Page 4 of Somewhere in Seattle

"Whole."

He smiled and placed the piece of ticket paper on the counter and handed me his pen.

"Do you want it loaded?" he asked.

"The sandwich? I don't really care for tomatoes," I said, shaking my head a little.

He smiled and cringed as if that bit of information hurt. "That fresh tomato makes it, but if you don't care for them, you don't care for them."

"Yeah, I guess leave it off," I said reluctantly as I wrote down my name and phone number on the ticket. "Do you want me to write the sandwich on here?" I asked, handing it to him. He grinned at me and shook his head. "No, I got it," he said. "Just your name and number are fine, and I'll give that to my grandma. Did you want to ask for a job?" he asked.

"A job? Me?"

"Yeah, because you were trying to write the order on my ticket," he said, smiling and taking it from me.

"She's not here for a job," the other customer said, unamused.

He was the one who wasn't minding his business. I almost said as much. This guy was winding me up. I felt blood rush to my cheeks as the handsome waiter reached in front of me to retrieve my menu.

"Would you prefer potato chips or French fries?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter," I said easily. I smiled at him even though I was thrown off by this other guy. "Wait… did you say Rita was your grandmother?" I asked once my brain had time to catch up with what was going on.

"She's everybody's grandma," he said, nodding and smiling. "But, yes, she seriously is mine. And JD's, and Claire's. He pointed all around him as if JD and Claire were right there in the room with us. It was a large restaurant with five or ten employees clearly visible. I smiled dazedly, trying to take it all in. "Do you happen to know anything about a room in this building? I don't think it was a full apartment like they advertise upstairs. I know Micah Lacey stayed here. I met him and he mentioned it and your grandmother."

"Yeah, Micah's a cool dude," the waiter said. His name was Isaac. I could see it written on his shirt. "Rita and Jim own this whole building, and floors two through five are apartments, so…"

It seemed friendly but vague, and I glanced at the stubborn one and saw that he looked satisfied with Isaac's answer.

Isaac went to the kitchen and Brian sat back and threw his napkin on the counter with a groan. "Great as always," he said.

"Do you need a box?" another server said, walking by and seeing him throw in the towel.

"No thanks," he said, "I don't eat fries once they're cold."

"I just throw them in the oven," another lady said, overhearing us. There was a lot going on in the restaurant with people chiming in and dishes clanking. I had been listening to different conversations the whole time I sat there. They were all so smart and worldly, and it was nothing at all like my hometown.

"I'm good," Brian said, shaking his head to say he would pass on boxing the fries. "Thanks. It was nice meeting you, Jordan," he said to me. "I hope you find what you're looking for in Seattle."

He walked off and I heard the other guy say, "I don't think you will," at my back when I was turned. He was the mean one—tall and broad with dark hair and eyes. He was dressed nicely in jeans and a plaid button-down shirt. He had come in wearing a coat that was now hanging over the back of his chair. He was no longer handsome to me. I wasn't scared of him, but I also didn't like him. As far as I was concerned, he was the one who should mind his own business and leave me alone.

Chapter 3

I moved down a chair when Brian left, putting me one spot further from the guy on the end. "I didn't know Miss Rita was your grandma," I said to Isaac a little while later. I was in the middle of eating my roast beef sandwich by the time Isaac came back and looked like he had a second to talk.

"She sure is," Isaac said proudly.

"So, is it Isaac Alexander?" I asked, since I knew Rita's last name.

"It is."

"What's your name? What's up, Cal, you're early today." Isaac shifted gears in the middle of talking to me. He looked over my shoulder just as a guy came up behind me, bumping into me as he rounded the corner, reaching out to shake Isaac's hand.

"I see you got JD, you, Claire, Cindy… and is Jim over there probably?"

"Yeah, we got Jim in the kitchen," Isaac said smiling as he shook Cal's hand.

"Hey, Cal, what are you doing over here before lunch?" a man said from the kitchen.

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