They had dumped all their uneaten food in Texas. They drove across New Mexico and into Arizona hungry, taunted by the smell of the empty wrappers in the seat behind them. By the time they had driven passed the miles of ranch land, orchards and fields on the way to Mercy, they were ravenous. She pulled into a Circle K gas station and mini-mart directly off Route 85 by Mercy, Arizona. They had timed their last fill up so the car would be ravenous as well.
They stepped out of the car. It was cold. The sky was brilliant blue and snow was on the mountains around them. Sean began to pump gas as Molly went inside the store. She walked in and grabbed a carton of a dozen Optimum Nutrition Fudge Brownie protein meal bars off the shelf. She ripped it open and inhaled one of the bars. She was so hungry and she knew she had to make a show of how badly she wanted it. Then she began wolfing down a second as she took it to the register line. Everybody just calmly smiled and waved as they stood in line with her. The man ahead of her had a ten-pound jar of weight gain protein powder. She looked around and grabbed one.
The woman behind the counter was eating the biggest hamburger Molly had ever seen in her life. As she unwrapped her third protein bar and put the carton and the giant weight gain powder on the counter she looked at it adoringly and said "That is the most beautiful looking burger I have ever seen in my whole life."
"It's from Bandino's, right about half a mile up American Avenue over there, right up the hill on the right side. You can't miss it." She looked at her. "How long has it been since you had a real meat meal?"
"Just a triple whopper from a Burger King outside of Silver City."
"That's three hours from here. No wonder you're starving girl. Those protein bars make nice between meal snacks but you need more."
"I'm sorry. Did I say triple whopper? I meant a salad. Really I am not a big eater." She took a bite from the protein bar. "It's just my period."
A big, grey haired old man in overalls put his hand on her shoulder. "It's OK, lady. We all understand here."
Outside, she went up to Sean and kissed him, joyously showing him the protein powder and the protein bars.
Bandino's was right where the clerk said it would be. They walked on in, Molly still nibbling on a protein bar. The restaurant looked pleasant. There was a bar in the room in the back. On the wall was a picture of a comical Mexican bouncing a soccer ball off his stomach as he served beer and tacos. But tacos were no longer on the menu. Instead the favorite items were whole chicken leg quarters, roasts and the Bandino One Pound Burger.
An older Hispanic looking man came out of the back. "Hi. Welcome, welcome. How may I help you?"
Sean looked at the menu. "They say you've got a great hamburger."
"Oh sir, it is the very best. You must be new here to not know of my famous one pounder. All lean meat, broiled just the perfect amount so you can grow from every gram of protein."
He nodded. "Yeah. With extra pickles."
"You shall love it so much you will keep coming back for more. And for you, señorita?"
Molly smiled and nibbled the protein bar. "Something light. This is my fifth bar since hitting town."
"Oh I know just the thing. Our extra special side garden salad with my flame broiled Tex-Mex chicken. All tender breast meat. So good and so good for you."
She nodded. "That does sound good."
"And to drink? I shall make you fresh lemonade. Tart and sweet."
Sean nodded. "Fresh lemonade it is."
"I'll take an iced tea."
They sat down in a booth. Soon the waitress brought out their food and the Heinz 57 varieties catsup bottle. Sean looked at his burger. It looked perfectly normal except for its size. He bit in. It was good. Then he washed it down with the lemonade. That too was excellent. He poured catsup on the fries and tried them. Even they were good, hot and salty.
Molly's iced tea smelled fresh. They generously supplied her with lemon slices. She carefully at her tomatoes as she squeezed lemon slices into her tea and sugared it. The tomatoes had that dyed plastic appearance and complete lack of smell that commercially produced tomatoes had. The lettuce didn't have any teeth. She tried a bit. It was safe, with tasteless produce and delicious chicken.
They ate, taking breaks to kiss and feed each other from the generous basket of fries. If they weren't in a town full of aliens, it would be an enjoyable date.