Banana Nights

Leslie wasn't in on Saturday. And, as expected, the banana did not appear. The banana had come to represent the existence of their extramarital affair with each other -- Jason's extra mojo builder to get him over the late-night-hump so he would be able to keep up with someone half his age, once the stragglers were kicked out and Brady's was finally closed for the night.

On Banana Nights, the entire staff, ex-Leslie, would cash out and head next door to Charters, a dive bar that served cheap drinks and was open much later than Jason liked to keep Brady's open. Most of waitresses made this a weekend tradition -- the only requirement being that they made at least ten times more than they were planning to spend at Charters. (For most, that threshold was $150, but the number would go down, relative to the amount of frustrations and obnoxious patrons they dealt with at Brady's. And yes, the place is that cheap, where the girls could gossip for an hour or two, have 2 or 3 drinks, and still manage to drop only $15 each with tip included.)

And on these Banana Nights, when the girls would wrap up for the night and escort each other past Brady's to their cars, they would always notice Jason's office lights still on. Jason was not one to stick around, working the numbers or ordering inventory into the wee hours of the night, like some restaurant owners did. In his perfect world, Brady's would be closed up and he would be home every night by 10:30. He seemed bothered anytime he was forced to stay open to cater to any late arrivers, especially those that ended up nursing their glass of wine past 11:00.

He has been known to flick lights, noisily remove the cash register drawer, mop up floors around such patrons and explosively turn the music up deafeningly loud for half an instant, and then turn it off -- all in hopes that the late-night revelers would abandon their drinks and head out. Sometimes he would even offer up Charters next door - though he would never be caught dead in there himself.

This is how badly Jason hated being at Brady's too late. If he could meet these hopeful women at the door, that would have come in for the too-late-night-cap, he would, and say quite gruffly, "We're closed." They didn't want to eat, they would say. Just have a quick drink. Then he would stare, not say anything, until they changed their minds and left for friendlier places. As they left, he would pleasantly call after them, "Come back next week at 9...!"

He was so mad at me one night for letting some late-night women come in for their "quick drink" that he lectured me on what to do next time for the entire time they were there, explaining to me," If I wanted to listen to male bashing [which is what they were doing, and it was quite funny] I would just go home and talk to Sarah." Yikes. I bet Leslie doesn't male-bash...

And then the waitresses would notice Leslie's car still in the parking lot, too - and it was quite clear what they both were doing together at 1 in the morning, while their respective spouses waited at home for them to return from a "busy night" at Brady's.

But something happened to suddenly halt the affair for more than 6 months. Leslie left one day, mid-shift, throwing around allegations of sexual harassment on her way out the door to whomever would listen. (We're women -- we all listened!) But we weren't sure whether Leslie was telling the truth, or if she was feeling like a scorned woman and was lashing out to punish Jason for staying with his wife.

The week before Leslie's husband had come into Brady's with a few colleagues. Jason, it was reported, was acting like a jealous boyfriend the whole time, and kept sending for Leslie to see him in his office for made-up "emergencies" like scheduling conflicts and new drink menus. And then, before Leslie's husband ended his business dinner, he quietly stepped into Jason's office himself, closed the door, and spoke to him "man-to-man," Leslie told us.

No one was able to corroborate her story, since Leslie was the only waitress on the floor that night, handling both the bar and the dining room. Something probably happened, but the extent of the drama and intrigue is unknown. What we did all find out is that Leslie is a delusional, crazy, ego-maniac. And Jason isn't too much better for getting wrapped up in her drama-filled life. But from all accounts, he did seem to like her plenty.

And then suddenly, the same weekend that Jaques, Jason's star chef was gone, Leslie was back. Jason had plenty of things to worry about -- but Saturday night, a banana was not one of them. He must have given her the night off so he only had to deal with one crisis at a time. We thought.