Two pizzas seemed like a lot of food for just two guys, but I never would have expected they would cover the entire table.
“Damn. Talk about value for your dollar,” Dmitri said.
“Guess this’ll last me the rest of the day. And probably into tomorrow.” I picked up a single slice, which seemed like a quarter of an entire regular pizza.
“Not me. I’m-”
But my friend stopped suddenly when we heard someone yelling from kitchen. The voice was muffled, though the volume and tone couldn’t be hidden, so it took me a moment to realize it was Erin.
Everyone in the dining room had gone quiet. We couldn’t make out what was being said, but we all knew a fight when we heard one.
Then the door to the kitchen opened up and Erin was tromping out, throwing her apron back at whoever she had been arguing with.
“And we’ll see how fast you work by yourself!”
The path from the kitchen to the exit went right by Dmitri and my table, and though I didn’t want to I made eye contact with Erin as she approached.
“What?” she asked testily.
“Argument with the big man?” Dmitri asked casually, almost jokingly.
“What do you think?”
“Want some pizza? It’s hot and fresh.”
Looking at her, you would think she would refuse, perhaps cussing Dmitri out, but instead she said
“Move over.”
and sat next to him, picking up a slice of his meat lover’s.
“So what was that about?” I ventured, hiding most of my face behind my own slice.
“That asshole said I was working too slow. I’m the only waitress here, I have to handle all these tables and the people picking up for FoodBoi, and he’s riding my butt for not being faster.”
“Harsh.”
“Ah, screw him. I needed to find a new job anyway.”
She finished her slice and, without invitation, grabbed another one from Dmitri’s box. He didn’t complain, so the conversation died down as the three of us ate.
As I expected, I ended up with a lot of leftovers. As good as the pizza was, I only made my way through one-quarter of it. The rest was coming home with me.
Dmitri, on the other hand, tore through his pizza as if he hadn’t already had something to eat before now. He ate a full half of his dish, and he probably would have kept going if Erin hadn’t claimed the other half for herself. The girl was far from chubby, but she had an appetite on her.
“Thanks,” she said, still audibly frustrated. “But I can’t sit here and eat my feelings all day. I’ve got to find a new job, pronto.”
As she slid out of the booth I reached around for something to say to keep her from just walking off. I settled on
“Any idea what you’ll do now?”
“I dunno. My resume is pretty stark, so it’ll probably be another food service grind. I think Polyburger is hiring.”
“Oh, yeah? Their food is great.”
“Maybe I’ll see you around, then.”
And I so desperately didn’t want to delude myself into thinking she winked at me as she said that, but she was definitely smiling now.
Before she walked off Dmitri shot me a look. ‘Do it,’ it said. ‘Ask her out.’ Gathering up my courage, I opened my mouth and said
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