Embrace Me Ch. 02

Buzzing alerted Olivia that her phone was receiving a call, but she was unable to answer as she entered an order into one of the computers near the kitchen. The smell of seafood floated to her nose and made her stomach grumble. The restaurant had low lighting for ambiance, but that didn't bother Olivia because most of her tables were outside on the patio anyway. Pictures of scuba divers and deep sea adventures lined the walls along with paintings of mermaids that reminded her more of Sirens, and fish nets and hooks hung from the ceiling. The place was a little cheesy, but she enjoyed working there and the uniform, white shorts and a black tee shirt with Angel's Fish written on the chest, was comfortable. Not to mention, she worked there with Gaby so she had someone to keep her company.

"Olivia, you've been sat," a coworker announced as Olivia poked her head around the corner of the hall that led from the kitchen to where the customers enjoyed their food . As she nodded, she could hear the clang of a bartender dropping a glass and giggled, wondering if she could properly guess who it was. "Which table and how many people?" As she finished entering the orders for another table, she went to grab menus from a cabinet. "Just a man at table 43. He said he was by himself." With that, the coworker walked away to take care of his own customers. Olivia took a menu and headed outside toward the table where a man sat with his back toward her.

"Hello, my name is Olivia," she greeted as she came into view, "and I'll be taking care of you this morning." The man looked up at her. He was older, maybe his early thirties. Blonde hair, neatly trimmed, not too short, and blue eyes that squinted as he smiled. "Nice to meet you, Olivia, I'm Spencer." His eyes roamed down her body, but quickly made their way back to her face before he smiled again, this time wider. She stopped herself from rolling her eyes at him.

She had come to realize that men her own age actually had more respect for her than older men did, but unfortunately older men were her usual customers.

She laid the menu down in front of him and, after getting his drink order, she suggested some of her "favorite" dishes. She recited the same list with every table, unless she had regulars who knew what they wanted. He flipped through the menu with leisure, taking his time as he scanned the many items. It annoyed her because as he did this he would occasionally steal a glance at her, but she was sure that he thought he was being slick about it.

"What did you say you enjoyed most?" His voice was soft and his expression was kind, making her forgive him for being slow to decide, but he still made her feel slightly uncomfortable. "The Caesar salad with grilled shrimp on top is really yummy, I like to eat it when I get off." Spencer smirked at that, but Olivia wasn't sure why. "Okay, I'll take that, but have the shrimp blackened, please."

Retrieving the menu, she headed back toward the computer she used earlier. Her phone buzzed again, but shorter this time. Text message. Making sure no one was looking, she pulled her phone out to glance at the name and her eyes widened. Nathan, the man from the club, had messaged her. The missed call also read his name. Her curiosity was piqued so she quickly made her way to the bathroom where she could use her phone without getting caught.

"Hello Olivia," the message read, "This is Nathan. You might not remember me because we met briefly. I tried to call you, but I assume you're busy. I was wondering if you had time for coffee later this afternoon."

Her cheeks quickly heated with a blush and she had to contain her excitement. It had been almost a week since she met him and had been very close to forgetting about him; she had already assumed he would forget about her. She wanted to reply immediately but she was afraid to come off as desperate. Instead, she put her phone back in her apron, and walked back to the computer to enter the food for the man outside.

While she waited for the food for her previous table to be ready, Olivia heard another clang from the bar followed by the sound of her friend cursing. She headed toward the noise to see Gaby kneeling behind the bar, picking up broken glass. "Twice in one day?" Olivia asked, leaning against the door with a grin. "Hey, Jessica broke the other one," Gaby pointed a finger at a red head flirting with a customer on the other side of the bar. Jessica gave Gaby the slightest shrug before returning to dazzle the customer before her with the sight of her cleavage as she leaned forward on the bar. Olivia was actually jealous because she knew Jessica always left with bigger tips. Unfortunately, she didn't have a body as curvaceous as Jessica's.

