Chris' only other job had been as a dishwasher at a family restaurant in the backwater of Cajun territory, and it had required even less people contact than his present one did. Someone with a different type of personality- or someone without psychometry to contend with- might've sought out a job where they could have built up their people skills and worked on their shyness problem, but not Chris. He was fine with avoidance, considering that he was an introvert and had no desire to spend scads of time around other people.
Having a few friends might be nice, though, and maybe that was why he was making an effort to warm up to Hesper. She seemed to like him for some reason (it wouldn't have occurred to him that she might want to utilize his powers to her own ends), so why shouldn't he try? She was interesting. "Thank you," he said when she told him she was going to be nice and not comment, and he even managed to not flinch when she patted his shoulder. It wouldn't provoke images for him, so he could deal with it.
Chris darted a shy glance at the waitress, but he managed to smile, an uptilt of his lips that was more because it was expected rather than because he felt any genuine humor. "Yes, coffee, please," he said, nodding to her. Then he opened his own menu, thinking that pancakes sounded nice. He didn't like to eat anything overly greasy or spicy when he was going to be going home and getting his 'night's' sleep after this.