Ribs-n-Ritas Night

They showered and dressed, and went out to dinner with Jennifer’s friends. Richie drove the Kelly green XLR with the top down, and was happy to see Jennifer didn’t care about her hair blowing in the breeze. When they pulled up in front of the restaurant, Richie could smell the unmistakable aroma of smoked meat. His mouth watered and he eagerly vaulted from the car. He put his arm around Jennifer’s waist as they crossed the lot. Through the window, Richie could see a table of women, sitting in front of a small stage.

“Is that them?” he asked her.

Jennifer beamed. “Yep, that’s them alright. C’mon, you’re gonna love them.” She took his hand eagerly and they went inside.

Matt, the owner, was working the register. “Hey Jen! Glad you could – holy shit.” Matt had gotten a look at who trailed her into the restaurant.

“Matt, this is Rich. Rich, the best rib master around, Matt Packard.” The two men shook hands over the counter.

“Jesus, Jen,” Matt laughed. “The girls are gonna go ape-shit. And I’m the best rib master period. Damn, Krissy told me you were finally seeing someone who made you happy, but didn’t tell me who it was.”

“She didn’t know,” Jennifer answered, blushing. “I wanted to surprise them.”

“Well, it’s certainly going to be a surprise,” Matt said. “Go sit down. Now that you’re all here, I’ll send Amy over.” He looked at Richie. “Good luck, man,” he chuckled, then turned to take care of the next customer.

Richie looked at Jennifer and rolled his eyes. “Ape-shit, huh?”

Jennifer nodded and brought Richie into the bar area. Conversation at the table full of women stopped when Jennifer and Richie approached. She laughed. “I see you all know Rich,” she joked. “Rich, the ribs-n-ritas crew: Krissy, Linda, Lisa, Megan, Pammy, Robin, Tracey and Veronica.”

“Good evenin’, ladies,” Richie said, turning up the charm. “It is a pleasure to meet all of you. I am gonna be the envy of every guy in the place if you’ll let me join you.”

Megan found her voice first. “Of course!” she said. “Please, sit down.” Riche and Jennifer sat, and the waitress, Amy, came over with platters of ribs, brisket, chicken and sausage, and a basket of little fried balls of something.

“It all smells wonderful,” Richie said, helping himself after the ladies had told him not to stand on ceremony. He took a little bit of everything. Biting into a succulent Carolina rib, he groaned. “This is amazing,” he said, scraping every last bit of meat off the bone, then sucking the sauce off for good measure. Conversation resumed, stilted at first, but as the girls relaxed, and the tequila flowed, it got more lively. He noticed Jennifer was drinking water, and leaned in to her. “You know,” he said, “you can drink with your friends if you want.”

Jennifer shook her head. “Nah, I’m fine. Honest.” She lowered her voice to a purr. “You don’t really want me passing out on you tonight, do you?”

Richie chuckled. “No, darlin’, I surely don’t.”

A cry of “DAMMIT” from the kitchen made it into the bar. Krissy winced. “Uh-oh. Matt’s not happy about something,” she said, and left the table to see what her husband was yelling about. She came back a few minutes later. “The kitchen printer isn’t working anymore.” She sighed. “The damned thing is practically new, too.”

Jennifer wiped her mouth. “Do you want me to take a look at it?” She stood.

“I hate to ask, but if you wouldn’t mind?” Krissy felt bad.

“Isn’t that my job?” Jennifer joked, and kissed Richie before getting up. “Wanna see the kitchen?” When Richie nodded, she looked at her friends. “You can talk about us now,” she said, and led Richie out back.

Richie was pretty sure smoke was coming out of Matt’s ears. “Jen, I’m sorry, but the damned thing isn’t working.” He smacked it with a spoon for good measure.

“When did it stop working?” she asked, crossing the kitchen to the shelf with the electronics on it.

“I don’t know, about ten minutes ago. Nobody told me,” he said, giving his staff the evil eye. Richie smiled. Matt and Jon would get along fine, he thought.

Jennifer picked up the small printer that looked like an old-fashioned paper-tape calculator with no keys. She turned it over and around, and checked the connections. Frowning, she unplugged the wire that went to the computer system and looked at the plug. “Someone dropped the printer off the counter,” she said. “The plug came undone and they jammed it back in upside down and bent the pins. Gimme pliers,” she said, holding out her hand while she continued to look at the printer, to see if any other damage was done. Matt slapped a pair of needle-nosed pliers in her hand, and she straightened the pins, and reconnected the printer. She printed a test receipt, and smiled when it came out perfectly. ‘Et, voila, ma chere,” she said with a horrible French accent. “Need anything else?”

“Yeah, an upgrade on the touch-screen, but not until Monday, when we’re closed,” Matt said. He saw Richie was confused. “Jennifer set up our computer system for us in her spare time. It took her a week to do, too, because the damned POS system didn’t come with instructions. The vendor is an idiot, but it was an inexpensive system, and she has it working perfectly. She taught Krissy how to program the menu.”

Richie looked at her, surprised.

“What?” she said. “I’m gonna make them go to someone else who’ll make them pay?” She shook her head. “We bartered. I take care of their IT issues, they keep me in ribs.”

Matt frowned. “Yeah, but you don’t come in except when the girls are all here,” he said. “And you know damned well I can’t feed all of you for free, ya’ll eat way too much.”

Jennifer smiled, and kissed Matt’s cheek. “Matt, honey, I don’t want to take advantage, you know that.” She winked at him and turned back to Richie. “Let’s go eat before everything’s gone.”

“Thanks, Jen,” Matt called as they left, and Jennifer just waved over her head.

They finished their meal amid much laughter, and stayed later than they expected to. They got back to the house around midnight, and fell into bed. They made love slowly, and cuddled up to each other, and after a tender kiss, Jennifer drifted off to sleep, her head pillowed on Richie’s chest. Richie stroked her hair and looked at her, watching her sleep. The more he learned about her, the more he liked her – really liked her. He didn’t correct Jon’s assertion that Jennifer might be the one for Richie. It felt natural to be with her, and he’d meant it when he told her that he felt he’d known her forever.

Richie pressed a kiss to Jennifer’s forehead. “Ah, sweetheart, you are definitely under my skin, and have wiggled your way into my heart,” he whispered. Then, more content than he’d been in a long time, Richie drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.