Galentine’s Day
February 14, 2021 – Chicago, Illinois, USA
The three friends could not help gloating over their table at the trendy new restaurant called Taste. They sat with a good view of the door and hostess station, narrating imagined conversations as customers arrived.
“Look at this guy walking up like he’s so important,” Lyrica said with a laugh. “He’s saying to the hostess, ‘Check out my girl. She spent three houses on hair and makeup.’”
Ines added to the narration of the far-off conversation by saying, “The hostess is telling him, ‘Back it up. Is this the first time you’ve heard of Valentine’s Day? Nobody walks in without a reservation.’”
“Look, look. Now he’s pulling out some cash,” Shandra said excitedly. “That better not work. He needs to learn a lesson about planning ahead.”
Lyrica, Ines, and Shandra knew all about planning. They made their reservations a month earlier. When it seemed obvious none of them would have Valentine’s Day dates, they took matters into their own hands and planned a Galentine’s Day dinner at the coolest spot around. Each arrived at the restaurant sporting new outfits and manicures.
“This was such a good idea,” Shandra said, after losing interest in the new arrivals at the hostess station. “I love having my girls together. We all look fabulous.”
Lyrica nodded and glanced at her watch. Then she motioned toward a waiter. “We should get some food out here. I’m starving,” she said to Ines and Shandra.
Their waiter strolled over and asked, “Have you had a chance to look at the menu? Are you thinking about appetizers?”
“You know, I think I’m ready for my main course. No appetizers for me,” Lyrica answered.
“If she’s going right to her main course, so will I,” Ines added.
Shandra also felt obligated to skip appetizers. The waiter took everyone’s entrée orders and assured them of their excellent choices. Then he disappeared to enter the information into the restaurant’s computer system.
Lyrica subtly checked her watch again. Things were moving along well. She did not dare mention it to her friends, but she had somewhere else to be. A week after they made the Galentine’s reservations, she met someone, and things were going amazingly well. As much as her new man wanted to spend the entire evening with her, she told him her friends would be devastated if she backed out on their Galentine’s celebration. He said he understood, and they planned to meet up after Lyrica finished with Ines and Shandra.
Lyrica raised her glass as if she was giving a toast. “We better kick off this Galentine’s Day by sharing testimonials,” she said. “I’ll start by saying that men are the worst.”
“I’ll second that,” Ines added, holding up her own glass.
“They’re all like little boys,” Shandra said with disgust. “All they think about is themselves.”
“We’re way better off without them,” Lyrica concluded.
“Totally. If I never had to be around another man, I’d be happy,” Ines said with a nod.
“All I need are my girls around me,” Shandra declared. “They never let me down. I know I can count on you two no matter what I look like or how I feel.”
The three friends smiled and clinked their glasses together. Then they each took a turn talking about past boyfriends and breakups. They wondered about what those old boyfriends might be doing now. Every speculation ended with the phrase, “He’s probably in prison.”
Ines laughed loudly during the stories, but when it came time to dishing on her own boyfriends, she kept things brief. She had secretly been happy when Lyrica had moved the food ordering and grievance session along. She was also watching the clock.
Ines had not gone out of her way to meet someone, but it happened shortly after making the Galentine’s Day reservation. He was sweet and funny and nothing like the men they were complaining about. But Ines did not want to upset her friends and sound like she was rubbing it in that she had something they did not. So, she played along.
Ines also kept her Galentine’s Day commitment despite her new man begging her to spend the night with him. She promised him there would still be time for romance after she helped her friends get through the earlier part of the evening.
The entrees arrived at the friends’ table. After quickly gushing over how delicious the food looked, Lyrica and Ines set to work on their plates. For Lyrica, that meant a portion of pasta with a vegetable topping. Ines ordered a small piece of fish.
Shandra said nothing about her own food, but something about her friends’ orders was suspicious. Lyrica typically liked a healthy piece of meat. A light pasta was completely out of character. And why had she and Ines been so quick to refuse appetizers? Special occasions usually required appetizers.
Shandra kept a careful eye on her friends as they attacked their food. Ines was typically a slow eater, stopping to chat between every bite. Now, she was practically swallowing her piece of fish whole. It was like she and Lyrica were racing to clear their plates.
