"You aren't hungry?" he asked, as he stepped inside the door. "Or did you already eat?"
"I was waiting for you," she said with a smile. "Want to go get something?"
He shrugged. "You up for it?"
"Up for it?" she laughed, raising her eyebrows. "Do I look like a whale to you or something? I can walk. I can ride in a vehicle."
He chuckled to himself, tossing the keys to the table. He removed his coat and threw it to the chair. Sitting down next to her, he said, "Just didn't know if you felt like leaving or ordering in."
She shrugged, now, and sighed. "Whatever. You pick."
"Let's go out," he said. No thinking. "My treat. Get ready."
"Okay," she agreed, lifting herself from the couch. He went to help her, but she pulled her hand away with a giggle. "I'm not a whale."
"I know you aren't," he said. "Just trying to help you."
She smiled. "I know." She walked past him. Nearing her room, out of his sight, she said, "God, I'm so fat."
He laughed quietly and moved to the counter to look over some mail. He hadn't really changed his address to fit his staying at Abby's, but there were some things that he'd received. He'd been paying half her rent, and some of the other bills, so he looked over them.
"What am I supposed to wear?" she asked. "Is my laundry over there? In the basket?"
He glanced over to the couch and saw it there. "Yeah, its out here. Hold on, I'll get it for you." He carried it over to her room and set it in the doorway. She smiled his way.
"Thanks."
He nodded. He knew that every smile was as it had always been with her. She smiled to be nice, she smiled to thank him, and she smiled if she laughed. But with those smiles, he felt a rush through him. And again, he wished that things were different.
Shaking himself, as he had too many times to count, he looked back to the mail.
Nothing for him today.
--
"Nice choice," he said, looking at her from his position in front of the wheel.
"Well," she said, "I felt we should visit it again before we do tomorrow. In," she paused, "eleven hours."
He laughed at her remark. Something that made him genuinely happy. Something that released her genuine frustration. "Ah," he said, "that's true."
He steered around to the side of the diner and brought the key from the ignition. He smiled at her tightly, and started out of the car. Meeting her on the other side, he took her hand to lead her to the door.
"Nothing better than Doc Magoo's," he said.
"That's a little over the top," she said. "But isn't it great?"
He laughed. "Sure is."
They walked inside to see the usually dimly-lit room. She looked around the room instantly.
"What?"
"Just seeing if anyone else is here," she said. "Poor Susan said she has to work a double."
"Oh," he said. "She won't be here then."
"That's true," she said.
They sat down at a booth. The jukebox, somewhere in the room, was singing another old tune. The usual, and very aphorism-story, clanging of the dishes in the kitchen joined in the chorus. The conversations of the so many people around them.
"I think I'm gonna get a cheeseburger," he said. "A very big cheeseburger."
She nodded. "Me, too," she said. "Oh, give me a break."
"What?"
"They're raising the prices again here?" she said, eyeing the menu. "As if the actual food was worth it."
He laughed. "That's what's so great about Doc Magoo's. No matter how disgusting the food, high the prices, every staff member at County manages to drag themselves to this dump for lunch."
"Exactly," she agreed. She searched the menu. "Hey. At least my cheeseburger's still cheap."
He smiled at the choices in front of him. "You're right."
"Can I get you something?" a waitress asked, appearing above them.
"Yeah," he said, folding his menu. "We'll have the two cheeseburger meals."
"Diet coke for me," she said.
"Iced tea," he said. "Thanks."
She nodded and walked back to the counter to engage in another chat with a customer.
"Iced tea?" she asked. "Since when do you drink iced tea?"
He shrugged. "Time for change."
--
He pushed open the door.
"Thanks for dinner," she said. "I would ask you to come in, but you live here."
"Ha," he said, sleepily. He yawned and shut the door.
"I'm going to bed," she said. " 'Night."
"Me, too," he said. "Good night."
He was in his bed, pajamas and all. She was sound asleep in her room. Maybe tonight she would be okay. Maybe today she wouldn't be so troubled.