"Gaby, you know Jeff is going to kill you if you break anything else," Olivia peeked the around the corner back toward the kitchen to check if her tables' food was ready yet. "It's not my fault that our managers buy the cheapest quality glasses. Maybe if we had something sturdier...." Gaby threw away the remaining pieces of glass before wiping her hands on her shirt. "Or you could stop dropping things," Olivia yelled over her shoulder as she headed toward the food placed on the counter where servers normally wait. They had made both of her tables' food at once, so she had to be really quick to let nothing get cold.

Rushing the food outside, she used an empty table to set the trays down as she placed the first table's food down and checked on her customers. It was just an old couple that didn't need much looking after now that they had their food. As she brought the remaining food to the man, Spencer, he looked at her with that same smile.

"Thank you, sweetheart," he said, and placed a hand on her back as she set his food in front of him, making her flinch a little.

As politely as she could she removed herself from his reach. "Is there anything else I can get you?" She asked him, no longer wanting to be near him. She was technically supposed to let a manager know if a customer touched her, but honestly would have felt bad if she had gotten someone kicked out. She would have felt even worse if that "busted" customer wanted to yell at her for it, so unless she felt really violated, she let it go. Being touched didn't even happen often, anyway,.

***

After her shift ended,Olivia walked toward the small café in downtown Tampa feeling very anxious. She had responded to Nathan as soon as her tables were empty and they agreed on a time and place. Once she was out of work she drove home to change into casual jean shorts and a white chiffon blouse with a Peter Pan collar. On her feet she wore simple black ballet flats. She brushed out her hair until it sat, soft and shining, on her shoulder. She added a light pink balm to her lips.

She could see him waiting for her in front of the café and wondered if she was late, but a glance at her phone told her she was perfectly on time. He was leaning against the window with his hands in his pocket, reminding her of when she first saw him, but this time he was in a business suit with the tie loose and his jacket hanging on his arm. What did he do that needed a suit? His hair was also combed back into a professional style. When he noticed she was there he turned to grin at her. She blushed again and found herself staring at their feet once she got close.

"It's nice to see you in the light," he told her which made her look up at him, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, I meant it's nice to see you more clearly.

You look lovely," He ran a hand through his hair, clearly nervous but less than her.

She smiled shyly at him which seemed to calm him. "It's nice to see you, too," She told him. Nathan opened the door to the café and stepped aside so that she could enter first, waving a hand inside. She walked in, but quickly turned to face him. She wasn't sure what to say. Just a week ago she had met this stranger and let him fondle her while they made out, but now in the light of day, she couldn't get herself to speak.

"What kind of coffee do you like?" He asked her as they stepped into the short line leading to the counter. "Oh, I like anything that's really sweet. Maybe a lot of chocolate," She looked toward the menu sitting on the wall behind the counter for a drink describing her taste.

"My younger brother enjoys his coffee the same way," Nathan told her, also looking at the menu.

"You have a younger brother?" She turned her head toward him, but kept her body forward.

"Yes, he just turned 18."

"Oh, very nice."

"You should thank him," Suddenly Nathan's voice was close to her ear, just as it had been that night. "W-why?"

"May I take your order?" A female barista asked, interrupting their conversation. Olivia told the woman what she wanted while taking her wallet out of her purse, but Nathan had already handed a card to her and ordered his own drink. "I'll pay for them both." Olivia immediately felt bad.She had never been able to easily accept another person paying for her, not to mention when she could easily pay for herself. She tried to protest, but he wouldn't let her.

Once they had their drinks, they found a small table in the corner far from everyone else. "Now, why should I thank your brother?" She crossed her legs and leaned forward, placing her forearms on the table.

"For his birthday he wanted to party with friends, but my mother is very nervous about that kind of thing. I tried to convince her to let him go, but she said she would let him only if I went, too."

"You must love your brother a lot, because you did not look like you were enjoying yourself."

She took a sip of her drink, remembering how he tried to brush her off then. Nathan leaned back in his chair and shrugged. "Yeah, I wasn't. Then I met this girl who wouldn't leave me alone."

Olivia blushed and felt guilty, ready to apologize when he continued speaking. "But that's okay. I found you quite enjoyable to be around. If you hadn't shown up I think I would have dragged Luke home sooner."

"Luke is your brother?" She inquired. He nodded.

