Chapter Six of Phantom of the Chapel

​“Chrissy, you’ve got a takeout order,” the hostess, Stacy, called out. “He’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”
Chrissy tucked her little notebook in her apron and stepped over to the hostess stand, then gasped when he saw the details.
One order of Harvest Grain and Nut pancakes with a side of strawberries, one order of Double Blueberry pancakes, one Bacon Temptation omelet, and one Spinach and Mushroom omelet. The name of the person who would be picking up the order: Scott.
“Those guys.” Chrissy chuckled and shook her head in disbelief.
“You know who this is?” Stacy asked.
“My boyfriend and his roommate,” Chrissy said.
“I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”
“Relatively new development.” Chrissy wasn’t interested in providing more details. “I’ll go get this called back to the kitchen. Thanks for the order.”
“No problem.” Stacy turned to greet the couple coming in the door and grabbed two menus.
Ten minutes later Chrissy tucked the last takeout box into a large bag as the door chimed and Scott smiled across the way at her. Wow, he was handsome. She wondered, as she had frequently since receiving that first note, if Phil was handsome.
She loved Phil’s husky voice and the excitement that gave her goosebumps every time they talked. Handsome on the outside wasn’t important. Phil was the sexiest man she’d ever met—or spoken with in this case. She grabbed the handles on the bag and stepped over to the counter.
“Hi, Scott.” She set the bag in front of him.
“Hey, Chrissy, how are you?” Scott had a teasing, crooked smile.
His voice was all wrong. He didn’t sound like Phil. She realized since she’d first met them, she had come to associate Phil’s voice with Scott’s looks. She wondered if she’d be this disoriented when seeing Phil for the first time. She didn’t answer his question, just told him the total dollar amount for their order.
Scott handed her three twenty-dollar bills. “Phil said to keep the change.”
Chrissy stepped back and held up her hands. “That’s over twenty dollars.”
“Yeah, he said something about sober college kids tipping better than drunk college kids.”
“What a dork.” Chrissy stepped closer and reluctantly accepted the money but laughed and snorted at the same time.
“Who’s the dork now?” Scott asked, poking fun at her for snorting. “Here, he wrote you another note to go along with the tip.”
Chrissy’s stance softened and she reached out for the note with amusement.
“Thanks for the food.” Scott held up the bag. “Have a great evening.”
“You too,” she said absentmindedly, clutching the money in one hand and the note in the other. She watched as Scott pushed open the door and walked from the restaurant.
“Oh my gosh,” Stacy said from beside her. “Your boyfriend is smokin’ hot.”
“That’s my boyfriend’s roommate,” Chrissy said.
“Well set me up on a double date.” Stacy waved her hand in front of her face to cool herself off.
“Maybe someday.” Chrissy processed the money in the cash register, pocketed the tip, and walked away from the hostess stand. She ducked into the ladies’ room to have some semblance of privacy to read Phil’s love note.
Christina, I hope you’re having a good evening. I can almost taste the pancakes from here. Thank you for serving me dinner. Maybe someday I’ll invite you over and cook you dinner at my apartment. -Phil
Cook me dinner? That would mean finally meeting each other face-to-face. She smiled, tucked the note into her pocket, and went back to work.