"Of course. Still, I doubt my gymnastics would help that
much. And I haven't done it since high school."
"Yeah, I did a lot more surfing back in school. But I still
do it when I can." He shook off his own apparent dismay.
"Hey, you may not be an instant surfer, but you've got
balance, and you're in shape. It will help you immensely."
Rebecca's head was swimming with the food, the
alcohol, and the man. She even considered the idea of
learning to surf.
After dinner, the waitress brought the check with a large
helping of enthusiasm. "Mmm. I see you licked the plate
again, O.E." Her emphasis was on "lick."
"It was great, Yvonne. Give the chef a squeeze for me."
He watched her saunter away.
"She seems to like you. Former girlfriend?"
"Nah. But she's cute. I like to tease her sometimes."
He's telling me about other cute women on our first
date? This was not a promising development. Of course,
they had made no promises to each other, so what did she
expect? She'd already put up with his frank attitude. More
of the same was no surprise.
O.E. pulled out a few twenty-dollar bills from his
pocket. Rebecca cocked her head.
"No credit card?"
"You know what they say, 'cash is king.' And sometimes
it gets you a discount." He started to peel off the bills. When
the last bill hit the table, he knitted his eyebrows and
looked at the check more closely. Then he exhaled and sunk
his face into his hands.
I saw this coming. He was out of money. His promise to
never ask her for any was already a lie. She should have been
more annoyed, but something about him seemed so
helpless that she decided to offer.
"What do you need, O.E.?"
"I feel like a jerk. I'm twenty dollars short. Let me talk to
Umberto-he'll let me pay next time I'm here." He started
to stand up.
Rebecca reached out and took his hand, keeping him
seated. She grabbed her purse and tossed a twenty-dollar
bill on the table. If they continued to go out, she was
increasingly certain that this would turn into a pattern.
"I promise to pay you back."
"No. It's all right. I can afford it."
"You're too nice to me. This will never happen again."
"Let it go, O.E. I don't mind." Although, in truth, she
did. Especially when he'd been flirting with the waitress.
She wondered how much of her money was going toward
the tip. Not that the waitress didn't deserve a tip. Of course