We drove in silence for a little bit, with her speaking up to give the occasional direction. I was guessing that it was my turn to make the move since she had pretty much initiated everything up to this point. What do I even say I thought, I was still so lost how I had ended up in this situation. I tested out some openers in my head, "Wow the weather is great isn't it?" or "So tell me about yourself?" were my two front runners. Then it hit me.
"So you practically kidnap strangers and take them to breakfast often?" I asked as nonchalantly as possible.
She did a double-take and flashed a smile. "Oh it's kidnapping is it. As far as I'm concerned you came along on freewill" she shot back clearly taking well to my opener.
We made small talk the rest of the way there. The "left here" or "right and the next light" comments were appreciated as they gave me a little extra time to think through my responses. The conversation was good but neither one of us had completely let our guard down yet. I was not a very open person, this entire trip was an attempt to change that but it didn't just happen overnight. And for as spontaneous as Lola seemed, Madeline did say that she was kind of mysterious and I was guessing she liked to keep it that way, either as a defense mechanism or purely for shits and giggles.
Although she wasn't opening up much about herself she was still laying the flirt one heavy. I think she could see it made me visibly uncomfortable and awkward, probably why she continued to do it. I didn't mind, she was stunning and a fan of breakfast food. That's at least two of the five necessary qualifications for the perfect girl I thought jokingly.
We pulled up and I was thoroughly impressed before even stepping inside the place. The building had a lot of charm and you could tell by the exterior decorations that they definitely locally sourced all of their ingredients. The inside was no different, blending old worn brick with reclaimed wood and new patterned tile with funky abstract tables and booths. It looked like one of those restaurants you see on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. I hoped that the food tasted as good as the place looked.
It was also decked out with a full wall of glass garage doors that could presumably be opened when weather permitted. They also had the first breakfast bar I had ever seen, only serving "alcoholic breakfast drinks" from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. Everything about the place was neat, I could have stood and looked around for a solid 15 minutes if left on my own.We seated ourselves and were quickly met by an incredibly enthusiastic waitress named Harley who looked like she was in her mid-thirties.
"What can I get you two to drink? We have juice, coffee, and flavored milk," she said.
"Wait what. What do you mean by flavored milk?" I questioned, "just like strawberry and chocolate milk?" I followed up confused by the term flavored milk - it was a first for me.
"It's one of our specialties, we have dozens of flavors of milk. Our best sellers are honey and cotton candy. We also have vanilla, peach, cookies and cream, strawberry, banana, brown sugar, and chocolate. Our monthly special is the cereal line which features; cinnamon toast crunch, fruity pebbles, captain crunch, and apple jacks."
"Dang, that's quite the selection. Can I get a glass of the cinnamon toast crunch milk please." I asked, wanting to try them all but very conscious of Lola's opinion of me.
"Can get a glass of the cookies and cream milk please?" Lola asked like she was a regular here, which she probably was considering the way she had spoken about the place.
Harley came back and handed us our glasses of milk, which were served in giant bell jars. I immediately took a sip and my tastebuds were instantly confused. The liquid I had just poured down my throat was foreign to me. Think melted ice cream but not as rich, or like post cereal milk. The taste was delicious but it took a few sips to adapt to the consistency and concept. Each sip left me more curious than the last but also wanting more.
I looked up to see Lola observing me as I took my first sips.
"Well, what do ya think?" she asked curiously, followed by a slow slurp of her cookies and cream milk.
"Different than anything I've experienced but good" I responded with a nod of approval, somehow feeling like that statement applied to more than just the milk. There was a look in her eyes that I had never seen before. I don't know how to describe it but it was energizing in a way, it made me feel like I was missing out on life, like she knew something that I didn't.