His Secret Admirer

Chapter 3-1

Chapter 3

Jim went over to the bulletin board the moment he entered Bannock’s Saturday morning, expecting to find another envelope tacked up there. When he didn’t he felt a sense of relief—and much to his surprise, disappointment.

“You look like you lost your best friend,” Mazie said when he turned around.

He huffed. “I should look happy. There’s no note from…whoever she is.”

“Or he,” she replied with a wink.

“Nope. I’ve decided it definitely can’t be a man. Men don’t do things like this.”

“Hey, now. My husband used to write me love notes when we were courting.”

“Yeah, but that’s a romantic thing between a guy and a girl who know each other. Couples have been doing that for centuries. This…these notes I’ve been getting? That’s definitely a girl thing. Probably one of the college kids who come in here between classes to grab a bite to eat.”

“She fell for your romantic smile and sexy blue eyes,” Mazie said as they walked back to the break-room to hang up their jackets and get ready for work. “She waits until just before we close Friday afternoon to put it up. Twenty to one she’s a Saturday morning regular, hoping you’ll finally put it together and figure out it’s her.”

“Damned stupid way to go about it,” Jim muttered.

“She’s got a romantic streak, and reads too many of those novels you find in grocery stores,” Mazie replied, laughing.

“At least she seems to have given up, which is fine with me.”

Despite his words, Jim found he was looking at the various young women that he waited on, wondering if one of them was his secret admirer. He knew several of them, as they were regulars, and smiled cheerfully at the ones who made it a practice of flirting with him—but otherwise ignored their teasing advances.

Even if I were interested in women, come on, this is a restaurant, not a bar. And not even a dinner restaurant that serves drinks. Honestly, get a grip, ladies. Now if there were a few cute guys, trying…Hell, I still wouldn’t flirt back. I’m here to work, not make a date. I’ll leave that to Logan.

That had happened more than once with Logan. He had gone out with several girls he’d met while working as a host for Bannock’s—customers, and even one of the waitresses. That relationship had lasted barely a month. Then she’d caught him flirting with one of the women seated at her section. She had quit in a huff after publicly reading him the riot act.

Several times during the day, Jim checked the bulletin board to see if, maybe, his secret admirer had changed their routine. There was no envelope with his name on it. Again, he wasn’t certain if he was relieved, or disappointed.

The same held true on Sunday and Monday. By the time he left work Monday afternoon, Jim decided his secret admirer had given up.

* * * *

At the theater, things were moving along as normal. Or as normal as possible considering Jim was working with actors.

When one of the Quartet complained that the sleeves of his striped jacket were too tight, another Quartet member’s rebuttal was, “If you’d quit working out, trying to get the perfect body so Patricia will finally notice you…” That got laughs from all the other male cast members who were in the costume shop at the time for their fittings—including the man who’d complained to begin with.

It wasn’t quite so amusing when the woman playing the mayor’s wife had trouble fitting into her costume. An extra, who had wanted the part, and lost out to her, said maliciously in a stage whisper to another actress, “If she’d quit stuffing her face and concentrate on learning her role, that wouldn’t be a problem.” Jim shot her an angry look, while considering taking the extra’s dress for the dance at the picnic in two inches just to teach her a lesson. He wouldn’t really do that, but damn, it was tempting.

Over all, though, everything was pulling together. So, by the end of the week, he was ready for dress rehearsals, which would begin the following Tuesday.