Soul Kitchen

"Alright Carl, see you tomorrow." called Jacob as Carl left the office and took the elevator down from the twentieth floor. As he walked out into the busy streets of downtown Denver, he began following his usual course to get home.

He was drowsy and hungry, ready to get back to his girlfriend and his studio apartment down Colfax Ave., the longest street in the world.

After about ten minutes of walking, he finally came to the intersection, Colfax and Broadway. The Denver Capitol Building was directly behind and to his right. He sat by the red bus stop sign and waited for about five minutes before RTD bus number 15 finally rolled off Broadway, taking a left turn onto Colfax.

"Hi, Carl, how are you today?" said the bus driver, smiling warmly.

"Quite nice, Marlene." replied Carl casually. Taking this route five days a week, two times a day, Carl had gotten to know most of the drivers running this route.

Carl put two dollars into the cash register and received his transfer ticket, then pushed stiffly through the crowd of the bus to one of the rear seats..

As the bus started rolling down Colfax, the motion was relaxing. More drowsy than he even realized, Carl laid his head back and dozed off.

Suddenly, after what felt like only a moment, the bus driver was waking him up.

"Hey, this is Billings, our last stop. Sorry, but you have to get off."

"Goddamn, I fell asleep for a whole hour?" thought Carl, almost panicked. "Oh well, I suppose I'll just have to cross the street and wait for the next bus to take me back."

So reluctantly, Carl stepped onto the sidewalk and crossed the street, when he realized how hungry he was. While he saw a McDonald's across the intersection, he generally made a point to avoid fast food. Looking behind the bus stop, he saw a diner called "Soul Kitchen". So, curious, he thought he would check it out.

"Hi, welcome to Soul Kitchen." said the waitress as he entered. "My name is Tina. Will this be a table for one then?"

Although he could not explain why, he was suddenly feeling a strong sense of attraction toward Tina, making it difficult for him to spit out a response.

Noticing this Tina smiled and touched him by the shoulder, getting upon his face as she knew he wouldn't mind. "Of course it is. I'll take you to a table and get you a menu."

The Soul Kitchen was pretty much empty of guests at this time. After Tina sat him down, she told him she would be right back.

A thought in the back of his mind yearned for her to come back, against reason.

Snap out of it! Carl thought to himself. I've got a girlfriend back at home. This is not good. Just order your food and get your ass home.

Looking through the menu, Carl quickly made his decision about what to order.

"Have you decided what you're going to order yet?" asked Tina, appearing at the perfect time.

"Yes ma'am, I would like the porkchops."

"And what to drink?"

"Just water please?"

"Absolutely. I'll be right back."

Upon biting into his supper, it was fairly decent though not nearly the best food he had ever tasted.

About midway through the meal, another man, an older, balding character, walked into Soul Kitchen.