(recap; Cole just met a man named Walter and just invited him to a restaurant for food}
"We've made it," Cole said standing in front of the restaurant. Cole opened the door and Wally followed suit.
"Have you been here before?" Wally questioned while looking around. The diner was almost as large as a house, it had warm-toned lights with many tables of all shapes and sizes.
"Yeah, my mother used to take me here after I did well in school," Cole said reminiscing of their past. One of the servers came over and directed them to an empty table.
"Wow I see why your mom would take you here, This place is nice," Wally said. The two sat in comfortable silence while waiting for someone to take their orders. A lady who seemed to be a waitress set two glasses of ice water down on their table along with two straws.
"Hello I'm Jessie I'll be your waiter for today, can I take your order?" the lady had a white shirt and pencil skirt under her apron, and she had her hair tied into a small bun.
Cole didn't even look at the menu they already knew exactly what they were going to order. " Yes, I'll get the lamb steaks with a side order of mashed potatoes with extra gravy with a bottle of aged bourbon please," Jessie wrote down Cole's order and turned her head so it was facing Wally.
"And what about you sir? What can I get you?" Wally stared at the menu for a couple of seconds.
"I'll just get a kids' mac and cheese with a side of ranch please" Wally ordered. Jessie gave Wally a distasteful look but took his order.
"Okay, your orders will be ready momentarily." Jessie walked away from their table and out of sight of the pair.
"You like mac and cheese with ranch?" Cole asked curiously. Wally put his straw in the cup and took a short sip.
"I mean yeah it makes it rather sweet. Here, when I get my food I'll let you try some, I bet you'll like it, " Wally said with a chuckle.
"Ew, no thanks I think I'll stick to my food," Cole said faking a gross look. While the two were laughing Wally once again reached into his bag and pulled out a slightly larger prescription bottle.
"Are those the same things you were taking last time?" Cole questioned.
" Na, those were for headaches. This is just some candy, I didn't have a container on hand so I thought 'Hey why don't I just put it in an empty bottle" Wally said. His voice was unstable like a child getting caught by their parent.
" I remember you saying the first one was for your sore throat, or did I miss hear you" Cole said bluntly. This was it Walter was trapped between a rock and a hard place with almost no way out.
"Oh, I guess I did say that didn't I, well with old age you tend to forget things," Wally said deceptively. Wally poured 6 or 7 of the unknown pills from the bottle into his hand and into his mouth. Wally took a sigh of relief but noticed Cole staring at him, Wally looked away trying to avoid eye contact, but Cole didn't stop staring and Wally was getting more uncomfortable by the second.
Cole softened their stare and let out a soft sigh" I just hope you're not jeopardizing your health by taking those," Cole said leaning back their seat.
"Sorry to interrupt your pleasant conversation but your food is here, I hope you two enjoy your meal," Jessie said setting the food down in front of the respective person. " Your drink will be here soon Sorry for the wait" Jessie went back to the area she was at leaving the two once again alone.
"Can we eat our food and continue this conversation later... please?" Wally suggested, he felt guilty for ruining the mood with his nasty habit.
The two returned to silence with the sound of other people talking to each other. Wally started mixing up his mac and cheese with the ranch as Cole just stared blankly at their lamb steak.
"Hey, can I take you back up with that offer of yours?" Cole said poking his mash with a spoon causing the gravy to spill over.
"Ya, sure? It might spoil your appetite?" Wally protested with a slight chuckle
" of course, I have a stomach of literal steel," Cole said proudly puffing out their chest and poking it with their thump.
"Well if you really wanna have at it," Wally said scoffing. Cole grabbed their spoon and scooped up some of Wally's weird food combinations. Cole slowly started chewing but slowly started to pick up the speed.
"Wow this isn't as bad as I thought it would be," Cole said swallowing the food. The two continued eating their food with conversations starting and ending every once in a while.
"Here you are, sorry for the wait here is the aged bourbon you ordered I hope you enjoy the rest of your meal." She said placing an expensive-looking glass beside Cole's food.
"Thank you ma'am I hope you have a splendid night," Cole said opening the bottle.
"Bourbon is usually expensive and isn't aged bourbon even more so?" Wally questioned.
"It usually is but I get an employers' discount" Cole explained pouring himself and Wally a glass of the smooth, brown liquid.
"Wait you work here?" Wally asked giving Cole a surprised look. Cole's head jerked back up.
"What No, I work at the child protection services down the road, My mom was very good friends with the previous owner so he gave my whole family a permanent discount," Cole said chugging their glass.
"Oh, that makes sense... I guess?" Wally said.
Hours had passed and the two talked and talked until Jessie had come back to their table.
"I would hate to ruin your fun but the store is closing so you must pay your bill and leave," She had what looked to be a receipt on top of a server plate and placed it in the middle of the table. Cole placed a thin card and a credit card on top of the receipt and Jessie nodded and walked away with the platter.
"Hey, Cole how much was it in total?" Wally Questioned setting all of the dishes he used on his plate.
"Well it was around $175.50 but with the discount, it's $87.75 why you ask?" Cole said doing the same thing as Wally.
" I was going to pay for my side of the meal if it got too expensive but I guess you got this covered," Wally said. Jessie came back with the platter, gave the objects on it back to Cole, set all of the dishes on the platter, and left once more.
The two left the warm embrace of the building and into the frigid night where the cicadas polluted the somber night.
" Can we trade information, I would love to talk with you again" Cole said taking out their phone. Wally grabbed Cole's phone and put his number into it.
" If you ever want to talk just message me I'll probably respond, anyway Have a good night Cole," Wally said walking off into the darkness that was the forest.
Cole walked to the softly lit-up building they called home where they found something only they would find normal.
To Be Continued...
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The Moon's Final Wish (temporary hiatus)
RomanceCole( they/them) Walter (he/him) Walter was your typical guy; he lived alone and he had no friends. But that doesn't stop him from living his life. After a pleasant encounter on the bench Wally discovers that there is so much more to life than the p...
