It's Always Sunnier On the Other Side - Introduction
The familiar smell of bacon, eggs, and coffee hit Danny Castellano as soon as he stepped inside his old favorite diner in Staten Island. It wasn't much, but it felt more like home than anywhere. When he was a teen, his mother had to work long hours to support their family. Sometimes when his mom was out working into the early hours of the morning and their apartment seemed especially creepy, he'd bring his kid brother Richie to this place to have a late night breakfast. Richie never saw the danger in them being alone, and that's how Danny wanted it to be.
"Dining in?" A waitress dressed in old fashioned diner apparel asked him as he stood at the door.
"Yeah," he nodded, and followed her to a booth set for two.
As she picked the extra menu off the table, she smiled and poured him a cup of coffee. It was nice to see they hadn't abandoned that practice, even though it was clear the place had new owners and a fresh group of workers since he'd last been there. "Would you like any cream or sugar?"
"No, I like my coffee black." Danny judged anyone who put loads of sugar or creamers in their coffee. Like Mindy. He'd told her a million times that coffee was fine just as it was, that it's good for you that way, but she always insisted that her coffee should be sweet and only come from Starbucks or sheik, hip coffee shops her boyfriend, Bradley, took her to.
"Alright. Are you ready to order or do you need a minute to figure out what you want?"
"Uh, yes, can I have a slice of peach pie?" Peach pie had always been Richie's favorite.
"Oh, we don't serve that here, can I get you apple or cherry pie?"
"Ah, well, you used to..." Danny glanced over his menu, disappointed. "I'll just take two eggs over easy, then."
"Great, we'll have that right out for you." She scribbled down his request and walked away.
Danny shifted his weight in the booth, getting comfortable. He expected to be here a while. It was Tuesday afternoon, and he'd taken a "personal day" from work, hoping to figure some things out. He looked around the restaurant, this place where he'd had so many memories and felt both comfort and uneasiness. He liked the diner because it was old school. He chuckled to himself, remember what Mindy had said about the term "old school", once. "I hate when people say old school when all they mean is inefficient and rude." Then, he got annoyed with himself. Stop thinking about Mindy. And that's where the uneasiness came into play. He was surrounded by families and couples in booths. He couldn't help but notice he was the only single person in the whole diner. He was closing in on 40, but what did he have to show for it? He had one failed marriage, no children, and was trapped in a friendship with a girl in his office he had feelings for, even though she was obviously not into him. There had been a time when he thought he could be with Mindy, but now he realized all of that was stupid. She was in love with Bradley, and although had Danny fooled himself into believing she cared about him more than Bradley, he knew deep down it wasn't true.
When Mindy had first met Bradley at a department store and went on a few dates with him, Danny shrugged it off, assuming it was just going to be another one of her flings. It wouldn't last more than a couple weeks. One month, tops. Except, when the fourth month rolled around and Bradley was still being invited to all of their outings, Danny started to worry this was more serious than he'd originally thought. Now, they'd been together just over 8 months. It's not like Danny was keeping count, but Mindy reminded him every time a month anniversary rolled by. His fears were confirmed three weeks ago when Bradley pulled Danny aside to talk to him "man-to-man". He showed Danny an engagement ring and asked for "Mindy's best guy friend's blessing." The ring was expensive, and Danny knew Mindy would love it, so he'd replied "Yeah, I mean, sure, if you think you can make her happy, go for it." Danny hated himself for letting it haunt him so much, but he knew that any day now Mindy would walk into the office wearing that ring and everyone would surround her, excitedly asking how Bradley had proposed and what type of gown she wanted to buy... and Danny didn't want to see that.
"Your eggs, sir." The waitress interrupted Danny's thoughts as she slid a plate of eggs in front of him. "Need anything else?"
"No, thank you," Danny said to her as he picked up his fork and began to eat. The eggs were delicious, just as good as he'd remembered. So what if Mindy's getting married? Good for her. She's getting the fairytale she's always wanted. Maybe it seemed as if Danny's life was going no where, but a week ago he'd talked to his father on the phone, and it had given him some perspective. Sure, his marriage failed and he was still single, but he didn't need all of that. Marriage was for people who were too weak to live alone. Plus, his father had always seemed like a deadbeat and yet somehow he managed to get a happy ending, and Danny knew his past mistakes paled in comparison to his father's. And after that conversation was when it hit him. He'd never really lived anywhere other than New York. Sure, the Mets were here, but besides that, nothing was really holding him here. So, he'd gotten online and researched the best places for a single, male doctor to live, and discovered what he was looking for - Florida.
As he finished up his eggs and sipped his coffee, he pulled out some pages from a brochure he'd printed out. It was listings of different beach houses in central Florida. He reread the ones he'd circled with a blue pen a few days prior. He had more than enough money saved up to buy a nice home, and he'd even scheduled some over-the-phone interviews with offices down there already. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of moving there. Maybe he'd exhausted his time in New York, and if he wanted to move forward with his life he needed to be working towards something, right?
Danny left some tip money for the waitress as he stood up and took a final swig of his coffee. He paid the man at the register up front for his meal before heading outside into the dreary NYC weather. It was gray and cold outside. He buttoned up his coat for warmth as he began his trek back to the main part of the city. It won't be gross like this in Florida. There's a visible sun there, and I'm sure I could find a decent diner somewhere nearby. And it was then that he decided: he was moving to Florida.
I hope you guys liked this first introduction! The next chapter should be up pretty quickly, since I've got a weekend ahead of me. ;) I'm actually really excited about writing this. Comment or tweet me ( castellahiri) and tell me what you think!
xxAJ
