Luckily, a waiter chooses that moment to walk up, and Noah doesn’t have a chance to tell me that I’m naïve about the world. I’ve heard that one before, from him and from lots of other people. They’re the ones I have to work extra-hard to reach.
“Welcome to Big Mike’s. I’m Wayne, and I’ll be your server. What can I get for you tonight?” the man asks. He’s wearing red and white checkered pants, a white button-up shirt, and black suspenders. His black-framed glasses are bold and have no glass in them.
“Hi, Wayne. We’re first-timers here and want the full Big Mike’s experience, so what do you recommend?” I smile warmly.
Wayne looks from me to Noah. “First-timers? I’m happy to pop your Big Mike’s cherry,” he tells us with a grin so bright I almost don’t catch the naughty reference. I look to Noah, who’s fighting a smile of his own. “If you wanna do it right, I recommend the Double-Decker meal. Two Angus patties, two slices of cheddar, all the fixings, plus a basket of fries to share. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of fries.” He holds his hands out like we might be worried there won’t be enough to eat with everything he listed. “And Cokes to wash it all down.”
I close my menu, and without consulting Noah, I tell Wayne, “That. We’ll take that.”
He nods, scribbling on his notepad. “And save room for a cake shake. Ugh, absolutely To. Die. For.” He holds his hand to his heart and confides with a side eye, “Actually, I’ll probably have a heart attack from how many of those things I suck down, but the chocolate cake-chocolate milkshake is my treat to myself.” He makes an obscene sucking sound, and I laugh. After a heartbeat, Noah laughs too. Wayne’s personality and joy are infectious.
“We’ll take one of those too,” Noah tells him, and Wayne nods. When we’re alone again, Noah tells me, “I don’t think I can possibly eat all that and drink a shake on top too, but out of everything that guy just said, I really want to see you suck that shake down.”
Ooh, flirty, sexy man!
“Oh, well after we eat all that, I’m gonna need a workout. I guess . . . sucking . . . will do it.”
Did I just say that? I laugh at myself, feeling heat rush to my cheeks.
I am such an awful flirter! Truly, completely unskilled, and I make a note to rectify that. It’s a skill like any other, and I need to learn, watch some people who are good at it, and practice. Just like I tell people to do.
But Noah doesn’t seem to think I’m bad at flirting. In fact, he seems to be staring rather pointedly at my lips. I lick them nervously, and a pleasant tension builds between us as I wonder if we might skip the burger, fries, and shake and just go back to my place. Or his.
But Noah takes a deep breath and settles back against the booth. “Before Wayne came up, you were telling me about your work. Bringing sunshine to people’s days. I’ll admit I looked you up. You’re engaging to watch.”
I search for any subtle digs in the compliment but find none. “Thank you. I want to be a bright spot in people’s days. Everyone has different experiences, different stresses, but if I can help them find a single moment of thankfulness for the good things, then I’ll have succeeded.”
“It’s like lifestyle sales and advertising,” he muses.
“Yeah, but it’s not fake. I work hard to be authentic and real. Riley Sunshine is me, just an amped up version of me, if that makes sense?”
He nods. “I can see that. When River and I started FriendZone, we didn’t have a clue what we were doing. And we definitely had to do some ‘fake it till you make it’ stuff.”
“I don’t mean to make it sound like it’s all sunshine and rainbows. There are times when I think I’m going to crash and burn myself,” I assure him, revealing a big part of myself that I don’t share with many people. “When what you’re sharing is yourself, there’s a lot of stress. People expect you to have this perfect life even when they say they don’t.”
“And we know how the Internet loves to tear down the idols they’ve built up,” Noah reflects. “We spend a lot of time at Life Corp worrying about deflecting those. Things are faster online, and one review or comment can go viral and tank an entire project.”
“You got that right,” I tell him honestly. “People think I have some sort of storybook existence, that all I do is shop, get my hair and nails done, take selfies, and get free stuff. Truth is, I worked hard to get to this point, and I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished because I’ve struggled a lot.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Noah reaches out and puts a hand on my forearm. “Riley, there’s no need to defend what you do with me. Really.”
I can see that he’s still worried about the past, but it’s all forgiven. Entirely. I don’t preach ‘forgive and forget’ because that’s a one-way ticket to repeat past mistakes. Instead, I think we use those mistakes to learn and grow, and both Noah and I have. He wouldn’t be so fast to judge and lash out now, and I would definitely stand up for myself better these days.
“Even now, there are times I wish your brother and I hadn’t had to take the escape chute Life Corp offered us. I mean, I like the security and the safety net of being financially sound, for myself and for my family, but it comes with restraints. You never compromised on your vision, and you’ve got the freedom that comes with being your own boss.”
“We do what we’re all meant to do, Noah,” I tell him, moving my hand to give him a squeeze. This is what I’ve enjoyed so much about our new relationship, both chatting and now in real life. We’re communicating at a level a lot of people never get to, and I love it. “You’re a natural leader, a guy who’ll light up the corporate world because you get people to follow you. Me? I’m too . . . wild.”
Noah laughs, shaking his head. “No, you’re just an idealist. Won’t settle for second best, that’s you.”
Once upon a time, Noah Daniels calling me an idealist was an insult in his mind. But I can see the change in his eyes. He means it as a compliment, the ultimate one.
“Thank you,” I tell him. “Wait, unless you’re calling yourself the best?” I tease.
“Hmm, why can’t both be true?” he says smugly.
Before I can banter back, Wayne is back with our food. At least I think it’s ours. It might be for his entire section because he’s precariously balancing two platters with the biggest burgers I’ve ever seen in one hand and carrying a basket of fries in the other hand. It’s enough food to feed an army for sure.
“Here you go. Two Double-Decker meals.” He sets the plates down on the table, and I have no idea how I’m going to ingest all this. Or even half of it. But the aroma is intoxicating, and I’m sure going to try. “Anything else I can get for you?”
Noah and I lock eyes over the monstrous amount of food and shake our heads. Wayne grins knowingly. “Wait until you taste it. It’s so good, you’ll never be able to stop.” He tilts his head. “Guess that’s true for a lot of things.”
When he walks off, Noah and I burst out in laughter.
“I think I need to write down some of his sayings for future posts.”