Simple as Hello

Part 6

     "Okay so what you're telling me is that you can't hang out tonight?" Calvin says with his mouth half full over the phone. "No," I reply, "I have work. Reggie's Diner." "Oh, I see I see. When are you off?" "Not till 11pm tonight, late nights are fun in diners though." "Okay, whatever you say," he says chuckling, "but you're sure your eye and jaw and arm are all healed up." "Yeah, for the most part. My eye still has some bruising around it. My jaw is sore, but there's no physical proof of that, and then my arm just looks like it was scratched by a baby kitten. All good." "Okay, if you're sure." He's still worried, I can tell by the waver in his voice when he says okay. "Alright, well have fun waiting on people Mae!" "You make it sound terrible, but okay, I will!"

     I pull into Reggie's and park in the same spot I park in every day, satisfying my self-diagnosed OCD. While walking in, I throw on my apron and wash my hands under the sink that is for workers because it only spits out cold water. Reggie gives me a look as soon as he sees my face, stares for a second, and then shrugs it off. He's never been the caring or personal type, I like that about him. I pour myself a mug of hot coffee which is pretty much my lifeline considering it's only 2pm and I've still got nine hours to go. All of the regulars come in at their regular times and order their regular meals. I can't help but love the monotony, it soothes my being. I don't have to worry about not knowing what someone wants or what their personality is, unless a newbie comes in.

     By 5 o'clock, I am having anther cup of coffee, my hands are a little shaky, but if I don't have this, I'll be asleep on the job and Reggie doesn't put up with that. All of the dinner regulars begin to make their way in and Rob, the cook, already starts on their meals. The next couple of hours have gone fast and the next time I actually get the chance to look at the clock, it's nine thirty. I'm cleaning off the counter when I see rough, familiar hands folded in front of me. I follow them to the strong forearms, chest, and up to Calvin's face. "Hey Mae." I am so caught off guard, he's not a regular, he's not usually here at 9:30pm, that's when no one really comes. The late-nighters still have another forty five minutes or so. Okay, calm down Mae, he's here and you have to do deal with things being out of the ordinary. "How is the diner going, eh?" He almost sounds Canadian. "Pretty busy until now. You don't have to come here if you don't want to, it's kinda-" He puts his hand up to stop my words, "I wanted to. No more apologizing, okay?" I nod and continue to clean off the counter. As I work my way around, I can feel Calvin staring at me. "What?" I finally say. "Aren't you going to take my order?" "Oh, you want food?" "Do you even know me?" "Well, yes," I laugh, "what would you like?" 

     He eats his steak and potatoes with a glass of chocolate milk in less than fifteen minutes and then sits, waiting for the check which I bring over quickly. Then he slaps a twenty on the counter saying, "keep the change." "But your meal was only seven dollars?" He nods with a wide smile on his face. I blush a bit and then shove the other thirteen bucks into my apron pocket. He sits and stares at me some more and I wonder if he's waiting up for me. There's no way. He only came because he was hungry, and the tip, it was because he feels bad still about the fight. I am trying to rationalize everything when I hear Reggie screaming from the back. "Mae, come 'ere. Yeah, so you can leave now. There's not much left to do. I've got some new girl being trained and I'll teach her how to clean up for the night and Rob'll be locking up like usual. See ya the next time you work." I nod, hang up my apron, grab my tips from the day, and walk out. Calvin is still there. "Done early?" "Yeah he doesn't need me for the rest of the night, a whole half an hour early!" "Yeah it's only ten thirty, sweet! Looks like we can still hang out then." I cock my head to the side and raise my eyebrow. "I mean," he blushes, "only if you want to." I loop my arm in his and we walk out, no words needed.