A Hidden Destiny

How to pay for a burger

Oh my. This burger was enormous. I couldn’t eat all that! Well, I had to try. Just as I was about to take a bite, a young woman, maybe around my own age, stood beside me. She glanced at me discreetly, quickly averting her gaze forward again and raising her hand. “Hey Patty, can we get another round to the game room, please? The guys are drinking like sponges,” she giggled, and placed some cash on the counter. “Sure thing, Cara, I’ll be right with you” she answered. So this woman behind the bar was Patty herself in the flesh.

I finally took a bite and a small moan escaped my mouth as flavors teased my taste buds. “This is delicious,” I said with food still in my mouth, and Patty grinned. “I know”.“So you’re the owner of this place?” I asked when I’d swallowed the bite. “Oh yes, this is how I make a living, but most of all, my hobby” she said and I asked “Your hobby?” She had almost filled an entire tray with beers and a couple of soft drinks. “Oh yes, I love having a place where people of all ages want to meet or hang out. You get to talk to a lot of different people, even though everyone knows everyone around here. It’s hard to explain,” she told me. “I like your place”, I said, and added with a smile and pointed towards the burger with my fork, “and your food”. She thanked me as she took the tray and hurried towards the gaming room.

I stared down at the food on my plate. So close to eating the whole burger, but still so far. I was so full my stomach ached and couldn’t squeeze another bite down my throat. Just the thought of it made me gag. “Are you done already?” Patty asked, her voice sounding surprised even though she wasn't. She tried to hide a grin. “I’m so full, please remove it from my sight”. I groaned and placed my hands on my stomach. Thank god I didn’t wear something tight. Not like that body-hugging dress that girl Cara wore. That was not a dress for a hungry woman. Taking a deep breath, I leaned back on the small backrest. Patty smiled again “Well, you did a pretty good job, where are you hiding all that food?” She joked while she grabbed my plate and made her way towards the kitchen. "I have a high metabolism", I said loud enough for her to hear. I emptied my beer and found my wallet to get my card.

“You can only pay with cash.” A deep voice from the man, two stools beside me, sounded. Wait, what? “Excuse me?” I said, thinking I must have heard him wrong. “You can only pay with cash here,” he repeated a bit louder. “Dammit” I responded, smacking my card down on the counter, suddenly feeling stupid that I didn’t bring any cash. I was so used to swiping my card in the city, that I didn’t even think it was necessary to bring any cash with me. I put my wallet on the counter and looked at the man. “Do you know of any ATM’s nearby?” I asked, taking a moment to look at him properly before he could answer me. He wore a simple white dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing off his muscular arms. He also wore black dress pants, or maybe it was jeans. It was hard to tell because of his jacket draped over the barstool between us. He had dark brown hair and stubble covered his chin and jaw. He looked at me with his green eyes and huffed “We don’t have that here”. What kind of city didn’t have an ATM? “Just my freaking luck” I whispered to myself and I heard a small chuckle. Did he hear me saying that? “Well, how far away is the nearest one then?” I asked, a bit annoyed about the fact that I couldn’t pay for my food and him chuckling about it. I should’ve asked Patty before I ordered, I thought to myself. “Let me cover it for you” he offered, and I was taken aback. “Oh no, I couldn’t accept that, thank you for offering though” I quickly replied, heat rising to my cheeks because of this embarrassing situation. I couldn't let a stranger pay for my food. Not even a handsome stranger.

Patty returned from the kitchen, her eyes looking at the man and then back to me. “Don’t worry about him, he’s joking, I can put it on a tab and you can come by and pay tomorrow, no problem at all” Patty said and I scowled at my neighbor in the bar. “You’ll find an ATM down at Windsor Street, do you know where it is?” she asked. Windsor Street. For some reason, a bell rang in my head. “Oh yes, I know where it is”, I said, as I promised to come back tomorrow and went out in the fresh evening air, heading back towards the hotel.