"I'm sorry I didn't contact you sooner. I have been very busy at work this week," He held his drink in both hands, but watched her carefully.

"What do you do?"

"I work in graphic design. This week it seemed like every client was going crazy, but we made it work. What about you?"

"I'm a server when I'm not in class."

This seemed to catch his interest because he leaned toward her, his fingers just barely brushing against hers. She wondered if that was intentional, but told herself it meant nothing.

"I'm majoring in astronomy with a minor in American Sign Language," she continued.

"I'm impressed, your academic career sounds quite challenging." He leaned back again and chuckled. "I never even imagined majoring in science when I was in college."

He made her wonder about his age again, in the club she could only guess. But how does a person go about asking someone's age without being offensive? "I have a question..."

"Yes?" He raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue.

"May I ask how old you are?"

He chuckled again, "I don't see why not. I'm 30."

Olivia almost choked on her coffee. Thirty? She never thought he'd be ten years older than she. She suddenly felt too young to be sitting here with him, and that once he knew her age he'd make an excuse to leave. When she coughed, his face expressed concern. "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head, but couldn't look him in the eye. "I've only just turned 20."

"I don't think I told you the other night, but happy birthday." His voice was calm. "So where are you a server?"

Was he okay with such a big age gap? She gazed up to see him waiting for an answer with a smile.

Eventually his cup was empty and her coffee had gone cold, having been neglected while they spoke about their lives. She told him about working with her best friend and roommate, how she moved from California to go to school in Florida, and he told her how he was born in Japan but moved to the states as a child so his family could be closer to his mother's family. She learned that his father was Japanese while his mother, who was white, had grown up in Florida. He explained what he did as a graphic designer, but she had a hard time following along with his description. She mostly smiled and nodded, hoping she wouldn't be quizzed on her knowledge of it later.

***

After two weeks of continuous messaging, phone calls, and meeting up for coffee or frozen yogurt Nathan and Olivia were becoming close. She learned that he worked for a large company in Tampa with his best friend and that his favorite part of Florida was the keys. She told him how her mother owned a clothing store and her father was an accountant. They talked about how he had one brother, Luke, but that she was an only child. They both wanted to travel someday and that led to how he wanted to try every culture's food, but she was a very picky eater.

Olivia was starting to wonder if he was starting to feel for her what she was starting to feel for him, but a phone call was her answer.

She had picked up her phone on the second ring, answering it with a cheerful voice. Hearing from Nathan put her in a good mood lately.

"Hello?"

"Olivia, hi." He sounded as excited to speak to her as she was to speak to him. "Are you busy tonight?" At first she shook her head, but then remembered that he couldn't see her. "No, I'm not. I was supposed to work tonight, but one of my managers told me to take the night off."

She could hear him sigh in relief and wondered why. "Do you want to come by my apartment tonight?"

This was a first. Neither of them had yet to visit the other's apartment and while she really wanted to, Olivia was nervous. "S-sure."

"You don't have to," Nathan assured her, "But I just thought we could order some food and watch movies."

"Scary movies?" Olivia's friends would never watch horror with her even though it was her favorite genre. She usually watched them by herself in the dark, under a blanket. "If you want to watch scary movies, then that's what we'll watch." His voice sounded eager which made her even more excited. She was really going to visit his apartment.

"What time were you thinking?" She asked him, her own voice becoming thrilled. She was already thinking about what she should wear to see him.

"I'll pick you up around 7, okay?" He would come to her apartment first? She looked around and suddenly the place didn't feel clean enough. Luckily, she had five hours to clean and get ready. "Okay, sounds great. I'll text you my address. Bye," They hung up and she jumped into cleaning the place.

By 6:30 pm, the place was neat and tidy and Olivia was standing in front of her mirror while Gaby sat on her bed. "You sure this looks good?" She asked her. Olivia was wearing a white tee shirt that said "If you'll be my star I'll be your sky," tucked into a high waisted a-line skirt in black, with white ballet flats. She left her hair down and straight, and kept her makeup light. "The monotone isn't too annoying?"

Gaby rolled her eyes. "It looks good. You said you wanted casual, but cute. That's it. Well, that's your whole closet, but that's it." She laid on her back and held her phone above her. "I'm actually surprised you're doing this."

