"Could you drop me off at Lexi's?" Josh asked, ignoring the question for the second time, "I'm really tired."
Catching the hint, Thomas sighed, "Sure." They rode the rest of the way in silence. A few minutes later, Josh stepped out of Thomas's truck, took his guitar and backpack and mumbled a quick, "Thanks", to his early morning benefactor. "God Bless!", Thomas said loudly and then he drove away. His faded blue pickup made a left at the next blinking yellow light and was gone.
Lexi's was the name of a small hotel-diner in Hubbard. It's official name was Lexi's Breakfast and Beds. An unusual name for sure, but it's owner Lexi was an unusual person. Lexi, short for Alexis, was a woman about 4o years old. She had a tremendously bubbly personality, except in the mornings; at least until she had her coffee. She had reddish brown hair and wore colored scarfs or handkerchiefs in it to match her colorful choices of clothing. If her coffee didn't wake you up in the morning, her loud friendly voice and her bright clothing would. She refused to call her place a motel because it sounded trashy. She refused to call it a hotel because, in her opinion, it wasn't big enough. Bed and Breakfast sounded cliche, so Breakfast and Beds it was.
Josh opened the door to the "Beds" section of the building and trugged wearily up to the front desk. Tonight's clerk was named Ashley. As Josh opened his mouth to ask for room, Ashley spoke first, "You staying for just the rest of the night, or tomorrow night too?" She was gruff in her tone, but not rude. "If you wanting breakfast, the diner opens at 6:00 sharp." Josh, needing to catch up on some laundry, decided to pay for the night, plus one. "You look familiar, have you stayed here before?" Ashley asked, as she handed Josh the key to his room. "It's been a while back." Josh replied with a slight yawn. Josh took his key and headed upstairs to where the only 10 rooms in the place were located. He unlocked the door to room 4, stumbled inside, fell onto the bed and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning Josh awoke to sunlight streaming through the window. He looked at the clock. It read 8:28. Reluctantly he slid out of bed and trudged over the bathroom. He took a long shower and saved. He put on his least wrinkled clothes and went downstairs for a late breakfast. Lexi's was busy as usual. A sign at the entrance read, "World famous waffles served here. Please wait to be seated." He laughed to himself at the sign and wondered, in which world.
The dining area had a full kitchen separated from the rest of the restaurant by a bar from which some customers sat on bar stools. There were several booths along the walls and near the windows, with seven to eight tables in the center. The wait staff was made up of young ladies all wearing aprons of various neon colors. It was a seat yourself style diner. Josh scanned the crowd. Lexi, was busy behind the counter serving coffee to the local postman. She was wearing a neon pink apron. In her hair a bright pink scarf. Their were three other waitresses on duty this morning, they all looked as if they were in their early twenties. The first was a thin brunette who wore neon green. Her name tag read Meg. She was busily scurrying back and forth between the bar and the tables and booths closest to the far wall. Meg seemed to enjoy her work and was constantly engaged in conversation with her customers. The second was a shorter girl, also brunette, who wore neon blue. Her name tag was smudged, but he heard one of the customers call her Elisha. She covered the center part of the diner. She too served her customers with a cheerful attitude. The third was a average sized young lady with blond hair. Her apron was neon purple. She served the booths along the windows and the area closest to the entrance. Josh chose a booth with a window seat.
Josh had barely sat down, when the purple clad waitress approached with a glass of water. Her name tag read, Jamie. She had blue eyes and a smile that was a bright as her apron. "Morning!" she chirped and handed him a menu, "Would you like to try our world famous waffles?" "Does it come with eggs?" Josh inquired. "It comes with whatever you want, sweetie," Jamie said with a smile. "We can do eggs, bacon, sausage, you name it, we can make it." "Then the waffles it is," decided Josh, "and I want my eggs scrambled please." "Bacon?" Jamie asked. "Sure," Josh replied, "and some coffee." "Sure thing, honey, I'll have it right out." Jamie took the menu and with a quick bounce she was off. All of the waitresses had huge smiles on their faces as if they didn't have any problems at all. Even the two cooks in the kitchen looked as if they were smiling as they worked over the hot stoves. There were not many places where the employees enjoyed their work so much. Lexi's was one of them.
Josh looked around the restaurant. In Meg's area sat three gentlemen who were probably farmers. Two of them wore overalls. All three of them wore caps, one of which had the typical John Deere logo and colors. From what Josh could hear, they were talking about the lack of rain and the concerns they had about selling their corn. At a table in Meg's area sat a man in a business suit. He was reading the business section of the Wall-Street Journal. Josh surmised he must be a local banker, because who else in the small town of Hubbard would even subscribe to such a paper. One of the table's in Elisha's area had a mother with a small child. The mother looked worn down from lack of sleep. Her infant slept peacefully in a portable car seat/carrier next to her. The baby would stir from time to time in response to a couple who was talking loudly at the table next to them. The mother would give irritated glances over at the couple when she thought they may wake her child. The couple looked to be in their early sixties and they were reading the local paper, The Hubbard Herald, or at least the woman was reading the paper. Her husband looked as if her were just listening to her read it to him. They were arguing about how one of the local elected officials was misusing funds to give Christmas bonuses to his attractive office assistants. Josh's observations were temporarily halted as Jamie suddenly appeared with a cup of hot coffee. "Here you go dear," she said, still smiling, "cream and sugar are on the table. Your waffles should be ready in a few." She was off as quickly as she appeared.
In one of the booths near him, sat a young couple who were engaged in a conversation about a recent trip to the nearby city. The young man was looking deeply into his partner's eyes as if every word she said was a much needed breath of fresh air. There were rings on their fingers. "Newlyweds," Josh thought. No other man would pay such attention to his wife's conversations that way. They were in love. Josh was jealous. He remembered times when he thought he was "in love;" but it was all a lie. No one really loved him. They just pretended. They lied to get close to him, not because they loved him; they lied to get one of his tears. How he hated his "gift." "Sometimes I wish I could go away!"
"Go where?" Josh was startled. Jamie had once again suddenly appeared next to him, this time carrying a plate of hot waffles and eggs. He realized he must have been thinking out loud. Jamie sat his breakfast down on the table. "Wishing, you were somewhere else?" Jamie asked. "Just remember, no matter where you go, there you are," she said, still smiling. "You need some more coffee, extra syrup?" "No!," Josh replied sharply, a little irritated at himself and Jamie, "thanks." Jamie never lost her smile, it was as if his rudeness didn't phase her at all. "You just hollar if you need something, ok?" and off she went to help a new customer. Josh picked up a fork and started to poke at his waffles.
Tears of the Singer is a book that I am writing. I am posting new segments from time to time and when I am finished I will publish it as a whole for the public to buy. For those who follow my blog...you can read it for free, or you can follow it on Goodreads, even if it is one little piece at a time.
Click here to read the Prologue.
Click here to read (Chapter One, Part 1)
Click here to read (Chapter One, Part 2)
No comments:
Post a Comment