Meeting Him Again
"Mom, I already made dinner. Just ask Anthony to reheat it when he arrives. Oh, and dad is already asleep so I didn't wake him up." called out Amanda while she was hurriedly getting her things ready to leave for the diner. She was not supposed to come in until 7 PM but Rick had called in sick again so she was taking two shifts today, midday and closing.
"Sweetheart, did you see the bills? I placed them on top of your table." called out Karen, Amanda's mom.
Amanda peaked in the living room and asked her mom, "Yeah mom, I'll pay them when I get my next paycheck at the bakery. Did Anthony give his share already?" My mom looked at me and snorted, "It is not like your brother has a stable job like you. You're the only one we can trust around here."
Amanda sighed inwardly. It has always been like this. She has two jobs, an assistant at the bakery in the morning, and a waitress at the diner after. It's not what she had always wanted to do but it's a means to an end which she always had to remind herself in times when she feels the weight of her responsibilities.
Amanda had been a top student in school. She wasn't very popular but she was well-liked because she was loyal, dependable, smart and funny. Had she been a size two and gorgeous, she probably would have been popular, but she was the plain, chubby, funny girl that some of the kids would sometimes make fun of.
"Amanda, don't forget to pass by the pharmacy and have your dad's prescription filled." reminded her mom.
Amanda just rolled her eyes and said, "Sure mom."
When will it end, she would sometimes ask herself. It's not like she resents her family but she does get tired. If she could only get a decent job that pays more, which in the small town of Harrowpoint, Arizona is nearly impossible, and if her twin could only get a job for himself, she'd be able to rest a bit and live the life she was meant to live.
"Mom, I'm leaving. Love you!" she shouted and left the house.
__________
It was the last table, her last orders, and her last customers. They were regulars at the diner, a couple who always ordered two slices of pecan pie and shared a large strawberry milkshake. Amanda adores them. They are an old couple who had been together for over 50 years and Amanda enjoys hearing their stories of how they met, anecdotes about their married life, and their plans for their future. She wishes to meet a man who'd look at her the way Andy does Martha, with so much love and reverence.
"Hey lady, you got a phone I can use? I've got a flat tire and apparently, my spare is also flat." called out a man who burst into the diner.
Rude, Amanda thought to herself but she still answered him, "Yeah, it's through that hallway. We're closing soon so please keep it short." She didn't even glance his way out of irritation.
She found him rude and irritating already, which she felt a little guilty for because he hasn't done anything to her, he just needed to use the phone. She was trying to justify her irritation though because once Andy and Martha were done, she can close up. Bert and Jada were already closing the kitchen and all she had to do was clean up after her customers and she can close up and go home. If this guy takes too long, she'd have to wait. She was dead tired already and just wants to go home.
"Sorry Sandra, I really can't make it to the shoot," the man said irritably to whomever he was talking to on the phone. "Can't you do something about it? Work your magic or something, that's what I pay you for."
Amanda heard a shrill coming from the other end of the line. She looked at the man who seemed amused and bored while whoever he was speaking with seemed furious.
"Sandra, I already told you that I am stuck in-- excuse me, where is this place?" Robert asked Amanda.
"Harrowpoint, Arizona." Amanda blurted out. She felt a little embarrassed thinking the man might assume she was eavesdropping so she went back to her work.
After Andy and Martha left, Amanda started to clearing up their table and brought the dishes to the kitchen to wash them. She then went behind the counter and started closing the till.
She had all forgotten about the man when he went up to her and asked, "I'm starving. I know you're closing up already but do you still have food? Something quick to make so that it won't be a bother." He then flashed her a smile that was so familiar to her but she couldn't place it anywhere.
She was also mildly amused that he had a sudden 180 degree turn from being rude and obnoxious to being curt and polite all of a sudden so she stole a glance at him and when their eyes met, she was taken aback. Her heart skipped a beat. No, it wasn't because the man standing in front of her was devastatingly handsome with his disheveled brown hair, Roman nose, high cheekbones, and angular face. It was because her heart remembers him.
She can still remember that lopsided grin that always made her heart stop and his clear gray eyes. It was such a beautiful shade and she always felt like she could get lost in them.
She knew this man as a boy years ago. She hasn't forgotten about him and how he stood up to the boys who were teasing her on the way home from school.
Even through her muddled thoughts from exhaustion, everything came back to her, memories, when she was just seventeen and the man standing in front of her, was twelve.
