Not Bad For An Old Maid

By Di

Just as I leaned across the booth to refill Frank's coffee cup, I heard a screech of tires and looked up as a white Cadillac convertible was pulling into the parking space directly in front of the plate glass window.

"Twila! Dammit, Twila, whatcha doin?!?," Frank yelled, backing away from the table as the coffee overflowed the cup and began to run across the table towards his chair.

Sputtering, I set the coffee pot down and rushed to the counter for a rag to wipe up the mess.

"Frank, I'm sorry! I don't know what I was thinking about!" In truth, I *did* know and glanced out the window at the Caddy once again. The two occupants made a strange pair. The odd-looking younger man with a silly grin almost bounced with hyperactivity but my attention was drawn instantly to the driver.

I finished wiping up the spilled coffee and moved back behind the counter where I had the best vantage point to watch them as they exited the car. The driver was dressed impeccably in tight khaki trousers and a dark brown shirt, which clung to every inch of his impressive body. Even though I knew I was staring, there was no way I could tear my eyes away as I watched him turn, close the car door and start for the building.

I had grown up in this small town seventy miles west of Las Vegas and since high school, all of my friends had teased me about being an old maid. They continuously nagged at me to 'loosen up' . . 'do something wild' . . . 'take a chance'. Wouldn't they all be surprised if they knew what this stodgy 'old maid' (who was closer to forty than she was to thirty) was thinking as she watched this stranger approach.

"Now *that* would be worth taking a chance for!" Even now, I blushed at the thought, knowing full well that a man like that would never look twice at someone like me.

As the door closed behind them, the older man removed his sunglasses and looked around the room for an empty booth. Although the custom in the cafe was to "seat yourself", I scooted around the end of the counter and stopped in front of the pair.

"Welcome to Joe's Diner! If you would follow me, I have a table open right over here," and led them to an empty booth in my section. As I turned to pick up two menus from the counter, I saw the other waitress throwing daggers in my direction with her eyes. Smiling sweetly at her, I turned back to the booth and placed a menu in front of each of the men.

"Hi! I'm Twila and I'll be your waitress this evening. Is there anything I can get for you right away?", I smiled addressing my question directly to the handsome Hispanic who had taken the seat on the right.

Setting his sunglasses on the table, he looked up and met my gaze with the most astounding amber colored eyes I had ever seen. A smile curved his lips as he realized my eyes were locked with his.

"Hello, Twila! I am Morales - Morales Velasquez Hernandez Rivera Pittman - and this is my business associate, Reggie. We are very pleased to make your acquaintance."

The younger man he had introduced as Reggie was attempting to get Morales' attention in a not too subtle way and after casting him an annoyed glance, Morales continued. "I believe my associate would be very happy if you could inform him as to the location of the restroom."

"Why sure, Reggie! It's right past that counter and around to the right. You can't miss it!"

Blushing, Reggie slid out of the booth and hurriedly made his way in the direction I pointed.

"Well, Mr. Pittman, do you have any idea what you would like to order this evening?"

"Please, call me Morales! We will have whatever you suggest. I trust you. Trust is very important, don't you agree?"

By the look in his eye, I could tell he was actually flirting with me, which took me by surprise. None of the regular customers flirted with me any more and I was certainly too out of practice to even venture an attempt at flirting back. But ducking my head and looking back at him through lowered lashes, I gave it my best shot.

"Why yes, Morales, I like to believe you have to trust the people you meet until they give you a reason not to! And if you are trusting me with your dinner selection, I think you will be pleased with tonight's meatloaf special. It's not very fancy, but it's tasty and it's filling."

Nodding, he smiled back and said, "Yes! We will have two meatloaf specials. And two lemonades, please!"

Turning toward the kitchen to place the order and pour the lemonades, I almost ran headlong into Reggie who was standing directly behind me. Moving out of the way, he let me pass and then slid back into the booth where he began an excited conversation with Morales who suddenly appeared bored.

Setting the lemonades down in front of each of them, I tried to restart the conversation. "Are you just passing through from Vegas? What are you doing way out here instead of gambling and seeing the shows?"

