Hot Tea and 3-C

The full moon outside the diner window reappears every once in a while.      I can hear the faint thunder rumble occasionally over the music.      I had given the guy a handful of quarters, thumbed over my shoulder toward the jukebox, then told him 3-C, and keep it coming.      Same for hot tea.

I don't know why.      I had a chill, and the tea was cheap, I guess.

It's not a bad place.      I'm the only customer, so it was nice and quiet, but what do you expect at three in the morning.      I'm on my second cup, and all of one car has gone by.      Nobody's out walking.      Real empty.      Real quiet.      I like it.

I don't know the song, but I like it, too.      Sets a good mood.  Not a happy one, just a smooth one.

The diner's kinda dirty.      Not a greasy spoon, but it could do with a sweep and a wet rag.      No.      Tonight it's just fine.

I look out at the moon for a few seconds, then a cloud covers it up again.      There's some litter blowing down the street.      Where am I anyway?

I guess I slept through the stop I paid for.      I was the only passenger left on the bus when the driver woke me up.      He said this was his last stop.

After I got off it, took me a little while to figure out what happened.      Not that it really mattered.      I wasn't going anywhere in particular.

I just pulled up my collar and started walking down the sidewalk.      Then I came across this diner.      The only business open.      The only business lit.      Nice place.

The song's starting again.      I see the guy out of the corner of my eye filling my cup again.      He walks away, and I take a sip.      Forget the sugar.      It's hot going down and in my stomach.

No matter, my chill is gone.      But now I gotta take a leak.

The bathroom's dirty, too.      Smells funny, but it doesn't stink.      And one of the mirrors is cracked.      I leak.      I flush.      I zip up.

At one of the sinks, I wash my hands and face and look at myself in the mirror.      Not the cracked one.      Water drips off my nose and chin.      Where am I?

Yesterday morning I got on the bus with no place in mind.  I was just leaving.      It's not that I had any reason to leave, I just didn't have any reason to stay.      I had plenty of money and no plan.

I was just gonna see where the road took me.      So here I am.      Where?      For what?

Nowhere.      To just sit down, relax, drink hot tea, listen to a song I've never heard, and let the universe decide its next move.

Yeah.      That's it.      For once just don't worry about it.      Just soak up the atmosphere.      Discover the moment.

I dry my face and wonder if it's raining, yet.      That would make everything perfect.

It's not.      I sit at my table by the window and drink some more tea.      Nice place.      Empty.      Quiet.      I like it.      The diner too.

The bells on the door break my trance as someone comes into the diner.      Damn.

The door's behind me, so I can't see who it is, but I don't want them here.

I gaze over three other booths and stare at no particular spot on the far wall.      The intruder passes by me.      I inhale the moving air.      It's a female.      She's not wearing perfume, but I can tell.

I see the dark blur of her sit at the middle booth along the far wall.      I refrain from looking at her.      She's ruining the mood.      No, she's already ruined it.

I'm no longer the only soul in the night.      It's not empty anymore.      Damn.

The guy sets something in front of her and leaves.      She never gave an order.      She must be a regular.

I look at what she got.      A sandwich and a drink.  Looks like a soft drink.      She's got nice hands.      Nice black duster, too.      Nice black hair.      Nice face.      She's beautiful.      About my age, maybe?      Man.

Takes another bite of her sandwich.      Chews.      Swallows.      Drinks through the straw.      Another bite.      I wonder how she gets her hair like that.      I like it.      Maybe she's lucky and it's natural.      I didn't smell any hair spray or anything when she went by.

Nice skin too.      Healthy.      Not tan.      Goes well with her hair and clothes.      Blue jeans and black shoes, like me.      I think I'm in love.

I sip some more tea.      The song ends, then starts again a few seconds later.      What's this, the fourth time?

She looks at the jukebox then at me.      I look at the wall again.      She must have noticed it's the same song and suspected me.

She returns to her sandwich, and I return to her.      She's half done.

I wonder what she does.      Why's she out at this hour?      She most likely lives in town if she's a regular.      I bet she's single.      It just seems that no one with a significant other would be here, alone, at almost three thirty in the morning.      I could be wrong.      I hope not.      I take another sip.

The tea's cooled a little.      I take a larger sip.      She's almost done with her sandwich.      She takes another bite, chews a couple of times, then looks at me again.      I look at the wall again.

She really is quite beautiful.      I wonder if she knows I was staring.      I wait for her to look away again, but she doesn't.      I can feel her staring at me now.      Man, I feel awkward.

I look out the window at the sky.      The moon's covered, but I see its glow around the edge of the cloud.      A low thunder rolls.      It's a little louder now.      Maybe a storm's coming.      I hope so.

A flash of lightning in the distance.      It looks promising.      Is she still staring?      I look at her, and she is.      Her eyes are beautiful.

Still she's looking.      Who is she?      What's she thinking right now?      Dammit, she's physically perfect from what I can see, and I like the look in her eyes.      It's comforting.

She starts to turn away, hesitates, then turns away.      She hesitated.      That's good.      I want to know her.      Actually, I want to get up, go talk to her and find out that we're perfect for each other, fall in love, and stay together forever.

I drink some more tea.      Damn.      It's not like me to strike up a conversation with a total stranger.

I finish the tea.      No one knows me here.      I could start fresh.      She could be perfect, or she could be a not quite.      Oh, I hate this.

She takes the last bite of her sandwich.      I need a little reassurance that it'll work out.      She drinks some more and stares into nothing.      I'm out of tea.      Damn.

I hear something.      I look outside.      Hey, it's raining.