There was a party of 12 next to Ben and Kai at the diner, and they were talking so loudly that she couldn't even hear herself think.
Only after they walked out of the diner did Kai finally calm down and try to start a conversation.
"Word on the street is you went back to school. How's that going?"
Ben silently glared at her, with a look of apprehension in his eyes.
He didn't like talking about his academics, because other people would judge and lecture him as if they had nothing better to do.
Kai would do her best to withhold judgment, but Ben was still reluctant to talk about school.
She took his lack of enthusiasm as a cue to change topics.
"No? Alright. Then how do you feel about the show getting a reboot?"
Ben finally spoke.
"To be honest, I stopped caring after the second spin-off, so I don't have a lot of faith left for this one."
Kai let out a light chuckle and asked, "So they must've paid you a lot to do it, then."
He rolled his eyes.
"They didn't pay me anything because I never had, nor will have, anything to do with it. I mean, for a brief moment, it might have looked good on paper. But all good things come to an end, and a story has to end at some point. Otherwise, it just stops being interesting."
Kai nodded in agreement.
"So what do you thi-"
Just then, her cell phone rang.
"It's my grandfather," she checked the caller ID. "I'm really sorry, but he'll probably want me to answer this."
"Go ahead," Ben assured her.
Kai got up from her chair and walked outside to take the call.
Ben could still see her from where he was sitting, though her back was turned to him.
While Kai was talking, a waitress came over with the bill, a pen, and Ben's credit card.
He thanked her, put the credit card back in his wallet, and then put the bill and pen on the table.
When he looked back over at Kai, she hung up the phone and let her face fall into her hand in apparent exasperation.
She came back in like she had just walked through New York City for 10 hours.
Ben turned around and signed the bill, acting like he wasn't watching her phone call.
He set the pen down and looked up at Kai, who was now standing next to him.
"Ben, I need you to do me a favor."