“I heard Lil giving you a tough time again, so I gave you triple onion and pickle” Billy and John both laughed at each other, they both knew what Lillian was like when she was upset.
“Billy, my man, you’re my hero” John smiled a sincere smile at the boy, in which Billy returned to him.
John picked up some of his fries, shoving them into his mouth as fast as he could. His eyes rolled back into his head the moment he tasted them - they were seriously that good. Billy always put the right amount of salt on them, and god he must be a magician or something because they tasted divine.
“So is this your last meal or something?” Perked up an old man, John recognised him as Mr Steele, a lovely man of the age of sixty-seven - who’d lost his two sons in the First War with Germany, and his wife a few years ago to a disease called Polio.
“No, Sir” John say up straighter “two weeks remaining before I head out to camp, trying to get as much edible food I can before I leave”. He honoured the man, idolised even. John never knew what Mr Steele went through when the telegrams arrived at his door, informing him of his only two son’s deaths. He was all alone now, both of his children long dead, and his wife following their children not too long after. John wouldn’t want to wish that pain upon anybody.
“Well then, good luck son” Mr Steele said sternly as he put down some money on the counter. ”Have a good day, ladies, Billy” Mr Steele said just before he walked out of the door, the bell chimed happily to announce his departure.
John went back to his food, picking up his burger and taking a large bite. It tasted heavenly, the triple onion and pickle really made the burger worth it. But, like many things, the burger came with a price. For example, he could see Lillian’s glares in his peripheral vision, but he really didn’t care. Oh, and the burger was falling apart with every bite he took.
He was half way through his burger and fries when Lillian came back over, coffee pot in hand. John looked up at her, he loved this woman, he truly did. Lillian filled up his coffee mug silently; she quite clearly had something on her mind.
“Sweetheart, I’m sorry. I know you worry about me and I apologise for making you do so. I love you, sweetheart, I truly do. And seeing you like this hurts me, but if I don’t do this now, then they’ll eventually catch up with me and I’ll be drafted anyway. I don’t like the thought of you here by yourself, but the sooner I go, the sooner I can come home. To you.” John wiped his hands on his napkin and placed them over Lillian’s hovering ones. They were soft, softer than human skin could be. John knew that Lillian tried to keep busy with work whenever John was busy with his own; but how she managed to keep her hands perfect with all the work she did he’d never know.
Lillian looked forlorn, looking into John’s cornflower blue eyes. Her chocolate brown eyes looked conflicted and hurt, like she had so many words she wanted to say but just couldn’t say.
She moved away from John to refill the coffee pot, there weren’t any more customers coming in the Diner, so it was quiet. “John, darling,” Lillian turned back to John and held onto his hands, like she was scared that they wouldn’t be there anymore. “I don’t mean to upset you, please understand that. I know how much you want to do this, but it scares me. We are on the brink of war, and you’ll be on the frontline and anything could happen to you,” Lillian took a deep breath, moved one of her soft hands away from John to wipe tears that were threaten to fall from her pretty eyes. “And if anything were to happen to you, I don’t know what, or where I’d go from there.” She finished. She couldn’t look at John anymore; for fear that she may actually start sobbing.
“Hey, look at me” John whispered as he used both his hands to gently bring her face closer towards him. “Something may happen, something may not. We can’t tell, if we do go over it may not be as bad as we all think it is.” John rubbed his thumbs across Lillian’s cheeks, reassuring her. She let out a small nervous laugh and leaned forward slightly and rested her forehead on John’s.
“You are a pig” Lillian pointed to the half-eaten burger as she pulled away. Her eyes showed love and adoration; there was hardly any sign of worry remaining in the brown orbs.
John gave her a wide grin, his teeth shined a brilliant white and said “but you love me”. Lillian nodded with a smile, who was she to disagree? “I’ll have the rest to go home, please love”.
“Okay” Lillian said as she picked up John’s plate and brought it into the kitchen to pack its contents. She returned moments later with a Styrofoam container that had the remainder of his burger and fries.
“Thank you, sweetheart” John sighed as he put $15 on the counter to pay for his meal and coffee; he grabbed the container and got up off the stool by the counter. “I’ll see you later, darling” John leaned over the counter and gave Lillian a small peck to her lips, which he heard small gasps of “awws” coming from a group of high school girls in the corner. John got up, leaving the counter, and winked at the girls. This caused the girls to giggle and blush furiously. He remembers when he used to do that to Lillian long before she became his sweetheart; the memory always makes his heart swell with happiness.
John slowly walked over to the door, finally opening it when he got there; before he left the diner he looked back to Lillian, whom he saw looking at him under her lashes. “Love you,” he mouthed towards her, causing her to blush and smile and turn away from him simultaneously. ‘Victory’ John thought as he opened the door, bell chiming in happiness as it was opened.
Chapter One - Astoria Part One
Start from the beginning
