Shit. I secretly wished she didn’t have any. With my luck, she would ask me to sing too. Even though she was two years younger than me, she'd always managed to trick me into doing something ridiculous and embarrassing when we were younger, but of course, I'd always been too weak to say no to her.
"Oh wait, I forgot my coin purse in my other bag." She pouted at me. "Sorry."
"Yeah, no problem. It probably doesn't work anyway." I gave her a half-shrug.
"What doesn't work?" Lucie reappeared with our drinks on a tray. She placed a piping hot cup of coffee in front of Maggie and juice and water in front of me.
"The juke box," Maggie replied.
"Oh, that works, honey. It works very well. But you gotta feed it quarters. I'll get you some change if you want," Lucie offered.
To which Maggie's eyes widened. She clasped her hands together and said, "Yes, please."
While I simultaneously said, "No, thanks." I stared at Maggie and that big, up-to-no-good smile on her face. She batted her lashes, the little minx, and because I didn't want to disappoint Maggie, I looked up to Lucie and said, "Ahm, yeah, that would be great, Lucie."
Lucie gave me a knowing look and a smirk. "There is a rule though. If you play it, you gotta dance to it." Lucie lifted a challenging eyebrow.
"Ahm..."
"Oh, that's perfect! Zach loves to dance." Maggie clapped her hands together. Lucie looked like she was going to laugh, but she didn't. She was probably saving that laughter for later.
I focused my attention on my orange juice and drank it straight up.
"You want another one, sugar?" Lucie asked, taking the glass from me.
"Yes, please," I muttered.
"All right. Your order will be out soon."
Once Lucie left, Maggie started giggling. I narrowed my eyes at her, knowing what she had done and she knew it too. I was up to the challenge. I could play her game. My neck let out a crack when I rolled it to loosen the muscle tension. "You better get ready, because I have got some great moves in me."
"Oh yeah?" She tried to stifle her giggle behind the sleeve of her sweater.
"You just wait and see. I am not just another pretty face, you know."
Maggie snorted. "Really?" She brought her hand down flat on the table and widened her smile. "I cannot wait to see what moves you have, pretty boy."
I was in deep shit now. One day I would learn to shut my trap.
Lucie returned with our meal and my second glass of orange juice, and I did not waste time digging in. Maybe if I finished all these, I could tell Maggie my stomach was too full to do any type of dancing.
"How's your mom?" The question shocked me even though it shouldn’t. Not everyone had information about my Ma's condition. And not everyone had any idea of the reason behind it either.
"She's okay. She's in a nursing facility just outside Vegas," was my clear-cut reply, keeping my eyes trained on the bacon crisps on the plate.
"But she's not that old." From the corner of my eye, I could still watch Maggie's actions. She brought a forkful of pancake to her lips, and I watched her wrap her lips around her food. What I wouldn't give to be that fork right now.
My pants tightened again. I had to calm down. I chewed on the omelet and rye bread and had water before answering her, "She's not old at all. Ma has a condition. She's sick."
"Oh." Maggie dropped her fork, and when she touched my left arm, my eyes immediately found hers. Her face saddened. "Is she okay?"
There were so many ways I could answer her. But since I'd only seen her now, and we were in a public place, opening up to Maggie about Ma's situation had to wait until later. "She's looked after very well over there. She has a good doctor, and her nurses are great. I've had tough luck trying to take care of her by myself before. It's a good thing that Rick discovered me and got me into Pro-fighting when he did. It helps pay for her medical bills."
"That's good." Maggie’s lips and eyes softened.
We ate quietly for a while. The silence turned uncomfortable, and I was running out of food to eat. Lucie came back and checked on us. Maggie claimed she was full even though she only ate half of the pancakes on her plate.
"I'll have those." She looked surprised when I pointed at her left-over pancakes, but then she passed her plate to me. Lucie cleared off all my plates after she poured more coffee in Maggie's cup. I finished the rest of her pancakes in just a few bites.
