Click! Beep!!
The alarm sounded its single off key tone. I rolled onto my side and wildly waved my arm out from under my soft warm blankets made of silk and fleece. My palm slammed down on the button, ending its horrid song, yet knowing in five minutes it was doomed to go off again. I rolled onto my back again and stared at the array of colors dancing under my eyelid. My visions of the beach had faded when I regained consciousness. I lay there, thinking of the day that had past and imagining what would happen today. I tried opening my eyes, but my eyelids were heavy, and they closed again. I opened them again and managed to keep them open, and rolled my head along the pillow.
The apartment was small but it was pretty nice. The window by my bed was large. A proud maple stood just outside, arms stretched, leaves painted a golden brown. The three rooms had enough space for a single person to work in, I only wish I had a bit more storage space. The counters were a deep mahogany, with cupboards that floated above them. It held all the bare necessities, along with a few things I had gotten for myself, and a few gifts from friends.
After watching the old tree blow in the crisp autumn wind for a while, I decided I might as well get up. I flipped my body over, letting my feet dangle off the side of the bed, before pressing my weight down and stumbling through the hallway. I made it about three steps before my cellphone began to ring. I had heard its catchy jingle many times, and I thought of how sick I was of it. Plopping myself on the floor, I rummaged through a heap of clothes I had already worn until I found the buzzing ringing phone. The caller ID was still busted, so I picked up the phone not knowing who had called.
"Hello?" I mumbled, barely loud enough for the puny speaker to pick up.
"There you are!" The device hummed back. "I've been trying to get you all day! I can't believe your still asleep! Its a party! P A R T Y!! That means move your butt and get ready for fun!!"
I laughed at the speed in which she spoke. There may have been a party, but she still talked in her crazy old fashion, to fast and to jumbled for a native speaker to translate in time.
"Hey calm down." I spoke lazily and slow, the complete opposite of her speech. "I have time."
"No you don't! Not with all the stuff I've got planned! We have to go! Now!! Meet me at the usual in one hour!!"
She hung up quickly before I could say 'I'll be there', or any such thing. She just wanted to drag the party out as long as she could, including preparing for it seven hours in advance. I hoped today was gonna be quick and easy, but she had plans otherwise...
My hands were buried deep in my coat pockets in a desperate attempt to keep warm. I walked down the path of cement and thought to myself, why did I walk? Why didn't I just drive? No one else was on the sidewalk, anyone who was I would consider to be a fool. My nose was red and runny, the price to pay for sticking out farther than the rest of my flat bony face. I wished I had long hair, at least it would block the cold ruthless wind. Finally, the familiar diner came into view with the late morning sun shining behind it. I picked up the pace, suddenly energized by the question of "Why had she called me?"
The door opened softly and I jumped inside. The heater was humming and I was warm and toasty in seconds. The diner was empty, the red table tops held only the light of the orange lamps that glowed above them, except for one table positioned almost in the exact center of the room. She sat there, sipping a glass of ice water, her head balanced atop her hands reading a newspaper that lay on the wooden surface. She hadn't noticed my arrival, something in the pages had all of her attention to itself.
I walked over and plopped on scarlet cushion. Her ears caught the sound of air rushing out of the spongy material, and she snapped her head up, grey eyes focused on mine. A smile quickly found its way across her face, and she slammed her hands on the table top.
"You remembered!" She exclaimed. "I was waiting here forever! What took you?"
I pointed at my gear. She smirked, knowing I only wear that much if I plan on walking somewhere, which was all too often.
A waitress walked by and glanced at me. She paused, then began to walk towards our table.
"So your friends here." She smiled. It was a fake smile, whispering 'I wouldn't be smiling if my pay didn't depend on it'. Her hand whipped out of her pocket, clutching a lined white notebook and a black ball-point pen. "Do you know what you want?"
We looked at each other and grinned. We had been here so many times that there was no need to look at a menu. We would look at tons of choices before settling on the same meal we got last time.
