One Fine Day

From Bertha to Nora

The next week was spent trying to forget the whole ordeal with Mr. Burns. I never wanted to see or hear from that man again. Well that's not entirely true. If I had met him under normal circumstances, maybe I would. Then again I would have done something to screw it up, just like I have with all the others. Yes, it was probably for the best us meeting like we did. This way I could spare us both from heartache.

Unfortunately, forgetting Ian wasn't as easy as I hoped it would be. That stupid grin and that stupid wavy hair, and especially those stupid blue eyes kept finding ways to sneak back into my brain. At work it was especially hard not to think of him. Every brown haired man or blue eyed beauty that walked into the diner seemed to remind me of him. I'll even admit that one particurally pretty woman with shiny white teeth stirred up images of Ian. I need help. 

I was just about to take my lunch break when my boss, Lance, called me over. Great, what does he want now? The apologetic look on his face meant he probably wanted me to take some other lazy waitress' tables because she was too drunk or high to show up. 

"Nora, would you mind taking Anne's tables until she gets here? She called in a few minutes ago saying she'd be running late tonight." Bingo. Lance the Royal Pushover does this at least once a day. One of these days I'm going to say no and tell him to fire their lazy butts.

Don't get me wrong, Lance is a great boss and he's super nice. But he lets everyone, and I mean everyone walk over him. Someone could rob him for everything and he wouldn't even call the police for fear of making the criminal mad. Poor guy. He's even worse around his wife, Gretta. If I could only describe their relationship with one word, it would be whipped.

"Sure," I sighed, "Who needs to eat when I can serve my coworker's customers?" I stopped the sarcasm once I saw his face. "Lance, I'm just kidding, I'll get right on it okay? Just make sure you talk to Anne about this. It's her fourth time "running late" this week." I said all this knowing he would rather die before confronting anyone. I need to refer a thereapist to this guy or something.

Right, so much for lunch. It was just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich anyway. I headed over to Anne's table and was preparing to say "Welcome to Lancelot's can I get you something to drink?" when I saw who I was waiting on.

You guessed it. Ian. Stupid, stupid Ian. Damn you, Anne!

I noticed with horror that his eyes lit up in recognition. Please, oh please just act like you're a regular customer and I'm some random waitress!

I wasn't so lucky.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't Bertha Bumblebee in the flesh! Your sister at the mall again?" He just had to say that for all to hear, didn't he? I felt my face turn bright red and I imagined everyone looking at us, but I didn't dare to see if that were true. Mr. Stupid Face continued speaking. No I'm not making nicknames to stop myself from liking him. That's just just silly. "Who would have thought that we'd meet again! I guess New York isn't as big as we thought, right?" 

From 'who would' I stopped listening to his words and could only think about his smooth voice. He belonged on the radio, crooning to all the girls and probably some boys tuning in. What was this god-like man doing in this humdrum diner, anyway?

I snapped to attention when I noticed an amused grin forming on Ian's face. Get it together girl. Now. "Right well what do you want" Way to be nice, Nora!

His grin widened, "Well Berth--" I silenced him with a quick point to my name tag. "Oh, Nora, huh? Nora Bumblebee. Now that is an interesting name, for sure."

I sighed and said rather curtly, "My name is Nora Wheeler, sir. Sorry for any misunderstanding. Now Can I please take your order? I have other customers to deal with."

"Of course, what would you recommend, Ms. Wheeler?" He said, putting emphasis on my last name. Does he enjoy torturing me or something?

I sighed and said the first thing I could think of, "The pie is great here. You could even say it's worthy of King Arthur himself." I used the most flat and sarcastic voice I could manage. Maybe it would make him leave me alone. That's all I wanted right now, was to be left alone. Wasn't it?

"Then that's what I shall have!" He's much too cheery to live in New York. Much less the entire world. Maybe he's on drugs.

As I moved on to my other customer's plus Anne's, I swear I could feel his eyes following me. I must really be going crazy. Why would a guy like him have any interest in the dirty blonde waitress with ketchup stains on her uniform? The only reason he paid any attention in the first place was to make fun of me. I was just a joke to people like him. 

When I made my way back to his table, he was most definitely staring at me. I could feel myself blush as I got closer, so I kept my head down and focused on the floor. He was wearing shoes similar to the ones he had on the other day. High top Converse. I wonder why a rich looking guy would wear those? I had to physically shake my head to stop the thoughts that were flowing through my mind. This Ian guy has infected my brain.

"They pie was excellent," He said smiling that smile that hadn't left my thoughts all week.

"Glad you liked it. Here's the bill." Why did I turn into some rude robot when I was around him?

He opened his wallet to reveal much too many fifties and hundreds. The question arose in my mind once more. What is he doing in a place like this?

"This should cover it. Go ahead and keep the change. When do you get off, anyway?" He asked sheepishly. 

"My shift ends at nine, why?" I asked, wondering why the heck would he want to know that.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go out for coffee or something? If you're too tired to I'd totally understand. Or if you're sick of restaurants I'd get that too. Or if you think I'm an idiot sitting here rambling on to a perfect stranger and wish to walk away before I murder you, I'll just shut up now. And that last part was a joke, by the way," He took a deep breath as he had said all that in under thirty seconds.

"Wait. What did you just say?" He. Ian. Coffee. What?

"Do you want to go out for coffee later?" Now he looked positively sad. Suddenly I felt the need to make him smile again.

"Uh, sure," That's all I could say? Why is he doing this anyway? Why am I saying yes? Did I fall asleep by the walk in freezer again? That's it. This is a dream. That's the only explanation as to why this absolutely gorgeous and obviously rich guy would be making a fool of himself just to ask me out.

Ian smiled the smile I had already burned into my memory. "Great! I'll meet you back here at nine and then we'll stop by Starbucks. If that's what you want, I mean," He stuttered, starting to get up and for a second I was eye level with his bicep. Oh gosh, he worked out, a lot. I nodded like a mute woman and watched him walk out the door.

Once he left I was ushered to table four when some old prune said she'd been waiting on me for ten minutes. Like her precious salad mattered when all that just happened? I glanced at the clock while rushing around. Three more hours. That is if he even shows up. He probably won't. But if he does...

Well if Ian does even show up, I'm going to ask what his purpose for all this is. I will not be the punch line of some man's sick joke. Not again, at least.

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Alright that was the second installment. Hope I didn't bore you guys to death but I really wanted to introduce Nora's real life before I got anywhere else with the story. Let me know what you think?