Carly looked out the window of the bustling diner and noticed that the record store across the street was no longer there. Years ago, that was where she met her boyfriend, Jude. Now, a secondhand shop stood in its place.
“It isn’t too late to splurge on the large fries. I could certainly afford it now, with the new job and all.” Jude’s voice interrupted her thoughts, and she met his eyes for the first time since they arrived here. His fingers hovered over the untouched appetizer the waiter served them.
“You have a plane ticket and a security deposit to worry about,” she reminded him and reached under his hand to snag a fry. She could feel the warmth radiating from the dish as her hand neared the plate.
He stilled for a moment and then followed her lead. This was a game they liked to play before ordering their food. They would share one plate of fries as an appetizer, and whoever finished the last one was declared the winner. The loser would have to admit something. It could be a secret, an old memory, or anything that they wanted to share that the other didn’t know about yet. It set the tone for the rest of the meal and normally guaranteed an entertaining lunch.
“Medium is the superior size anyway, too much of a good thing isn’t healthy,” she said and was grateful for the sounds of other guests that prevented any silence after her words. She gripped the cold glass of coke to ground herself, finding comfort in the cold condensation.
They ate one fry after another; the only noise from their table was Carly’s nails tapping on the marble table.
“You are going to love it there, you know.” She finally spoke in between bites of food.
“Do you really think so?” He glanced up from the dent they were making in the pile of fries.
“I know so, and your new co-workers are going to love you,” she said with a genuine smile. This was the same man that she watched get invited to bowling nights and barbecues after conversations with strangers. She knew that whatever life planned for him next, he was going to be fine.
The rest of the meal continued in mostly silence. The fries tasted stale, and Carly savored every bite.
When they reached the bottom of the plate, Jude reached forward on instinct but hesitated when he saw there was only one left. The hesitation was his mistake. Carly seized the opportunity to quickly shove the last fry into her mouth.
Before she had to hear to hear the breakup conversation Jude was going to inevitably confess, Carly thought back to the first secret he told her in this diner.
“Okay, so my first trip and only trip to the emergency room happened because I ate a marble.”
“You did not!”
“I did,” he laughed. “I was young, dumb, and worried my mom sick.”
“How did you even manage to swallow it?”
She gulped down the last of the fry and knew what it must have felt like.