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“Well, well, well…” he said when he reached her. Then he stopped. And then he started again, but didn’t get very far. His voice trailing off. “I…”
“Yes?”
Romeo took a moment. Then he just said, “Hi.”
“Hi,” she said back.
Then the two of them were interrupted by a loud, curse filled ruckus coming from up at the register.
“Eff you!”
“No! Eff you!!”
Tyler was furious. He lunged at Marco and tried to grab him through the order window but Marco pulled back, just out of reach, grabbing a plastic squeezy bottle as he did. The plain white kind with the scissor cut tip. The kind you could put anything into, any condiment - mayo, mustard, ketchup, bbq sauce…
He squirted Tyler in the face. Ketchup spewed across his cheek, ear and the back of his head. It dripped down his neck. He reached up and touched it, inadvertently spreading it across his jaw. Then he looked at the mess in his hand and really got mad.
Tyler flew back through the kitchen, stopped for a half second at his fry station and grabbed a pile of potatoes right out of the fryer. Then he spun around and hit the hot line. His hands were a blur as he grabbed what he could and piled it on the crispy spuds. Then he turned and sprinted out through the side door. In his hands he held a paper boat full of steaming, hot, molten, chili Cheez fries.
In two steps Marco came into view. Without slowing down Tyler twisted his body, arched his back, cocked his arm and threw the entire boat of lava like, Cheez Whiz and chili covered french fries right at Marco. But his aim sucked and he was off balance. And, truth be told, while Tyler fancied himself a tough guy and a bit of a boxer he wasn’t much of an athlete. As a result, those fries were headed nowhere near Marco.
They were headed for Ant. Ant and Romeo. The two of them had stopped talking when the bigger ruckus began and they had stood there, side by side, watching things unfold. The ethereal feeling of her shoulder inadvertently brushing up against his arm, not once but twice, not lost on either of them.
Silently they watched Tyler and Marco escalate this asinine altercation to the point where now fiery hot, molten Cheez Whiz covered fries were rocketing toward them. In another nano second she, they, would be plastered with potatoes, chili and, if you can consider the Whiz cheese, then cheese.
Years of training had made Romeo quick. And in that micro second of time they still had before disaster struck, quick reflexes and muscle memory took over. Without even thinking he snatched the empty tray from Ant’s hands and used it as a shield to block the barrage. The fries and Whiz and chili bombarded the tray and slid harmlessly to the ground with an audible plop. Landing in a big, disgusting, poop like pile of loaded potatoes.
Sure they got a little messy. There was splatter and some ricochet, but most of the food fell harmlessly to the floor. Unless you were the one who was going to have to clean it up. Then it probably wasn’t looking so harmless.
“Wow. Thanks,” said Ant, a note of impressed gratitude in her voice.
“Yeah, you’re welcome. You okay?”
“I think so.”
“You?”
“Yeah.”
Romeo looked himself over. He was virtually unscathed except for a dot of chili here and stripe of Whiz there. Ant on the other hand, took a little more of the hit. She had a sizable glop of chili in her hair and some Whiz on her face and shoulder.
Romeo grabbed a couple
of napkins off a nearby table. Then he wrapped one in his hand and reached out to touch her, silently pausing for permission. With the slightest nod she gave it.
He gently wiped her face and got what he could off her shoulder. “You know you got a little in your hair too,” he said, offering her a napkin at the same time.
She reached up and touched it. “Yuck.” She took the napkin and ran her hair through it a couple of times.
“Better?”
“I think it’s as good as it’s gonna get till I can take a shower.”
“I’m Romeo.”
“Antoinette.”
“Antoinette,” he repeated back.
