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I parked myself on the couch, and a server approached before I could adjust my tux jacket and get comfortable.
“Good evening, sir.” He placed a coaster on the coffee table in front of me and set a glass of ice water on it before handing me their menu. “Care to look this over before ordering? It’s the last weekend for our special summer cocktails.”
“Two scotches, neat. The oldest Macallan you’ve got.” I gave the menu right back to him.
“Both for you, or is the lady returning?” His brow rose as he glanced between me and the empty chair.
“She stepped away for a minute.”
“Oh…okay,” the server stuttered in an uncertain tone. Was it so hard to believe she wouldn’t be coming back? Okay, so we were dressed completely different. She was a beach babe with sun-kissed skin, and I could’ve been taken for a groom in my tux, but still, it wasn’t his place to judge.
After a few minutes, he returned with our drinks, but Coco was still MIA.
Continuing to sip on my scotch, the bar began to fill with other customers. I pulled out my phone and glanced at the screen for the time. It was six fifteen. Coco had been in the bathroom for twenty minutes. I checked for any incoming texts, but there was nothing from her.
I decided to wait five more minutes, then ask the female server working the other side of the bar to check on her. I sure as hell wasn’t about to venture into forbidden territory.
As the minutes ticked by, I wondered if she’d stood me up. It didn’t seem like her style, plus I thought we’d parted on good terms. I paid her a generous bonus to help her get started in LA, and she’d thanked me in a very personal way our last night.
I drank the last of my scotch, ready to enlist the female server for help, when I heard a strange noise. It sounded like a whimper, followed by rustling and a snort. I sat up, looking to my left, then right. Nothing out of the ordinary.
I searched for the server. He hadn’t looked my way since he’d delivered the drinks. It was time to send a search party out for Coco.
Before I flagged anyone down, I heard a similar noise, louder and more demanding. The whimper had turned into a full-blown cry, like one a baby would make. I jumped to my feet and followed the sound.
It was coming from behind a large potted plant on the floor next to the couch. I stared down at the ground in disbelief. A tiny baby strapped into a seat type contraption. When I had walked by the plant earlier, the bar was so dark, I’d failed to see it. A pink headband was wrapped around the baby’s small head. Wisps of flyaway blond hair stuck out in a few places.
Her crying turned into a blood-curdling wail, and I cringed. She crinkled up her nose and flung her tight fists in all directions. Her cheeks were an angry red. She was not happy.
I glanced around the room, expecting someone to come help the poor baby. Instead, everyone stared back at me like I was supposed to do something about it. Even the server. But I didn’t have a clue. The few times I’d held a baby, I’d passed it back to the parents at the first sound of distress.
Who would leave a baby alone in a corner behind a plant? It made no sense to me. Frustrated and desperate, I bent over and picked the baby up off the floor, seat and all. My benefit started in about an hour. I didn’t see anyone coming to my rescue and Coco was still nowhere to be found. Hell, meeting my father for dinner sounded less stressful than taking care of a screaming infant.
I hurried over to my server, passing a couple who gave me a death stare which I returned with a glare of my own. Like it was my kid yelling at the top of her lungs. If no one claimed the child soon, I planned on calling the police.
“Hey,” I said to the server with heavy breaths. “Do you have any idea whose baby this is?”
The server’s gaze flitted around the room, looking everywhere but at me. He muttered indistinguishable words. What the fuck?
“For the love of God, man.” I wanted to shake him, but couldn’t sit the baby on the floor again. Sweat ran down my back. I wiggled my neck, trying to loosen my bowtie and get some air. “Do you know where the parents are?”
“She brought the baby in before you arrived. I knew something was up with her. I’m going to lose my job.” He ran a hand through his hair, then hit himself on the forehead and went back to talking under his breath.
