Jealous Boyfriends
The restaurant was bustling with activity, customers seated and talking among themselves. The smell of fresh, homemade food wafted through the air, delicious and getting people excited for their meal. Those who already had their food could confirm that it tasted even better than it smelled.
“I really can’t believe you’ve never been here before!” A Brazilian parrot sitting across from a rooster and duck exclaimed, putting down his menu for a moment to look the latter in the eyes.
“Aah, me neither, Jose.” The duck known as Donald replied, chucking softly and giving a subtle shrug. “If you ask me though, a place like this should only be shared with my two most special birds. You and Panchito.”
“AAAWW.” The rooster next to Donald had his beak wide in an open-mouthed smile, both hands placed over his heart, and his eyes shimmering. “You’re such a flatter, Donal’.” He gave the duck a gentle nudge on the shoulder, the three of them sharing a laugh.
“That’s what I always tell you guys! I’m a natural flirt.” Donald boasted proudly, pointing towards his puffed-up chest with his thumb.
“Only towards us, I hope.” Jose smiled, before spotting a figure from the corner of his eyes approaching their table, holding a notepad and pen.
“Hi, I’m Stephanie!” The waitress greeted them, who looked to be a sparrow around their age, though a little on the shorter side. “Sorry to keep you boys waiting, can I start you off with some drinks?”
Stephanie smiled kindly at the three of them, but when her gaze fell onto Donald it seemed to linger, eyes widening and cheeks tinting a faint pink.
Panchito took notice of this, looking over at Jose as the two of them exchanged glances. The former decided to clear his throat, snapping their waitress out of her daze. He’d lean over towards Donald, putting an arm over his shoulder and instinctively hugging him closer.
“Forgive me for being pushy, but I believe you were asking for our drink order?” The rooster spoke in a polite tone, deciding to dismiss her staring towards Donald for the time being, while Jose only nodded in agreement, raising an eyebrow towards the sparrow.
“Oh!” Stephanie grinned, laughing awkwardly as she fumbled with her notepad, nearly dropping it along with her pen. “So sorry, I don’t know what got into me. I just… okay, what will you three have?”
“The two of us will have the watermelon margarita, salt-rimmed.” Jose decided, pointing at Panchito. “What about you, our Donal?” The parrot enunciated the “our” part of that sentence, drumming his fingers against the wooden table.
“I’ll just start off with a small lemonade.” Donald said finally, not taking notice of his partner’s sudden strange behavior.
“Two watermelon margaritas and a lemonade…” The waitress repeated, scribbling down the drink orders and nodding. “Sure thing! I’ll be right out with your drinks and back to get your food order.”
Stephanie glanced one last time towards Donald, before stepping away and going to retrieve their beverages. Jose rolled his eyes at that, shaking his head.
“Do I have something on my face??” The duck would ask, turning towards the two of them. He felt around his face with his fingers, and along his beak. “She seemed to be staring at me a lot. If I do, she could’ve just told me…” He muttered in a slightly ticked manner.
“Don’t worry, your face is as perfect as it always is.” Panchito reassured him, giving Donald a hearty pat on the shoulder, having backed away from the duck since the sparrow left, keeping him at arm's length.
“You know how some are! They have a real staring problem.” Jose added plainly, his fingers continuing to drum upon the table. “That, and it’s hard not to stare at a face like yours.”
“Doesn’t mean everyone should…” Panchito mumbled under his breath, trying poorly to hide it with a clear of his throat. He quickly put on a smile when he spotted their waitress returning to their table, balancing a tray containing their drinks.
“Okay! Two watermelon margaritas..” Stephanie began, placing the two glasses down for the parrot and rooster. “And a lemonade for you.”
She smiled sweetly at Donald, purposefully brushing his fingers with her own, a bashful giggle coming out of her beak. The duck took it as an accident, but Jose and Panchito knew better.
“Whoa! If this is what a small looks like, I can’t imagine what a large is.” Donald exclaimed, taking a sip from the straw.
