I hate to have to resort to this...

The silly names were so, so fun yesterday! Thanks for playing along all...if you didn't read all the comments go and do so. It was, in a syllable, fab.

“Noodles! I love noodles!” I announced as we approached the counter. Cate picked up the frequent diner card.

“This is such a good idea,” she announced, waving the card. The small slip of paper slid from her fingers, flew over the counter and landed in the kitchen.

In a moment reminiscent of Pretty Woman, the adorable, young and attractive manager swooped down to pick up the card. He handed it back to Cate, who was embarrassed.

I made jokes to cover the moment. Cate pressed an unspecified amount of cash into the manager’s hand. He laughed at the jokes and the overeager attempt at the dashaway.

As the mostly annoying friend that I am, I told all our friends at the table that Cate had completely bewitched the Noodles & Co. manager by throwing things at him. Cate rolled her eyes, accustomed to my non-wittiness.

The joke had almost died down when the manager appeared at the end of our table to ask if everything was done well. Cate agreed prettily, and, although she denies it, there was a spark there. We all felt it. Our food increased at least 10 degrees. We could barely eat it.

Clearly, this was an invite to up the level of teasing. I began telling her that she shouldn’t break his heart but should pass him her number next time he came to the table.

He arrived 5 minutes later with 2 for 1 coupons. Well, that was an obvious implied date if ever I had seen it and I said so several hundred times.

When he returned bearing freshly baked Rice Krispies treats, I knew that he had fallen for Cate’s vixenish behavior. That tossed card meant everything to him. He would never breathe but to think of her.

Although we never looked back as we entered the rain-soaked night, I feel assured that he was there, watching his lost true love retreat into the night with her frequent diner card. His passion and pain intertwined like lightning across a stormy sky.

Try as I have, I cannot convince Cate to relieve his torment and return to the restaurant. She’ll claim she passes through for lunch, but I know that it’s not true. Somewhere, a manager, nearly maimed by paper cut, is crying into the night for his one lost customer.

So, I hate to have to do this, but please help me force Cate into hitting on the guy. If for no other reason than for us to have stories wherein I use the phrase "hot noodle guy." Come on. You know you want to see what I can do with that nickname.