Even their waiter noticed the eating speed. As he walked by the table, he said, “Wow, that was quick. You must have liked it. Are you ready for a dessert menu?”
“Oh, I don’t think so. I’m stuffed,” Lyrica answered.
“Me too,” Ines added.
Shandra gave them a skeptical look. Then she turned to the waiter and said, “Why don’t you give us a minute and then come back.”
The waiter nodded and disappeared. Shandra narrowed her eyes on her friends. “Alright, what’s going on? You two always want dessert. And it’s Galentine’s Day. If there’s ever a day to order dessert, this is it.”
Lyrica put on an innocent face and looked back and forth between Shandra and Ines. Ines shrugged her shoulders and said, “Since when do I always want dessert?”
“Something’s up with you two,” Shandra continued. “You aren’t trying to rush out of here and ditch me, are you? On Galentine’s Day?”
Lyrica dropped her head. “Okay, I can’t deal with the guilt. I should have told you, but I didn’t want anybody feeling bad. I met someone a while back. We’re going out after this.”
“What? On Galentine’s Day? I thought we were in this together,” Shandra cried.
“I didn’t plan on it,” Lyrica replied painfully. “I meant what I said about you two being the most important people in my world.”
“I should have known as soon as you ordered pasta,” Shandra said in a hurt voice.
“I have a confession, too,” Ines said weakly. “I met someone I’ve kept kinda secret. I know you’re going to love him when you meet him. Maybe we can have another dinner together. Anyway, I kinda have to go and meet him, too.”
“Traitors. I can’t believe you’re both ditching me,” Shandra said bitterly. “Why don’t you just get up and go now?”
“No, I came to spend time with you,” Lyrica replied. “I’m not leaving until dinner’s really over.”
“Me either,” Ines added.
“Then I guess we will have some dessert,” Shandra said with a vengeful grin. She raised an arm and motioned for the waiter.
“Have you decided about the dessert menu?” the waiter asked when he returned to the table.
“Yes. We’ll take menus,” Shandra replied. “And since we aren’t in any hurry, I think we’d also like to meet the chef. We’d like to tell him or her how great the food is. If they’re busy, we can wait until they have a minute.”
“I’ll get your dessert menus and then I’ll check,” the waiter replied.
After he departed to the kitchen, Shandra smiled smugly. Lyrica and Ines tried to act unbothered while sneaking peeks at their phone. All three sat in awkward silence until Shandra caught a glimpse of something which almost made her swallow her tongue. She had a clear view of the kitchen and coming toward them was a chef wearing a white coat and hat. The chef smiled brightly as he hurried toward Shandra.
“I can’t believe you found me!” the chef cried to Shandra.
Shandra grinned crookedly. “Yeah, it was kind of an accident.”
The chef put his hand on Shandra’s shoulder. “Are these your friends you were talking about? Are you going to introduce me?”
“Okay. Lyrica and Ines, this is Picard.”
“Picard, huh? So how do you know each other?” Lyrica asked with satisfied smile.
“We’ve been hanging out for the past couple of weeks,” Picard replied. “She kept asking where I worked but I didn’t tell her. I was planning for it to be a little surprise.”
“Surprise,” Shandra said flatly.
“We were talking about going out for Valentine’s Day, but I have to work,” Picard continued. “It’s one of our busiest days of the year.” He turned to Shandra and said, “Maybe I can see you later, if it’s not too late.”
“Sure. If it’s not too late,” Sandra replied though her embarrassment.
“Nice to meet all of you,” Picard called before hurrying back to the kitchen.
Shandra dropped her head and shook it back and forth.
“Sounds to me like someone was ready to ditch us except for the fact that her new chef had to work,” Lyrica said in a teasing voice.
“No, that wasn’t going to happen,” Shandra insisted. “I would have just pulled an eat and run like the two of you.”
After everyone had a good laugh, Shandra said, “You two don’t have to wait for dessert. You can take off if you want.”
“Nah, I don’t mind staying a little longer,” Lyrica said. “It’ll give us a chance to plan for next Galentine’s Day.”
“Shall we make reservations now?” Ines suggested with a laugh.
“To be safe, maybe we should make it a Galentine’s lunch,” Lyrica thoughtfully replied.
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