"Truth or dare?" Auggie asked.
"Hmnn," I answered as if I was seriously contemplating the decision. "How about truth?" I had figured this was the safest answer. In the time I had known Auggie I'd come to realize he was truly a creative genius. And I had a feeling that this creative genius was not limited to his Tech-Ops center, but also expanded to include what outlandish sort of dare he could come up with in our little impromptu game in the middle of a Waffle House.
"Truth, eh? Here's one for you: what is your biggest desire?"
A little shocked by the depth of this question I tried answering lightly, "Uh…for world peace and no starving children in Rwanda?"
"What are you? A beauty queen? Come on Annie…if that was too personal a question, just say so. You won't hurt my feelings," he added with a smile.
With a bit of a chuckle I grinned back as our waitress, Patti Mae according to the nametag arrived with our huge mound of food. There is definitely something to be said about a late night meal at 12:30 after a successful meal. And the friend that takes you out for it. So as our bacon and omelets, toast, and grits descended upon us I looked, interrupted Auggie mid-sentence about some girl at Allen's and said: "I'd love to be able to eat a entire quart of Ben & Jerry's Dublin Mudslide ice cream without the fear of repercussions" and then went back to my awaiting omelet.
I'm not sure I'd ever seen such a look of on his face as was displayed when one of my deepest desires was revealed to him. A concoction of surprise and a little bit of laughter, coupled with a look that clearly said "That is just like you Annie Walker" along with the question "Such as?" is the result I got.
"Huh? Such as? I reveal my deepest darkest desire and all you have to say is 'such as'? "
With a signature eye roll he clarified, "repercussions such as…"
"Repercussions such as zits and five more pounds".
Auggie opened his mouth to comment on this but I interrupted him again. "Actually, you know, that's not it," now I received an eyebrow raise, "My deepest desire is actually to revisit every single place I've ever been again. I want to meet someone and settle down and get married. Then I want to move to the middle of nowhere Montana and own a Christmas tree farm with said someone. I'd actually like to know what it's like to work at the Smithsonian, though I'm sure it wouldn't hold a candle to my job. I want to visit Luxembourg and gamble at Monte Carlo," both eyebrows disappeared into Auggie's hairline at this point, "I want to be able to tell my sister where I work and stop living a lie. I REALLY want her to stop setting me up on awful blind dates and I want to have the courage to tell Dani that when I say no more, it means no more". This one earned a hearty chuckle. "I want to learn Swahili, clicks and all! Not for work but instead just because I want to. I stay up for an entire 24 hours and do nothing more than watch the sun rise in the middle of a pasture, then set, then watch the moon rise and set, and the sun rise and set again—and do this in the comfort of someone's arms that I love. I want to streak at my cousin Marla's wedding in December just to be spiteful because I really want to mess her perfect production up," that earned a plain old guffaw. "And I have always wanted to dance to a jukebox in the middle of a restaurant and not worry about what anyone is thinking while they watch". I finished at last and took a deep long breath. "Every single one of my deepest darkest desires and now you know them all."
"Well," he said picking up his coffee, "I think you just threw a lot at me there."
"Yeah well I—"
Holding up a hand to stop me, he continued "That being said, I am immensely touched you chose to share all of that with me Annie. And, I'm not sure that I can help you achieve any of them either, especially not the streaking one," he said lightheartedly. "On second thought though…"
Wondering what in the world Auggie had up his sleeve this time I waited anxiously while he called Patti Mae over to our table, whispered something in her ear and slipped her two quarters. A few moments later the sweet, jazzy sound of "What If I Loved You" by Joey Gian filled the tiny Waffle House. And as he stepped out of the booth and stood, he held his hand out to me and asked with a smile, "Might I have this dance?"
A/N: I hope you all liked this! My first little one-shot and it was actually a lot of fun. The song is really a fantastic song from a sweet little movie called Return to Me. You should all go out and rent it—Right Now! :-D Anyways, any and all feedback is appreciated. Thanks!