The waitress seemed a little perplexed when she made her way over to Renly’s spot at the bar, arms loaded with such an array of dishes that she clearly expected him to be waiting for someone else to join him. He gave her a sheepish smile and shook his head to indicate ‘no’ when she gestured toward the empty stool beside him.
“All for me, I’m afraid,” he said with a soft chuckle, moving his menu and his teapot aside in order to make room for the bowl of soup that she set in front of him, along with an enormous plate of dumplings and noodles piled high and slathered in a rich sauce. Before she disappeared back into the kitchen, he reached out and touched her elbow. “Actually, I ordered the egg drop soup, not the wonton soup.”
Renly graciously waved away her apologies as she hurried away to fetch the correct order, but wondered exactly what he was supposed to do with a bowl of wonton soup that he had no intentions of eating. She hadn’t taken it back with her, and he didn’t relish the thought of wasting good food – but even with his miraculous metabolism, there was only so much sodium that Renly could possibly ingest in a single evening’s meal.
“Did you order the wonton soup?” He asked the woman sitting a few stools down the length of the bar, and when she shook her head and politely refused he leaned back in his seat to look around her. “How about you? They screwed up my order.” Renly held the bowl out towards a young man with long hair sitting down at the end by himself, raising his eyebrows.