Courtship

It was a Sunday and I met her over at the hotel. We went down the street to Denny’s for a quick bite. We walked in, the manager was behind the counter settling a customer’s check. “I’ll be with you in just a second,” he said. We waited. The manager took the signed credit card receipt back from the customer, knocking over a small silver toothpick dispenser as he slid the receipt under the cash tray. The toothpicks spilled out of the dispenser, rolling onto the counter. The customer left and we walked up to the counter. “Thanks for waiting,” he said. “Two for lunch?” He collected the toothpicks and started loading them back into the dispenser. Just going to put those back in there, aren’t you?, I thought to myself. I looked over and saw her eyes look at the toothpicks strewn on the counter, then at the manager, loading them back in the dispenser, then at me. I smiled. This is the girl for me, I thought.