Day by Day
In the diner across the street from the police department, Iris busses tables and washes dishes, and serves the last piece of pie. Barry hears a symphony swell with every bite he takes. In between swallowing and raising his fork for the next bite, he makes loose conversation with the pretty girl behind the counter. She always finds herself distracted from her work, leaning in to talk to him, and replaying past conversations in her head.
It's been this way since he first became a detective.
He finished his first big day, feeling alright about the results. A bad guy put away because a couple good guys saved the day, and he goes across the street to see a beautiful brunette through the window.
Her hair was pulled back out of her face. She wore lace on the shoulders of a white floral dress, and an apron tied around her waist. She smiled softly, brightening rosy cheeks on olive skin. She hummed a tune from Frank Sinatra, swaying to the music in her head, and allowing her dancing feet to carry her from table to table. Something about her was hypnotic.
He stood out to watch her dance around the room, until he could find the courage that would lead him through the door. A bell rings as the door opens, and Iris stops humming to look up at the stranger at the entrance.
"We're near closing time, sir." she says softly, fidgeting with the rag in her hands. He didn't know what to say at first. Part the reason he walked through the door was because of a growling stomach, the bigger part of the reason was too embarrassing to mention aloud.
"Right, well… I won't be too long, but…" he feels himself blushing. "I'm starving. I…" he looks over at the counter and spots a piece of pie on a glass plate. "I just thought that looked really good." he says, gesturing to it.
Iris takes a minute to observe him. His tall, slender figure in a brown suit that was maybe a little too big for him. She found him handsome, with his hair slicked back the way it was then. Even with his crooked tie, she thought he looked nice, but she wouldn't say that to his face.
"Gimme a second to finish up these tables." Her smile reappears. "Have a seat at the counter."
He does just what she told him to, taking a seat near the curve at the counter and lifting the salt shaker in front of him for no real reason. He puts a napkin out in front of him and then pours a bit of the salt onto it. He watches Iris wipe down the last few tables and makes circles in the salt with his index finger. When she finishes, she goes into the kitchen to put away the rag. The door swings shut behind her and Barry focuses his attention back on the salted napkin.
"Gonna pay an extra penny for the salt you just wasted?" Barry looks up to see her in front of him again, smirking.
He chuckles, and breaks eye contact to look back at the salt. "I will pay whatever I owe, ma'am."
She lifts the glass lid from the pie plate and scoops the last piece onto a smaller dish.
"You look pretty exhausted." She says, handing him the pie and a silver fork. "Rough day?"
Barry takes the fork in his hand and looks down at the pie. "Not rough, just…" He cuts off a piece of the pie, "Long." he finishes, lifting the bite into his mouth. She grabs the salt napkin and folds it to ensure none of the salt pours out.
"Tell me about it." She says, inquisitively, dropping the napkin in the trash. She folds her arms over her chest and leans on the counter. Barry looks at her, momentarily getting lost in her brown eyes.
He finishes his bite of cherry pie and swallows hard.
"Y-You mean actually tell you about it?" he says, tightening his grip on the fork.
She laughs. "Yes, I mean actually tell me about your day."
Barry sets the fork down next to the plate and pensively scratches his chin. "There was an attack." He starts, and Iris automatically looks intrigued. "Over at a store on 4th ave."
"An attack? What else?" she raises her shoulders and leans in a little more.
"One of the clerks was shot, but fortunately survived."
"Good. Survival is good." she jumps in, making Barry smile.
"Yeah, well we spent the whole day trying to catch the guy that shot him. Based on description and evidence collected around the crime scene, we managed to get a name and address."
"So you caught him?"
Barry bites his lip. "Unfortunately not; the guy fled." He chews on his cheek. Iris snaps her fingers and shakes her head.
"That's too bad." She turns around and grabs a notepad that Barry hadn't noticed on the table behind her. She picks up a pencil and starts jotting something down. "And that was the end of it?" she said, looking back at him with the notepad in hand.
"No…" Barry squints at her. "No we got his partner." She scribbles something else on the page.
"Partner? You didn't mention a partner before."
"Well…" Barry tries to ignore her scribbling, but it's distracting enough to make him stutter. "Well that's because it—I was umm—I'm full of surprises… What are you writing?" he says, giving in to his curiosity about the notepad. She looks up from the notepad and smiles at him.
"I'm writing, dummy."
Barry laughs. "Well yeah, but what are you writing, exactly?"
"I'm writing down what you're telling me. I call it practice."
Barry stands up and leans forward to try and see the notepad. A couple things are written down in paraphrased sentences. "attacked store clerk, guy and his partner, guy fled, partner caught"
"Practice for what, exactly?" Barry can't keep his smile from growing. She looks completely mesmerized by the information he's given her. She stands up straight and moves closer to him.
"I'm going to be a journalist." She says, putting the notepad under her arm and the pencil behind her ear so she can flatten her hands to lean on the counter.
She lights up when she says the words, and her passion spreads like wildfire.
"That's incredible!" She sinks a little after his response, and he wonders if he said something wrong.
"It is." She says, smiling gently. Barry hesitates to say anything for a moment, watching her eyes trail down towards her feet and her smile fade into a frown. "If it ever become a reality, it certainly is." She says.
Barry shifts on the stool. "It could become a reality faster than you know."
Iris chuckles, and looks at him. "Your encouragement is…. Nice." She smiles at him sadly. "And I will certainly never stop trying." She pulls the pencil from behind her ear and sets it on the counter with the notepad.
"Good." Says Barry, taking another bite of his pie. She writes down a couple more sentences on the notepad, slowly dragging her pencil around and taking her time with every letter.
"You know." She says, stopping. "You're the first person I've told that to who hasn't looked at me like I'm crazy." Barry stops eating, and rests his hand beside the plate.
"You're not crazy." He says, he feels her fingertips touching the back of his hand on the counter top, and looks down at them. She notices too, ignoring the temptation to move them away. "Guess I'm just the only one smart enough to see that." Silence surrounds them, and Iris desperately searches for words.
She spits out the first thing that comes to mind, finally moving her hand and putting out it in the air front of her.
"I'm Iris, by the way. Iris West."
His eyes follow her hand, and he reaches up to grab it a little faster than he probably should.
"Barry…. Allen." He says, meeting her gaze.