"This?" Olivia looked at her through the mirror, confusion painting her face.

"Dating or whatever. Normally you never give your number out to strangers, nor have you ever dated someone so much older than you." Gaby arched her back in a stretch while groaning through her sentence. "I'm just surprised."

Olivia looked down at her hands for a moment, looking at the pale pink polish that looked almost nude against her skin tone. "He's really interesting and fun to talk to. I don't know if I can call it dating, but I really like him." She smiled and could feel her face getting hot at the thought of being alone with him tonight.

"Enough to sleep with him?" Gaby sat up and had a look on her face that told Olivia her thoughts were up to no good. "Maybe! I don't know." Olivia didn't exactly plan to sleep with him, but she did prepare, just in case. Underneath her clothes her bra had vertical pink and white stripes with black lace running along its edges; she wore a matching thong that had a little black bow in the back. Wearing sexy underwear always made her feel confident even if she wasn't going to sleep with anyone.

The door bell made both girls turn their heads toward the sound and Olivia checked her face in the mirror once more to make sure she looked okay. Gaby glanced at the clock on Olivia's cable box and scoffed. "He's early."

"So?"

"Nothing; early is good. It means he's eager to see you," Gaby stood up and left the room. "I'll get the door."

"It's fine," Olivia told her, catching up shortly behind her. "I'll get it."

Opening the door, she stood back to let Nathan inside. He entered wearing jeans and a form-fitting grey tee shirt. His shirt showed off that his arms and torso had muscle, but not too much. Olivia always hated when guys made their muscles too big, but just the right amount of muscle was a huge turn on for her. This time his hair was left casual, falling in his face a little until he pushed it out of his eyes. She couldn't help the grin that was on her face.

"Hi," he told her, looking first into her eyes before scanning the rest of her body and returning back to her face.

"Hi," she mimicked. Even after two weeks of constant conversation, she still felt a little shy around him.

"Are you ready? I have a few movies picked out that I think you'll like." He reached forward and took her hand. The blush returned to her cheeks and she bit her lip, just nodding. Gaby took this moment to break away from the couple and grab her friend's purse that she was going to forget. "Here, don't leave this here."

Olivia snapped out of her shyness and took the purse. "Thank you. Oh!" Olivia looked between the two people. "Nathan, this is Gaby, Gaby this is Nathan." She stepped back to allow them to shake hands, and while Nathan was polite, Gaby looked over him coolly. What's her problem, Olivia wondered.

After the awkward introduction, Nathan and Olivia left the apartment and took the elevator downstairs. Neither of them said anything, but he continued to hold her hand. His skin was warm and his grip was strong without being overwhelming or painful. She took a small side step so that her arm was pressed against his.

A red Camaro sat waiting for them, parked outside her building. She was impressed. "Wow, this is beautiful," but she whispered it more to herself than to him. She could only afford an old Sonata, but it had A/C, played her phone through the speakers, and got her where she needed to go.

Nathan let go of her hand to open her door for her and walk around to his side, but once he pulled out of the parking lot, his hand took hers again. "All I Need" by Radiohead began playing from the speakers and Olivia felt herself relaxing bit by bit. She hadn't heard the song in a long time, but it always put her in a calm state. The song, plus Nathan rubbing his thumb along her hand, put a smile on her face.

The drive to his apartment was short, and he lived on the second floor, so Nathan and Olivia were upstairs and inside in no time. While she removed her shoes near the door, he ordered a large pizza with half cheese and half pepperoni from a local pizza joint. His apartment was huge, with the living room almost as big as if she combined her living room and bedroom together. His kitchen was also a lot bigger than hers with more counter space and cabinets. And this was just the front of his apartment. His walls were painted in earth tones, of soft greens and blues, with a brown couch and matching love-seat. The floors were made of a dark wood with a rug with a geometric pattern laid underneath a glass coffee table in the middle of the living room. A large flat-screen TV stood on a wide, black stand that also held books and DVDs in an organized fashion. Various photographs hung on the walls and she wondered if he bought them or took them himself.