Capítulo 6: Cherry Season (May-June) Part 6
"I don't know why I ordered this anyway," Fabian said, picking up a crayon, noticing it wasn't the fork, and putting it back down. "I can't eat it."
"It's full of nutrition," his father replied.
"Food doesn't taste like anything."
"Since when?"
"Since yesterday. And it's worse now."
"Eat it anyway. You know as well as I do that doing your show on an empty stomach is not a good idea. And asking Dante for a favor, as in to do your show for you, is probably not a good idea right now, either."
Fabian winced and picked at his breakfast. The diner door opened and Larry saw several young women in nursing scrubs come in. They saw Fabian immediately and started to giggle and whisper to each other. They took as table where they could keep an eye on him. Fabian continued to pick at his breakfast.
"You could at least smile at them," Larry whispered.
"Smile at who?"
"The nurses who just came in. Snap out of this, Fabian. The success of the whole carnival can hinge on one show. The success of your show is the ladies. You know the difference between playing and playing around."
"You're right," Fabian said. "Sorry, Dad." He looked over at the nurses' table, smiled, and gave them a saucy wink that sent them all into gales of giggles. Lisa came out of the kitchen just as the diner door bells chimed again. Her face lit up and Fabian felt a surge of jealousy. He wanted to be the cause of that much joy on her face.
"Bernie!" Lisa grinned, and was scooped up into the arms of a rather handsome man with dark curly hair and glasses.
"Hey, Scooter!" He kissed her cheek. "You're as pretty as ever." He released her and Lisa straightened her uniform.
"Your mom and dad are upstairs," she told him. "I was told to send you right up."
"Neither of them is working?" he asked.
"No. You know the way -- go on up." Lisa went back into the kitchen as the man went through a door at the back of the diner.
"That's so sad," one of the nurses said, and it occurred to Fabian that their giggling had stopped when the handsome man had come in. He pretended to concentrate on his breakfast, but tuned in to their conversation.
"She likes him, doesn't she?"
"I've suspected it for years. It's impossible."
"Why? Poor Lisa! Just because she works for his parents?"
"You didn't know? No -- they're Jewish. That's their son, and he's a rabbi."
"What? No!"
"Seriously. So no mixed marriage for him, even if she'd go for it. And she wouldn't, since her brother-in-law is the Rector of St. Mark's."
"I think you're making something out of nothing," a third nurse scoffed. "Lisa has a lot of friends. He's probably just one of her buddies. Her sister and I warned her for years that she was never going to find a man if she didn't stop being a pal and start being more feminine."
Conversation stopped abruptly as Lisa came out of the kitchen carrying a coffee pot. She replaced the pot on the maker and began to brew a fresh pot.
"That was interesting," Larry muttered. Fabian nodded. Lisa brought the older pot with her to their table.
"More coffee, gentlemen?" she asked.
"Please!" Larry smiled. "Your family's cream is excellent! What sort of cows are they?"
"They are a Jersey-Alderney hybrid," she said. "Beautiful fawn-brown cows."
Fabian looked at her. Somehow, he had a very vivid mental picture of beautiful, tame and very friendly cows. Wet leathery noses snorting warm grassy breath. He had seen those cows.
"I think I'll need a warmup," Fabian said, smiling at Lisa for the first time and offering his coffee cup, "and maybe I'll try a little of that cream." She smiled back, and he felt warm inside. "I'm sorry I was so rude earlier."
"That's quite all right," Lisa said, filling his coffee cup. "When you work the breakfast shift, you learn that not everyone is a morning person. I understand."
"If you're not busy when you're finished here, Lisa, maybe you'd like to take Bruiser for a walk with me?"
Now he got his earlier wish. She beamed brightly at him.
"That sounds like fun," she said. "I'm off at three."
Fabian nodded.
"I'm finished about then, too. Should we meet you here?"
"That would be great," Lisa smiled.
There was a swell of gasps and murmurs from the nurses' table. Lisa smirked at Fabian.
"Listen to them," she said softly. "They think you asked me on a date."
"I did," he told her. "They might be a little silly, but they're not wrong. And don't forget you accepted." He winked at her and enjoyed the blush that flooded her face and made her eyes more intensely blue.
"Can I get you anything else?" she asked, recovering her composure.
"I think we're fine for the time being," Larry replied. When she went over to the nurses' table to take orders and pour coffee, Larry looked at his son, who was digging into his breakfast.
"Funny how clearing up a few mysteries can make everything seem a little better." Fabian laughed.
"This was a good idea, Dad. Not only did I get to see her again and find out her name, but I also got a how-to guide on winning her."
"Do tell." Larry sat forward.
"Having her as a friend is obviously a wonderful, sought-after thing. She seems very well-liked. From what those nurses said, most guys have been content to leave it at friends. I'm not. I'll take that and the heart, if she offers it."
"That's my boy." Larry grinned.
Her? I mean it's not that she's not pretty or anything, but she's kind of ... dull. I think someone like him could find someone far more interesting! -- overheard in the diner.
Fabian and Bruiser were a bit early. He sat on the bench outside the winder and spent time looking around. The diner was on Main Street, on the edge of downtown. Street trees lined the street on both sides. There seemed to be an awful lot of parking available, which really surprised him. For the number of people walking around and the size of the buildings, there were very few cars at all. There was an office building and a rather large building with a lot of windows and balconies. Lettering on the front told him it was "Kendalls", and the windows on the ground floor were full of mannequins, so he supposed it was a department store. He was surprised by how modern and tasteful the window displays were -- not just at Kendalls but at the other storefronts on Main Street. In such a small, rural, isolated town, he was expecting more anachronism -- faded outfits from a previous decade or old forgotten products. Instead, all of the displays looked fresh and stylish. One store truly intrigued him -- the sign said "Bibliomania" and other signs said that it was a library and a book store with a coffee shop. He'd have to investigate that later. Now that he was done with school, he'd have a lot of time to read for pleasure.
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