They had settled on meeting at the 24 hour roadside diner since Susie had insisted that she would be recognized if they went into town. At the time, Daniel bit his tongue and agreed, sure that this wasn’t the battle to pick. Tonight's meeting will likely present many disputes more deserving of his attention and energy.
As had been the norm when they were together, he arrives first. The grizzled waitress accommodates his request and seats him at a booth by the window, equidistant from the entrance and the bathroom.
Daniel runs a hand through his hair, feeling the prickly texture of his overgrown buzzcut as he debates if it would be rude to order a drink while Susie is running late. Fuck it, he beckons the waitress over. He orders chamomile tea and promptly burns his tongue upon receiving it.
As Daniel sets the chipped white mug back onto the table, he hears the chime of the door opening behind him. Not missing a beat, he cranes his head to the left to look out the window at the gravel parking lot. Bingo, her cherry colored Beetle glows like a beacon in contrast to the dusty backdrop of the Midwestern summer night.
The clinking of her bracelets over the sleepy hum of chatter brings Daniel’s attention back into the diner. She’s wearing her fake fur coat, obviously too heavy for the humid weather.
Susie pauses in front of him for what seems like a lifetime before she throws down her purse and slides into the booth across from him. Was she waiting for a hug? Expecting a warm greeting? Daniel dispels these thoughts, realizing how suddenly dry his mouth has become.
Along with the coat, she’s wearing sunglasses inside. Daniel can’t recall her owning them while they were together. Must be a new purchase, they look expensive.
She’s clearly lost weight, the cheetah printed fur of the coat seems to swallow her. She sits in the cheetah’s embrace and waits for him to initiate.
“Hey.” It comes out of his mouth like a question.
She lowers her sunglasses, “Hi Danny”. Her voice sounds scratchy and unfamiliar. Daniel wrinkles his nose in response to the nickname.
They both wait for the other to say something. As a couple, their conversations had always been slow meandering things. Neither were afraid of a pregnant pause and took breaks of silence in stride. Daniel suspected this nature was one of the many reasons why they were never invited to hang out with other couples while they were together. They both relished the social discomfort.
Her lowered sunglasses reveal the bags under her eyes which she has attempted to obscure with powdery makeup. Her lips are painted a deep plum which makes her already pale face look translucent. He observes the visible blue veins like rivers on the map of her face and takes a small comfort in their familiarity.
He wonders if she can tell how different he looks. His skin no longer bears a tan and has grown waxy and sallow. He’s probably lost more weight than she has. Even if she notices, she likely won’t mention it.
Daniel’s tea burnt tongue feels like cardboard in his mouth as he breaks the silence, “How are you-”
“I still read your blog, y’know,” she interrupts in a bored tone, “Or I did until you went AWOL.”
Daniel leans back into the vinyl booth and crosses his arms tightly, focusing his gaze on the table in front of him. “It was a lot of work and no one was really reading it.”
“Except me.”
“Except you” he exhales.
“I mean I assumed that the work had gotten to you but I admit, there was a small part of me wondering if the CIA or the FBI or the fucking lizard people had finally found you and taken you out”, she says with a chuckle. Susie crosses her arms, mirroring his posture across the booth and catches the unsubtle roll of Daniel’s eyes.
A waitress, different from the older one who had smelled like smoke and served Daniel his tea, approaches the booth. She’s young with a bright complexion and curly hair slicked back into a bun. Susie puts her sunglasses back on.
“Hello, have you all had time to look through the menus and decide?” Daniel’s eyes flash to the two sticky menus resting on the table, undisturbed.
“Yeah we’re all set to order,” says Susie, pitching her voice up to something more personable. “I’ll do the chicken salad wrap and a slice of apple pie a la mode, he’ll do the grits.”
The waitress who Daniel identifies as Gina from her name tag looks to him for confirmation. Daniel shoots her a tight smile and nods.
“Poor girl”, says Susie, turning to him as Gina departs.
“Why?”
“I mean she seems and all but she’s stuck working in this shithole. She’ll probably be stuck in this crappy town, working this crappy job forever.” Suzie tilts down her sunglasses and leans in like she’s about to tell a secret, “Not everyone's lucky enough to make it out of the bottom.”
Daniel responds with silence as he tries to detect sympathy in her words. He finds some and he cannot tell if that makes her statement better or worse.
“I try and recognize my luck, that’s why I was so thrilled when you reached out Danny”, she says in that same high pitched tone she used to speak to the waitress.
“You were thrilled?”
“Of course, I mean I do try and keep up with everyone from home but you’re not easy to find.” Her tone shifts from sweet to pointed.
“Yeah.. I ended up giving up my phone a few months back. Electromagnetic radiation y’know?”
“You’re so weird Danny” she dismisses. Daniel feels a small sense of comfort in this reprise of her old catchphrase from when they were together.
Daniel picks at his cuticles wondering if it’s better to tell her that he has 4 months left to live before or after the food arrives. He decides to do it once they've finished and are waiting for the check.