Eternal.

Chapter Eleven

We parked at a little diner off Main Street in Ansonia at 1:26 P.M. My stomach at this point hurt and so did my head. Aiden crawled out of the car after me. I locked my Sonata and squeezed my body in between two tightly parked cars in front of the door to the diner. Aiden's body was small enough he didn't need to put effort into trying not to hit the mirror. Inside the diner was cool with dim lamps and a dark blue painted wall. People sat at booths with wooden benches. Aiden and I were the only real young ones here.

"Take a seat in the back if you'd like" a woman about thirties stood in front of us with menues. Her smile was like she had perfected

It from years of practice. She pointed to sole booths behind an archway into another room. The small room had large windows and a small stage with a ruby red guitar on a black stand and a microphone with a wild loopy wire that Jung disconnected on the floor. Above the stage were musical notes made from old records. It made me wish I was out here having lunch with Alex. He'd tease me to go up and sing a song, and he'd cackle when I'd tell him no. Then he'd laugh harder and suggest I sing a Girl Scout song and trot around the stage like Christina Aguilera. I didn't notice my smiling at the thoughts as I sat down in a booth across from Aiden, who sat down quite adequately.

I scooted closer to the window showing water vapor on the trees across the parking lot. "You wanted to talk to me right?" I asked taking a breath. Aiden kept his mouth shut as a busty woman in uniform came up to us. "My name is Maria and I will be your server. May I get

You any drinks to start out with?" Maria's rusty fifty-year-old voice sounded both soothing and gut wrenching. I looked at Aiden expecting him to speak first, but all he did was look back at me with his fingers on the table entwined together. "Water" I said looking back up at Maria. Maria looked at Aiden, I did too. He looked back and forth at our expectant faces. He said finally "nothing, thanks." Maria looked at her note pad where she would have written down orders, even though she had not written anything down on it. "Okay so, one water and one nothing," she had a joyful smile on her face, completely natural. "I'll be right back." She walked off holding to wrists together her yellow uniform dress and her white flat nursing shoes made me think of her as having a room In assisted living. Her white curly hair in the back of her head told me that she's dealt with a lot of stress in her younger life. I wondered why Aiden hadn't ordered anything.

Aiden sat looking at me, indicating that I should speak first. I tapped my knuckles on the cold aluminum table. "You've been wanting to talk to me?"  He looked out the window silently. He looked fixated on something; I looked out but couldn't find a trace of what he was looking at. "Aiden." I leaned forward in a softer voice. He shot back to my eyes. "Give me another poem." "Now?" "It's in your nature to write." He gives me a grin. He was right. It's like he knew I could; how I can come up with poetic lines out of nothing, like he's watched me do it his entire life. I looked around for some inspiration. I don't know why he ask me for another poem; or why I was sitting her with a kid to whom I only know his name. Did I know more? Looking back at his face he looked like he was listening intently. His eyes had a hint of green in its gold cornea.

The waitress Maria came back with a tall glass of water. "Here you go hon, anything else?" She looked at Aiden, then to me, then back to Aiden. "Something to eat?" She added almost in a joking manor. Compared to the hostess we saw when we walking in, Maria seemed to actually like her job, or us. It was then that brought my attention back to myself and remembered I was starving. "Oh" I said, "do you have..." I don't know where I was going with they. I Hadn’t had a change to look at the menu that was laid directly in front of me. Or... I did get a chance, I was just too focused on what Aiden has been wanting to talk to me about. "May I suggest nothing too sticky?" Maria cupped her mouth so only I could see, and she whispered to me. "Don't wanna be a mess in front of your man now do you?" And she winked at me and put her hand down. Aiden shifted uncomfortably like he had heard it. "For young things like you may I suggest some onion rings? Or... Pie!" She used hand gestures to search for suggestions in the air. Aiden finally spoke up to her. "The rings, they're fine." He said it in a voice that told me he wanted the waitress to skip away and let us talk. "Yes sir!" Maria winked at me again and marched off like she was in the army. Aiden shifted uncomfortably like he had heard it. "For young things like you may I suggest some onion rings? Or.. Pie!" She used hand gestures to search for suggestions in the air. Aiden finally spoke up to her. "The rings, they're fine." He said it in a voice that told me he wanted the waitress to skip away and let us talk. "Yes sir!" Maria winked at me again and marched off like she was in the army. I took an awkward breath looking back at Aiden. “Give me another poem.” He repeats. “Like what?” I rolled my eyes at him for his consistency. “Anything. I just want to make sure.”