Another Day in the Week

Benny's Diner- 9am

"Excuse me waitress? Can I get another napkin?"
Today's customer was a large cheap looking flower-shirt guy with a screaming kid.
Ugh.
Not again.

"Sure." I gave him my sweetest smile that would make a kid throw up solid sugar.

I came back over with a bunch of napkins to find him staring at me with gross watery eyes.

"Here." I smiled.
"I’d smack that." he blurted.
"I'm sorry sir, I already have a fiancé." Excuse me?

I attempted to mask my horror with a regretful face.

"Herman! Did you feed my little Chucky boy?"

Oh dear god, he has a wife.

Chucky boy stopped crying at once.
The kid probably understood what a prick his father was.
I feel sorry for his childhood.

"Yes dearie." He flashed her what he thought was a charming smile. It looked more like a cow having an orgasm.

The family packed up, asked for the bill and left the door jingling.

"YOU FINALLY HAVE A PERMANENT BOYFRIEND!?" Soap ‘silently’ screamed.

Her real name is Stephanie, but we all just call her Soap. She is one of my only friends and is medium height, beach blond hair, blazing hazel eyes and has been trying to convince me to stop picking on guy’s wallets.

We met here at Benny's. She, being a senior Bennette and me the newbie, took me in as her student in the way of distracting servicing the men general public. One day we suddenly got into the topic of eyeliner brands and went from there.

"Nope, I lied." I said simply. I learned that with Soap you have to be blunt.

Or else her fantasies will come out and eat you.

"Don't be shy, Thurs! You can leave the wedding to me. We can make your wedding dress black and your husband’s tuxedo white. The theme will be inverted! And the roses can be black and- OH SHIT! The cake!"

Fuck. There's no stopping her now.

I looked around a bit in Benny's since it was still slow.

On the outside, Benny's looked like your average American restaurant: fake brick coating, chintzy umbrella tables, and a cheap “Welcome” doormat.
But what made this place really special to me is in it.

The inside is a cheerful cozy place. I guess it used to be an old house at one point because it’s almost solid wood and has a working iron-wood stove that we still use today. The booths are hand carved (where in the name of hell the owner found those, I have no idea) and the kitchen filled with chrome and stoves, along with my favorite farm rooster décor. Overall, it’s something from the country, just like Benny.

I would rather live here than my bare apartment.

"Thurs? Thursday! Are you even listening to me?"

That train of thought got crashed.

"I told you, I lied." Take two.
"Why didn't you tell me? Here I am, getting all excited over nothing when we could have been working!" she looked exhausted.

I don't blame her.

"What work? Its only 10:20. It doesn't kick in until ten minutes."
"We could... dust and sweep again. Or something."
To that we both chuckled. It was something our manager says to us a lot. "Damnit! If you guys aren’t working then do something and sweep, for Christ sake!"
It’s not our fault he doesn’t give us normal breaks.

Benny. He hung around me for about 2 days until he saw that I was just chillin with him...
and kissing another guy.

How was I supposed to know it was love at first sight?
Neither he nor cupid told me the plan.

But we’re cool now. Best Friends until Further Notice. That’s us. We even hang out sometimes, and he got himself a new girlfriend. Yep, Benny: the riding cowboy bronco with a family ‘n farm down back south.

"Hey, it’s 10:30. Coffee Hour."

Ah, nothing like Coffee hour; when the already dead try to revive themselves with caffeine.

"Ok, I'll start the coffee, you greet."

We set out, like soldiers preparing for an onslaught of battle.

I got back to the kitchen and pulled out my weapons: several clean coffee pots, a bean grinder and a jug of Coffee House coffee beans.

Just as I'm getting the grounds into the pot, a body slams into me and starts screaming.