"Yes, we have spent some time in Vegas and the past two evenings have proven to be very profitable. However, we needed to get away for a few days. We made a few 'acquaintances' that we preferred not to bump into again and so are heading to Los Angeles for a few days. We did not get started until later than we had planned and have decided to spend the night here and continue to Los Angeles in the morning." Looking around the cafe, he noted, "This is a very busy place for such a small town!"

"Yeah, we're the only place open on Friday nights and we get a lot of people driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for the weekend. Plus, there's not much of a nightlife in this town so a lot of the locals come here to eat. It's always the biggest night of the week. Saturday nights are so dead we actually close early. Joe always says that Friday night makes up for how slow the rest of the week is and without it, there wouldn't be a Joe's Diner anymore. Oh, there's your dinner . . . I'll be right back!"

As I reached up to get the plates down from under the heat lamps, I glanced back at their table to see Morales explaining something to Reggie. He was extremely animated and his hands flew in an attempt to make the younger man understand. As I arrived with the dinner plates, he stopped in mid-sentence, smiled and said, "Ah yes, that looks very good! Doesn't it, Reggie?" and looked toward the younger man who was already attacking the food as if he hadn't eaten in a week.

"I'll leave you to your meals. I'll be on break for a few minutes but I'll check back with you as soon as I get back, OK? Do you need anything before I leave?"

"Do you *have* to leave? Can't you take your break here and keep us company while we eat? I would like to hear more about you. People interest me . . . everyone is so different." As he spoke, he slowly slid closer to the window, making room for me to join him on the bench seat. Before I even realized what I was doing, I was seated next to him and, at his urging and to my surprise, I was quickly filling him in on my whole life history, which actually took less time that the fifteen minutes I had for break.

"I really have to get back to work and let Wanda take her break now. I'll bring a couple more lemonades over for you - on the house."

Several new customers arrived just as Wanda disappeared into the back room for a cigarette and I seated them in my section, which kept me hopping between the booths and the kitchen. As I made my way back from the kitchen with the last order, I saw Morales and Reggie rise from the booth and head for the cash register. Practically slamming the plates on the table, I hurried to meet them there before Wanda returned to ring up their check.

"How was everything, guys?" I smiled and was surprised when Morales reached across the counter, handed me the money and grasped my hand. Still holding my hand, he tossed the keys to Reggie and said, "I will be right there. Wait for me in the car, OK?" and turned back to smile at me.

"I would like to come back later and talk to you more when you are not so busy. Would that be possible?"

Nodding, I heard the words tumble from my mouth before my brain ever had a chance to process what I was saying.

"Sure! We stop serving at 10 so by 10:30 we will have everything cleaned up and Wanda will be going home. I have to run the cash register tapes and do the deposit so I'll be here for another hour or so."

His sultry mouth curved into a grin and he said, "Good! I will not come until I see that Wanda has left . . . if that is all right?"

Feeling as giddy as a teenager being asked to prom by the captain of the football team, I managed to mumble, "Yeah, sure, great!" and watched as he gave me a small wave and walked out to meet Reggie at the car.

Standing mutely at the register, it felt as if a thousand butterflies were fluttering in my head and chest until I saw the car drive off and I suddenly realized I had just agreed to meet a man I didn't even know by myself after hours in an empty restaurant. "Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!" was being yelled by the sensible voice in my head while the other voice that lived there also yelled even louder, "All right! Way to go, Twila!"

*****

The last customer had been served, the tables and counters wiped down and the kitchen cleaned when Wanda walked out the door at 10:35 p.m. Just as I reached to open the register, I heard the little bell on the door tinkle and looked up to see Morales standing there looking even more handsome than he had earlier. My hand froze above the register keys as I watched him turn the lock on the door and walk toward me, closing the distance between us until he stood so close I could actually feel the heat of his body and feel his breath on my face.

In a daze, I felt the back of his fingers stroke my cheek before grasping the back of my neck and pulling me even closer. His open mouth descended on mine, which had opened in surprise. Finding no resistance, I felt his tongue thrust between my teeth and begin a hot and sensual dance with mine. The room spinning out of control, I broke the kiss and opened my mouth to tell him we had to stop when I heard my voice say, "Come with me".

