“What are you doing for dinner some night?I’d love to take you to dinner that wasn’t here.”She laughed, and so did he.“But seriously.I’d love to take you out sometime.My name is Penrod, and this is my brother Gilman.We’re with the Hathaway family.”
“I know your brother Axel.He’s my attorney.”He didn’t know that, but was glad that she wanted the best when she needed it.“I’d love to go out with you, but I’m only off on Mondays until my two weeks are up.Then who knows?”
He couldn’t believe how easy it was to get a date.He had a feeling that she was feeling down, and that’s the only reason that she said yes, but he was going to take it.He’d enjoyed the banter between the three of them and was glad that Gilman didn’t mind him asking her out instead of him.
“I’ll pick you up on Monday evening, and we’ll have dinner someplace that requires a suit and tie for me.”She said that sounded lovely and was looking forward to it.Taking a slip of paper off her order pad, she not only gave him her phone number but her address as well.Yes, he was going to look forward to having dinner with a beautiful woman.
Chapter 4
She couldn’t believe that she was going to go out with one of the Hathaway brothers.It was messing with her mind, this money was, and she actually thought of herself in the same league as he was for a moment.She nearly called him several times to cancel, but she’d been pissed off at her job because she’d had to share her tips even though no one had helped her, not even to set up her table again.Well, she was glad that they only tipped her ten percent of the bill.While disappointing, she could understand why they did it.What possessed her to tell them about the meeting in the first place?
“I was upset.”She looked around to see if anyone heard her talking to herself.She didn’t normally talk to herself, but today had been a rough day.She couldn’t believe how much money she was losing by sharing her tips with the rest of the staff.
David said that when they hired busboys to clear their tables, they were going to be giving them ten percent of their tips, too.It was beginning to look like they weren’t going to have any staff soon.She wasn’t the least bit surprised when two staff members started and quit today.No one wanted to share their hard-earned tips with anyone.
But she found that she was looking forward to going out with Penrod.He seemed like a nice guy, and if they only went out the one time, it would be fun, and she would go on her first date in about five years.She planned on taking some of her stash with her just in case he decided to ditch her someplace.
Not that she thought that he would, but she didn’t know about men like the Hathaways.She’d heard about them her entire life and wasn’t surprised that they were wealthy.It was said that they were all billionaires several times over.Well, she was, too, she thought with a smile.
Getting dressed up on Monday made her think this was a bad idea.She didn’t have but one dress, and it was a little old.But it looked good on her, and she had some nice shoes to wear with it.She’d thought about getting herself something else; she could well afford it now, but decided that it was just one date, and she didn’t want to waste her money on something like a silly dress that she might only wear the one time.
Her notification had come through that her money was in her accounts.Yesterday she’d played around with investing.She’d checked out a couple of books online to see how to do it and looked up things on her phone.She wouldn’t go crazy right away if ever, but she knew that if she didn’t feed her money, it would be gone in no time.She had just over thirty billion dollars in her accounts, and she could hardly believe it herself.
“I’ve been trying to reach you.”She let her mom into her place when she knocked, but told her that she was going to have to leave soon.“You have a date?With who?I didn’t think you saw anyone but a few old people where you work, and that they didn’t even tip all that well.”
“This man and his brother came in, and I’ve been waiting on them for a while now.They’re very nice men.”She asked her if she was going out with both of them.“Don’t be silly.I’m only dating the one who asked.His name is Penrod Hathaway.”
“Hathaway?Why does that name sound familiar?”She didn’t tell her; she figured she’d figure it out sooner or later.“Where is he taking you?To the restaurant you met at?He probably thinks that you can get him a discount and that’s the only reason he asked you out.”
“Thanks.”She waved her off.“I just want to have fun, and you’re raining on my night.Don’t you have something to do tonight?I’m sure you have to work tomorrow.”
“I do.I came by to see if you wanted to take me out to dinner tonight.I’m running short, and I might not have enough for groceries this week.”She told her about the tips she was now having to share, and that she didn’t have a lot either.“You told me about that.That’s a shitty thing to do tosomeone.Especially since you’ve been working there for so long.I’d quit.”
“I did.Friday is my last day.And they’re having a hard time keeping staff on.Two more quit today.”She said it would serve them right to lose every one of their staff.“He’s even saying that he’s going to hire some busboys and they’ll get ten percent more of our money when they bus tables.”
“That place is going to shit if you ask me.How is he going to have any tables to bus if there are no waitresses to wait on the tables?Is he going to do it on his own?I doubt it.Stupid younger generation has no idea what they’re doing.”She pointed out that she was part of that younger group.“You’ve been old all your life.You’ve never been a teenager, always working to save my ass.Don’t think I didn’t notice, either.”
“I’m glad to hear that you did notice.”She was nearly ready to kick her mom out when the long limo pulled up in front of the house.“My goodness.He really is going all out with this date.”
Her mom stuck around to meet Penrod.It occurred to her who he was when he got out of the limo and came to her door.She asked him about the car, and he smiled at her.It was a beautiful smile, and she felt like he’d used it just for her.
“Why are you dating my daughter?”She asked her mom what she was talking about.“His kind don’t date out-of-work waitresses, honey.Just let me handle this.Why are you going out with Lori?It’s not like she has anything in your league.”
“I don’t know what that means, but she said yes when I asked her.I think that’s a good enough reason for us to be going out.”He took her keys from her and locked the door, thankfully with her mom on the outside.“We have reservations at six.I thought we’d go to the movies afterwards and have some fun.”
“Sounds nice.”She kissed her mom on the cheek and told her to behave.When she said that she wanted to stay at her place until she returned, she told her that she was going to be just fine.After her mom left, they did as well.She was glad that Penrod waited until her mom was gone before getting into the car.Lori didn’t trust her mother at all when it came to her place.She’d be moved in before she returned, no matter how small the place was.
“You look beautiful tonight.”She thanked him and blushed a little.No one had ever told her how beautiful she was before.“I think you’re lovely anyway, but this dress makes you look like a goddess.”
“You’ve gone too far now.”The two of them laughed as they headed to the restaurant.“Mom thinks you’re going to be taking me to Murphy’s Place for a discount.I hope not.Friday is my last day, and I don’t want to ever go there again.”
“I think I can do better than that.Oh, before I forget.The rest of your tip.Gilman left you fifty more so that you’d not have to share.I told him I’d give it to you.I hope that’s all right.”She told him what was going on at work and how the busboys were going to be taking even more of their money.“We probably won’t be back without you there.It was nice being waited on so well.It sounds like someone thinks that bringing in more help will bring in more customers.But all he’s doing is pissing off the staff.I’m sorry to hear about that.”
“I am as well.But enough about work.What is it you do for a living?Or do you work?”He told her that he was a homicide cop.“That sounds interesting.I wouldn’t think we’d have enough murders around here to warrant you being here.”
“I work in the three counties.There aren’t a lot of murders, but I’m also a cop when they need one.It’s something that I’ve been doing for so long that I’m nearly bored with it.My mom is afraid that I’ll get hurt, and I don’t blame her.She’s always worried about the six of us.”
They talked about all kinds of things on the way to the restaurant.When they pulled up in front of the place he was taking her, she looked at him.This was too much, and she told him so.
