He was drinking Coca Cola from a coffee mug when the waitress brought his eggs and bacon to the booth. She was polite, but busy. Her red hair was up in a bun with a pencil stuck in it, the pink eraser sticking out like someone shoved gum in her hair at school. The plastic name tag pinned to her yellow outfit said Rose and she had put a pink smiley face sticker on it.
“Anythang else for you, baby?”
“That should do it.”
“Okay, if you need something just holler.”
“Will do.”
He sipped the Coke and thought about how much he hated coffee. Mostly because it was hot. He pulled the wire basket from the window sill and fumbled around with the ketchup and salt shaker until he found the hot sauce bottle. He slung a heaping helping onto his eggs and sat it on the table.
The window was wet from the rain that had just passed, but only in dollops of reflective beads like tiny diamonds. He could see the steam coming off the asphalt in the parking lot. He dug into the red eggs with his fork and then chomped on the bacon and they were gone in no time at all. He finished the last swallow from his mug. He was wiping his mouth with a thin napkin when she came back.
“Anythang else?”
“I’ll take another Coke.”
She took his mug.
He leaned over in the booth and put his bag onto the table. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from the front pouch and a book from the other and began to indulge them both. She brought the mug back before he could finish a page, which seemed like a fair amount of time for someone with six tables. He read and sipped until it was gone and then asked for another. He lit another cigarette and kept on reading until he noticed a car pull in and park in front of his window.
It was white and shiny and slick with rain. Not beads, but streaks from the wind. A woman got out wearing a red dress, tight. She pushed her sunglasses back and sat them on her black hair. Her long legs pushed the fabric of the dress to its limit as she walked inside.
“Sit anywhere, baby.’”
She eyed the room and click clacked her heels over to the booth in front of him and she sat facing him, two tables between them. He took a pull from his mug and put out his smoke and went back to his book. The room smelled different now, like red fruit.
“Welcome in baby, what can I get for you t’drink?”
“Coffee, please.”
“Alrighty. Here’s the menu, just look over it.”
“Sure thing.”
He kept reading the top line of the page over and over so he could steal glances of her. She was holding up the menu, her delicate fingers clutching the unfolded menu, her red nails tapping on the edges and making a dampened clicking sound. He read the top sentence again and she caught his eye over her menu and then he started reading down the page.
“Here you go, ma’am. Know what’chu want?”
“I’ll just have two pieces of toast and two eggs please.”
“How’dja like ‘em?”
“Scrambled, please.”
“Alrighty. Give me a few, baby.”
Rose took the menu and the woman clicked her nails on the table and stared out the window. He kept his head buried in his book. She sighed.
“That rain sure was something.”
“I’m sorry?”
“I said that rain. Sure was something.”
“Oh. Yes, I was sitting here when it all came. Sure was.”
“I couldn’t have one of those, could I?”
“Sure, help yourself.”
He walked over and handed her the pack and a light. She bit the cigarette between her white teeth and lit.
“Thank you.”
“Welcome.”
He went back to his book and smoke wafted over his pages and it smelled like cherrywood. Sweet and stiff. He came to the end of a chapter and put the book down to take his last sip and saw her looking his way over her mug. Just dark eyes.
“You want another one before I go?”
“I’m okay, but thanks for asking.”
“Sure.”
Rose brought her food over and he stood and unfolded a few bills and left them under his plate. Then he went on past her, stopped, and then took a step back.
“Say, you wouldn’t want to-
“I wouldn’t. Or rather, I couldn’t. But thanks for asking.”
“Right. Of course.”
“And thanks again for the smoke.”
“Any time.”
She grabbed his wrist with her delicate fingers and they felt as light as a bracelet. She looked right into him.
“There won’t be another time. But thanks just the same.”
“You’re welcome.”
He walked out and got into his pickup and sat without starting the engine, he thought it might explode. He watched her fork move food around the plate and her arm rising and falling to her mouth. She raised a napkin and then got up and walked to the back of the room and into a door marked Ladies. He smelled his wrist. He turned the key in the ignition and backed out. He took a right out of the parking lot and headed east. He flipped down his visor and squinted through the windshield and drove until he ended up someplace.