Page 42 of Drawn Together
“Why here of all places?”
“Why not here?”
Fletcher groans and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Last time I was here, I left with a stomach bug.”
“That wasn’t their fault.”
“Flora. Let’s try to be honest with each other.”
I stare up at the glowing neon Backside Diner sign with a sense of nostalgia. There’s a bikini bottom outline in the I of Diner that I hadn’t noticed before. Charming.
“If it’s the food you want, I will gladly pay for us to take it to-go and eat on a bench.”
“But, then I wouldn’t get the full experience.”
“Just further proving my point.”
“If we get it to-go, will you flip a pancake on your butt.”
“Sure.”
I cross my arms. “What happened to being honest?”
He groans, and I know before he even answers that I’ve won. “Okay, we’re in and out. No sticking around.”
I beam at him and fling the door open. “After you, sir.”
Fletcher’s entire face and neck are bright red throughout our entire ordering process. The waitress we got today is Diane, a seventy-two-year-old woman who is saving up to send her grandson through art school. I make a note to give her a hefty tip at the end of it.
“You’re not eating your burger.” I point with my pancake covered fork, a drop of syrup falling from it to my plate.
“Not hungry.”
“Liar.”
“Fine. I lost my appetite watching the cook handle money before touching raw ground beef.”
Mmm, fair. But, there is no chance of salmonella in pancakes, right? I happily chew on.
Fletcher pushes his plate closer to me. “So, how’s it going? The whole passion project, job possibility thing?”
“It’s…going.” I steal a fry of his. “I’m definitely making progress; it's just taking some adjusting to. I’m not so used to this entirely different style, and I feel like I have all these expectations—”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why are there expectations?”
“Okay.” I shift my legs so they are curled up in the booth with me. Fletcher gives me a look, telling me how unsanitary he finds it, so I curl them closer to me where he can see.
“So, you know I mostly do children’s book illustrations?”
He sips on his water. “No, I didn’t.”
“I didn’t say that?”
“Nope.”
