Boston, Massachusetts
"Order up!" Jack yelled through the window.
"Got it!" Clara said, balancing the newly made dishes on her tray before scurrying off to deliver them to her customers.
Jack watched as she placed the chicken salad wrap and onion rings down in front of the doc. The beautiful doctor that made a daily visit and always ordered the same thing. Chicken salad wrap, no walnuts, onion rings on the side.
He watched until he saw her smile up at Clara. That smile was what got him through until he saw her again the next day.
"Two meatloaf with mashed potatoes, one fried chicken with mac and cheese and a Caesar salad, no dressing," Clara announced, hanging another order slip.
"Got it. Give me ten," he told her.
"Thanks, Chef."
Jack wished she wouldn't call him that. Sure, technically he was a chef, but it was a diner by a hospital. 90% of the customers worked at the hospital. He just made their food.
No, a chef was what he had gone to culinary school to be. What he was saving all his money to become, in his own restaurant where he served what he chose, not what had been picked for him and placed on a plastic covered menu.
He chose to live in a one bedroom apartment with his bulldog, Shrimp, so that he could save every last penny and put it toward the restaurant of his dreams.
He even had a partner who was also a chef that was going to split the cost 50/50. Lee had been his best friend since middle school. They grew up together and went to culinary school together and had agreed that they would one day own a restaurant together. Jack could see the light at the end of the tunnel. He had been saving for the last ten years and he was tantalizingly close.
"Order up!"
Elizabeth finished her meal and stood to leave a few moments later. She looked over at the door and saw Faith coming towards her, a worried look on her face.
"Beth, it's Joy. She's taken a turn."
"What? No!"
Jack looked up when she yelled and ran out the door. He wondered what had caused her to get so upset. He knew he would never find out but he wondered just the same.
….
Elizabeth sat down in the doctor's lounge and tried to pull herself together. Joy, the eight year old with pneumonia she had been treating, had passed away. She couldn't believe it. She had been doing pretty well and then the antibiotics stopped working.
On days like this, she wondered why she chose this profession. But then, she remembered that children mattered to her. She wanted to help as many as she could.
On the flip side, if she found a good guy who had a good job and wanted a family as bad as she did, she would quit in a heartbeat to be a full time mom. She wanted at least two. She didn't care which gender. She just wanted her children to always have someone to play with like she had.
"Dr. Thatcher to pedes desk. Dr. Thatcher to pedes desk," the page said.
She took a few deep breaths and wiped her eyes before getting up and heading back to work. Four more hours left in her shift and then she could drown her sorrows in chocolate.
…..
She got home only an hour later than normal. As soon as she walked into her small two bedroom house, she fed her gold fish and started a hot bubble bath. Then she changed into her robe and went to grab a piece of chocolate lava cake she had bought from the bakery and took it into the bathroom with her.
She lowered the lights and slipped under the bubbles after turning on her "bath playlist." This was exactly what she needed. She loved baths and music and chocolate so her tension and sadness started slowly easing.
Until the reality of what Joy's parents were going through hit her again. She let herself cry until she had no more tears. It was cathartic really. She couldn't let her tears show at the hospital. She needed to be strong and not emotional.
She got out and headed to bed, turning on a movie that would make her laugh. Then her phone buzzed.
"Hey, Faith."
"Hey, Beth. How are you?"
"Oh you know."
"Yeah, I do. Do you want some company?"
"No. You stay home with Carson. I'll be fine."
"Carson is working tonight. I would be happy to come over."
Elizabeth didn't want to be alone, it was just what she always was. Her friends were all married so she was alone. It wasn't how she wanted it but that was reality.
"See you in ten," Faith told her, hanging up.
Ten minutes later, Elizabeth opened the door for her friend and accepted her hug as she cried yet again. "I'm sorry, Faith. I don't know how I could still have tears left in me."
"Don't apologize, Beth. Losing a patient, not to mention a child, is one of the hardest things to go through. I've been through it myself."
They sat down on the couch. "I wish I had someone to talk to, Faith."
"You have me."
"No, I know. I mean…I want to come home to someone. I'm so lonely." She mopped her eyes as she cried.
"Have you prayed about it, Beth?"
"No."
"You need to do that. He wants to know how you feel about things. He wants you to know that He is there for you but if you don't ask, you won't feel it."
"Okay, so I pray, and then what?"
"Keep your eyes open. You never know what or who may be around the corner."
…..
Elizabeth went to work the next day as planned, but her heart was hurting. She was still mourning the loss of Joy and she knew it would take a while to get past it.
When she went to lunch at the diner, she ordered the same thing she always did. She realized then that she was in a rut.
When her food was delivered, there was a note on a napkin that Clara gave her.
It said, "I hope you are having a good day."
"Clara? Who is this from?"
