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That’s when JJ noticed them. She felt every muscle in her body tense, even muscles she didn’t know she had. Deb and—oh, my Lord, no!—Dr. Chare were also seated at the table, enthusiastically talking with Blake. She heard the chair chortle.He’s the only man I know who actually can chortle.
Kenn pulled out a chair for JJ, and as he helped her settle in, bent over close to her. “I now believe in the cahooting club.” He sat down next to her.
“Hi, Dr. Chare,” JJ said. “Fancy meeting you here. Deb.” She nodded at the secretary. “Didn’t really expect to see either of you here.”
“My, my,” the chair chuckled as he talked. “I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”Did he have a mischievous gleam in his eye?
“I’m going to tell Alvin we’re all here.” Blake quickly pushed his chair back and sprinted to the kitchen.
The trio of owners appeared with Blake tagging behind them. They carried two appetizers, the Onion String Theory and the Avogadro’s ’mole dip and chips.
They placed the appetizers on the table and the band began to play. Every person at the table and eventually the entire café, which seemed remarkably crowded, sang happy anniversary to some tune she didn’t recognize.
“Is there any way that I could use the shop’s de-particlizer and just disappear for a while?” she asked Kenn.
As she sat, tears of frustration welled up. The accordion played flawlessly, as well as an accordion could, and the maracas kept shaking to the beat of the music. Her cheeks grew hot. She wondered what shade of red they would be before this nightmare was over.
She stole a quick glance at Kenn. He reached under the table for her hand and squeezed it tightly. Leaning in close to her, he whispered, “We’ll get through this. We will.”
“You trying to convince me or you?”
“Both of us, I think. I’m surprised my mother didn’t have a hand in this.” He spoke loudly enough so she could hear him over the music.
“No, this has my charac…I mean, my cousin’s fingerprints all over it.”
“Enjoy,” Alvin encouraged them. “The entrée will be ready soon, specially created for Professors St. Clair and Cooper’s anniversary.”
Chare and Deb hungrily pulled the dip closer to them—just out of the reach of JJ and Kenn—while Alex and Blake snatched up and hugged the onion strings, leaving them helplessly watching as the two appetizers were eaten in what could only be considered record time.
“Hope you weren’t hungry.” JJ shrugged. “Appetizers don’t seem to be in our immediate future.”
“Mmm. Mmm. The guys make the best onion strings,” Blake said between bites. “Don’t you think, love?”
Love was in the middle of chewing a large mouthful of strings. She wiped her mouth with a napkin and nodded in agreement.
“Couldn’t taste any better than this Avogadro’s ’mole dip,” the chair said. “The boys really outdid themselves with this appetizer.”
“I didn’t know the chair could eat with such gusto,” Kenn said. “I think there’s another side to him he never lets us see.”
“Ta Da!” Alvin, Ted, and Simon finally brought the entrée.
“It looks like we each get our own plates.” Kenn exhaled. “I’m relieved. I thought I might have to sit through this entire meal watching other people eat.”
The owners set a plate in front of each guest. “Introducing our newest addition to the Physics Café menu. Spaghetti and meatballs. In honor of the professors one-month anniversary, we’re calling it Quantum Entanglement.”
The entire table—no, make that the entire place—cheered. JJ was only now recognizing the amount of planning and organizing her two characters had put into this moment.
She pressed her forehead against Kenn’s arm. Quietly, she asked, “Is there any way we can leave now without anyone noticing?”
“No such luck, sweetheart.”
“I’m not sure I even have an appetite,” she said, as she looked around the café. It was at that moment she realized that not only were the members of her class there, but just about the entire men’s pep squad and the cheerleaders.
“If that’s the case, could I have your leftovers?” Blake asked.
“Ouch! Why did you kick me? What did I do now?” The words came out as a whine.
“It’s JJ’s anniversary, sweetheart. Not ours. She’s the one who should be enjoying this. And she doesn’t look like she is.”
