Rod, again - Chapter 15, Deep-fried cake?

Rod waited in his car as the last of the lunch time rush trickled away from Nina’s restaurant. He knew Nina was inside; he’d caught a glimpse of her in the window when he pulled up. He assumed there would be a lull after lunch and reasoned that would be an opportune time to chat with her. After letting a full fifteen minutes pass without any customers, Rod climbed out of his car and approached the order window. The all-too-familiar-looking Rico was working again.

“Hello, Rico.” Rod said, cheerfully.

Rico gulped and pulled the brim of his “Nina’s” baseball cap down low, almost over his eyes. “H-Hi” he stammered.

Rod noticed a hand-written note posted on the corner of the window announcing new weekend hours. Closing time for Friday and Saturday had been moved from 10 PM to 6 PM. “Kind of early to be closing on the weekend, isn’t it?” Rod noted, nodding toward the sign.

Rico swallowed. Now that Nina was doing the cooking, she couldn’t run off when the restaurant was open. Rather than have her weekend night life interrupted, she’d simply shortened the work day. Nina had given him explicit instructions on how to respond should any customers ask about the change. Rico closed his eyes for a moment as he tried to recall the exact wording. “Nina’s restaurant values its employees and wants to ensure their well-being by giving them some extra time off for family.” Rico delivered the phrase in monotone, looking up into the bill of his cap - too preoccupied with getting the words correct to worry about inflection or believability.

Rod nodded. It was obvious that Rico had been told what to say. He assumed that the real reason for the shortened hours was that business had dropped off and Nina couldn’t afford to pay staff to hang around with no customers. It should be easy to work out a deal with Nina. “Say, Rico.” Rod began, “Tell Nina that Rod Piston is here with a business opportunity.”

Rico nodded, happy to be done discussing the reduced hours. He scurried to kitchen to tell Nina. After a moment, he reappeared, followed by Nina. She looked hot and tired.

Nina looked out through the window and grinned. “Hi, Rod.” she cooed. “Rico says you want to do some business. Are you interested in trying a healthy snack?” In Chet’s absence, Nina had been working on her own menu additions.

“Actually, I wanted to speak to you about the cake Cindy and I tried earlier.” Rod stated.

Nina shot a glance at Rico. Rico winced and looked down at the counter. “Ah, yes.” Nina responded, slowly. “The cake. That was a mistake. It was not supposed to be served.”

“But, it was wonderful.” Rod interjected. “Cindy and I both loved it, so much so that we’d like it to be our wedding cake.” Rod paused and lowered his voice. “Just name your price. Plus, if you’ve got other healthy items, we’d consider having you cater the whole wedding.”

Nina took a moment to digest what Rod was saying. A catering deal could open up a whole new revenue stream. Plus, it would be an effective way to promote the restaurant and expose people to its fine fare. But Chet was gone and she’d already tried unsuccessfully to get him to return. “We have plenty of healthy options,” she said, smiling. “And we would be thrilled to cater your wedding.” Nina noticed Rico looking confused. She caught his eye and gave him a hard glare. She didn’t need him screwing anything else up.

“Great!” said Rod. “What sorts of entrees do you have?”

“Hold on, just a sec,” Nina said, rushing back into the kitchen. She returned with a plate containing something brown. “Here,” she said. “Try this. I just came up with it. I think you’ll like it. It’s got carrot...and spinach.”

Rod took the plate but held it at arm’s length when he smelled it. “Is it deep fried?” he asked, trying to contain his gag reflex.

“Of course,” Nina replied. “Everything we offer is deep-fried in our special, secret batter.”

Rod set the plate on the window counter and took a step back, trying to escape its odor. “Hmm,” he said, trying to think of a polite way to tell Nina that her food made him ill. “I don’t think this is going to work. I have issues with certain aromas and foods and I can’t eat anything deep-fried. It doesn’t seem all that healthy either. Do you have any thing else?”

Nina looked at him with wide eyes and her mouth slightly open. “What kind of person doesn’t eat deep-fried food?” she said, exasperated. “Everybody eats deep-fried food. Everyone loves deep-fried food. America is founded on deep-fried food.” She glanced at him suspiciously, “You aren’t anti-American, are you?”

Rod looked at Nina and tried to decide if she was serious or just desperate. He concluded that she was probably both. “Listen,” he began. “I’m not anti-American. I just don’t like deep-fried food. Maybe we should just focus on the cake. We’d like a wedding cake made exactly like the one we tried here. If you can do that, we’ll make it worth your time.”

“Oh Rod, I do want to help you.” Nina replied, her voice dripping with condescension. “It’s just that I don’t want to sell you something that I know most of your guests won’t like. You and your honey might have thought you liked the cake, but I’ve been in the restaurant business a long time. I think I know better.”

“So you won’t sell me the cake.” Rod said, flatly.

“Of course I can, sweetie. But to serve that cake at a wedding would be a travesty. People would hate it and your wedding would be ruined along with my reputation. Let me put something together that people will love. Something tasty that reflects well upon all of us.”

Rod looked up at her. “You wouldn’t....deep-fry it.....would you?” he asked cautiously.

Nina smiled. “Like I said, everything I make is deep-fried. You just need to learn to trust the experts.”

Rod disliked Nina’s patronizing tone plus he sensed that she was covering something up. From what he knew of Nina, it was surprising that she wouldn’t make whatever he asked for. He remembered that Nina hadn’t been there when he’d had the cake. “Where’s your cook?” he asked. “The one who was working the other day.”

Nina glanced at Rico and then gave Rod a hard stare. “I do all the cooking.” she said.

“You weren’t doing the cooking then. And whoever was knew how to cook without a deep fryer. Rico told me you weren’t even at the restaurant.” Rod gave Rico a stern look. “You weren’t lying to me, were you Rico?”

Rico gulped and shook his head quickly. Then he noticed Nina glaring at him and stopped and nodded a couple of times. Unsure what he should do, Rico turned his back to Rod and Nina and started wiping down the soda dispenser.

Nina put her hands on her hips and frowned at Rod. “Listen, I’m trying to be cordial but I won’t have you harassing my employees. Rico was probably confused. He gets confused easily. Now, let’s talk some more about this wedding of yours.”

Rod shook his head. “Never mind.” he said, stepping away from the window. “If you can’t come through on a simple request for a cake, I’m sure not going to trust you with anything to do with my wedding. I guess we’re done.” Rod kept walking toward his car, raising his voice as he went. “And another thing, stop sending the hand-written coupons or I’ll call the cops. Trust me, there is no way I am ever eating here again!” Rod climbed into his car and slammed the door. If Nina had a response, he didn’t hear it.

Rico looked up at Nina. He didn’t have to ask her. He knew his ninja spy days were over.