curandcra:
date: in the past, indeterminately time: late evening location: the moonlight diner w/ @olliecavalieri
She does not think of herself when she looks at him. No, that would be selfish. There are times when she wonders, of course, if she understands, given the fact that the stories about him that have gotten around town sometimes ring a little too close to home, but Elodie does not dare to presume. She was hardly the first to have left Sallybrook and to have had to come back, after all, and far from alone in having traded the brusque northeasterlies for lazy California breezes and having had it all wrenched away. It was safe to say that he wouldn’t be the last.
It was the way of the world. Every year, the people of Sallybrook watched autumn fade into winter, watched the orange leaves shrivel up and crumble in between their fingers and turn to dust, and stood helpless in the street as the chill set in and a small voice went silent in the streets. Things were always the same, even as they changed. In Sallybrook, she had learned, there were motifs. She, Ollie, so many others— they had all stumbled into this one. Unfortunate but inevitable.
And so, when her eyes pass over him as she does a once over of the diner, she does not think of herself at all. Not one thought is spared to the way she had sat alone at the Diner every meal for a month after she had gotten a job there, because the sound of screeching tires in her ears still drowned out anyone’s attempt at conversation, because every time she closed her eyes she could not help but imagine being anywhere else. She only thinks of the weather—
And whether he’s brought a jacket or if he will be cold on the way home. It is almost closing time, she notes, and most of the diner’s patrons are finishing up. He’s trailed in a little too late for that– and he’s only just started in on his soup. A shame, she thinks to herself. It would be so terrible to be kicked out with an empty stomach, especially if it will be as cold as the weather reports are saying it will be.
“Hey, Ollie,” she finds herself saying as she brushes by him to take care of the dishes left on a neighboring seat, “heads up, the Diner will be closing pretty soon.”
She pauses, wiping down the table, “Also, if you’re still hungry, there’s some leftovers in the kitchen that you can take with you. If you want to. I mean whatever. Just soup’s fine, but figured I’d ask. I’m pretty sure Rosaline would kill me if I let anyone leave without a full stomach.”
Even if it seemed like the movie theater was rarely busy, working a double was certainly not Ollie’s idea of a good time. The days seemed to drag on, especially when there was only a coworker or two and a stray customer every once in a while. So, once the theater was properly closed down, of course he found himself at the diner. He barely had been able to scarf down a hotdog halfway through his shift before being summoned to fix the popcorn machine again, and the warm bowl of soup sat before him made him feel a bit better about how his day had been.
Perhaps he wouldn’t have noticed the patrons slowly leaving the diner if Elodie hadn’t said something, but he looked up with an apologetic smile. He didn’t exactly want to walk out into the windy night, with nothing but a bowl of soup in his stomach, but it had taken a bit longer to close tonight. He was sure there were no leftovers waiting for him at home; the best he could do would be to scrounge together a sandwich from the cold cuts he hoped were still salvageable. He wondered if he would have to go grocery shopping again, if his mother would even think about it before his next day off. Part of him wondered what would have happened if he stayed in California for any longer, but the thought of still being in the sunny state hurt more than he wanted to admit.
“Oh, I…” he started at the offer of leftovers, knowing that Elodie in no way had to offer them. He wondered if she had gotten a dinner break, if she had eaten some of the leftovers. But if she was offering, it was rude to turn her down entirely. “I could go for some fries. Maybe a burger? If it’s not too much trouble,” he said quickly. He didn’t want to take up any of her time that could be spent closing, knowing he was already there a little too late.
