The Date, Part Six
Part Six
“TARA.” Hallie burst in without knocking. She didn’t even know what she hoped to accomplish with her friend, but the surface anger and frustration was enough to send her straight to the office Tara had shown her and a few other university friends one afternoon a while ago.
Tara turned at the sound of her voice, and immediately clasped a hand over her own mouth as she took in the sight before her. “Hallie? Holy shit, what happened?!”
“Liv happened. This has been the worst date, and it’s all her fault.”
“Hallie, what- hold on.” Tara slipped past her and quickly shut the office door, then tossed the binder down to offer her full attention. “What do you mean? You and Jake have been totally into each other this whole time.”
Hallie just groaned. Shivering in the wet sweater clinging to her body, she quickly explained the cold food, the long wait, and the spicy meal she choked down, and how she spent the entire night trying to play it cool around her boyfriend despite everything. The AC in the office just made her current attire feel worse and worse.
Tara just added to Hallie’s frustration when she explained how Liv couldn’t take all the blame for those things. One of the chefs probably undercooked something, or added a bit too much of a spice the second time around. It was a busy night, considering everyone there was having their own Valentine’s dinner, which spoke to both the food issues and the delay. Tara basically echoed what Liv already said earlier. “How about this?” she suggested, “I hate sounding like every other manager out there, but does making the whole meal free make things better?”
“Sure,” Hallie rolled her eyes. Jake was the perfect gentleman, so he would almost certainly be offering to pay for such a special occasion. That meant Hallie’s meal was ‘free’ either way. But that was hardly the issue. “What about, I don’t know . . . my clothes?” She gestured down to the beige fabric that wasn’t air drying nearly as quickly as she would have liked. “Are you going to tell me this isn’t Liv’s fault?”
“Hallie-”
“No! Tara, you know how much this night means to me. I can’t go back out there like this, and I can’t leave Jake out there alone until I’m dry.”
“We have some spare bus boy t-shirts? I could probably rummage around and find a pair of shorts somewhere.”
“That wouldn’t be cute at all, Tara! I’d rather wear a nice, soaked outfit than some random casual clothes.”
“Hallie, I’ve seen the way Jake looks at you. You could be wearing a trash bag and he would still want to sleep with you. But maybe. . . ” she trailed off, glancing up in thought.
“But what?” Hallie asked immediately. Every second she spent in Tara’s office was another second she couldn’t be with Jake.
Tara hesitated, but after another insistent question about the unspoken idea, finally relented. “Well . . . Liv is about your size. You might look a tiny bit like a waitress, but a dry outfit is better than a wet one, right?”
The idea was tempting. After all, making the girl who ruined her evening strip down herself was the perfect revenge. But Tara couldn’t have that much power as an assistant manager, could she? And Liv’s red button-down may match the Valentine’s theme, but the pattern and cut weren’t exactly Hallie’s style.
“I don’t know. What’s she going to wear?” Hallie asked. Surely Tara couldn’t be suggesting that Liv would wear Hallie’s wet clothes in exchange.
“She can change into her street clothes for now,” Tara said, after pausing to think about it for a moment. “I’ll give her a break from serving for a bit. She can have a friend drop off a new outfit for her, or she can drive home and grab one herself. Either way, it’s not your problem,” she pointed out, “Your wardrobe malfunction is Liv’s responsibility to fix.”
“Okay, that works,” Hallie nodded. Button-downs weren’t her favorite thing in general, but the outfit was at least classy enough to work. Liv wasn’t quite as tall or as endowed as her, but, like Tara said, they were close enough in size. Hallie would just have to undo an extra button or roll up the sleeves if the top was too tight. And, of course, there was the added bonus of Liv being ‘punished’ for her clumsiness.
Tara walked over and peered at a sheet of paper pinned to the wall, ignoring Hallie for a moment. “Okay, I can get Liv’s section covered. I’ll take a few tables myself if it means you get lucky tonight,” Tara giggled, “Okay, let’s get you out of those wet clothes. Are you comfortable stripping down outside?”
“Outside?!” Hallie gasped. She may be promiscuous, but she wasn’t improper. Plus the idea of someone seeing her naked that she wasn’t messing around with was mortifying. “Tara, no. You have bathrooms, don’t you?”
“Of course we do,” Tara shrugged, “All the way in the front of the restaurant. But we can do that if you’d prefer.”
As Tara opened the office door to show her to the bathrooms like she ‘wanted,’ Hallie quickly blurted out, “Wait! Wait . . .” The section of the restaurant that already witnessed the disaster at her table was enough. The idea of dozens of others seeing her current appearance, especially with how the once classy top was now clinging to her upper form, was enough to give her pause. “Where outside? Can I check it out first?”
“Oh, totally. It’s just out back.” Tara nodded. She cracked the door enough so Hallie could see the nearby carpeted hallway. “Just head down that way, take a left at the end, and use the metal door.”
“Aren’t you coming with me?”
“How long do you want to wear your wet clothes? I’ll go explain things to Liv and smooth things over with Jake. Meet you out back, okay?”
Another chilly draft from the nearby AC unit was enough to push her over. Hallie probably would have caved eventually, but the full body shiver instantly reminded her how badly she wanted to be in dry clothes again. “Okay, okay. Just hurry, Tara.”
“Of course. Be out in a minute.”
Tara opened the office door for both of them, and watched Hallie scurry towards the hall before anyone saw her current state of dress again. Smirking to herself, she went the opposite way, towards the bar. Liv was patiently waiting for her there, and raised an eyebrow as Tara approached. “Well? Did she buy it?”
“Yep,” Tara smirked, “Hook, line, and sinker.”