Things I've never told you

I want to do everything together with you

Natalie and I snagged a table at the deli shop I usually went to.

"So, what's good here?" she asked peering at the menu pinned up behind the counter.

"Everything," I laughed, "but you can never go wrong with the house special."

She nodded, "I'll have that then."

The owner of the shop waddled forward with a smile, "look who finally decided to come in."

"How's it going, Ben?" I smiled.

He shrugged his shoulders, "could be better if I was retired already."

I gasped dramatically and put my hand on my chest, "who will feed me lunch then?"

Ben laughed, making his face turn red, "get out of here, you haven't been eating here for a month." His attention turned to Natalie then back at me, "how's it going? I'm Ben the owner of the shop."

Natalie reached over the counter and offered her hand which he gratefully took, "nice to meet you, Ben, I'm Natalie."

"You're here to make sure this one," he nodded to me, "takes proper breaks? She's always running around like her head's chopped off."

I rolled my eyes, "it's so busy at work that I forget to take a lunch."

He waved a finger at me, "all work and no play makes for a dull girl y'know?"

I shook my head, "you're starting to sound like my parents."

"Don't worry, Ben. I'll make sure she doesn't work herself too hard," she winked.

He laughed, "what can I get for ya?"

I held up my two fingers, "two house specials with chips and 2 bottles of apple juice?" I looked at Natalie for confirmation and she nodded.

She pulled out a bill but Ben put his hand up and refused, "this one's on the house."

Natalie looked torn as she looked from me to Ben, then to the bill still in her hand. I laughed and directed her away from the counter where Ben was already preparing our lunch and snagged us a table.

"He must've taken quite a liking to you if he was willing to give us freebies," I sat down.

She shrugged, "what can I say? I'm just so darn likeable," she finished with a smirk. "But you shouldn't be working through your lunches, you're spreading yourself too thin."

I waved a hand to dismiss her worry, "if I work hard now, I'll be able to reap the benefits later."

She shook her head, "you're still so stubborn and now I've made it my mission to make sure you take a break every day." She rested her head on her hand and shrugged, "it gives us a chance to catch up too. This is still kind of surreal to me," she giggled.

"Tell me about it," I mumbled, "so what have you been up to? After your surgery?"

Natalie pursed her lips, "rehabilitation took longer than expected but I was able to get my GED through online classes, then I went on to College and now I'm working at a start-up company as an account rep." She leaned back in her seat, "not very interesting but tell me what you've been up to, are you and Mia still thick as thieves?"

I couldn't help but laugh at that awful idiom, "' thick as thieves?'"

She wrinkled her nose, "stop making fun of me and answer."

"Yes," I laughed, "Mia and I are still friends, not as close as before but that happens when you're a million miles apart."

Natalie nodded slowly, "did you ever tell her about your feelings?"