Perfect Impurrfections

Chapter 10

From Bad to Vendetta

                Crystal made it to the restaurant with no further incidents along the way.  Granted it had only been a five-minute walk from the bus stop, but a lot can happen in a matter of minutes.  She was just glad that Dell had stayed on the bus when she had exited.  Standing in front of the restaurant Crystal took a minute to compose herself and check for any unwanted sweating.  She was bound and determined to make a good impression on her date for the night.  Taking a deep cleansing breath, she entered trying her best to push the previous events of the evening to the back of her mind.  She approached the hostess stand doing her best to give a genuine smile as she gave the young man behind the podium her dates name.  With a little trepidation she followed him to the table where her date was already waiting for her. 

                As they approached, the first thing Crystal noticed was how impressively he was put together.  His suit, while not name brand was well cared for and freshly pressed.  His hair was styled without a strand out of place.  She liked that he had put a little effort into his appearance for the date.  The second thing she noticed was that he kept moving his place setting around.  It wasn’t like he was rearranging the table, but he kept moving things by centimeters then taking a moment to look it over.  Either he had OCD, or he was incredibly bored.  She hoped he hadn’t been waiting too long for her.  Crystal knew she wasn’t late, in fact she was four minutes early, but maybe he was anxious enough to have been here a while.  He smiled at her approach rising from his seat to chastely kiss her cheek in greeting.  He waited for the host to seat her before taking his own seat again as well.  The host poured her a glass of wine from the chilled bottle beside the table before taking his leave.  Crystal thanked the young man as he left then turned her attention back to her date.

                “You look lovely this evening Crystal.  I hope you don’t mind but I took the liberty of ordering a bottle of wine and an appetizer for when you arrived.”  Crystal smiled and blushed a little with his compliment.  It wasn’t often that an Amazonian of a woman such as herself heard such sweet words and she found her tummy fluttered with the flattering statement.  She knew she wasn’t cute and petite or even statuesque like most women and was often treated more like one of the guys rather than a delicate flower.  Her hopes for this date soared as she soaked up the attention.

                “Thank you.  You look very handsome yourself David.”  She smiled shyly returning his flattery with a little of her own.  She truly meant every word as well.  As the hors d’oeuvres were served Crystal took a quick peek around the restaurant at the other patrons.  She was shocked to see Casey there with a leggy brunette whose outfit left little to the imagination.  It made her think of Irene and what she would say about his choice in dinner partners.  Crystal glanced away as the woman leaned over the table giving Casey an eyeful as she did so.  She turned her attention back to her date just as he was ordering from the menu.

                “I would like the T-bone steak medium well.  Make sure it is exactly 145 degrees inside before taking it off the grill and it must rest for 3 minutes on a hot plate.  I would like the grilled asparagus cooked in just a light bit of oil with a dash of sea salt no pepper as I’ll add that myself.  And mashed potatoes made from real potatoes, they must be whipped to peaks and I would like the butter and the gravy on the side.”  Crystal stared at David as he ordered taking glances at the waiter to see if he was getting annoyed with all the instructions he was being given.  The man seemed unfazed as his pen flew across his pad making sure to get every request down.  Once done the waiter turned to her awaiting her order.  Before she could even speak though David was once again giving out demands.

                “The lady will be having the Cucumber-Salmon Panzanella this evening.  Make sure the bread is golden brown and cooled properly.  Serve it on the side as well as the flaked salmon and the vinaigrette dressing.”  Crystal was shocked at the audacity he had to not only order for her but a salad at that while he had ordered steak and potatoes for himself.  She was so stunned by his actions that she missed the waiter’s glance in her direction for confirmation which irritated David. 

                “That will be all thank you.”  He said gruffly while handing the menus to the waiter in a way that brokered no misunderstanding that he wanted the man to go away.  There was a slight tightening of his mouth to show his dismay as he watched the man walk away from their table.  Turning his gaze back to Crystal he plastered a smile on his face making her doubt his hostility towards the waiter.

                “I hope you don’t mind but I know your ad said you were a gym instructor and I figured you would want a healthy meal.”  Crystal’s misgivings melted a little with his concern for her well-being. 

                “Are you a chef David?”  She asked curious as to why he knew so much about food.  He shook his head as merriment shown in his eyes.

                “Not at all.  I work at a dealership.”  He stated

                “You sell cars for a living?”  David smiled proudly as he nodded his head.  She wasn’t sure how to respond as she had never liked salesmen before.  She found them to be rather pushy.  As he regaled her with horror stories of customers he had had over his career, her apprehension lessened as she found herself laughing along with him.  As he moved on from the more outlandish ones to his irritation with people who really were a lot like her, Crystal found she had to force herself to laugh along with him.  She was relieved when the meal was delivered to their table and hopefully David would stop talking and just eat in silence before she said something she shouldn’t.

                Her salvation was short lived however when he sent his meal back three times because it wasn’t to his liking.  After every time he sent it back his agitation grew.  He was becoming louder and louder.  Crystal watched in fascination as he began moving his cutlery around again never satisfied with where it was placed.  The last straw was when he began to direct her on how much of the sides she could add to her salad, which consequently all belonged on the dish to begin with.  He ended up getting up and coming around to her side of the table to do it for her when she couldn’t seem to get it right.  Crystal leaned away as he invaded her personal space to fix her salad for her.  She chugged her fifth glass of wine for the evening as she glanced around noticing how many of the patrons were now staring in their direction.  To Crystal’s dismay Casey and his date were among those that were watching the show.  Her irritation finally hit a peak when once again David sent his meal back to the kitchen to be done again.  Casey’s date tittered in hilarity as she pointed in their direction and talked to him as if to share the joke. 

                “If you’ll excuse me, I need to use the facilities.”  David nodded waving her off with little interest as he watched the kitchen doors like a hawk.  Thank goodness he did, or he would have noticed that she had taken her clutch with her when she left the table.  On the chance that he was watching her, Crystal had no choice but to walk directly to the restroom.  Rushing inside she sputtered out a breath glad to finally be away from her date.  Glancing around the room in a bit of a tipsy haze Crystal tried to figure out how to escape the restaurant without being seen.  The answer came in the form of a window up near the ceiling of the bathroom.  For a normal person this would have been a bit of a problem but since Crystal was 6’ tall reaching it would be a snap.  She wobbled slightly over to her route to freedom noting how the wine was hitting her a little harder than she had initially thought.  Brushing any concerns away she reached up grasping the ledge and began hoisting herself up. 

                The first try was a fail as the wall was quite slick and her feet kept slipping on the surface.  She couldn’t hold on and found herself planted on her butt on the cold floor.  Refusing to give up however Crystal stood herself up.  Taking off her shoes and panty hose she glared at the window in challenge.  She placed her hosiery in her little bag while taking a hold of the straps of her shoes and looping them over her finger.  Grasping the ledge again she found her bare feet made for much better purchase against the wall.  Crystal hoisted herself up but found the ledge while wide enough for her to use for handholds was too narrow for her to sit on.  Making a split-second decision she threw caution to the wind while vaulting her body through the open window.