The Man At Table 12

It was just like any other shift. I still woke up 20 minutes before I had to leave for work, scrambling to get ready. I still woke up slightly hungover. I still arrived 5 minutes late when I only live 7 minutes away. Something about this shift was different and I could feel it as soon as I walked in the door and clocked in.

“Sorry I’m late.” I said to Rachel, the server who I came to relieve. “Oh, you’re fine! Don’t rush, it’s not safe.” She responded as she swiped credit cards and gathered receipts, she was paying out her last tables. I did my usual routine. Grabbed a cup of coffee. Wrote down the special and the soups of the day. Said hello to other staff and regulars. I scanned the section that I was scheduled to serve in. 4 tables were wrapping it up and about to leave. One man was sitting by himself. He looked roughly middle aged. He had a glass of water that he hasn’t touched, a menu and rolled silverware that he hasn’t unravelled and it was sitting at the end of the table. Which, could mean that he’s ready to order now or will order later. He had his head down and it looked as though he was thoroughly scanning what appeared to be a little black book. Whether it was a journal or an address book, I’ll probably never know.

Rachel approached me with her coat on and her purse on her shoulder. “Ok honey, the section is all yours. Everyone is paid out and all of their tables are prebussed. The man at table 12 has been here for about a half an hour now. He wasn’t ready to order and told me that he was going to be here for awhile. But, I’m going to take off. You have a beautiful night.” I nodded and smiled at her and said, “bye Rachel, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I approached the man as he was my only working table. “Hello, there. My name’s Alyssa and I’ll be taking care of you.” He closed his book, looked up at me and forced a smile. “Hello, Alyssa. I’m Dale. I’m going to be honest with you. I’m not ready to order and I have no intentions on ordering anything. I understand that you need boost your sales though. So, if the boss gives you a hard time, just order me the most expensive dinner on the menu and bring it out in a to-go box. Just let me know when you’re shift is over and I will pay you very well for taking up this table. Otherwise, I’d prefer to be left alone.”

“Well, I certainly can’t argue with that.” I noticed out of the corner or my eye that the host just sat me a party of four two tables away from Dale. “I’ll leave you be. But, if you need anything, just give me a holler, ok?” I gave him a wink and a smile and walked away.

It was looking like a typical Tuesday night. My sales were barely $500, which means I’ll probably walk away about $60 in tips by the end of the night, if I’m lucky. As I tended to my tables, my attention kept focusing on Dale. Intrigued, I kept watching him. Most people that come in here and sit by themselves usually have their eyes glued to their phones, tuning out the world. This man hasn’t pulled out any electronic devices. He was thumbing through his little black book and was writing letters. He had written three so far. He had them sealed in individual envelopes, stacked and set aside. He kept writing in his little black book, too. Or maybe he was just crossing off names.

“Hey, Alyssa, you’re cut.” My manager Carrie said as she walked by me. I had drinks in my hand. I turned my head and said, “Ok.” I dropped them off at my newest table. I let them know that I was going to be done serving soon and if they were going to stay long, the bartender will be taking over their service. They said they’ll pay out with me first and see if they’re staying. I had the same discussion with my other two tables and they pretty much said the same thing. I looked over at Dale and his stack of letters have double since I last looked in his direction. He still hasn’t touched his water. I went up to a terminal figured I should ring in a meal for him to take home. Doesn’t look like he’s eaten all day. Ten minutes later, I brought him a pork chop dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy and veggies in a to-go box, like he asked.

