A young girl sitting at the table next to us made Charlie cry. Charlie and I were sitting in a booth that spanned the width of one end of the dining room. Jill sat opposite us in a bamboo framed chair. The little girl had blue eyes and sandy blonde hair pulled into a pigtail at the crown of her head. She wore a pink top. Her mother made small talk with Jill. I buttered bread.
"Tell me it gets better." The woman demanded.
"I think it gets worse and then it gets better." Jill said. The woman took a drink of wine.
Charlie wielded a grownup fork in each hand and stood on his knees with his bottom resting on his heels. They must seat families near one another in restaurants so couples on dates are not disturbed. I don't care for the seating in this establishment. The spacing is too close together. I don't like my sides to be vulnerable. But the seating facilitates eavesdropping. An Asian couple sat on the other side of me. They were quiet.
Our waitress was Katie. Her hair was in a bun. The Asian man told Katie his entrée was great. He told her loud enough for me to hear him. He did not speak with an accent.
The woman Jill was speaking to, pulled the little girl from her high chair and set her on the ground. She sauntered over to Grandma, who was seating next to Charlie. Grandma picked her up and put her in the booth. She bobbled over to Charlie.
"Oh! She wants to say hi!" Mother said. Everyone thought this was really cute except for me and Charlie.
"Charlie can you say hi?" Jill said.
"Charlie, put your forks on the table," I said.
Charlie laid his forks down. The little girl rushed in on him and began scratching his cheek. I had disarmed him. Oh, the guilt. Defenseless, Charlie cried.
"Oh, no don't do that!" Grandma said.
"Oh, I am so sorry!" Mother said.
"She didn't mean to hurt you." Jill said.
Grandma imprisoned the little girl between her and the wall.
Katie delivered the check to the Asian couple.
The mother guzzled the last of her red wine and returned the glass to the table holding the slender stem. Jill took Charlie into her lap to sooth him.
After dinner we all took a trip to the bathroom together. Charlie went with Jill.
Jill has to go as much as I do now. The other night, she showed me an artists' cutaway of a pregnant woman's torso.
"I wondered where everything went." She marveled.
I took a look for myself. It is true. It is amazing to see the body make room for this temporary guest. The growing baby displaces the internal organs. She tells some days this baby is standing on her bladder.
Leaving the bathroom, I felt the whoosh of air as Charlie ran by headed for the restaurant dining room. He paid me no notice.
Thirty seconds later the air pressure throughout the entire restaurant dropped as the door to the women's bathroom flung open and Jill rushed out. Her face was red.
Charlie, proud of himself, giggled and ran in place. Realizing what had happened, that Charlie had broken free from the stall while Jill was still it in it, made me, as the casual observer, laugh inside.
"Don't you ever do that again!" Jill said.
Once in a while, I don't mind watching someone else chasing after Charlie.
