©2010 Wanza Leftwich
This is the continuation of part four of the Deli Style Series. Click here to read the first part of this series, click here to read part one, click here to read the continuation of part one, click here to read part two, click here to read the continuation of part two, click here to read part three, and click here to read the continuation of part three.
Esther could not believe that David walked her up to the front of the line. Did he not know this was Brooklyn? Yes, it was Brooklyn Heights, but Brooklyn all the same. Nobody does that. She could hear the murmurs of the people waiting in line.
She remembered the time her mom forgot to make reservations and they waited two hours in the snow only to be seated near the door. She pushed back thoughts of her mom. She couldn’t afford to cry in front of David. He wouldn’t understand.
She reluctantly walked with David to the front of the line. She pressed her eyes closed and prepared herself to be embarrassed when the hostess sent her and David back to the end of the line.
To her surprise, the hostess smiled and gave David a hug when she saw him.
“Follow me, please,” she said.
“How’d you do that?” Esther held David’s hand tight as they walked to their table.
David winked but didn’t say a word
“No, seriously, how’d you do that?” Esther tried not to speak loudly.
“Your table ma’am Sir, your server will be right with you.” The hostess smiled again at David and returned to her post. David pulled out Esther’s chair
“David, this is the hardest spot in town to get into.” Esther sat and placed her linen napkin on her lap.
“God’s favor.” David laughed.
Esther rolled her eyes, “Now, David…tell me!”
“Oh, ok…don’t be so pushy. I simply got juice like that.”
Esther wasn’t buying his story. There was more to it than God’s favor, although in some situations that all you needed but she knew David had something more than that.
“It’s a long story.” David said.
“I’m listening.” Esther took a deep breath and surveyed her surroundings. Couples sat closely in a dimly lit room that smelled of everything French. Her heart skipped a beat as she remembered her mom again.
“Good evening, my name is Chante and I’ll be your server for the evening. Would you like to start with…David? David!” She almost dropped her menus.
Esther’s left eyebrow rose as it always did when things didn’t quite fit. How did the waitress know David. She came to Avec Moi many times and none of them knew her by name. She prayed silently that Chante wasn’t an ex-girlfriend of some kind. Her strip of pink hair did not seem like David’s type. But who knew what David’s type was anyway?
Esther had never heard him talk about a woman in his life nor did he make any moves on anyone at work. Esther knew why now. They were all at Avec Moi.
“Does James know you’re here? Oh…I’m sorry, David. I’m being so rude.” She extended her hand to Esther. “Hi, my name is Chante.”
Esther shook her hand. “I’m Esther, nice to meet you.” She hoped.
“So, David what’s going? I can’t believe it’s you, man!” Her teeth glistened in the candle lit room.
“Nothing much…same ole thing. Work and church and more work. And you?” David took the menus from Chante and handed one to Esther.
“Just working here at Avec.” She bent down and whispered, “You know thing have been a little hard down here.”
“Doesn’t look like it to me.” Esther prayed David didn’t pick up on her sarcasm.
“Well…how about a drink or appetizer to start off?” Chante smiled at Esther. Esther knew she had got the hint loud and clear.
Esther wanted to crawl under the table. Why was she acting like a jealous little school kid? “Oh, I’m sorry. You guys can keep talking.” Esther offered a quick apology to make amends.
“No, it’s ok.” Chante look towards the back of the dining area. “I have more tables to get to. What would you like?”
“I’d like your special blend of raspberry hot tea.” Esther opened her menu to see if anything had changed.
“And you David?” Chante wrote on her pad.
“A Lemon Zest is good for me.”
“One raspberry special and one L-Z. I’m going to tell James that you’re here. It’s so great to see you after all this time!”
Esther eyed Chanted as she walked to the other side of the restaurant. She was dying to hear how he knew all the people that worked in the most exclusive restaurant in all of Brooklyn. She bit her bottom lip so she wouldn’t say anything stupid. She didn’t want to apologize again or embarrass herself in front of David.
“I guess you’re wondering how I know so many people here, huh?” David placed the black linen napkin on his lap.
Esther nodded and waited. She thought of the hostess and the waitress? Who was James and how did he fit into this picture? Where girls ex-girlfriends, friends from school or fellow church members? They didn’t look like church members. She shook her head again, reminding herself not to judge anyone by their appearances.
“I used to work here.”
Esther wanted to laugh. She rebuked herself for thinking such crazy thoughts about the women David knew. She had no right to make assumptions. He was not in a relationship with him – no matter how much she wanted to be.
“You used to work here? When?”
David looked around the room. “A few years ago, I landed a job here right out of culinary school. It was the best. A chef at Avec Moi, this was like heaven.”
Culinary School? Esther had no idea she knew so little about the man she liked. He went to Culinary School? Why in the world was he flipping burgers and slicing up lunch meat for heros in Big A’s Deli.
“You were a Chef?” Esther saw Chante making her way toward them with their teas. “Here?”
Chante placed their teas in front of them. “James said to stop by the kitchen before you leave.”
Esther waited until Chante was out of earshot to continue. “So, you’re a chef?”
“Yes, I was a Sous Chef here.” David looked around again. “I learned so much here…and the food is great, but you know that already.”
“So, why are you a short order cook for Klyde.” Esther hoped she wasn’t going too far with her questions, but she couldn’t believe anyone would leave Avec Moi to work at a deli. Who would do that?
“It was the economy. The recession hit Avec Moi hard. The suppliers raised their prices.” David sipped his tea.
“So what did he do? This place is always busy. It doesn’t seem like he lost customers.”
“Nah, the customers remained pretty steady but James worked himself to the bone. When he let me go, he did all the cooking himself and depended on a few servers to remain until times got better. The hostess is his daughter. He made major adjustments to stay open.”
“Wow. He was able to keep it open like that.”
“That’s one reason why the lines are so long. He trained the servers to take their time with each table. This way it gave him time to cook.”
“It worked because people love this place.” Esther smiled thinking about James’s strategy to stay in business and keep the customers satisfied.
She wanted to ask David how he felt when he was let go but she didn’t know what he would say. He couldn’t be happy being a short order cook after being a Sous Chef at Avec Moi. She decided not to pry any further.
She didn’t want to ruin her first date with David…the David. The one she wrote about in her journal at night.
Wanza Leftwich, The Gospel Writer, is a freelance writer and speaker. She is an avid blogger and the editor of thegospelwriter.org. She resides in Brooklyn, NY with her husband Arthur and daughters Symphony and Lyric.
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