A Corner Booth

"Why are we eating here, Mom? You never let us eat food like this!" Eight-year-old Caroline excitedly shouted as she dripped mustard on her new floral print dress. She was Sam and Diane's oldest child and only daughter.

"Shut up Caroline. It's awesome, so don't ruin it," responded her six-year-old younger brother Andrew as he suspiciously eyed his sister before he took an enormous bite out of his cheeseburger and an equally big swill of his soda. Diane, who would normally scold her son for talking to his sister that way, ignored their comments and smiled while she watched Sam saunter back across the diner after refilling his own much too large soda and getting her a water. He smiled back at her. Why were they eating in this not necessarily dirty, but certainly old diner with unflattering lighting, and one of the least healthy menus she's ever seen? Diane briefly let herself become swept away with the memory that answered Caroline's question . . .

"Wait! Sam this is it! I found it! It's over here!" Diane shouted from behind the bushes. Sam quickly jumped up from lying on his stomach where he was searching the storm drain for the far too expensive although admittedly beautiful engagement ring he had purchased only hours ago for his new fiancée. As he rushed the several feet toward Diane, who was standing in the bushes in front of the nearest building, he couldn't help but notice that even though her new dress, also far too expensive, was now filthy and her hair extremely disheveled, she was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She met him half way, clutching the ring tightly. She opened her hand and showed it to him.

"I'm so sorry Sam! We've barely been engaged 24 hours, and I'm already a terrible fiancée," she said exasperated. Sam said nothing as he took the ring from her hand, and put it carefully into his shirt pocket.

"It's probably best I hold onto this one, until we get home at least." He grinned as he put his arm around her and guided her to the corner where his now painfully damaged Corvette was parked. She said nothing, only nodding sheepishly at her immature and impetuous actions from earlier that evening and allowed him to lead her towards the car. He opened the car door for her, but leaned in to kiss her lips lightly before she climbed in. She accepted his kiss and blushed, then took her seat. Before closing the door he furrowed his brow and said seriously and quietly, so that only she could hear, "I love you." She replied quietly in kind. After closing her door, and checking his pocket to make sure the ring was still there, he walked around the back of the car, wincing as he saw the damage. He climbed into the driver's seat. He had left the keys in the ignition when he pulled it over earlier after exchanging information with the other driver.

"I can't wait to get home. It's been such a long night." Diane yawned, unsuccessfully trying to stifle it.

"You said it," he replied as he turned the key. Then, nothing. It didn't start. "Damn." He mumbled under his breath. Then he tried again and again, but to no avail. "Dammit!" He exclaimed, much louder this time as he smacked the steering wheel with both hands. Diane rolled her eyes thinking about how so far their entire engagement seems to be dictated by Murphy's Law. It had started earlier when he moved it out of the road, but now something was wrong. After briefly trying to determine the problem, and checking his pocket once again for the ring, Sam suggested to Diane that they find a phone and call a tow truck, and he would just deal with this all the next morning. So they found themselves walking hand in hand down the dimly lit, mostly abandoned Boston street until they came across a local 1950s style classic diner a few blocks away.

"I don't know about you, but I'm still starving. Shall we?" Sam suggested as he motioned toward the diner's door.

"And I bet they have a phone!" Diane exclaimed which Sam took as an agreement.

After being told by the older woman tending to the counter to seat themselves, Diane found a cozy booth, well cozy relative to the environment, in the corner near the window while Sam made his way toward the small hallway which led to the kitchen and housed the bathrooms and multiple pay phones. As Diane watched Sam scan the phone book that hung from the wall, looking for a tow truck, she assumed, a young brunette college-aged waitress approached with two menus.

"What can I get the two of you to drink?" She asked as she too glanced across the restaurant at Sam.

"Um, actually, I think we'll have two Pepsis!" Diane said enthusiastically. She never treated herself to soda. She hated how much sugar it had, but she figured it had been such a long night that they both deserved it.

Sam returned and took his seat across from Diane just as the waitress came back with the sodas. "What are you two so dressed up for tonight anyway?" The waitress asked curiously in a tone that implied she also noticed how dirty they were as she looked both of them up and down, looking at Sam a little longer than Diane would have liked.

"Well, I thought I'd treat my brand new fiancée to a special night out at your fine establishment?" He grinned a killer smile at Diane.

The waitress, Diane noticed her name was Nicole, snorted at Sam's joke, "Well, what can I get you from our delectable five star menu?"

Before Sam could answer, Diane interjected, "We'll both have double cheeseburgers, and we'll split an order of fries." Nicole jotted it down and walked away. Sam stared open mouthed at Diane.

"Cheeseburgers? Double cheeseburgers? And fries? And soda?" Sam motioned to the drinks in front of them a little too dramatically almost spilling his on Diane.