"I'm sworn to secrecy," she said with a wink.
Elizabeth looked around trying to see if anyone was looking at her. There wasn't anyone making eye contact.
Jack waited to look up until he knew she was eating. He saw her rereading the napkin and smile. That's what he wanted. To bring a little sunshine to her day.
"That was very sweet of you, Chef," Clara told him after they closed.
"It's Jack. I thought she could use some cheering up."
"Well, you did."
"Good," he said with a grin.
"It's obvious you like her. Why not ask her out?"
"I'm kind of out of practice," he admitted. "It's been a long time."
"I bet she would say yes. She doesn't wear a ring."
"That doesn't mean she's not seeing someone already."
"You'll never know unless you ask."
….
The next day, about the time she usually ate lunch, he watched as she walked in, alone as usual, in her pale pink scrubs.
Clara took her order and brought it over. "Grilled cheese on Texas Toast and fries, Chef."
"What?"
"Grilled cheese…"
"I heard but she only gets the chicken salad wrap and onion rings. I already have it ready."
"Sorry, Chef. She changed things up, I guess."
"Okay. Well, give me ten."
"Will do."
This time his note said, "Your lovely smile lights up the room."
Again she looked around and didn't see anyone watching her.
"Clara?"
"Yeah, Doc?"
"Just Beth. Um, can you at least give me a hint who this is from?"
"Nope. But maybe sit at the counter when you come in next time. Just a thought." Clara winked and walked away.
Elizabeth looked up at the red stools at the long counter. Then her eyes drifted toward the open window in the wall where she could see a very handsome man in an apron grinning at another person, showcasing his deep dimples.
She quickly dismissed the idea that he could be the one sending her notes on napkins. With a face that sexy, someone had to have snatched him up already. She would however take Clara's advice. At the very least, sitting there would give her a closer view of the chef.
….
So, the next morning at seven am when her twenty four hour shift was over, she walked into the diner and sat at the counter.
"Early today," Clara mentioned as she stood in front of her.
"I just got off my shift. Twice a month I work a few long shifts. Now I am starving."
"What can I get you?"
"Blueberry pancakes, bacon, and orange juice please."
"No coffee?"
"No, I need to sleep. Thank you though."
Elizabeth opened her kindle app on her phone and tried to concentrate on the book she never actually had time to read.
When her food arrived, a note was there which said, simply, "Hi!"
She smiled and looked up at the window to the kitchen. He smiled back. Good heavens. It was him?
"Enjoy your food," he told her with a wink.
Then she noticed her pancakes. The blueberries had been formed into a smiley face. She looked at him again and couldn't help herself. "Thank you."
"Of course."
The diner slowed down for about thirty minutes and she was the only one in there. She wished he would come out to talk to her since he wasn't cooking any meals but he stayed in the kitchen and spoke to whomever else was back there.
She went home and fell asleep almost immediately when her head hit her pillow.
Her phone rang about noon, waking her out of a sound sleep. It took her a moment to realize what was happening and by that time, it had stopped ringing.
She looked at the screen. One missed call from Julie. Her sister lived in the city too but she was a lawyer in their father's firm and worked almost as much as Elizabeth. As a result, they didn't see each other very much at all.
She called her back. "Hey, Beth."
"Hey, Jules."
"Are you at work?"
"No, I did that last night. I was asleep."
"I'm sorry. I can call back but I just wanted to pass on a message from Mom and Dad."
Elizabeth sighed. She knew what was coming. A dinner invitation. She didn't want to go but she would be expected to. "What's that?"
"Dinner at their house this Saturday at six pm."
She wanted to come up with some excuse but she couldn't even use the one that she had to work. She didn't. She actually had the weekend off. "Fine."
"It won't be that bad."
"You are married and have a child. You are perfect in their eyes, Julie. I have neither of those things so I will be on the spot and Mom will drop dozens of hints that I need to get right on that before my time runs out. I just don't want to deal with it."
"So bring someone."
Elizabeth's mind immediately went to Mr. Dimples in the diner. The issue was, she didn't even know him so she absolutely couldn't ask him to be subjected to a Thatcher dinner.
"I don't have anyone to bring."
"No one? Not even a friend from work? That place is crawling with doctors. I'm sure there is someone cute that would go with you."
"I am not asking a coworker to come to my family dinner. I will just need to suck it up and deal with it alone. I should be used to it by now."
"Suit yourself. See you, Saturday."
"See you."
Instead of going to sleep, she tossed and turned, her mind still going back to the chef. What were the chances that he would actually go with her? Yes, he flirted with her by sending her notes and he had winked, so maybe he was interested but to meet her family before going on a first date with her didn't seem a possibility.
Well, it was Tuesday. She had a few days. Maybe she could get up the courage and ask him out.