Who You Say I Am (A Jai Courtney Fanfic)

Chapter 85-Meg

Meg

We head out to dinner on Friday. I offered to Jai that we could park at the parking garage early and walk over but he decided he wanted to park closer to the restaurant.  He actually drove around the area a bit since he was interested in exploring downtown some more.  I kind of wish I knew more about what to do around here since I only ever come for games and helping out the homeless. I don't mind traveling the area, though.  He's having a good time and I honestly know that there's not all that much to see in town. This is about it.  He points out a few art places that I was unaware of and I feel like I'll have to come down here and explore them again sometime. 
Jai parks near the restaurant and we walk in.  We're immediately greeted and he's recognized instantly.  We get seated right away but it is kind of early.  This is sort of like a late lunch, early dinner for us.  The owner actually comes out to meet Jai.  He shakes his hand and poses for some pictures with him.  Jai insists that I join him.  I bashfully come to his side and smile for the pictures.  We're given a tour and Jai laughs at what he's going to have to sign. 
"I told you it'd be unusual," I say. 
"You were right," he grins. 
We get to view all sorts of signatures on the wall.  We see two real ones with Jimmy Carter's and Walter Mondale's signatures.  The rest are manufactured.  The first signature they ever got was Burt Reynolds's.  I'm just in awe of all the signatures they have.  I see John Glenn who any Ohioan would know all about.  I see Tiny Tim and Santa Claus and have to laugh.  Jai's not familiar with Tiny Tim though so I'll have to explain later—probably with SpongeBob since that song's iconic.  There are several I don't know but I see so many famous people I had no idea were up here.  Usually I see the names near wherever I'm seated but this is incredible. 
Jai finally gets to sign his and he has me touch it first.  It's like a squishy foam.  I laugh in surprise and return it to him.  He signs it and gives it back.  The owner and staff thank him and tell us to enjoy our meal.  We sit at our booth once more and look over the menu.  I get the original hot dog with pierogies on the side and an order of the fried pickles.  I also ask for the regular pickles, not the sweet hots.  I don't really like those.  Jai orders two original dogs and asks me what side he should get.  I recommend the paprikas or the chicken soup.  He gets the soup and I might have to take a bite from his. 
"No chips for you?" he asks. 
"There's potatoes in my pierogies," I tell him.  "But the fries are good.  I would've gotten them if I didn't see the others."
He nods in understanding and we're actually served really quickly.  It couldn't have been more than ten minutes.  They place our plates before us and I have to sit back and watch him.  He smiles at me and takes a bite of his first dog.  He looks at me in surprise. 
"Okay, so you said hot dog," he tells me. 
I nod. 
"This is more of a snag," he insists. 
I get out my phone and look up snag in Aussie slang.  "Oh, a sausage.  Yeah," I nod. 
"Did you seriously just look that up on your phone?" he laughs. 
"I did," I admit smiling. 
He chuckles harder. "These are good, though.  I've got to brag to my mates about this place," he tells me.  He takes a picture of his plate and sends it with a text. 
"Isn't it like early morning there?" I question.  It's probably close to twelve hours behind our time since Japan was... so I'm thinking 5:30 am. 
"Fifteen hour difference," he mumbles. 
"Really?" I question in surprise.  I look it up online.  It's about 8:30 am.  That's weird though.  It looks like Japan should be in the same timezone or the next one over.  I guess that explains why it felt like the sun was up there at four in the morning in the summer.  Also, they don't do daylight savings time so it might be thirteen. 
"Eh, they're probably still in bed nursing a hangover," he says putting his phone away. 
"Heavy drinkers?" I ask. 
"They're Australian," he shrugs trying the soup.  "That's interesting."
I smile at him.  "You want one?" I ask offering him a pierogie. 
He grins and takes one.  "Those are good," he tells me.  He snatches a fried pickle off of my plate.  "Is that a gherkin?" he questions. 
I nod, "They make their own."
"You weren't kidding about this place," he grins at me. 
"Nope.  World famous," I smile. 
He reaches for my hand and kisses the back of it.  He looks into my eyes and I have to keep telling myself that we're just friends.  I smile at him and turn to my plate.