It was three nights later, on a quiet and sleepy Sunday afternoon, when Bill next visited the diner for his evening meal. Any questions over whether Sheri had liked his "peace offering" were quickly answered when Sheri rushed to the hostess stand to greet Bill. Her smile was beaming, from ear to ear as she said hello.
Another waitress had been about to greet Bill, and Sheri quickly explained, "This is one of my new regulars," with a sly little wink to Bill.
As he followed Sheri to a booth in her section, Bill shook his head wonderingly that he had somehow gone from despised to a beloved regular in the span of three visits. He wondered if all young women these days were so fickle.
As soon as Bill was seated and the menu place carefully in front of him, Sheri caught Bill off guard again by immediately saying, "I LOVED that sketch you made of me, it was a sweet gift. Would you be willing to draw another one?"
"Sure," Bill replied easily, then recognizing the eagerness on Sheri's face followed up with, "Do you mean right now?"
Sheri looked over her shoulder at the mostly empty diner and then back at Bill, finally responding, "Well if you don't mind, I was thinking maybe I could sit and chat with you and model while you draw this one. If you rather not do it, don't worry about it."
"Sure," Bill said again. "I'd be happy to." It was not like he had a lot else going on.
Sheri quickly left, heading back through the swinging doors to the kitchen, but she soon returned with three full sheets of white printer paper and a pencil. Bill ordered his food, and Sheri left again to place the order. When she returned with Bill's lasagna, she took the seat across from Bill and smiled at him expectantly.
As Bill ate, he slowly studied Sheri's face and sketched a little between bites. She really was a pretty girl. Her high cheek bones were more rounded and apple like than he had remembered in his earlier drawing. And her lips were fuller, and also softer at the corner when she smiled. He had an easier time capturing the playfulness in her eyes and the button on the end of her nose with her sitting right in front of him. Sheri had to leave twice, once to greet new customers and once to take their order, but otherwise she sat with Bill while he sketched her. They made small talk about her hopes for college and her nervousness about moving away from her family, but mostly Bill focused on his sketch.
When the food was done, Bill had a rough outline and said he'd need a little time to shade in and refine some of the lines. Sheri said she had to get back to work anyway, and fetched him another piece of pie while he completed his sketch. She tried to sneak a peek at the drawing, but Bill said he wanted to wait until it was done.
The piece of pie happily finished, and some shading and erasing later, Sheri returned with the check. Bill handed her his drawing and she sank immediately back into the seat across from him. For a few seconds, Bill was worried that Sheri really didn't like the drawing. She said nothing, just sort of stared at the sketch with her mouth a little open. But when she finally looked up at Bill, a broad, bright smile slowly lit her face. She was beaming, giggling like she was giddy. Sheri looked back down at the paper, back up at Bill, and then back down at the paper.
"This is AMAZING!" she finally exclaimed. "I had no idea you could draw so well." Before Bill could even interject with some sort of modest comment, Sheri plowed on, "It totally looks like me! And you even made me kind of pretty. I LOVE it!" Sheri was positively glowing as she stared at Bill's sketch.
