After another fifteen minutes, I was ready to pull my eyeballs out of my head. I thought when they brought the food out, Everett would take a break from his dental stories, but I was so wrong.
“I’d never seen a tooth with so much decay. I asked the patient if I could keep it for research, and they said I could.”
I stare down at my tiny portion of salmon over a bed of green lentils, wondering if I could fake an emergency. Suddenly, the valet came to the table. Both Everett and I looked up at him.
“Excuse me,” the young man says. “There is an issue outside.”
Everett looks at me confused before glancing back at the boy.
“What kind of issue?”
The kid looks nervous. He leans down as if he’s trying to keep the conversation between us.
“Your car is being towed.”
Everett jumps up so quickly that he knocks his chair to the ground. He doesn’t even say anything to me before rushing out of the restaurant. I sit in my seat, staring at his back.
“What the heck?”
The young valet shrugs at my question before following Everett out. I’m not sure if I should follow or not. Everett and I didn’t ride together. We both agreed to park down the block and were going to walk to the art exhibit. Now I’m assuming Everett must have had his car valeted.
I was so distracted trying to think of my next move that I didn’t notice my company until they picked up Everett’s fallen seat and sat down. The moment I spotted Mitch’s devious smile, I knew he was behind this.
“Mitchell Declan Miller, what did you do?” I laugh.
Mitch shrugs. “I told you I did a background check. It seems your dentist is very particular about where he parks his precious Porche. He’s raked up quite a few parking tickets.”
I shake my head before leaning back in my seat.
“You called a tow truck on him?”
He places his hand on his chest as if he’s offended. “I did no such thing. I just told a friend where his car was parked. They did the rest.”
I toss my head back and laugh. I’m going to send Devon his favorite pound cake for that. He was a lifesaver tonight.
Mitch looks down at my plate with a frown. “What the hell is that?”
Chuckling, I stab my fork into my salmon. “Pan seared salmon and lentils. What? You don’t think it looks good?”
“It looks like they are feeding a hamster. You’ll need twenty of those to get full.”
I drop my fork back down onto my plate and sighed. “Yeah, their portion sizes are insane.”
I appreciate fine dining as much as anyone else, but I can’t say it’s particularly my favorite. I’d much rather have a burger and fries from the greasy diner down the street.
“How about we ditch this place, and I take you to get some actual food?” Mitch uses the fork to pick up the piece of fish on Everett’s plate before dropping it back down.
“Mitch, I can’t just leave him. That’s rude.”
Mitch narrows his gaze at me. “You mean the douche that took off running down the street chasing his car. He has no plans of coming back.”
Color me shocked. I guess I can add my story of date abandonment to the collection with the other ladies of the book club. Taking my napkin out of my lap, I placed it down on top of my plate.
“I guess I have to pay for this dinner.” Looking at the food that we’ve barely touched, I grimace.
Mitch holds up a hand, getting the server's attention. “No, you’re not paying for this.”
The moment the server comes to the table, he hands her his card and tells her to settle us out.
