Stories to Warm Your Heart

Four Letters

Her head slipped forward onto the table, landing with a thump. Her hair was a mess, and so were her clothes. Never in her entire life had she felt so hopeless.

"Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!" she knocked her head against the table with each word, a new wave of tears pouring out of her eyes as the memory played behind her eyelids. She saw him, her boyfriend, walk out of the women's restroom at her school, smoothing his hair and fastening his belt. A few minutes later, her "best friend" followed, reapplying lipstick. Over and over and over she watched the scene, crying bitterly for lost love.

"Excuse me, miss." She looked up to find the person who spoke. It was a waiter, his brown hair rumpled and shirt unpressed.

"U-um, Here, take this. On the house." He blurted before dashing away. She peered over her arms at what he had left her. It was her favorite sundae, mint chocolate chip with hot fudge, brownie pieces, and an absurd portion of whipped cream with rainbow sprinkles. She smiled weakly and picked up the spoon. "Thanks," she whispered to no one in particular.

A few days later, she returned to the little cafe and sat at her favorite corner table reading a book and sipping coffee.

"You're reading the Twelfth Night?" You set down your book and looked up at the voice, seeing the same waiter. His hair looked neater than normal, though.

"Yeah, I love Shakespeare," she replied to him. "Othello will always be my favorite, but Romeo and Juliet isn't bad either."

"I totally agree!" he flashed her a broad grin. "I'm Dylan, by the way."

She reached out and shook his hand, "I'm Lucy, nice to meet you."

Over the next few weeks, Lucy returned to the cafe almost every day. She sat at her corner table, and her favorite waiter Dylan would come and talk a bit with her. But as time dragged on, their discussions grew longer. He would sit down beside her. They would talk about anything under the sun and everything beneath the stars. Then one day....

"Hey, Lucy?" Dylan said.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"The first time I met you you were crying," he began.

"I remember, and you brought me an ice cream sundae," she giggled.

"Why was that?"

Her giggles faded. "That was the day that I saw my boyfriend with another girl. A few days later he dumped me for my previous best friend. Now he's dumped her for some pretty little stick figure who can barely spell her own name."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said quietly, thinking. "Hey, who's your current best friend if he dumped your previous best friend?"

"Well, you of course. I know you better than I know my own brother, Dylan!" She said, now cheerful again.

"Really?" he seemed taken aback.

"Uhuh! Let's see.... Your favorite author is Shakespeare, like me, but your favorite book is All the Bright Places. You like chocolate ice cream with marshmallows. You want to be a writer or an artist in the future. You have a sister named Kylie who you call Kai and a brother in the marines named Steven that everyone in your family calls Sargent even though that's not his rank. You have a German Shepherd named Shep but you really want a cat. You..." On and on went her list. She recited everything he had ever told her about himself. When she finished, her face was flushed. She clasped her hands in her lap and stared down at them, finding her yellow nail polish fascinating all of a sudden.

"You don't know everything about me, then, cause you missed something," his voice was quiet and calm. His hands reached over and pulled hers apart, holding them gently but tight at the same time.

She looked up at him, "W-wha-"

He pulled her into a short, gentle kiss. She felt herself melt into a puddle of joy. He whispered into her ear, "I'm in love with you."