Favor From Above

Chapter 17 ~ Work

Lily was waiting for a customer's order when Matthew walked in and headed to table twelve. Lily was surprised by the customer. It was unlike him to come to eat at this place. Once the order was ready and she'd delivered it, she went to Matthew's table.

"Good morning Sir. How are you?" Lily said sarcastically.

"Good morning! I'm doing great and how are you?" He replied with a smile on his face.

Wow. Matthew was actually playing along and being nice about it? She could continue then.

"I'm fine. My name is Lily and I'm going to be your waitress for today. Here is your menu Sir." Lily said.

"Lily huh? What a beautiful name."

Beautiful? Had he just given her a compliment? Maybe she didn't hear correctly.

"Are you sure you're okay Matthew?"

Matthew looked into her eyes then at the menu.

"Matt. My friends call me Matt." He corrected.

"You have friends?" Lily asked in shock.

"Doesn't everyone?" He said.

"What are you up to?"

He had to be up to something. He was acting weird. Well, he was acting normal but he never acted normal. That's what worried her.

"Nothing. Just correcting the wrongs. Starting here, where I was rude to you the first time we met. I'm changing the conversation and some of my actions. I'm enjoying it."

Lily was awestruck. Matthew? Matt? Being nice? Correcting?

"Close your mouth princess. We don't want flies getting in now do we?"

Lily was brought back to reality.

"No. Call me when you're ready to order."  Lily said as she rushed away.

" Of course." He simply said.

What? What in the world is going on. Matthew? Is it really him. Is it? Lily wanted to scream at someone. Could someone give her the answers. He said he would try to be nice. Try. Now he's out there being all polite. He was actually listening to her when she spoke. He was 'correcting' their last meeting. Something was wrong. Something had to be wrong. God please let this not be a devious plan from him. Matthew looked at Lily and she knew that he was ready to order.

"Ready to order Sir?"

"Yeah. Can I have a vanilla cake and milk please."

Another surprise.

"Wow. Did you just say please?" Lily asked in shock.

"Yes and stop making this so damn difficult. Can't a person be polite without you being sarcastic and acting all surprised."

Wow. Lily was still amazed but she decided to drop it.

"Cake? Sweet tooth huh?" She asked.

"Nah. I'm more of a pizza person. Just trying something new."

"You ordered a dessert for lunch." Lily stated.

"I don't want to do the same thing I do everyday. I'm trying out new things."

"Okay Sir. Your food is coming right up."

Matthew frowned.

"Stop calling me that. I told you to call me Matt."

"Well that's gonna take some getting used to since I'm accustomed to using Matthew but I'll try."

Matthew nodded his head and Lily turned and left with his order. That whole day Matthew had done everything differently. He even greeted his employees at work. Of course most didn't reply because they were totally surprised. Matthew was so polite that even Quinton asked him if he was alright. Couldn't people just let him be. He thought it was gonna be bad but he was actually enjoying it. Lily's reaction was the funniest to him.

He loved it when he made her speechless because she always had something to say. Making her quiet was a mission he really enjoyed accomplishing. He loved the whole mood between him and Lily. Working after lunch that day wasn't going to be a problem. He had something to smile about all throughout.

Lily was now sure that Matthew was not joking. Maybe he was on drugs, maybe he got promoted, maybe he won the lottery but none of those seemed remotely possible so he had to be serious. She liked the 'new' Matthew, at least they didn't have to argue all the time. Lily got the order as desired and went with it to the table.

"Your order Sir." She said placing the tray on the table.

She laid out the food in front of him. She looked at Matthew and he was staring at her. He seemed to be studying her actions.

"What?" She asked.

Matthew was fascinated by her actions. The way she did her things. How she held the tray, placed it on the table, put the plate in front of him and arrange the cutlery. Everything was perfect. So perfect. Why hadn't he noticed it all before

"Matthew-Matt are you okay?" She asked.

"What?" He said coming back to reality.

Lily wasn't sure he was alright anymore. Matthew wasn't the kind of person who would zone out during a conversation.

"Are you okay? You are looking at me in a funny way."

"Of course I'm okay just wondering why your uniforms are this ugly." He said.

"Sure you are." Lily said with a disbelieving tone.

"Hey what does that mean?" Matthew asked.

"Nothing. Enjoy your meal." She said cheerfully.

"I will."

Matthew ate his meal whilst listening to music on his phone. It was refreshing to change bits of his actions. When he was done, he called Lily. He used his card to pay for the meal. Afterwards he handed two dollars to Lily as a tip. She thanked him as she took the money. She didn't forget the 'God bless you' at the end. It could be her signature line he thought.

Matthew walked out of the restaurant with a big smile on his face. He had been polite and nothing changed. He was still him, only that the people he talked to were more happy than not. Now he was ready to face his meeting with the Williams. It had turned out to be a beautiful day.

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20/07/2017