Offer and Tip

On my way back to the table a hand shot out and grabbed my arm. I jumped a little bit, relaxing when I realized it was just Georgia.

"Gotta pee," she stated.

I pointed to the far left corner of the restaurant. "Over there."

Using me as a support and almost taking me down, she pulled herself up and then stumbled to the bathrooms, muttering something about marriages. I glanced at Solene, who shrugged at me.

I returned the card to Star Spangled Lady and she filled in the tip and signed the receipt, handing the notebook back to me. It was hard to resist the urge to see how much she tipped, but I managed to slide it into my back pocket. "Thank you very much, have a good night you guys. Get home safe."

As I turned to walk away, I felt a heavy arm across my shoulders. "You said yer comin' home with me."

I saw the spangled ribbon and felt my stomach churn. "Please don't touch me."

"I know you like me. You were eyeing me all night. Lucky you, little blonde guys like you are my favorite."

I tried to duck under her grasp, but she only held me tighter. She placed her other hand in my hair, her breath heavy on my neck. "I have to go check on the other tables," I said.

"What are you, just a tease?"

When I signed up to be a waiter, I figured I'd have to deal with a little bit of harassment from creepy customers. It was a given in any customer service job, unfortunately. So yeah, I was a little pissed at this lady, but I could handle it. I'd done it before. If I made her mad it'd make my manager mad too, because you never knew just who these people were and what kind of influences they had. Me flipping out at Georgia was a mistake that could've been ten times worse than it was. I couldn't let it happen again.

So I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I'm just really busy."

"So you are interested?"

How that translated into that, I had no idea. "Please let me go."

That's when I felt it. A massive hand on my ass, pinching it roughly. I felt the blood rush to my face as a wave of nausea coursed through me. Okay, this was crossing the line. This was sexual harassment. Even though, she's a woman and I'm the man here.

I wasn't sure what to do. I didnt want to cause a scene. It could cost me my job. But did I call my manager? Call the cops? I couldn't let her keep touching me.

"Hit her!" someone barked out. And without really thinking, I listened to the voice, bringing my fist around and straight to push the bitch's body. She let go of me and I shoved myself away from her and into a soft and warm body.

For a moment we both wobbled but then a pair of hands clamped down onto my shoulder, steadying us both. I turned my head to see it was Georgia.

"You asshole," Star Spangled Lady spat out, moving toward me.

I flinched a bit, pressing myself more firmly into Georgia.

"Enough," Georgia said.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Georgia raised her eyebrow at the older woman. "Who do you think you're talking to, Ms. Curtis Penny?"

Star Spangled Lady-well Curtis actually-froze, her eyes widening in recognition and maybe fear? I glanced at Georgia, who picked a piece of lint off her shirt and flicked it onto the ground. There weren't a lot of people in the restaurant, but they were all staring at us. I saw Collin in the far corner looking like someone had run over his cat and I knew I was in trouble.

"M-Ms. Calloway," Curtis greeted, sweat starting to form on her fat neck. "Good seeing you."

It surprised me to see this bitch- who definitely had more than two hundred pounds on Georgia and was probably twice her age- look so terrified of the younger woman. Why was that? Was Georgia part of a mafia or something?

"I wish I could say the same about you," Georgia remarked. "However, any person who could watch what I just witnessed and still be glad to see the woman involved wouldn't be a friend of mine. Maybe I'll rethink our friendship."

"It's his fault."

I scoffed. "Oh please."

"Whether it was his fault or not, you simply do not touch women without their permission," Georgia said. "Please take your leave now."

And amazingly, Curtis did just that. Not even another word back. The group of women she had been with had already dispersed, leaving her to waddle away alone with her head down.

I let out a long breath of air. My body felt gross and I knew I'd have to take a long, hot shower to feel clean again. Where did women get off acting like they could do as they please to man? I should've push that bitch more than once.

"Crap, that's right. I pushed her," I groaned. "And my boss saw. He's so going to fire me. I messed up."

"That woman deserved it."

"You should've push her instead of telling me to do it," I muttered. "Then my job wouldn't be at risk."

Georgia stared at me flatly. "My hands are too delicate. Besides, I'll would even slap her if I will do the honor."