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone eat that much. Not even Ju—" Maggie bit her lips before she continued. I waited for her to finish her sentence but she just looked away and focused on the juke box again. "Better get ready. Lucie's coming back with the change."
And she was right. Lucie stepped into my view, jingling a few coins in her hand before slamming it on the table. "The coin's on the house. I expect a great show." There wasn't a hint of a smile on her face.
Maybe the years I’d only hung out with Ma, and not had any long-lasting friends other than when we'd lived in Fresno, and I'd had Maggie, had gotten to me, but I was not about to defy or disappoint Lucie. I took a deep breath and rubbed my face onto my hands before standing. With the coins from the table in hand, I leered at Maggie who started her snickering behind her coffee cup.
There were about thirty people in the diner, all minding their own business, eating their brunch or lunch before they headed out to do whatever was on their lists for the rest of the day. They were about to get a show I guaranteed they would never see ever again. I stood in front of the juke box and slowly went through the list of songs. It took me a little while to sort out the jumbled letters, but Ma was a fan of music from the 50's to the 70's, and I easily recognized a few of them.
"Come on, Zach, we don't have all day," Maggie yelled from our table.
I looked over my shoulder, narrowed my eyes, and shook a finger at her.
"Yeah, kid, these people need their daily dose of entertainment," Lucie added from her spot behind the counter.
I realized then that the diner had gone quiet. All eyes were suddenly on me. I swore under my breath and picked a song I was all too familiar with. It was a country song, fast enough to do a one-two step my Ma had taught me, even during the saddest days of our lives.
Before the music started, I picked a good spot that was clear enough for me to move around. And when I began moving my feet to the beat, shaking my hips every now and then, and throwing my hands up in the air for a clap, everyone started clapping, and laughing. I went with it, used my audience's energy to gather courage. It wasn't any different than fighting in a cage with thousands of people watching, I tried to convince myself, even though I knew it was far from the truth.
I added a bit more swing to my hips, pointedly looking at Maggie during the bridge. She lolled her head back, slapped her legs, and laughed when I waggled my brows and blew her a kiss. If I was the type to easily embarrass I would have turned beet red, but I kept going. I glanced around to check if anyone had their phones up. I wouldn’t want this to go on YouTube. I would never live it down, and the guys I fight with would harass me about it forever.
Thankfully, they were all too busy just watching and clapping to the beat of the song. I stepped closer and closer to Maggie, and jutted my hips forward in front of her. Unlike me, she blushed instantly, so she covered her face with her hands. To tease her more, I turned around and pushed my buttocks toward her and asked her to smack my bum. I might have looked like a fool, but I was having too much fun to care. She didn't go for it, keeping her hands firmly on her face, but she watched me between the spaces of her fingers.
In for a penny, in for a pound. I knew the song would end soon, so I turned back around to Maggie and gave her my dirtiest grin. She had not stopped snickering, but her cheeks had turned deep red. Tears of joy, I hoped, rolled out of her eyes. Once I pulled my shirt up and rubbed a hand over my abs, the entire diner exploded, women hooted, hollered and whistled, including—the loudest—Lucie, but Maggie widened her eyes and gaped at me in disbelief. I grabbed he
r hand and urged her to touch my abs, but she fought me off, shaking her head until it looked like it would come off. Then the song ended, and I took a bow at the loud applause. I scratched my head in wonderment at the show I'd presented. I wouldn’t have done it if Maggie wasn't around. Before I sat down, I took another bow toward my audience and thanked them.
"Well that was the best one I have ever seen in here," Lucie told me, wiping her face.
The girl who sat us earlier appeared by her side and piped in, "Because that is the only one we have ever seen! How did you get him to do that, Mom?"
I couldn’t believe it. I'd been had! "I thought those were the rules?" I protested at Lucie.
She let out a loud guffaw. "They will be now, you betcha."
I leaned back on my seat and finished the rest of my water. Maggie was still swiping at the tears off her cheeks. It was great to see her have fun.
