Master Shot
Warm coffee brewing in the pot. Hot chocolate with whipped cream floating around in the cup. A cold autumn day on the horizon. My skates glide over the tile, kicking away a box of eaten spice cookies Ty left for guests. Kenzie Franklin sits in the corner booth with her three best friends. She’s got those girls wrapped around her finger. Too bad they don’t know better. Or that most of her body looks that good from plastic surgery.
Ty glides up behind me, wanting to know all the details from last night. “You’ve got to give me something to go on, Dawn. This is eating me up inside.” I ignore him, skating over towards the girls. They all look at me with plastic made smiles. Is everyone in this town made of it?
“What will it be?” I ask, grabbing my pen and paper. I can feel Ty behind me, just begging to know all about Jason. I smile inside thinking of him.
“Just a salad, with dressing on the side,” Kenzie says, turning to look at her french manicure. Pies are wafting in the oven. The t.v. in the other corner buzzes about some new town story. A man and wife fight over what to do to order.
“We don’t serve that,” I explain, still feeling Ty at my side. Does he ever give up?
“You- what?”
“I know it looks like a diner, doll, but we only really serve sweets. And milkshakes,” Ty intrudes, nudging his way back into the conversation.
“Then just water,” Kenzie huffs, looking back at her girls. They all smile at me on the outside, but I can see them wanting to shoo me away on the inside. I go, moving toward the counter to fill their glasses. Bell’s chime. Someone new just walked in.
“Just one little detail,” Ty promises, helping me fix the water glasses. I grab the cubed ice.
“You saw. He drove me home,” I explain, dumping in the cubes. Ty gawks, knowing there’s more to the story. He’s like a dog with a bone that just keeps coming back for more. He will always want more.
“And what happened after that? When you got home”
“We uh…”
“You uh?” He questions, grabbing a tray. The news channel changes. Bell’s chime again, it seems we are busy today. That couple finally decided to order the chocolate cake. I can practically taste it from here.
“I can never kiss and tell,” I plead, lacing up my skates. I fix the plastic slide and roll my wheels, making sure they have extra spin. Ty’s eyes light up with sunshine inside of them.
“So you did kiss!”
“You’re too smart for me,” I tease, gliding back over to set down the waters. The girls sip them soundly, Kenzie already asking for a refill. She fixes her makeup in the napkin tin. I am not sure make up will fix that.
“Oliver says he’s new at the studio, just started a couple weeks ago,” Ty tells me, trying to get me to open up. But if I do that I just melt, thinking about last night all over again. Ty can’t think that. I’ve got to pretend to be steel.
“I think he grew up a couple of towns over.”
“So when will you see him again?”
“Who knows if he will want to see me again?” I ask, wiping down the counter. It needs cleaning again. This time it’s yellow cover softens as I douse it with cleaner. The couple’s chocolate cake is ready. Someone pays the check. Kenzie is still here for some reason.
“He wants to see you again. I could see the way he was looking at you all night. Trust me, I know,” Ty explains, fixing some of the cakes in the display counter. He trades a blueberry pie for a freshly made apple one that is cooling on the stove, and moves around a batch of cookies we just baked. He takes a bite for his own taste approval.
“Ty,” I breathe, seeing him turn towards me. I’ve got his attention now. “The way he kissed me…it was unlike anyone who’s ever kissed me before.”
“That good, huh?” He wonders, closing the display window. He fixes the laces on his skates, tightening the straps. I douse the counter over again, making sure to pick up crumbs. Footsteps clack against the tile. The music on the speakers is alive in the background. A group of high school jocks just walked in.
“Better.”
“Oliver and I are hosting Friendsgiving on Friday. Come, they’ll be lots of people. I’ll make sure to get Jason there. I’m sure you can do a little giving,” He quirks, a smile in his voice. His eyes are dancing with jitters, and I want to just bat him away. I can’t get overly excited about a boy. It’s still too new. I’m still too fragile. “Fine, but I get to be the one to bake this diner’s famous key lime pie.”