There was something that was bothering him and somehow I knew. He was just sitting at a table all day with the same look on his face. He only has that look when something's bothering him. So being the most awesome best friend that I am of course I went to go make everything better. Ok maybe he wasn't my best friend and he just happened to be sitting at the table I waited all day with that same depressed look on his face. Ok maybe it was a few hours but still. So I being who I am decided to go talk to this random stranger.
I pulled a chair up and straddled it, "So why the long face sir?"
He looked up at me and gave me a funny look, "Do I know you?"
I shook my head, "No but I gave you your bill like three hours ago and you've been sitting here since like forever."
He chuckled silently, "So you've noticed?"
"How could I not have noticed, you've been sitting here for hours with that strange look on your face."
He looked at the clock and sighed, "Well I think I better get going."
It was about ten and he's been here since six, "Well there's got to be a reason that you've just randomly been sitting at a diner for like forever."
The diner was basically deserted and I think the cook was back there sleeping or something. He looked at me and shook his head, "Why am I telling you this?"
"Because I'm a concerned stranger who's wondering if she has to call someone for a guy who looks like he might go jump off a skyscraper." I said.
He chuckled, "You don't give up do you?"
"You know what I'm starving and I think you probably are too, so what do you say to a slice of pie while we talk about why you look like you do?" I asked.
He smiled slightly, "Sure, sounds good."
"So what kind of pie?" I asked.
"French Silk." He replied.
"That'll be just a second and it's on the house." I said.
After I returned with the pie, a slice of French Silk for him with like a gazillion pounds of whipped cream for him and for me I grabbed a slice of blueberry pie. I set the pie down in front of him and then sat down, "So let's hear the story sir."
"You can call me Luke." He smiled.
"Ok Luke, let's hear that story." I said before taking my first bite.
"Well today was the day that I met my girlfriend six years ago. I planned on proposing to her but today she had other plans. She dumped me, took off for Vegas, and married my friend. So I'm out a best friend, a fiance, and like six grand for the wedding ring." He sighed.
I took another bite of pie and smiled, "So you're telling me that your girlfriend of six years you were planning on proposing to left you for your friend and got hitched to said friend in Vegas? Now you don't have a friend, someone to love, and six grand that you wasted on a wedding ring?"
He cracked a bittersweet smile, "Yeah that's basically it."
"Well look at it this way, all things happen for a reason. It's our fate, destiny, God's plan, whatever you prefer to call it. Something better will happen. Your destiny, fate, blah blah blah, will all tie together in the end." I said.
He took a bite of pie and then looked at me thoughtfully, "You're quite philosophical for a waitress."
"Well I happen to have a college degree in the arts." I said.
"What's that got to do with philosophy?" he asked.
"Nothing, I'm just one of those people who can open their mouths and spew something that sounds like it came straight out of one of Plato's works." I said flatly.
"Really?" he asked.
"No that was some total bull shit that I made up on the spot." I said sincerely.
"So where did all that come from then?" he asked.
"Probably from the uncle who raised me while I was growing up." I shrugged.
"So I never exactly caught your name." he smiled.
"That's because I never told you my name." I smirked.
"So will you tell me your name?" he asked.
"I'm Thalia, but I don't think that'll matter. I'll just become some distant memory in the back of your mind. Something along the lines of the oddly philosophical waitress who possibly talked you out of committing suicide." I said with a poker faced.
"Thanks for the talk Thalia but I think that I better be getting home." He smiled.
"Well have a good night Luke. If I see tomorrow's headline happens to be something like "Man Jumps to his Death Off the Empire State Building", then I'll know that this talk didn't help you whatsoever." I said as I cleared the plates off the table.
"How old are you?" he asked.
"Twenty-two." I replied.
"So you just got that arts degree huh?" he asked.
"Yes sir."
"Well good night Thalia." He said before leaving the diner.
Did I have any idea where this would go? No. Did I have any idea that he would come back day after day to talk to me? Not quite. Did I have any idea that I would fall for the man who I randomly talked to that night? No I had no clue.