Grabbing his sleeve, I pulled him through the swinging doors which lead to the kitchen, away from the view of passersby on the street. Just as the doors settled into position, he reached behind me and in a fraction of a second I watched as he tossed away the apron I had been wearing only moments before.

Our mouths melding once again, I slowly pulled him across the kitchen towards the storeroom door. Halfway across the room I felt his hands on my back and heard the unmistakable sound of the zipper on my uniform slowly being unzipped. Eyes glued to mine, Morales reached down and slowly pulled the dress up over my head and, once again, tossed it off to the side.

My fingers fumbled with the buttons on the silk shirt he wore but with his help, the shirt finally joined my uniform in the middle of the floor. I tugged his sleeveless white T-shirt out of the waistband of his slacks, pulled it over his head and tossed it with the rest. Unable to resist, my fingers twined themselves through the black curly chest hair and I reached up to pull his mouth to mine. Somewhere between the middle of the kitchen and the storeroom door, my slip had joined the clothes on the floor.

I felt Morales' hand on my breast as I turned the doorknob to the storeroom and backed inside. On the left side of the room was the cot Joe had set up to use on those nights when he and the wife got into it and she kicked him out. Hooking two fingers in the waistband of his slacks I pulled Morales in that direction and allowed him to divest me of the plain-Jane underwear I still wore.

Lying back on the cot, I watched in fascination as Morales slowly and tantalizingly unbuttoned his slacks, unzipped the zipper and stripped off his remaining clothes in one fluid movement, providing me with a view of his impressive manhood and the promise of the pleasures to follow. Thankful that Joe had the foresight to purchase a cot capable of handling his 300-plus pounds, I eagerly reached up to pull Morales into a mouth-devouring kiss as he lowered his body to mine. Using his knee to part my legs, he settled himself between them and, as if by magic, it seemed his hands were everywhere at once, touching, stroking, caressing, each time followed immediately by his lips.

Suddenly nervous, I pushed him back slightly and said quietly, "I don't usually do this . . ." Morales simply smiled and moved his body sensuously against mine reminding me of the pleasure that lay in store and taking me to a place in my mind that I had never been before.

My eyes closed in pure joy as Morales shifted slightly and ever so slowly brought us together as one. Clinging to him, my body quickly matched the increasing rhythm of his thrusts and it seemed the rest of the world simply disappeared. As we reached the peak of ecstasy together, I could have sworn the room dissolved and we were floating on air in a shower of brilliant colored fireworks.

As his shudders subsided, Morales shifted slightly to his left. I reached to grab the threadbare blanket which had fallen on the floor and tossed it haphazardly across the two of us. With his arm across my waist and his legs entwined with mine, we both fell asleep exhausted.

*****

"Twila!! What the hell is going on here? Wake up, dammit!"

Far from awake, my mind tried to sort out what was going on. Why, in the middle of a dream about Morales, would I be hearing Joe's voice? Reaching out, I suddenly realized I was alone on the cot, naked and covered only by the thin blanket and my eyes shot open to see Joe and the Chief of Police standing there.

Clutching the blanket to me, I stammered, "Huh? What? Where. . .?"

"That's what we want to know! When I came to work this morning I found the door unlocked and the cash register drawer open. There wasn't even a dime left! Cleaned out completely! And so was the safe in the office! And then I found *these* scattered all over the kitchen!" At that point Joe tossed the clothes Morales had taken off me the night before onto the cot in a heap.

Embarrassed, the Chief of Police grabbed Joe by the arm and tugged him towards the door. "C'mon, Joe. Let her get dressed and then she can tell us what happened last night." Grudgingly Joe allowed himself to be led back to the kitchen after a scathing look in my direction.

Covering my face with my hands, I lay back down on the cot as my mind whirled. It was pretty definite I didn't have a job anymore and, since everyone I knew would hear about this within hours, this might just be what it took to motivate me to pack up and leave this small town behind.

The problems of the moment were washed away as I allowed the memories of the night before to flood my mind. Memories of Morales, and what he did, and how he made me feel alive for the first time in years. So maybe he was a scoundrel and a thief, at the very least he had reminded me that there was more to me than just 'Twila the Waitress'. As I remembered every little detail of our lovemaking, I couldn't help but smile and think to myself, "Not bad for an *old maid*!"