Affection // irwin

Chapter 7

*Is that all you can say? ;-) Anyway, Sunday´s, it’s just around the corner from your house. I’ll be there in 20*

I’ve walked past Sunday’s a few times but have never gone inside. Probably because it doesn’t look very nice on the outside with the sign hanging low and paint is peeling off the wall.

When I get to Sunday’s the lady behind the counter greets me and tells me to take a seat and she’ll be right over. I look around. It’s nearly empty, only an elderly couple, sitting nearest the entrance, and a woman with a baby stroller, is there. It is kind of small, but nicer on the inside than on the outside. Everything is red and white, the walls, the lamps, even the chairs and tables. It looks just like it’s taken out of a 50s movies, only a little more modern. I take a seat further in the back by the window so I can see when Ashton arrives.

“Well hello there, sweetie. Would you like to order?” The lady from the counter comes up to me with a smile on her face. She looks like she’s in her early 60s with wrinkles by her eyes. She’s speaking with an accent but I can’t quite place it. It’s a mix between some southern state and Australian. I look at her name tag, Yolanda.

“Sure, can I have the menu?”

Yolanda leaves me with the menu. My stomach begins to growl and I look up, hoping no one notices. No one does. The elderly couple is chatting away and the woman with the stroller is talking with the baby. I look down on the menu again. Pancakes, egg, bacon, salad… Wow, they have everything. I call on Yolanda to set my order and wait for Ashton to come. I hope he doesn’t mind me ordering, but I’m starving. Besides, he should be here by now. It’s been 20 minutes…

The door swings open and there he is. His curly hair laying perfect on his head and his dimples are already showing.

“Ashton, darling! What are you doing here?” Yolanda greets him with a hug.

“I’m having breakfast. Give me the regular, please,” he smiles and Yolanda gets back in the kitchen. He looks around and raises his left hand to wave, when he sees me.

Why does he have to be so…handsome?

“Good morning. I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

He bites his lips before sitting down opposite from me. The biting looks much better on him than on Luke. Both got my heart racing, but because of different feelings. I prefer the feeling Ashton gave me.

“No, I was already up. Morning person,” I shake my head.

“Same. Always up before 8. It’s a curse.”

I look down at the table, unsure what to say next. I never know what to say after someone makes a joke. Should I laugh or just smile? Maybe joke about something too?

“Darling?” I look up again, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I’ve known Yolanda for a long time.”

“Since he was in his diapers, sweetie,” Yolanda comes up behind me with two plates of food. “I used to babysit this youngster before he could even walk. And when he started walking, boy, did I get some exercise. He would run around the house so I realized I had to get him something to do, so I gave him a bowl and wooden spoon so he could help me make some pancakes. He never ran again.”

Ashton blushes and looks down on his plate. His regular is scrambled eggs with bacon and a waffle with strawberry jam and strawberries on the side. To drink, he has hot chocolate with whipped cream, just like me. But I ordered pancakes with syrup instead.

“Too bad it’s not Ashton’s pancakes. You’d love them,” she winks at me.

“Yolanda, please. Don’t you have anyone else to bother?” Ashton’s cheeks are still red.

“Oh darling, am I embarrassing you? Good, because you need some color on those white cheeks of yours,” she pinches his cheek before heading back to the counter to answer the phone.

“She seems wonderful,” I say.

“Mhm,” Ashton rubs his cheek where he just got pinched. They aren’t as red anymore but I can tell he’s still embarrassed.

“You have pancakes?”

“Yeah, I work here. Sundays to Fridays.”

“Since when?”

“Since the day I got the bowl and wooden spoon from that crazy diner lady over there,” he says and points at Yolanda who’s pouring up some coffee for a new customer.

My face must have looked very amusing because Ashton starts laughing.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“You don’t look like a pancake flipper.”

“A pancake flipper?” He smiles and looks into my eyes. “What does a pancake flipper look like?”

“Well… first of all he’d wear a red and white striped apron and a chef’s hat,” I say, still not sure why I made a joke in the first place. What am I doing? Why does it feel so easy being around Ashton?

“I have that.”

“You do?”

I try to imagine Ashton wearing those things but the picture won’t come up.

“Yeah. Why red and white, by the way?”

“Typical pancake colors.”

“Typical pancake colors? You’re really something special, Joselyn”

Now it’s my turn to blush.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay.”

Ashton is the first person to ever give me a compliment, excluding Gavin back in November who liked my shoes but that doesn’t count. I’m not sure how to take it.

“Mom worked a lot when I was little and Yolanda, having just moved here from Georgia, needed some extra cash. So she was hired to babysit me, even though I wasn’t really a baby, and she took care of me. Taught me to cook, to read…to ride a bike, even,” he smiles back at the memories. 

“That’s sweet,” I say, glad Ashton changed the subject.

“While she was taking care of me, she got a job here and used to bring me along every now and then. I got to sit on the counter, I talked to customers or was back in the kitchen helping her or Ray, the guy who made your pancakes,” he says. “The first book I ever read was a recipe book.”

“So are you any good then?”

“I’m the best.”

I laugh.

“He is,” Yolanda shouts from across the room.

“Really? Are you eavesdropping now?” Ashton shouts back.

“Just telling the truth.”

Ashton shakes his head and takes another bite of his waffle.