Weeping Willows

Chapter 7

Food Comas

                Elizabeth is slowly pulled from sleep by a small tickle on her forehead.  As she becomes more conscience, she can feel a stray piece of hair lazily drifting in a slight cold breeze.  She reaches up brushing it back as she sits up and stretches.  Letting out a noisy yawn she shivers at the brisk temperature of the room.  Elizabeth grabs the glass of water sitting on the coffee table in front of her chugging the cold liquid quickly.  She must have slept with her mouth wide open all night, probably drooling everywhere, and snoring like a buzz saw. Her mouth had been so dried out that her tongue had seemed slightly shriveled.  Smacking her satisfied lips together she set the now empty glass back down and reached for her phone turning it on to check the time.  It was 9 a.m. in the morning and despite wanting to head to bed for some more sleep she decided it was best to get up and greet the day.  One last over the top stretch and a ginormous belch later and she was ready to rise.

                Chuckling to herself Elizabeth gathered up the throw and the small decorative pillow from the sofa heading to the washer to put them in.  She was thankful to live alone so no one could see just what an unattractive slob she liked to be.  After starting the laundry and taking care of business in the bathroom she decided that instead of making herself breakfast she would head into town and hit the dinner.  The next best thing to a home cooked meal was someone else cooking and doing the dishes.  Throwing on a comfy pair of clothes and tossing her unruly red mop in a sloppy bun she felt that was good enough for the day and headed out.  She hated spending copious amounts of time on getting ready in the mornings and if she didn’t have to she wasn’t going to.  Who was she trying to impress anyway; absolutely no one.  Grabbing her messenger bag and keys she headed out the door with thoughts of bacon, eggs, and fluffy pancakes making her salivate and pick up the pace.

                Twenty minutes later Elizabeth pushed open the heavy glass door setting off a tinkling of little bells that alerts the waitress of new customers.  Her nose was met with the heavenly aromas floating in the air causing her to deeply inhale. 

                “Sit wherever you want hun and I’ll be right with you.”

                 Elizabeth choose a stool at the counter.  Looking around the place she took in the old 50’s dinner décor they had going on.  It wasn’t that they specially decorated with a theme towards that but that the dinner was probably that old.  The stool and chair legs along with the counter edge were made of chrome that sparkled as the sun hit it.  You could see scratches across it from years of wear, but they didn’t detract from the shine.  The seats were all covered in sparkly fire engine red vinyl that added to the overall charm.  The counter tops and floor were a light grey and white marble that looked relatively new in appearance.  Along the walls were pictures of the local forest around the town.  Each had some form of a body of water in it.  She recognized the reservoir where her home was located, but some of the other photographs she assumed were of the different natural springs that were in the area.  Elizabeth was pulled from her perusal as a young waitress tapped on her notepad with her pen waiting to be noticed.  She had a friendly smile that reached and warmed her mossy green colored eyes.  Her black pin straight hair was pulled back in a high ponytail that swung about with each of her movements.

                “Hi, my name is Jenny and I’ll be your waitress today.  Are you ready to order or do you still need a minute?”

                “Give me just a minute too look over the menu.  Can I get a coffee though?”

                “Sure thing did you want leaded or unleaded?’

                At Elizabeth’s quizzical stare the waitress giggled lightly and explained.  “Regular or decaf.”

                “Oh! Leaded please.”

                With a nod of her head she went to cash out a customer with a promise to be right back with her coffee.  Elizabeth looked back to the laminated menu trying to decide what sounded the best as she drooled over the pictures.  Setting down a steaming cup in front of her she pulled out her pad and pen once again.

                “One cup of mud with lead nice and fresh for ya.  Are you ready to order?”

                “Definitely I’m starving.  I’ll take the biscuits with sausage gravy and a side of hash browns please.”

                “Is that all for you?”

                Elizabeth nodded handing the menu to Jenny after she was done writing down her order.  Turning around she tossed the menu to the counter, ripped the paper from her pad, and snapped it on the small wheel spinning it to face inside the open window to the kitchen.  She called out to the cook to let him know he had a new order in.

                “I need one heart attack on a rack with a mystery in the alley Ted and make it quick she’s wasting away.”

