Stella strolled into Old Mel’s with a purpose, not batting an eye as she head directly back to the kitchen. She didn’t work at Mel’s, obviously, nor was she allowed to be past the employees only swinging doors that led back into the dish and kitchen area (as she’d been told more than once by Mel’s daughter), but she knew the ninety-one year old proprietor of the old Italian joint would vouch for her if she were caught…again.
“Gabe leave already?” She asked Jeremiah, who looked up from what he was working on behind the line with an expression of displeasure. He shook his head silently, offering her a curt ‘bathroom’ before going back to work. Friendly, she thought in amusement, blowing Jeremiah a dramatic air kiss in replacement of a thanks before she head back out the double doors into the customer’s area of the quaint little diner. Gabe was already out of the bathroom, lingering by the bar when she spotted him in the near empty establishment.
“Hey, dumbass,” She started as she approached, offering the man a toothy grin. “I brought you some Subway. Subway club. Provolone. Extra veggies, toasted. I know it’s not your order, but I was halfway through my sandwich before I remembered you existed, so–it’s my sandwich. Or half of it, I guess. Enjoy.”
It had been the shittiest day. One of those days when Mel’s daughter was even more high strung than usual, the truck order had been filled with the wrong kind of food, they were out of half of the ingredients for the diner’s top selling entrees, and so all the waiters were dealing with upset customers. He wanted to go home and relax, but more work was waiting for him there as well.
Splashing water on his face and the back of his neck, Gabe sighed as he straightened up again, offering his reflection a set of a finger guns and a mental ‘you got this buddy’ before he came out of the door. He headed somewhat aimlessly towards the bar, hoping to sit for a few minutes before the dinner rush would start trickling in, only to be surprised as he heard Stella’s voice behind him.
Wrapping his arms around her waist as she approached, Gabe smacked a kiss on the corner of her jaw, taking the half eaten sandwich with a smirk. “This is the kind of love and emotional support I wish everyone could find, thank you. So what was it that reminded you of my existence?”