Triangles, Part Fourteen

"I never thought of the Hard Rock Café as an upscale restaurant."

"Hm?"

"I'm glad I'm not over dressed for this place."

"Yeah."

"I mean, there's not much more I could take off and still be legal!"

"Uh-huh."

"Lee?"

Lee dragged his eyes back to his dinner partner. It wasn't her looks that failed to hold his attention. After all, she was a sight to behold with dark hair piled high on her head, revealing a long sinuous neck and sparkling ruby earrings which were perfectly matched to the strapless red sheath that only came about a third of the way down her thighs. Her eyes, a deep brown, were highlighted with just the right amount of make-up, and the vast expanses of exposed skin were flawless. Everything about his date was packaged to entice and Lee should have been captivated at the very least by her physical beauty, even if the conversation was less than stimulating. Instead, Lee found his mind and eyes drifting again and again.

While his mind was left to wander aimlessly, his eyes, at least, had a target when they slid away. About four feet below and twenty feet away, beneath the huge projection screen and flying goddess statue, was a bartender that had snagged his attention away from the prime example of feminine beauty at the table with him. The beverage server, one he had not seen here before, was much more Lee's ideal than his dinner partner.

She moved just so. Her narrow hips, which would have lost the loose black chinos she wore if not for the suspenders, swayed enticingly with each step. She moved to and fro among the bottles oblivious to, or perhaps unconcerned by, the attention she garnered -and each time Lee was force to draw his eyes back to his dinner-mate, he got a chance to see just how much that was. With each reach into the mirrored glass jungle, toned shoulders barely wider than her hips stretched farther out of the white tank she wore, revealing one or the other of a pair of matching tattoos nearly hidden on her blades. Facing the bar, perfectly sculpted eyebrows would lift in question from beneath the bill of a well-worn driver's cap whenever she paused to acknowledge a customer or would drop in demand upon delivery of an order. And, though she consistently smiled as money was exchanged or when she recognized a regular, those windows to the soul never reflected any true mirth or even happiness.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Lee blinked. "I'm sorry, what was that?" This is ridiculous. He absolutely could not keep his attention on the here and now.

The woman before him, he was pretty sure she had said her name was Kelly, gave him a concerned look -or it might have been a concerned look if not for the accompanying pout that said all attention should be on her. "Are you feeling alright?"

Lee sighed. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Kelly's very red lips pursed for a moment then settled back into the seductive smile she had been using all night. "Is it your head? I saw on the TV how you saved that little boy and got knocked out when all that stuff fell on you."

Though he hadn't given much thought to the low level ache in his neck and head since early morning, Lee seized on the excuse now. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your evening."

"Oh, no! I'm having a wonderful time with you," she cooed.

Lee nodded. "I'm glad." And, hey, it might even be the truth. It'd sure explain why I can't seem to concentrate tonight.

He had opened his mouth to add something more when their server arrived, arms laden. "Hi, folks. I hope you brought your appetites." The waiter flashed them a toothy grin which Lee returned in gratitude for the interruption.

"Yes, I think we're ready."

The waiter's eyes flicked between the plates he carried and Lee and his date as if he were judging just how much of the food he was carrying would need to be boxed or thrown away come the end of the evening. Lee suspected that the waiter had been serving meals long enough that the man's assessment was rarely wrong. The waiter said nothing to reveal his thoughts, however. He simply nodded then turned his attention to juggling plates until he had a hand free with which to distribute them.

"Grilled sirloin steak, medium rare," the waiter announced as he set the plate in front of Lee.

Lee caught the face Kelly made when their server announced his dish; it was the same expression she had worn when he placed his order. Gods, he groaned silently, why can't I have a nice evening with someone who accepts that not everyone has the same tastes or moral interpretation of what's edible? I mean, I backed her up when she insisted her veggies be sauttéed in canola rather than butter. And I didn't even roll my eyes.

Lee glanced at his own dish, his mind mid-rant. "Thanks," he mumbled just to shut up the internal voice.

The waiter flashed Lee another smile then turned to Kelly. "And for you ma'am, the roasted vegetable pesto pasta, no olives and plain toast."

Lee had sliced into the middle of his steak while their server was placing Kelly's plates and was inspecting the meat's center when the waiter asked, "Is that done enough for you?"

Lee closed the inspection site and squeezed a bit of red from the steak with the flat of his fork before looking up. "It looks perfect, thanks."

If the fact that neither her appearance nor her conversation had been enough to capture his attention and the looks of disapproval she gave him regarding his meal choice weren't enough to tell Lee that Kelly wasn't The One, the utter disgust he saw on her face when he looked to see if she was happy with her meal sealed it. Well, she's a real winner, his mind taunted. I guess that's one more person you can eliminate from the pool of potential mates, eh?

"Is there anything else I can get you two?" the waiter asked cheerfully. "Would you like some Heinz or A-1 for your steak?"

Lee looked up at his server, removing his date completely from his view. He took a slow breath then gave the waiter a small smile. "A-1 would be good."

"And, for you, ma'am? Would you like some fresh parmesan? More Brancott or more water?"

"No cheese, just refill the wine."

"A-1 and chardonnay," the waiter repeated the requests. He gave Lee one last smile before turning away.

Once their server was gone, Lee chanced a glance at his date. Kelly was carefully picking through the vegetables in her pasta. With relief, Lee attacked his own meal, scooping up forkfuls of cheese covered pasta spirals and leaving the meat until the steak sauce arrived.

When Kelly finally spoke again, Lee was in the process of dipping his first slice of steak into the large brown puddle of sauce on his plate. "You know, I think that waiter is gay."

Lee stopped what he was doing and stared at the woman sitting across from him for a moment. She was holding her near empty wine glass as if it might escape if she loosened her grip even slightly. Her eyes were slightly unfocused but seemed to be tracking something just beyond Lee's left shoulder.

Lee opened his mouth to respond but Kelly continued to vocalize her thoughts, oblivious to his reaction. "I can't believe he was flirting with you. Don't those people have any shame?"

Lee blinked in consternation. "Those people?"

Kelly's eyes drifted over until she was looking at Lee. "You know," she jerked her chin briefly to indicate the group of servers gathered near the entrance to the kitchen, and then dropped her voice to a stage whisper and clarified, "perverts."

Lee let his fork drop to his plate with a clank. "Those people are human beings just like you and me, Kelly. They're no more or less perverted than any other group of people on this planet."

"B–"

"And you didn't seem to think there was any shame in flirting the other day when you begged for my phone number."

"That was different," Kelly objected.

"No," Lee countered with a growl, "it wasn't."

Kelly sniffed in lieu of a response, drained the last of the wine from her glass and then turned her attention to the vegetables remaining on her plate. Lee glared at her even after she'd dismissed him.

Oh, yeah, his mind taunted again. This one's a real winner.

Lee sighed silently and picked up his fork. As he lifted the bite of steak, he caught a glimpse of the bartender he had been watching earlier. She had stopped moving and the broadest smile he had seen all night lit up her face. He stuffed his fork in his mouth as his eyes searched the crowd around the bar for the source of such genuine happiness. He couldn't identify the source, but someone down there sure was lucky. He'd love to have a look like that aimed at him.

Lee sighed again, louder this time. When is that call due?

~Continued in [an error occurred while processing this directive] Part Fifteen~
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