoes,” Jay said with some reticence. “It’s a really mild allergy, though. Nothing deadly, justmy face getting hot and itchy. And just raw tomatoes. I don’t react to things like ketchup or marinara sauce.”
“That’s the first time I’ve seen someone try to backpedal from having an allergy. It’s not a weakness, you know.” Aaron didn’t like Jay’s embarrassment. He’d never understood the weird mindset of seeing medical conditions as character flaws.
“Ehh…” Jay trailed off. “Hey, you never told me what you do, just that your office is around here. Now, seeing how you dress for work, I’m curious.”
“Want to take a guess?” Aaron flashed his best attempt at a self-important smile as he adjusted his suit jacket. Jay wouldn’t guess correctly—no one ever did—but his guess would be telling.
Jay hummed in thought. His eyes followed Aaron’s movements as he adjusted the knot on the dark purple tie, then trailed back up to Aaron’s face, lingering on his mouth. Aaron had a sudden urge to lick his lips to see Jay’s reaction but fought against it. If his inklings of Jay’s attraction were wrong, which they probably were, he’d come off as a creep.
“I honestly have no idea,” Jay admitted after a brief silence. “You look really serious, so maybe finance? Ooh, or maybe cybersecurity?”
Aaron let out a quick laugh. “Nothing that exciting. Director of strategy for a nonprofit, which, I know, sounds like a fake job. I’ve heard that before.”
“Is that like…do you decide what the company goals should be and the vision and all that?”
“In a nutshell, yes. Steering the organization in changing big-picture stuff.”
“That’s interesting. I’ve never met anyone in that line of work. Our start-up doesn’t have anything like that, just a marketing department. Our CEO came up with our mission statement after a night of drinking at a conference, or at least that’s the canonaround the office. Here, I’ll show it to you. You can give your professional opinion,” Jay said, pulling out his phone.
For as long as he’d been in the industry, people had always been dismissive about Aaron’s job. He’d heard enough ofOh, so like HR?andSo do you actually do anything?to expect a positive response when talking about his job, but Jay’s reaction had been perfect—he didn’t pretend to understand the nuances, but he acknowledged their existence, giving Aaron a sense of validation he didn’t know he craved.
Jay was scrolling through his phone when their server returned. Without a word, she set down a large bowl of soup and a plate of salad before dashing away. Thick, juicy chunks of tomato rested on top of a bed of lettuce and shaved carrots.
Aaron’s head snapped up in her direction. “Excuse me?” he called after her, but she was already halfway across the restaurant.
“It’s okay, I can fish them out,” Jay said with a resigned expression.
Aaron shook his head, refusing to entertain the idea. “Even if you do that, the lettuce is soaked in tomato juices. Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, laser-focused on the server as she headed back in their direction. As soon as she was close, he hopped up to get her attention. “Excuse me?”
She approached with an expectant look on her face.
“We ordered this salad without tomatoes.” Aaron gestured to Jay’s plate.
“You can just pick them off,” she said with an annoyed look. “It’s the lunch rush.”
“Look, I know it’s really busy and chaotic in here, but he specified no tomatoes because he’sallergic. Even if he picks them out, the whole thing’s already contaminated.” Aaron added a touch of steel to his voice, echoing the tone he used at work to project confidence. “Could you please get us a fresh salad?”
The server stared at Aaron for a few tense seconds. He hoped she would choose to be helpful. Creating a scene wasn’t his style, but he wasn’t willing to let this go. Jay deserved someone to stand up for him.
She must have seen the determination in his face because she turned to Jay, her shoulders slumped. “Yeah. Okay. I’m sorry. I’ll get you a new salad. I just…it’s so busy.”
“Totally understandable.” Aaron could afford to be magnanimous now that he’d gotten his way. “We don’t mind waiting.”
Sitting back down, he hesitated to look across the table. Jay seemed like an easygoing guy who didn’t like making waves. What would he think of Aaron’s outburst?
When Aaron finally lifted his eyes, all he could see in Jay’s face was a look of awe.
“Thank you,” Jay whispered.
Chapter 5
