Familiar faces

It's what I love the most about being home.

We were in the kitchen at work the other day, polishing glasses and such, when Clayton came bursting in.

"Guys.  Table 35, guy in the white tux.  Memorize his face.  We need to take extra good care of him anytime he's in here.  Big-time money, lots of influence in the city.  His last name is Maselli..."

My head popped up like a piece of toast.  "Maselli?  Is his first name Frank?"

Clayton: "Yeah."

A huge grin spread across my face.  "No shit?  Frank's here?  Oh, baby!  I've gotta go say hi!"

So I went marching out to table 35.  Clayton followed behind with a semi-worried look on his face.

By the way, if you haven't figured it out yet, Clayton is one of our dining room managers.  He's a damn good one and a pleasure to work for, so it was fun watching his nervous look disappear when Frank lifted me up off the floor in a big bear hug and started covering my face with kisses.

Frank was my landlord for five years.  He always said I was his favorite.  I think it was true.

It was great to catch up with him, he was delighted to know that I'm back in town.  It was also adorable watching Clayton trip over his tongue trying to be cool about the whole thing.  Actually, to be honest, he was pretty smooth.

Frank: "This one right here?  She's all right, you know.  She's a good girl."

Clayton: "Absolutely, sir.  That's why I hired her."

Frank: "You're lucky to have her you know!  I hope you're treating her right."

Clayton: "Absolutely, sir!  We are VERY lucky to have her, and we treat her the very best we possibly can."

Frank: "You'd better..."

I love my familiar faces.  I love it that they love me too.  It's going to be really hard to leave here next month...