the diner - harry styles (short story)

5

"tell me something about you," riley said, eyeing his plate, a few crumbs littered the white surface, she should really take that into the kitchen and do her job. the man stared at the table for a while, his eyebrows furrowed, it was clear he was rattling his brain trying to think of something to tell riley. "well whilst you think of something, i'm going to take your plate into the kitchen," she smiled as she slid out of the booth, he nodded and smiled back at her. she had forgotten at how sore her feet were until she started walking again, blisters were surely developing on her heels. john hadn't moved at all he was still hunched over the cold metal table, trying to sort through crumpled papers,
"why aren't you at home, kid?" he mumbled, "your shift ended a while ago, you've been staying late all week. everything okay?" riley smiled as she placed the plates into the sink, 
"yeah. i'm, uh, i'm chatting with one of the customers," she turned around and faced him, he looked up at her, she has never seen him more confused, 
"you're what?"
"i'm chatting with the customer. he seems lonely, so i thought i'd give him some company" she explained, he stared at her for a moment, 
"righteo kid." and with that, she quickly made her way back out to the customer, he looked up at her and smiled as she slid back into the booth. she placed her hands together on the table and peered at him and raised her eyebrows, 
"i can't think of anything," he said softly, 
"surely there must be something," riley smiled, his eyes wandered around the room for a few moments before landing back on her, he shook his head, 

"i'm in a band," he told her, her eyes widened,
"that's so cool!" she exclaimed, he smiled looking down at the table, "what kind of music do you guys play?" 
"mainly soft rock, a little bit of indie," 
"you're gonna have to show me, you know," the man shook his head, his soft hair falling over his eyes, but he quickly pushed it back over his forehead and looked up at her, "i am beyond intruiged now. tell me more," he let out a small laugh, 
"we're only small ,just a few gigs here and there," he appeared to be embarrassed talking about himself, riley wondered if he was often alone, he seemed to be pretty clueless about his own life, 
"what do you do in the band?" she asked, curiosity taking over her, 
"sing, mainly." it made sense, his voice was heavenly to listen to even when he was just talking, she couldn't begin to imagine what he sounded like when he sung. 
"do you have any of your music on you?" he quickly shook his head,
"no," he breathed, "god no," 
"why not?" she asked, he shrugged his shoulders, 
"i write most of the stuff we play so it's always personal which is kind of weird to have on me all the time," riley smiled at him, he gave her a soft smile back, "i'll show you something one day though."