She turned her head to look at the waitress again and began reciting her order like she did every time we came. She said it so fast, I was almost positive she practiced it in the shower or before she went to sleep. The waitress had to stop her several times, telling her to slow down and repeat what she said. She would go back and start slow, but as she talked the words would get jumbled until the waitress had to stop her again. I held back my laughter from the eternal struggle to translate. When she had made it to the end of her speech, she leaned back and smiled. The waitress only stared at her, then turned to me to ask if she had gotten the order correct. I laughed and nodded, as she scribbled some final notes.
"And what will you have?" She asked me.
I began telling her my order, but noticed about halfway through the waitress was making a face like she was telling me to hurry up. It almost looked like she would rather take HER order again rather then listen to me slowly ramble. When I had finished the waitress breathed a sigh of relief and walked away with our orders.
I looked across the table. She tilted her head and smiled at how difficult it was just to take both of our orders. I smiled back, how could I not? She had a smile that made you happy no matter what. She must have began to feel awkward, she quickly picked up her drink and looked away. I looked down at the dusty silverware neatly arranged in front of me. Suddenly, she slammed her drink down on the table.
"I have to go to the bathroom!" She announced as if the whole world needed a round the clock update on the conditions of her bladder. She stood up from the comfortable seat and made her way toward the back of the room. Her velvet like hair flowed behind her, long and black, shining in the grace of the light. Her shoes clipped on the tiled floor and the tails of her bow danced along. Even from the back she looked beautiful.
I watched her until she dissapeared behind a door, then continued inspecting my table space. I grabbed the fork in front of me and stared hard at it. A dull grey smudge covered its head, but it did not go away when I rubbed it with my fingers. I placed it back down and looked at the walls, covered in dozens and dozens of cartoon charectors. I leaned back and tried to name as many as I could. A smell hit my nose, the first scent I had picked up all morning. Our meals were already being prepared and the spices sizzled and smelled heavenly. The clanging of pots and pans could be heard from the kitchen, along with the occasional shout from one cook to another. I took all the sounds and smells for about a minute before the door opened again and she emerged.
She plopped back down and sipped her drink.
"So." She began. "About the party."
"You mean the one that doesn't start until six?" I responded.
"Well we still need to bake something buy something dress in something..." She listed so many things that my mind couldn't follow in time. I just nodded and pretended I was still listening.
But I was saved as the waitress walked over carrying two plates in her hands. She placed one in front of me and the other in front of her.
"Enjoy." She said staring at me for a while. I felt uncomfortable with her eyes glaring at me, so I thanked her and began eating. The waitress took notice that I didn't like her gaze, and she walked back to the kitchen.
When our meals were finished, she leaned back in her chair.
"Man! I'm stuffed!" She sighed happy and contented. "I couldn't eat another bite!"
I stared at her and smirked. She opened her eyes and stared at me before quickly adding "that is, until the party!"
"Well." I started. "If you've got so much planned then we really shouldn't doddle. Lets go." I stood up and brushed the crumbs off of my cerulean pants, then threw on the jacket that was dangling off my chair.
"Wait!" a voice called. It was the waitress. She was making her way over to our table clutching two orange papers in her hands. She placed them on the table and whipped two pens out from her pockets. "This is a survey we ask our customers to take." She explained. "Fill out as much or as little as you want so we know if our restaurant needs any changes." She handed us each a pen and went back to the front to wait on a man who had just come in, wearing a tan suit and a fancy hat.
"Ooh!" She cooed. "This looks like fun!" She quickly began marking the neon paper. I looked at mine. It was irritatingly bright and almost to small to read. The questions were vague, ranging from how we liked the choices on the menu to how clean we thought the floor was. At the very bottom, the paper asked for our signature. The asterisk led to the bottom and said optional. The paper didn't deserve my hideous scribble of a signature, so I pushed it in front of me symbolizing I was done.
She filled out all the questions with much delight, and seemed almost sad when she reached the end. She stared at the mark asking for her signature before looking up at me. I shrugged my shoulders, a sign that said "hey, sign it if you want. It doesn't matter." She understood, and quickly wrote her name on the line.
She scrawled the name Maya
