Alpine

Gambit 3 - Accretion

"Can I get a whopper and fries?"

A shade of conflicted concern passed over the expression of the gal working the register. Her hand nervously brushed against her crewcut, dirty blonde hair on its way to fidget with her green and gold earrings. Before she had to say anything, Switch stepped to my side.

"He means a big mac. We've been on the road all day, and we're both pretty tired."

She laughed. "That's all right. He's not the first person to mix up the names." An effortless lie from someone so young and so clearly new to the job. She turned back to me. "What size fry would you like?"

"Uh... large?"

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Yeah sure, whatever soda you've got."

He gave me a playful shove. "It's like you've never ordered fast food before! You'll get your own from the dispenser by the condiments. Just tell her the size cup you want."

"Right." I already knew all that. Ordering food had always been a minefield for me. The mere idea of asking strangers to do things for me makes me nervous, even when it is their job to do what I ask. In town, there was a restaurant or to where I was a regular. The people working the counters knew me. Or at least they knew my order. All I would have to say was "my usual, please" and, after an admonishing eyeroll that I was so unadventurous, I would get exactly what I wanted. "I guess a large."

"Okay, and are you two together?"

He said yes as I said no. The cashier looked understandably confused. He clarified, "We're driving together, but I think we're paying separately."

I mumbled, "Yeah."

The cashier told me a price, swiped my card, and sent me off with a cup and a "Thank you for choosing McDonalds!" Her tone conveyed a veiled sense of relief to be taking his order instead of dealing with more of my dazed confusion.

I snuck off to get myself a cup of ice water. This was our first stop since coffee breakfast, so I downed the entire cup immediately and refilled it. I stayed back there as I waited for my order. He swung by to get himself a sweet tea.

After taking one sip, he sighed. "It's just not the same, you know?"

"Hm?"

"Once you've had Janice's iced tea, anything from a company is just... disappointing." He poured out the contents of the cup and refilled it with lemonade. "Maybe I should have asked her to make us some for the road. There would have been room enough for a little ice box in the back seat. You packed light, like I thought you would."

"I don't need a lot of things for a short trip."

"Hun, you don't own many things."

One of the guys doing food prep called out an order number. Somehow, Switch's order got filled first. He patted me on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure yours will be next. I'll find us a good table while you wait."

"Sure." It was the best response I could give to that. We had come in during that period of time when it is too late for lunch and too early for dinner. No one else was in the McDonalds. Of course my order would be next. It would take him no effort to find us a "good" table, because every table was empty. He had made little slips like that all day.

For coffee breakfast, he had grabbed my order. He told me that he would make mine just the way I liked it. When he got to the creamers and sugars, he remembered that I drink black and hesitated. After fixing his coffee-flavored milk, he handed back my untouched cup as if it was a joke that he had planned on making all along.