[Intro: piano montuno, brass stab] Green pad in my apron with a pencil on a string Wrong total is a love note if you know the little thing [Verse 1] Friday dinner rush and the tickets never sleep She works the two top section and I work the cheap We pass in the kitchen with a tray and a half smile She bumps my shoulder like we have been practicing a while I write thirteen instead of thirty just to make her frown She walks back with the pad and says you better write it down We huddle in the doorway where the heat lamp makes a glow Manager yells tickets and we pretend we do not know [Pre-Chorus] Coro humming like a street at night My math gets worse when she looks alright [Chorus] Guest check, guest check Numbers in a mess Guest check, guest check Talking under stress I keep inventing errors just to steal another minute You keep catching every one like you were always in it Guest check, guest check Pencil on a string Guest check, guest check Little paper wing We fold the flirts into the tip jar when the shift is done And call it bad arithmetic when it is really someone [Verse 2] One night I wrote her number where the tax line ought to be She laughed so loud the dish guy dropped a stack of pottery She wrote my closing time beside the tip percent in blue I clocked out early and I waited by the alley like a fool We shared a cold empanada on the hood of someone's car Talked about a city we would leave when tips went far Then Monday came and we were back to trays and careful eyes Still writing wrong on purpose like a soft and stupid prize [Pre-Chorus] Coro humming like a kitchen steam I mess the math so we can keep the dream [Chorus] Guest check, guest check Numbers in a mess Guest check, guest check Talking under stress I keep inventing errors just to steal another minute You keep catching every one like you were always in it Guest check, guest check Pencil on a string Guest check, guest check Little paper wing We fold the flirts into the tip jar when the shift is done And call it bad arithmetic when it is really someone [Bridge: percussion break into soft brass] Owner finally noticed and he held a pad up high Said if your totals wander I will ask the kitchen why We straightened up for two weeks like a pair of nervous saints Then she misspelled guacamole and I almost broke restraint [Final Chorus] Guest check, guest check Numbers in a mess Guest check, guest check Talking under stress I keep inventing errors just to steal another minute You keep catching every one like you were always in it Guest check, guest check Pencil on a string Guest check, guest check Little paper wing Love starts in a doorway with a heat lamp and a lie And a total that is wrong until you look me in the eye [Outro: montuno fade] Green pad in my apron with a pencil on a string Wrong total is a love note if you know the little thing
