Age? Its Just a #

This wasn't the job his mother would rather see him do, it wasn't what even he wanted for himself, but it was all his qualifications could get him, and it was legal, so he stuck with it. DeWayne stood at the valet park of the high-end restaurant where he worked as a valet alongside his best friend, Will. It was a job he had settled for when the ‘uppity’ establishments, like Will, called them, wouldn't take him. He had thought for sure his high school degree would get him something better, but he guessed he had overestimated its worth. Six months after graduation, he had done a turnaround and applied for the valet opening at the restaurant his best friend was already working in and over a year later, he didn't seem to be moving up. The job was decent, and it brought in decent pay, yes, the customers were sometimes rude and arrogant, but it wasn't like he was in any position to complain. “Man, if I was rich I would pull up in a Maybach, all my lights on windows down just leaning back smiling” his best friend, Will, said as they waited for the arrival of the next customer. DeWayne smiled to himself; it was just like Will to bring up these things at random times. Virtually every night they had to stand and wait for some other rich guy to tell them how to treat his baby, Will would come up with stories of what his life would be like if he were rich, “You funny?” Will glance at him, “What about you? What car would you pull up in?” DeWayne glanced at his friend and wondered if there was any wisdom in having dreams that they were obviously nowhere near fulfilling. Considering it was a fairly slow night at work, he figured there was no harm in indulging Will this once, he shrugged, “Probably an old Cadillac, laidback, you know, young, superfly.” He grinned at the thought Will nodded, “OK I like that, but bro, these rich people don't be livin’ right they be all conservative with they money like get loose throw some stacks” DeWayne couldn't stop his laughter, Will was a no holds barred kind of guy, he didn't believe in cautiousness one bit, “Yeah bro, I guess you wouldn't have it long.” “At least I lived every bit of it.” He nodded in agreement that much he couldn't fault on Will's part, “I guess so.” There was a brief moment of silence between them during which a car pulled up next to them. The man got out; they had barely stood straight when the man tossed his keys toward DeWayne without a glance, DeWayne just barely caught the item from the man who casually strolled into the restaurant with an attractive woman in his arms while both friends watched. “Man, that is messed up.” Will said DeWayne only glared at the man, his grip tightening on the keys in his hands. Yes, it was messed up, but this was what their job entailed, and they couldn't complain, “Imma go park this piece of trash.” He said as he went to the man's car, if he didn't fear for his job and his freedom, he would have happily bashed the car till it was as ugly as its owner. **** The group of eight were all seated at a booth in the ritzy restaurant as they laughed and discussed amongst each other. The cause for celebration was the acquisition of a big client who was sure to boost the finances and ratings of the company and Eva was the celebrant. It felt nice to let her hair down considering all the work she had put in to get this client on board over the last few months. She knew that this acquisition was her big break and boy was it big, even better, was the fact that her co-workers acknowledged her hard work and thought it wise to celebrate her. “Okay guys, settle down, settle down.” Denise, her best friend, said over the cacophony of voices. Everyone seized their conversations to focus on Denise, “While you're all celebrating, let us not forget who made this happen. I think it's only right if we give it up for Eva because she was the one who got us this deal. Congratulations Eva.” Denise said “Congratulations Eva!” the entire table chorused just before she got a rousing applause. Eva gave a coy smile and looked over at Denise who winked at her. The best part of this celebration was that her best friend was here to celebrate with her. *** The evening came to an end for the celebrating colleagues, and everyone began to leave the restaurant. Eva stood by the entrance and smiled at each of her colleagues who waved her goodbye and got into their cars. She had really let herself enjoy the night and was a little tipsy courtesy of that, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. Denise walked up to her, “Hey girl.” She greeted “Hi,” Eva replied with a goofy smile “Are you tipsy?” Denise asked, her voice filled with concern Eva stumbled a little, “No, I'm alright.” “You sure you can drive home safely?” Eva waved off her concern, “Yes girl, I'mma be alright, you go ahead and leave, I'll be fine.” Denise couldn't hide her concern, but she took Eva's word and walked away to get into her own car. Eva had proved herself capable of taking care of herself numerous times, so if she said she was fine, then she was Eva stood by the parking lot, awaiting her car. Okay, so she was more than a bit tipsy, but still, she didn't think it would affect her driving much, this wouldn't be the first time she had driven herself home despite being tipsy. The valet finally pulled up next to her in her car, he got out and handed her the keys, “Here are your keys, ma'am.” “Thank you.” She slurred as she reached for the keys, she tried to grab it, but she missed horribly and tripped on her feet instead. She was headed for the ground when a pair of strong arms halted her fall. She looked up into the confused face of her hero and smiled, “You're cute.” She observed, a goofy grin plastered on her face. DeWayne glanced at Will, who was standing some inches away and watching all the drama unfold. This lady was apparently not in the right frame of mind to drive anywhere. His gaze moved back to her, “Hey lady, I don't think you should be driving.” He said as he helped her to her feet. Her brows creased in confusion, “What?” she slurred, “Give me my keys!” she made a weak attempt to grab her keys from his hold, but DeWayne moved them out of her reach. She made a second attempt and successfully got them this time. She stumbled her way to her car and opened the door, they both watched her basically fall into the driver's seat, she pulled her legs in and let her head fall onto the head rest….and that was the end of her movements. Both men observed her for a few minutes until they heard a light snore escape her lips. DeWayne's gaze moved to his friend in wonder, this would have been absolutely comical if it wasn't so ridiculous. Will stretch his neck to see her clearer, “Yo, is she knocked out?” DeWayne couldn't help the smile that formed on his lips, “Yea bro, she is.” “So, what we gonna do now? We still got cars to get.” Will said DeWayne looked to the ground and noticed her ID, he picked it up and studied it, noting some of her information that was on it. His gaze moved to the sleeping female and back at the ID, he knew leaving her there wasn't an option. There were all sorts of dangerous people around, and it wouldn't sit right with him to just leave a defenseless woman outside at night “What's that?” Will asked, interrupting his thoughts. “Look, Imma just drive her home, then I'll be right back,” DeWayne said without taking his eyes off the license “No bro, you can't leave me here by myself.” Will protested. DeWayne looked up at his friend, “You a grown man and I damn sure ain't your mama.” “That's not the point.” DeWayne was already on the move, he went over to the driver's seat and easily moved Eva's unconscious body to the back seat. She weighed much less than he would have thought….either that or all of that weight he had been lifting to maintain a fit body when he was playing football in high school had come good. “No bro, you can't leave, I covered for you the last time you left.” DeWayne shrugged, “OK, you can do it again.” “What if the boss shows up?” DeWayne rolled his eyes, “I'm only going a couple of blocks over, I'll be back before he even notices.” On that note, he got into the driver’s seat and started the engine “That's not fair.” Will whined “Life isn't.” Those were his last words before he drove off, leaving Will to watch.