As I continued to watch the man, a waiter noticed me watching. He came over to my table.
"Ma'am, do you know that man? I can't help but notice that you like to watch him a lot."
I grabbed my notepad and started writing, "I noticed him a couple months ago. I don't know him personally, but I would like to get to know him"
The waiter read my note. "Ah, I see!." He winked, then began to walk away.
I quickly grabbed his shirt. He stopped and waited patiently as I wrote, "I can't get to know him because he's blind. I'm a mute. How else are we supposed to communicate?"
"Oh, I see! You want me to introduce you to him!?" I nodded with a big smile on my face. "When would you like for me to introduce you to him?"
I wrote two words that changed my life forever.
"Right now."
The waiter's eyes lit up with delight. "Of course! I'm going to tell my boss so he doesn't think that I'm slacking, talking to some friends or something." I watched him dash off behind the counter, clearly excited. I did a slight gasp. Did I just say that? Am I prepared to do this? Was this a mistake? I gathered the small amount of belongings that I had brought and stood, waiting for the waiter.
The waiter came back almost as soon as I stood up. He gave me a thumbs-up and a very cheesy smile. I gave him a thumbs-up back, my heart beating against my ribcage.
We made our way over to the man's table. The waiter tapped the table twice, " Hey, Matt? I have a friend here that wants to meet you. Her name is..." He looked back at me. I pointed at my handbag that had my name etched on the side.
"Alicia! Her name is Alicia." The waiter rubbed the back of his neck. Matt held his hand out, "Hello, Alicia. It's nice to meet you." I shook his hand, giggling. Matt raised an eyebrow at my non-responsive reply. The waiter gave a little gasp, "Oh! Matt, I had completely forgotten to tell you! Alicia is a mute. She can't speak. That's why I'm here to translate for her."
Matt gestured to the seat that was on the other side of the table. "Then, by all means, do sit. I-" The phone- which I was assuming was his- lit up and started vibrating.
Matt sighed and picked up the phone, answering it. "This is Matthew, who am I speaking to? Oh. Hey, Marissa.
Wait, are you crying? Marissa! Calm down, what's-" His worried expression turned expressionless.
He sharply stood up and hung up the phone, "I'm so sorry, Alicia. We'll have to talk another time." He shoved his phone into his pocket and made a mad dash out the door, leaving the waiter and I to ourselves.