A couple from another table came up to us when Lucie returned to the kitchen. "Hey, you look familiar. Are you Zach 'Revenge' Faustino, the MMA fighter?" the man asked.
Here we go. "Yeah, that's me. I hope these guys don't have a security camera in here. I don't want that going online."
Lucie's daughter interjected, "I wish! I have to tell my Dad. He's our cook. He is like a big fan of yours. Mom too."
"Why didn't she tell me?" I cocked a head to the side.
"Nah, she didn't want to bother you. I'll be back," the girl said.
When she returned, Lucie came back with her along with an older gentleman and a guy who looked like a younger version of him. We all shook hands, and they told me how much of a fan they all were. We took a few photos together while they talked about their diner.
I congratulated them for a job well done. "Except for Lucie for tricking me to do that performance." But I added I would be coming back with a bigger, hungrier crew the next day and they should all be ready, and made Lucie promise she’d force the guys to make a fool of themselves too.
Lucie refused to let me pay, so I secretly hid a few bills under the salt and pepper shakers. She offered me a pie to go. Growing up poor and always hungry, I never turned down the offer of food, so I took the whole thing. I saw it as payment for the embarrassing display I did.
Maggie and I said our goodbyes, and we stepped out of the diner. The rain had stopped sometime during my impromptu dance. When we looked at each other, she burst out into a hysterical laugh. I could kiss her, being all happy like that, but I suppressed the urge while we waited for a cab. I had so much respect for Maggie I couldn't take advantage of the situation like this, even though my entire body trembled at the anticipation of tasting her lips. And if I started, I didn't know if I could stop. After all, according to her, this was not a date.
Chapter Seven
Maggie
It was possibly the best brunch I'd ever had. And that little dance Zach had done at the diner just topped it all off. It was exactly what I needed. It was comforting to know I was with a guy confident enough with himself that he didn't care what he looked like in front of a bunch of strangers. Whether they thought he was a good dancer or not. I thought he was, but it didn't matter as long as he was having fun.
June was all about looking good in front of people, and that was one of the reasons why it had shocked me when he'd left me waiting at the altar. Of course, it hadn't been him who'd had to face hundreds of people afterward. And even though he'd done that to me, the people who knew him still had treated him as the town's golden boy.
But Zach... he hadn't cared, and I had a feeling he had done it all for me. With that infectious smile, who could resist his charm? Lucie had asked us to return to the diner any time we came to San Francisco. We found out she was the owner of the diner, which her parents had opened in the late fifties and had passed it down to her. The girl who'd sat us was Lucie's youngest daughter, and the cooks were her husband and her oldest son. Their middle child was in charge of marketing and accounts.
It was a true family business. Pearl was Lucie's mother who was still very much alive, according to Lucie, and who made the diner's desserts, including Zach's pie, at her home every morning. Their family had reminded me of June's. His parents, John and Melanie, owned a thriving car dealership back home. Melanie often worked on those local TV commercials, and at times, had starred in them. Once or twice, she'd asked me to do it with her, but I could never see myself decked out in some silly outfit showing off deal-of-the-week cars like I was some Price is Right model. And those times I had turned her down, Melanie had told me I shouldn't waste my good hair and good legs volunteering at our local hospital. See, Melanie had once claimed she'd been a catwalk model in New York City. Later on, May had confessed her mother, in fact, had only modeled a winter jacket for a Sears catalog. June often worked for his dad in the summer, and May would do clerical work. However, the similarities might have ended there.
John and Melanie had begun dating in high school, much like June and I. They'd been the popular couple, and yes, they'd gotten married right after high school. But for as long as I'd known them, they'd never been truly happy. Despite John's macho attributes, Melanie wore the pants in the relationship, and in her eyes, her husband had always been lacking so she would set her eyes on other men. Well, her eyes and then some.
Now, that I thought of it, Melanie had always preferred Delaney to me.