"It's been a long night, and I'm starving, and I know you're starving. We haven't eaten since breakfast, and I think we deserve it. Besides, look around. Like I always say, when in Rome."

"Hey, I'm not complaining," Sam sighed as he took in the décor of the restaurant. Booths with benches covered with black vinyl lined the walls and there were a few small tables in the middle. There was also a long counter. The restaurant was mainly black and white, and the walls were decorated with autographed pictures of local celebrities.

The couple chatted idly until the food came, and they barely said anything as they devoured their burgers simply enjoying being in each other's company once again. Something that they were both now painfully aware that they had sorely missed over the past few years. Sam finished his entire burger and most of the fries, while Diane left half of her burger on her plate and really only had a few fries. Diane was looking out the window before she turned her head to find Sam grinning at her from across the table.

"What?" she asked sarcastically.

"What yourself," he replied smugly as his grin turned into a smirk. Then after a brief pause, his smirk softened into a small smile. For a few brief moments, they gazed at each other, each becoming overcome with the affection and care they felt for one another.

"Well, even if we never made it to the intended restaurant, I would say tonight was still a success," she said quietly, so only he could hear, but nonetheless breaking the trance they were in.

"Yeah, me too." He replied as he straightened up and checked his pocket for the ring—one last time—just as Nicole returned with the check. "She's buying by the way!" Sam pointed at Diane, slightly embarrassing her.

Feigning surprise and offense, but understanding what he was doing, Diane said, "What kind of man have I chosen to marry!" as she handed fifteen dollars to Nicole telling her she didn't need any change, leaving Nicole a hefty tip.

"Ready to get outta here? I bet the tow truck is almost here."

Diane nodded, and they both stood. Chewing on a toothpick he picked up from the counter on the way out, he put his arm around her shoulders as they made their way back down the street to his car. "Thanks for dinner," Sam said lightheartedly as he moved his arm from around her shoulders to around her waist. "But just because you bought me dinner, it doesn't mean I'm putting out tonight," he held his toothpick between his thumb and index finger and pointed it at her with false seriousness.

"Oh, I'm sure it doesn't." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, I guess, maybe just tonight wouldn't hurt." He grinned at her acting as if she had forced him to acquiesce.

Just as they approached the car, the tow truck Sam had called about an hour earlier drove up. They watched Sam's precious corvette get hitched to the back of the old yellow truck with a faded logo on the side, and Sam gave the driver directions to his mechanic explaining that the driver should just leave it in the lot as Sam would give the mechanic a call in the morning. The driver offered to give the couple a ride home, but Diane declined after taking a peek inside the greasy cab. Sam tried to explain to her that they were already filthy from searching for the ring, but Diane insisted that they get a taxi instead. After Sam paid the man, the truck drove away, and the couple waited for a cab. It wasn't the busiest part of town, but one came by after about a ten minute wait, and the two began their journey back home to Diane's apartment.

"You know, tonight might be my favorite date we've ever been on." Sam pulled Diane closer to him in the back of the cab. He was sitting behind the driver, and she was sitting closer to the middle.

Diane chose not to correct his poor sentence structure, and simply looked up at him and said, "Me too."

Sam then took her left hand, which had been resting on his knee, and said with that same grin he had worn most of the night, well, at least since finding the ring, "All the windows are rolled up, so I think it's safe to do this now." He slid the fake ring off of her finger, and replaced it with the real one from his pocket.

She looked up at him and smiled, "Have I told you lately that I really do love you?"

He smiled back at her and said, "I love you too," not caring if the cab driver heard him. They said nothing the rest of the way home.

. . . The young family had just attended Andrew's kindergarten graduation at a small church located just down the street from the diner. It was a beautiful afternoon in mid-May, and all four Malones were dressed up in their best spring attire. Andrew had been excited to wear a tie just like his Dad. Sam had decided it would be nice if they went for a walk afterwards not knowing how near they were to the diner. As they approached, Sam and Diane looked at each other, neither having been back to the diner since that night ten years ago. They probably just assumed it had long since closed down, and had both long since forgot the evening they spent there. When Sam suggested they stop in for a bite to eat, Diane and the kids excitedly agreed. Diane, because she was thrilled to have rediscovered an old memory, and the kids because their mom never let them eat greasy food.

Sam and Diane were pleased to find that not much had changed, and they were able to sit in that same booth from all those years ago. They all ordered cheeseburgers and fries and Pepsi, and they laughed and talked and argued. Sam had gone to refill his soda and to get Diane a water from the counter since they couldn't seem to track down their waitress. As he made his way back to his family he observed his lovely wife, beautiful daughter, and handsome son, and couldn't help but think that they really do need to visit this place more often.

THE END