Page 5 of Crash and Burn

“You can have a seat,” I said. He slid into the booth and looked at the door.

I asked, “Will anyone be joining you?” Well, that got his attention. He looked at me, stunned, like I’d said something wrong.Did I say something wrong?,I thought. He didn’t answer, so I spoke up to break the awkwardness. “I’ll bring you back some water.”

He piped up, sounding a little choked. “Coffee...please,” as he cleared his throat.

I smiled, nodded, and headed toward the kitchen.

“We got a new visitor to the diner,” I said to Donnie, who just stared at me. “He seems nervous, or a bit out of his way,” I tried to explain. “I’m going to take him some light coffee, it always soothes people.” Donnie adjusted his cook’s hat to the side of his greying hair and spun his big frame around to look at me with a big grin plastered across his face.

“What, Donnie?”

“Nothin’. Nothin’ at all, sweetheart,” he said with his deep New York accent. How he ended up in the Midwest, I have yet to figure out.

I rolled my eyes.What’s his deal today, anyway?I made my way back over to ‘sweaty palms’, carrying a pot of coffee, creamer, sugar, and a spoon. I set it at the end of the table and said, “Alright, here’s your coffee. It’s the best in the Midwest, so I hope you enjoy.”

He didn’t look up but reached over and slid his cup of coffee toward him. His movements were so fast and his hands so shaky that he spilled the coffee everywhere.

“Fuck! This was a bad idea,” he said in a panic.

“Hey, hey...it’s ok. Let me help you. It’s just spilled coffee,” I said gently as I wiped up the mess with the rag from the back of my jeans pocket.

“It’s just spilled coffee,” he gave a small chuckle.

“So, he does smile?” I joked. Then, he blushed, stone-faced.Ok. Let’s try this again.I kept wiping the table and said, “I’m Amelia. I’m pulling a double today, so I’ll be here until nine o’clock tonight if you need anything at all. I’ll come check on you in a bit.”

He forced a smile and nodded again, so I made my way back to the counter and pretended to be busy behind the register as I watched him. I wondered what his story was. He had a backpack on, so he pulled that onto his lap, unzipping it and pulled out his iPad. Hmm. Artist, writer, student maybe? I was intrigued by him. Contrary to his coffee spill moments before, his movements were smoother, and calmer, almost methodical as he grabbed his things and set himself up. I thought he could sense me staring at him because he looked up, so I looked away and tried to look busy and dropped the cup I was holding in the process. It fell and shattered all over the floor.

“Shit,” I hiss. Harvey of course heard this and hopped up.

“Oh Darlin, be careful that you don’t cut yourself. Donnie!! Donnie, come help Mela!” Donnie came running out from the kitchen, shaking his head, and bent down to help me pick up the big pieces of the mug before he went to grab a broom to sweep up the rest.

“The hell, Amelia? You distracted or somethin’?”

Oh, I was distracted alright.Embarrassed, I side eye him and throw him some sass, “I’m not distracted, Daawwhnny! I just dropped the damn thing.”

He looked at me like I was full of shit, and he knew it. Donnie could always see right through my attitude. “Thank you for your help,” I said to him in a huff.

“No problem. Be careful, yeah?”

I nodded and stood up. When I did, I noticed ‘sweaty palms’ was giving me a death glare. I rolled my eyes and thought,Great, just what I needed.Walking past him without looking, I let out a heavy sigh and went into the women’s restroom. I needed to splash my face.How embarrassing.He probably thinks I’m a creep with the scowl he gave me. Get it together, Amelia.

*

Don’t be a dick,I scolded myself. I started to regret going to Sharon’s for the coffee, but I had promised Carter. I was borderline agoraphobic at that point and felt like a freak. So yeah, I was nervous, and on edge. But I felt like she was trying to figure out why I was acting so weird, and I just wanted to drink my coffee and work on my designs in peace. She seemed nice, but I was still figuring out how to move forward and she threw me off with her “It’s just spilled coffee” remark. Dev would always say that. Coffee, sugar, milk. If it’s in the kitchen, I spill it. Dev would tell me I move too fast, and I needed to slow down because life wasn’t a rush.

Anyway, I had been so wrapped up in my own world, I forgot Amelia’s name. I didn’t want to offend her with my reaction, so I waved at her to get her attention and order some food and hopefully, smooth things over by being friendly.

She stopped and asked, “What can I get ya?”

I made eye contact with her that time, and even managed an awkward smile, “I um, can I just have some sausage and toast?”

“No problem. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Thanks, Emily.”

She stopped in her tracks.Shit. What did I do? I’m just trying to be nice. I don’t want to talk.

She called over her shoulder, “It’s Amelia!” and kept walking.

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