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Dec 27, 2003 "So do you have a boyfriend?" the Boston-flirt asks me for the second time.We're having dinner in a sports-bar turned disco in the New York Metro area. Our waitress, looks like Carla from Cheers, and the Flirt asks her about one of the specials. She snaps at him, "If you don't know what it is..then I ain't tellin' ya," and she walks away. The Boston-flirt suddenly has a mischievious grin. "Ah, nice to be here," he says. He looks like he's up to something....and he is..... The Carla look-alike returns to our table and the Flirt moves in for the kill...laughing, he says,"I want to ask you something..." But the Carla Waitress interupts him. "Look, I snapped at you....." The Flirt...who can be oooo so witty...opens his mouth....but she interupts him with a surprise. Her eyes turn very suddenly red as she says, "My son died two months ago and today his friend died. Suicide. Good kid. Excuse me for being rude to you before." I immediately put out my hand to Carla-waitress and she scoots into our booth,next to me. She takes my napkin and blows her nose into it. "Nobody knows this pain," she says. The Flirt and I exchange glances. I am holding Carla-waitresses hand still and I can see the Flirt feels half like crying for almost having played a joke on a miserable, grief stricken woman...and half feels like laughing over the surprise of my holding her hand one moment after he was swooping in for a practical joke. Carla-waitress tells me all about her son. I can see neighboring tables glancing in our direction...then pointing in our direction..then throwing us mad looks as Carla-waitress shows me her son..the funeral program...a print out of the words to her son's favorite song...his baby picture ...and she begins to tell me how she keeps his memory alive. The Flirt is respectfully quiet but makes a motion on his belly like he's hungry. She proceeds to tell us that her young son was mugged in the park in New York. Then she asks me what I do for a living and I tell her. "Then you can write about him," "Sure. If you want me to, sure," I say. "Will you really?" she asks, incredulous. I hand her my business card with the info for how to reach me at the newspaper.Carla-waitress hugs me and goes into the kitchen. "Geeze, it's about time you released her for the rest of us," a man with a big cigar says. "Thank you very much for letting her back into the kitchen to get our cold food. I nod. The Boston-flirt says, "What is it about you, Chris?...That the whole world tells you about their personal life? Is there ANYONE in the world who does not suddenly become your best friend?" He really wants an answer. ...but I say nothing.... Carla-waitress surprises us with two burgers. Guess she was preoccupied because she thinks we ordered them. The Flirt is flabbergasted, but I am saying,"Hey, let's just eat the burgers and be happy." With the last bite, the Flirt says to me smiling and laughing and very smooth......"So....are you seeing anyone?" Silence. He says to me again, laughing, "I'm not seeing anyone...are you ??" At the end of the evening..in the back of his hotel parking lot....while we're still in the front seat...he whispers to me... "Why are you playing hard to kiss?" I kind-of giggle..I have actually been playing hard to kiss without realizing it...looking out the window...at passing planes overhead...looking at the stars..checking out every outside activity..... "I mean it..why?" he insists, laughing very gently while he is leaning in to kiss me. I aquiesce I don't turn my head this time....I kiss him back....but I notice... outside our car window... there is a woman taking notes in a notepad. She is looking at us and talking into a cell phone. I want to tell you more..but I need to get going. Tell ya more later. ------------ About the author: Chrissa Falcon is a newspaper reporter in the New York Metropolitan Area. Chrissa may be reached at ChrisFalconColumn@hotmail.com Comment on this column in the forum. Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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