                Jenny winked her way as the man whom she guessed was Ted grunted in response while briefly glancing her way.  He took the ticket in hand and slunk back away from the window to make her food.  Elizabeth placed her hands around her cup taking in the strong scent of coffee before sipping at her hot drink.

                “Black coffee a woman after my own heart.”

                Startled Elizabeth looked to her side meeting the bluest eyes she’d ever seen.  He was dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a royal blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up showing off his toned forearms that were sprinkled with blonde hair.  He had a couple of braided leather bracelets on one wrist of various patterns in different shades of brown.  On the other he wore a shiny silver watch that looked like the kind worn by athletes.  He smiled at her making his eyes crinkle behind his silver wire rimmed glasses.  Elizabeth gave a small smile back ducking her head in embarrassment at getting caught staring.  He brushed his already messy white blonde hair back as he turned to face Jenny as she handed him a steaming cup.

                “Haven’t you heard it’s not nice to pick on girls anymore?  You’re suppose to have grown out of that stage by now.”  Jenny lightly smacked him on the arm making him lift his hands up in surrender.  With a wave he turned to leave making it almost to the door before Jenny stopped him.

                “Hey Ryan, you almost forgot your bag again.”  She called out running the leather satchel to him to take.

                “Damn, there goes my excuse to get out of work to come back and get it.  Thanks Jen see you at the watering hole on Saturday.”  With that he walked out the door but not before Elizabeth noted that he had a rather scrumptious posterior.  She was jolted out of her staring when Jenny set her meal in front of her with a knowing smile. 

                “Don’t worry hun, if Ryan knew you were checking him out, he’d be flattered I can assure you.” Alarmed by the name she looked up at the waitress in shock.

                “Ryan?  That wasn’t Ryan Harris by any chance was it?”  Surprised Jenny looked at her in suspicion.

                “You know Ryan?”  Elizabeth shook her head taking a bite of food before answering.  A small moan escaped as she wiggled in her seat in sheer delight.  Jenny smiled at her in humor despite her current misgivings.

                “I’ve never met him before, but I recently met his grandma at the center the other day when I taught an art class there.”  A knowing look crossed Jenny’s face as she sat on the stool next to her to talk.

                “So, you’re the new arrival in town.”

                “What gave me away?”

                “Everyone knows you’re teaching art at the senior center.  Good luck with that by the way some of those old folks are off their nut.”

                Elizabeth burst out laughing thinking it an apt description of at least a third of her class.  She continued to eat as Jenny gave her appearance a once over.  She tugged on her flannel shirt a little feeling self-conscience beneath her stare.  Perhaps she should have made a little more effort to get ready this morning then she did.

                “You’re Millie’s new victim then?”

                “What?” 

                “Don’t fret over it, his grandma is always trying to find him a good wife but she’s not pushy about it.”  Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked over at Jenny.

                “I could have sworn the two of you were together.”

                “Oh lord no!  We’ve known each other since our diaper days.  We did try once our freshman year, but it just ended up being awkward and we both agreed we were never going to be more than just friends.”

                “Sorry I shouldn’t have assumed.”  Jenny waved her words off as she leaned in to whisper her next words.

                “It’s too bad though because that boy is a dish for the eyes.” 

                The two women enjoyed light conversation while Elizabeth finished her breakfast.  She rather liked her and felt they could become good friends.  Apparently, Jenny felt the same way as she invited her to go to the watering hole on Saturday.

                “It’s just a small group of school friends that still live in the area.  You’ll have fun and get to see Ryan shirtless.  If you think his backside is his best feature you ain’t seen nothing yet girl.”  Laughing Elizabeth agreed to think about it.  As she went to pay her check Jenny claimed to have conveniently lost it.

                “Just come back often so I don’t die of boredom between the breakfast and lunch rushes.”

                “Deal.”

                The tinkling of the tiny bells sounded her departure as she headed back out to the street.  She decided to stop by the store to pick up some more cleaners so she could finish the second floor before tackling the attic.  With her plans made she briskly walked to her car.  Feeling fat and happy after consuming so much food she was ready to start her day.