“Oh! No, that is a large. I just thought… Someone like you deserved a little more than a small. Don’t worry, I still charged it as a small. Just don’t tell my boss.” Stephanie winked at him, reaching over and brushing the side of his arm tenderly.
Neither Panchito or Jose knew how much longer they could take this.
“I’m sorry Donal’, would you mind scooting over to the middle? I’m getting pretty lonely over here.” The parrot asked in the sweetest voice he could muster, trying his best not to side-eye the waitress.
“Sure, I don’t see why not.” Donald replied, scooting over along with Panchito. Jose switched over to their side, putting himself between their waitress and Donald. Stephanie backed off, though just by a few inches.
“Alright, well… you three ready to order?” She pulled back out her notepad, making an attempt to not look disappointed when the parrot put himself next to the duck.
“I think the three of us will just share the Mexican platter. That's okay with you two?” Jose asked the two of them, pointing towards a big item on the menu.
“Perfect.” Panchito and Donald agreed in unison.
“Sounds good. I’ll have that out for you as soon as possible.”
Stephanie would take their menus, once again being sure that her fingers lingered on Donald’s just a second longer. Panchito exhaled sharply, crossing his arms.
—---
It was half an hour since the waitress had given them their platter, more than half the food on it was already eaten, the three of them enjoying their food immensely, so much that Jose and Panchito almost forgot how “friendly” the waitress was with their Donald.
Almost.
“You guys weren’t kidding! I can’t believe I haven’t heard of this place sooner.” Donald remarked, washing down his food with a big gulp of lemonade. “The food here is amazing.”
Panchito laughed, giving a soft squeeze to Donald’s shoulder. “Just as Jose told you! Trust me, this is the type of food you never get tired of.”
“Can’t say the same for the people who work here though, hm?” Jose mumbled just as Stephanie approached their table. She had a blush already on her cheeks, looking over at the duck.
“I see you boys enjoyed your food! Think you got any room for dessert?” She asked the three of them, placing down a small menu. “We don’t have many options at the moment, but we do have a really sweet dulce de leche cake. I bet it doesn’t taste nearly as sweet as you, though.”
She looked straight at Donald when she said it, giggling and clicking her pen in a nervous fashion. The duck raised his eyebrow, a blush that was more confused than anything else dusting his cheeks.
“Uhmm. Thank you?”
Stephanie coughed. “You know, I feel weird asking this in front of your friends, but I was just wondering if… maybe you’d like to go out-”
“DONALD!” Panchito shouted suddenly, startling the waitress, Donald, and even Jose. The rooster took a deep breath, calming his voice down before speaking again. “I hate to interrupt, but I think I actually do see something on your face.”
“You do??”
Panchito nodded, placing a hand on Donald’s cheek and turning his head to face him. “Ah! There it is!”
Before Donald could ask what exactly was on his face, he got his answer as soon as Panchito pressed his beak against Donald’s, cupping the other side of his cheek and pulling him into a deep kiss. There was wide-eyed surprise from the duck at first, before melting into it.
Panchito could practically feel the shocked look on Stephanie’s face, and the thought of that only made him pull Donald in closer, only stopping when the two of them needed a moment to breathe.
“Actually, I think I see something on your face too.” Jose said, not giving Donald more than a second after pulling away from Panchito before he pressed his beak against his in another deep kiss, arms wrapped tightly around each other.
“So…” Panchito leaned over, looking right at their waitress as his two partners continued their kissing. “You think we can still get an order of that cake?”
Stephanie’s beak was agape, at a loss for words. “Uhmm..sure. I can get that started for you.” The sparrow murmured at last, a sheepish hand rubbing the back of her neck. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you guys were…”
She shook her head, leaving the three of them quickly. It wasn’t until she left that Jose pulled away from Donald, the duck in a blissful and lovesick daze after receiving two long kisses from his boyfriends, his head falling back and a wide smile on his beak.
“I love you guys so much.” He mumbled, and Panchito and Jose looked at each other, smiling.
“We love you too! You’re all ours.” Jose replied, hugging Donald closely.
Panchito draped an arm over the two of them, leaning back and taking a sip from his watermelon margarita.
“You got that right, Jose.”