Little Things | An Original

5

Dalton

I take Maeve to one of my favorite little diners in town. A place my family loves dearly. We came here so much when I was a kid that the staff knew us by name.

When I was a teenager it became a prime place to cure a hangover.

The host seats us in a booth, before handing us each a menu. Maeve orders a hot chocolate, and I order a coffee. As soon as the waitress pads away to put our orders in, Maeve is smiling at me.

"We've been here before, haven't we?"

"I probably brought you here at some point in high school. This is one of my favorite places to have breakfast."

"I bet they have great breakfast places in Georgia."

"They have great breakfast places anywhere if you search hard enough," I say.

Maeve laughs. "Ugh, I love how familiar this is. Like coming home on a Sunday morning."

I smile. "Sometimes you don't realize how much you missed something until you have it back. I really did miss you, Peach."

"I missed you too, Dalton. I'm really happy we ran into each other."

"Me too. I was really hoping this would happen eventually. I missed seeing your pretty smile, hearing your sweet laugh."

"I missed our little adventures," Maeve says.

"It's a good thing we're here then," I say.

The waitress comes back with our food, and Maeve and I both dig in. I got my favorite—chocolate chip pancakes, and Maeve got a waffle with strawberries. This restaurant is the best place for pure comfort food.

"This is delicious," Maeve says. "No wonder your family loves this place so much."

"It's very consistent," I say. "I've always loved small business."

Maeve smiles. "Me too. It's one of the reasons I started mine. I love the community it's given me already."

"You have a lot to be proud of, Peach."

"Thank you," she says. "That really means a lot. The bookstore is my baby, and it's one of my biggest dreams that came to fruition."

"You deserve it."

Maeve gives me another sweet smile before eating a few more bites of her waffle.

"So, is there a night you're free for dinner this week?" I ask.

"Any night, except Sundays. I'm usually free around 7 or 8 o'clock depending on which employees are at the store those days."

"How is Thursday?"

"Perfect. I usually take Fridays off."

I smile. "I get Fridays off as well. We do four 9-hour days every week, so we still are full time. We get paid double if we work any hours over the weekend too, which is nice."

"Sounds fancy."

"It's good to know that we both have Fridays off," I say.

"Maybe we'll have to spend some of those together."

"That sounds like a wonderful plan, Peach."

Maeve smiles, glancing down at her waffles. "I'm excited to have dinner with you."

"I hope you like pasta."

"Depends on the type," she says.

"Do you like Fettuccine Alfredo?"