I caught myself staring at her hands. They did look pretty dainty... no, I shouldn't be thinking of that. I scratched my head. "I really can't lose this job. I can't lose the money. What am I supposed to do? I don't think I'll be able to find another place and make this much money. Ahh, crap."

"So, you do need money huh," Georgia mumbled under her breath and I barely caught it. She hiccupped and I ignored her, too busy with my mini freak out.

It took me a moment to notice she was swaying. Finally, her hands found my shoulders again, trying to secure herself. "I'm going to be sick," she announced, letting out the most disgusting burp I'd ever heard.

"Ugh, ew, Come on," I complained, putting my arm around her waist and hurrying her back to the women's room.

After setting her up in a stall, I left the bathroom and heard a strange hiss. Pausing, I looked around but didn't see anything.

"Willy," it came again.

My head Swung toward the back room, where Collin was beckoning me, hiding half his body behind the door. He is so weird.

"It's Wilson." I told him as I approached. "And listen, that woman grabbed my ass."

"Language," he warned shrilly. "You pushed a guest."

"Yeah, but..."

"A very important guest."

"Yeah, but..."

"Do you know who she is?" Collin asked in a strained voice. I was sure if he went any higher he'd reach a level where only dogs could hear him.

I felt my shoulders slump. Yep, I knew I was in trouble. Even though it wasn't my fault at all. "No, I don't, but-"

"I can't let this slide no matter the reason," Collin told me, letting out a deep sigh. "You can't just push a customer. That's abuse."

"I had a right to," I piped in quickly so he couldn't interrupt me again.

"I should fire you on the spot."

My heart skipped a beat. Fire me? Oh no, I couldn't afford to be fired.

"I'm really sorry," I said, deciding to be apologetic rather than angry. I had to have this job. "I won't do it again. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"You weren't. But as I said I can't pretend this didn't happen. The whole restaurant watched it happen. I'm going to have to give our patrons coupons to make up for it. Coupons,

Willy."

"It's Wilson," I told him, but at this point, it felt moot

"I'm going to suspend you for a month," he decided. "You're a good worker. I don't want to lose you. But if I let this pass with no consequences, who knows who will think they can push or even worse the next customer they don't like? We need to give this time so everyone will forget."

I wanted to say that it probably didn't work that way, that no one would hurt a customer just because they didn't like them. I wanted to say that I'd definitely had the right to push that bitch. I wanted to say it was messed up I was getting in trouble for this. I wanted to say screw your crazy rules and your weirdo personality, I'm out of here.

But I didn't.

Because I needed the money.

"I'm sorry," I apologized again.

I knew the conversation was over. There was no point in trying to fight.

"Go apologize to the guests and finish up with table four and then you can go home," Collin instructed, puttinga hand against his forehead. "Man, I'm beat."

I felt my annoyance flare up again. He was beat? Somehow, I managed not to say a word. I could definitely win an award for Best Patience When Dealing With Idiots. So I went around to all the guests and apologized for my behavior. Fortunately, the majority of them congratulated me on pushing the bitch and told me if she ever gave me trouble again, they knew what company she owned.

When I got to table four again, I realized that both Solene and Georgia were missing. Upon closer inspection, I found a receipt. They must've gone up to the hosts to get their bill. What, they couldn't wait for me to come back? I felt faintly disappointed. I hadn't gotten to thank Georgia or say goodbye to Solene. But I suspected Solene had decided to grab the barfing Georgia and hit the road. If they really were significant to the high society, getting drunk to the point of throwing up at a five-star restaurant probably didn't look too good.

So, as any other good waiter would do, I picked up the slip to check the tip. There was a litle note scribbled at the top of the receipt. It was almost urnintelligible, but I managed to decipher it. I figured writing drunk was a lot like trying to walk drunk. I gave her props for making it look a little more like print than hieroglyphics.

Wilson

You need money. I need a boyfriend. I think we'd make good business partners. Please call at your earliest convenience, but not before 9AM.

X-XXX-XXX-XXXX

Georgia Calloway.

P.S. your tip is an advance.

Curious note aside, I looked at the tip amount.

$10,000.43

I nearly fainted.