Zach promised to come back to the diner the next day seeing as it was near the gym he trained at, and warned Lucie that he would be bringing a lot of hungry guys with him. Lucie accepted the challenge at any time. The photo I'd taken of them ended up becoming a family photo. Then, out of nowhere, Lucie had asked me to stand with Zach. I'd told her I was a nobody, but she'd waved the idea away. Zach and I posed by the jukebox, with me snuggled under one of his muscular arms.
Lucie told Zach she would only post the picture on the wall of he won his upcoming fight. With a grin on his face, Zach promised his new goal was to win that coveted spot on the diner's wall. The nice woman offered us a whole pie before we left. I politely declined, but as soon as Zach had seen the overfilled pie plate and the aroma of cinnamon and apples hit his nose, he couldn't say no.
While Zach and I waited for the next cab to come, we had to decide where we should go. Since the skies warned us of more rain about to pour down on us, we'd forgotten all about the fair.
"I've always wanted to go roller skating." I didn't know where the idea came from, but it was out before I could take it back.
I thought Zach would say no to the idea but surprisingly, he nodded, and once a cab came, he asked the driver to take us to the nearest skating rink.
Apparently, there was one. And fifteen minutes later, we jumped out of the cab to a warehouse-type building by the pier and walked into a roller skating rink. Correction, a disco roller skating rink, complete with disco ball and lights, Donna Summers music and even black lighting.
Zach scratched the top of his head. I bet he was wondering what he had gotten himself into. I had to promise we would have tons of fun as I dragged him to the service counter to rent skates. When Zach asked if they carried size thirteen-and-a-half, I couldn't help but look at his feet, and then at his crotch, thinking if it was true what people said about guys with big feet.
June had average size feet and average size you-know-what, according to Cosmo magazine. Yet, it still hurt when we had sex that first and only time.
I bit down on my lip. June did not exist in my life right now. I couldn't allow him to constantly pop into my head.
Nica had known that I needed some time for fun and when I told her about bumping into Zach the previous night, she had seemed delighted. Despite the way I'd left, and causing her and Levi quite a headache, she'd been nothing but understanding. I'd found myself without a key to get into the penthouse when I'd arrived home after seeing Zach, but arrangements had been made for me, and the building’s head of security had led me up to the penthouse, where Nica and Levi had been waiting. Thankfully, I'd remembered to bring the thick
cardigan I'd borrowed from her and had used it to cover up my stylishly-torn shirt. She'd told me I should contact Zach and see if he was still free for the rest of the day and had given me the day off, since she had asked Anita to come to the city earlier that night.
I'd promised her I would work hard to have the best time as soon as I found out where Zach was training. Nica had even told me to take one of their cars, but I'd politely refused. Before I could confidently drive around the city, I'd like to know it by feet first.
Zach picked a spot for us to put on our skates beside the rink. He cursed under his breath when he tied his laces.
"We don't have to do this you know. We can go bowling or something else instead." I placed my hand gently over his hands but snatched it back when a zap hit my fingers.
"We can go bowling after this," he told me, sending off a nervous smile.
The fact he didn't know how to skate became obvious when we stepped on the rink. The last time I'd been on skates was the day I'd gotten my period. When I'd discovered the spot on my underwear, I'd freaked out and hadn't stepped foot outside our house for two days. But like most things, I'd gotten used to it and accepted it as part of my life. Skating was like riding a bike, I recalled quickly, taking a couple of pushes forward and letting my muscles remember everything else.
With my arms stretched out, I asked Zach to hold my hands and let go of the rink guard rails. His face paled for a second, but once he locked his gaze with mine, there was enough trust for him to do just that. Zach had always taken my proffered hands. He'd always trusted me. And I, in turn, had tried not to break it.
"Stand with your feet hip width apart. Bend your knees a bit and keep your butt low, like a squat." I demonstrated for him.
"Oh, I can do that." He did what I suggested and had a successful slide, but I kept my hold on him.
"The key is to keep your balance. Step forward one at a time, keep your toes pointed out. Yeah, like that." I pointed to his other foot, which was seemingly stuck on the flat surface. "Now the other." And he did as he was told. "Keep doing that."
When He Falls Page 8
