Protector of Verron

Chapter 13: Meeting Another

I went back to Earth trying to find the restaurant that I was at when the old man told me about the shield. I found the restaurant and staid there invisible for days. I staid a few more days because I thought that maybe he would come on a particular day of the week. I still never saw an old short man with a cane. I hoped that he would return on at least one day of the week. There was no short old man with a cane. On Wednesday, the seventh day of my steak-out, I decided to enter the restaurant as a regular patron.

I sat down at the old man's table just to see if I could get a rise out of him. I didn't know if he would come in or if he was watching, but he was extremely particular about this table. During my time watching the place I saw dozens of people come and go and several people and families sat at the table. These were all regular people though. The waiter came over and got my order. I had a laptop out and was writing down what had happened. The food came and I tried to eat as slowly as I could while typing.

I wanted to get as much information on there as possible. As I was typing I heard a person inside the restaurant walking with a cane. I looked around and see the man walking towards me. He was nothing like the old guy that helped me out the last time. This man was an African-American possibly in his late 40's. The old man I was looking for looked to be in his 80's or 90's and was a short white guy. This man looked like he just came off the golf course. He was wearing a plaid yellow and green polo shirt. He had grey slack pants on. He looked to be penny loafers but they were missing the penny. He had one of those driver hats that you see golfers wear.

I didn't want to stare at the man and went back to typing on my laptop, disappointed that it wasn't the old man. To my surprise though, he came up to me. In a deep but gentle voice, he asked me, "May I sit with you?"

There was plenty of seating available in the restaurant. I didn't know why he was wanting to sit with me. I didn't mind and welcomed his company. "By all means, sir".

He politely bowed his head and told me, "Thank you".

He removed his hat and sat down. The man put his cane on the other side of him next to the window. He had a full head of black curly hair that had some white streaks showing his age. After sitting down and getting situated, the old man grabbed a handkerchief and wiped his brow.

"Hot day today", the man said.

"Feels good", I told him.

The man put the handkerchief away and continued the conversation, "It would be nice if there was some wind though. At least it didn't cut into my game this morning. Do you golf?"

I told him the truth about how I felt about golf, "I've tried it a few times but could never get into it. It seems so boring to me. I tend to fall asleep watching it too".

The waiter noticed that the man was new and came over to the tale, "Hello sir. My name is Charles. Is there anything I can get you?"

The old man told the waiters, "I'm a little parched today. Do you have any sweet tea?"

The waiter replied, "I'm sorry sir. We do have iced tea and we can bring you some sugar."

The old man seemed disappointed. He changed his order, "You have any lemonade?"

"Yes we do sir", the waiter said.

"Fine. May I have a glass of half-full of ice with half iced tea and half lemonade, please."

"Yes, sir. I can have that done for you. Would you like anything else? Perhaps the menu?"

"No, the drink will be good for now. Thank you."

The waiter walked away and the old man turned his attention back to me. He asked me, "How can you grow up around a place that doesn't serve sweet tea?"