Page 2 of Simmer Down
I knock on the cloudy glass window. A lightly tanned face pops up from behind the counter. The window is so smeared that I can barely make out the person.
“Hi there! Do you have a sec?” I say.
“Absolutely! Just a moment,” an English-accented male voice answers. I smile. His accent sounds a lot like that of my uncle, who lives in London with my auntie Nora. I wonder if this guy’s from London too.
A thud sound and the clang of metal dishes crashing to the floor echo from inside the truck. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a man exit from the back.
He strolls up to me, kicking up clouds of dirt with his heavy steps. He’s a tall, sun-kissed drink of water with honey-hued hair cropped close to his scalp and a few days’ worth of dark blond scruff on his cheeks. I tilt my head back to get a proper look at his face.That’s a new one. I’m nearly five feet ten inches, and my neck is perpetually sore from having to peer down at people. But this guy has to be pushing six feet three inches, maybe even six four.
He looks familiar, even though I know for sure I’ve never seen him before. Probably because he looks like a hybrid of Michael Fassbender and Zac Efron. In other words, impossibly good-looking.
He flashes a smile at me, and I promptly forget what I was going to say. Instead I respond with what I assume is one of the dopiest grins I’ve ever beamed at another human being.
“So nice to finally meet you,” he says.
“Oh, um, thanks,” I stammer, thrown off at how friendly he is to me, a complete stranger.
When he blinks, it’s like I’ve been dazzled by the shiniest peridot gem. His eyes boast the most perfect shade of hazel green I’ve ever seen. But it’s more than just the color leaving me tongue-tied. There’s a genuine kindness behind them I don’t often see when I make eye contact with someone I don’t know. The way he stares catches me completely off guard, like I’m the only thing worth looking at in the surrounding area. It’s impressive, considering the landscape is the very definition of breathtaking with the nearby lush green hills, cloudless blue skies, and multitude of palm trees. Not even the expansive lava field across the road, which appears practically endless as it stretches all the way to the horizon, seems to capture this guy’s attention. Even I stop to gawk at it at least once a day.
I let my gaze linger on his eyes a second longer than what is considered polite. My stomach flips. I could fall damn hard for eyes like that.
For a fleeting moment, the Neanderthal part of my brain takes over. An image of me under him appears. Those hazel eyes pinning me, those thick lips stretched in a smile. A slight shake of my head erases the decidedly dirty thought like the drawing on an Etch ASketch. What in the world is wrong with me? A friendly greeting from a handsome man shouldn’t send me into an X-rated daytime fantasy. I silently scold myself. This is apparently what eighteen months of self-imposed celibacy will do to a woman.
He sticks his hand out and I shake it, appreciating the firm yet gentle gripping method he employs. I’m so used to men offering weak handshakes that feel like a dead fish in my hand. But I dig this guy’s style. He doesn’t automatically assume I’m too weak to make his male acquaintance.
When he lets go of my hand, he looks back at his truck. “Apologies, I didn’t think you were coming for another hour.”
“What do you mean?”
He points his thumb at his truck. “It’s all ready for you. Just be careful when you walk in because I tripped and knocked over a few metal bowls on the way out here.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Afraid I’m still getting used to navigating my tall self within the confines of a van. Sorry, I mean ‘truck.’” He holds a hand up. “I can assure you, everything is up to code.”
I squint up at him, thoroughly confused. “That’s great, but why are you telling me all this?”
“Well, I thought you’d like to know. You’re the health inspector after all.”
“Oh... no, I’m... I run a food truck.”
I point to my truck, which is parked behind his. He pivots his frown to it, narrowing his stare, like he’s just now noticing the giant food truck parked nearby.
“You’re not the health inspector?”
I shake my head, hoping the movement comes off as good-natured and not dismissive. “Sorry, I’m not.”
A long moment of silence passes where he takes another long look between me and Tiva’s truck. I count to ten before the silencestarts to turn awkward. New guy is clearly confused. Best to use a gentle, cheery approach when I inform him of the unofficial rules he’s breaking.
I clear my throat. “I know this is probably awkward timing, but, um, you’re not actually supposed to park here.”
He whips his head around to me. A glare replaces his confused frown from before, and it is downright lethal. My mouth goes dry. It’s a struggle just to swallow.
Silently, I remind myself that he’s the newbie. He’s just confused, and some people get annoyed when they’re confused. I just need to explain myself, and then he’ll understand. I power through the awkwardness permeating the air between us.
“See, I’ve had this spot for the past several months, and it’s kind of an unspoken rule on Maui that food trucks don’t park this close to each other if they’re not in a parking lot or at an event. And seeing as I was technically here first—”
He turns around and walks back into his truck before I can finish speaking. My jaw hangs open in the salty ocean breeze. Did he seriously just do that?
I stand for several seconds, arms dangling at my sides, processing the moment. Maybe he’s embarrassed and needs a bit of time before he moves his truck. I can certainly understand. I’ve made plenty of mortifying mistakes while learning the food truck ropes. This morning’s menu mishap is small beans compared to the time I lost the credit card reader and could only take cash for a handful of days, or the time I mistakenly filled the sweet chili sauce bottles with sriracha.
I fold my arms across my chest, waiting for the engine to fire up. But nothing happens. Just more clanking sounds from the inside of his truck. I check my watch and see that a full minute has passed since he walked away from me. The longer I stand out there alone,the clearer it becomes. That midsentence exit wasn’t embarrassment; it was a dismissal—of me. He’s not going anywhere.