I set it down on the table and said, “how’s it going, Dale?” He stopped writing and looked up at me. “It’s going well, thank you. I’ve gotten so much done in the past four hours and I feel accomplished.” He said with the most content grin. I smiled back at him, “wow, that’s excellent! Are you writing to your family?” He said, “family, friends, acquaintances. All the people in my life that I’ve been fortunate enough to know.” He looked down at his current letter and signed it and began to fold it up. “In some, I’m making amends. In others, I’m saying goodbye.” I was taken aback by this response. “Oh. Are you going somewhere?” He licked the envelope, sealed it and set it on the neatly stacked pile. “Yes. I’m just not sure where. It’s not up to me.” He said with his head down. He was quiet for a few seconds as if he wasn’t present. I didn’t know what to say so I was quiet, too. He finally looked at the food and looked up at me and smiled, “so, how’d you do tonight? Make a lot of money?” I said with bummed tone in my voice, “eh, not great but, not bad for a Tuesday night.” He said with a smile, “at least you’re optimistic.” He pointed at me, “don’t ever lose that.” I nodded at him, “I’ll do my best not to. They don’t require my services any longer so, I thought I’d bring you dinner. My boss didn’t say anything, I just couldn’t let you leave on an empty stomach.” I set the bill face down on the table and said, “you can pay out with me whenever. I’ll be over there for about ten more minutes, I just have to roll silverware.” He said, “sounds good, Alyssa. I’ll wrap it up so I don’t keep you.”

I sat down and started unfolding all my napkins and the other server that was also cut, Kaysey, sat down at the same table across from me and started unfolding her napkins. “How’d you do tonight?” I shrugged, “meh, how bout you?” She replied the same, “meh, ok. My bartending shift tomorrow will be much better than my serving shift tonight. Do you have any tables left?” I pointed behind her with a fork, “just Dale.” She turned around and looked at him, “he’s been here all night. That’s gotta suck.” I raised a brow, “I don’t know. He said he’d pay me very well for sitting there all night. So, we’ll see.” She chuckled, “that creepy man is going to pay you well for taking up your table?” I said, in a matter-of-fact tone, “actually, he’s really nice. He doesn’t seem like perv, at all. It’s kind of endearing.” He emerged from behind her as he stood up. He set cash down on top of the receipt on the table, grabbed his box of food and began to head for the door. He looked at me as he was walking by and said, “thank you so much, Alyssa. Have a great night.” I smiled wide at him and said, “you too, Dale. Come back and see me again.” I stood up and walked over to his table. I picked up his money and the receipt. His bill was only $14.99 he left me a twenty and a folded check. I opened up the check and it was written out to me. The check amount was $20,000. I felt my heart drop and I looked at the front door where he had left. I ran for it, out the door and into the parking lot. To my left, a Hyundai Sonata was coming towards me slowly. I could see Dale was driving. I put my hands on the hood and he stopped, abruptly. I walked over to the driver’s side window, he was rolling it down, “is something wrong?” I looked at him shocked with the check still in my hand, “how did you know my last name?” He said with a nod, “I looked you up on Facebook when you weren’t looking.” I couldn’t hide my surprised face, but I continued. “Dale, I can’t take this money.” He said, almost heartbroken, “why not?” Speechless, I stared into his eyes, “I...I don’t deserve this. He continued, “Alyssa, I’ve been all over the world. I’ve met so many different kinds of people. I’ve watched people turn into the greediest monsters when they come into a large sum of money. You’re a very sincere and patient person that earns every dollar that she works hard for. So, the way that I see it, you have two choices. You can take that check, go back in there and sign it over to someone who really doesn’t deserve it. Or you put that money into your bank account and make a plan to have a wonderful life.” I couldn’t hold back my tears, “why me?” He grabbed my hand, held it and said, “You seem like a genuinely, giving person. Pay it forward to yourself.” The tears were streaming now, which is strange because I don’t cry this easy. This man that I just met saw through me and touched my heart. “You won’t be seeing me again, Alyssa. But, I’ll never forget you.” He pulled my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. “Now, go back inside. It’s cold out here.” I nodded and stepped away from his car and watched him drive off. I looked down at the check and put it in my pocket. I wiped the tears off of my face and went back inside. I went back to the table where I was rolling silverware. Kaysey had a full, rolled bin of silverware and looked up at me, “what was that? Everything ok?” I sat down and looked at her and lied, “yeah, he just forgot his phone at his table.” She responded with, “ah, nice you just saved him a trip.” I said with a smile, “yeah, I guess I did.” She picked up her bin and started to walk away, “you shouldn’t have much left to roll. I’m outta here. See ya!”

I kept rolling and said without looking at her, “bye.”