You should talk to that nice looking girl. You're a new man, maybe you can have a new life!
Dilz caught Rose's attention while she was walking back from relaying the order and began a conversation.
"So, how long have you been working here?"
"Oh, just about a year or so." She stops in front of the stool and leans towards me. I can see Frederick glancing over at me two with a big smile on his face in my peripheral vision. If he was a bit younger, he may have wrote fan fictions shipping his favorite characters. He always did try to get me a girlfriend in my teenage years by suggesting I talked to some daughters of the other regulars, perhaps I should've taken up his offers sooner...
"Well, you seem to be a nice lady. Tell me about yourself." I took a nice sip of coffee. God, this is exactly like one of those old cop shows...
"Well, my name is Rose, but I guess ya already know that. I'm going to college, I just graduated high school, I don't think there's much else to say. I guess my life is kind of boring."
"Hey, a boring life is pretty good. Better than a bad one, or a dangerous one." I took another sip of coffee. Am I doing this right? Is this cool?
"Yeah, you're right. But sometimes it's good to do something dangerous, ya know?"
"Oh, I know. What are you studying at college?"
"Um, business."
"Want to open a restaurant of your own someday, perhaps?"
"Maybe." She gives a sly smile.
"Well, I'll sure come to it when you do open it. I'm sure it'll be grand!"
"Well, ya said ya had a new job, right? Tell me about it."
"I'm in the stock market now. I made some very good calls, and that's why I have enough money to be able to do things like this again."
"Ooh, stocks? Did you go to school for that?"
"No. I'm self taught." I drank the coffee again. I better research a bit about the market before I run into an actual stockbroker. I should probably shift the subject a little, maybe to something more direct...
"But how does such a pretty girl like you end up in this place? No offense to Frederick." Rose blushed a little at that remark. Man, I don't know whether it's the coffee or the murder, but something must've made me nice and smooth!
"Well, um... oh, your food is ready, hun. Let me get it for you." She walked back and picked up a couple of plates. Shelly also picked up a plate and a pot of coffee. My coffee was refilled, and a large spread of eggs, bacon, grits, toast, pancakes, waffles, and sausage was laid in front of me. I began to dig in, and Rose came back in the same position she was before.
"Well, the best part of the job is having conversations with guests. Ya get to learn a lot, meet new people. Things are pretty slow around here, especially when I work at night, so it's even relaxing a lot of times. But the breakfast rush is still real stressful..." I strategically placed a large cut of a pancake into my mouth right before she finished so I had a longer time to think of my response. This is a piece of advice from my father, and probably the best one he ever gave. I'll have to call him and thank him later.
"So when do you work here on nights?" I drunk from my coffee as confidently as I could. This is a true battle plan, one which could only be formulated from a mind lubricated with food made with lots of butter and lard!
"Ooh, my schedule really just depends on the days. Usually it's just when Shelly gets sick."
"Son, she's not lying about that." Frederick passed by while saying that. That removes the possibility it was a diversionary tactic... You know, maybe I shouldn't be treating this like a war game, but ever since Nelson told me about all of those dating theory books he's read I never was able to get that comparison out of my mind...
"Well, give me your phone number so I can know." Big smile, confident drink of the coffee, come on, come on...
"Ya really are a straight one. Sure, I'll give it to ya." She was blushing a decent amount, and began to take out her pen and write on a napkin. I triumphantly placed a slice of bacon into my mouth and washed it down with coffee. Frederick appeared once again in my peripheral vision with a massive grin. Rose finished writing it down, and gave it to me. I pocketed it. Maybe murdering my boss was a good thing! God, shouldn't think of that with bacon in my mouth...
"Well, what else do you like doing besides working here?"
"I may not like like it, but I really like stuff like roller coasters. Bungee jumping, too. I've always wanted to try sky diving, too, but that might be a little too dangerous even for me..." From the look on her eyes, she was lying about sky diving being too dangerous. She probably wanted to seem a bit more modest.
"Oh, I like my share of thrills myself. Just yesterday I had the thrill of my life. On the markets, of course, it was very volatile. But I wrestled it through, and came back with a nice fortune!" I really hope she never looks at yesterday's stock market...
"So I guess ya bought that fancy watch with that money?"
"Oh, yeah, right after tomorrow. Looks nice, doesn't it?" I proudly flashed the device on my wrist to her. At first glance it does look like a very nice watch.
"You shouldn't waste all of your new money, ya know? I did that with my graduation gift, and I really regret it!"
"Don't worry about that. I've got a constant stream of it coming in now, I can afford the luxurious things." I really didn't know if I could, but hey, confidence is king, right? I saw Shelly motioning Rose to help her out. Frederick put up his hands and attempted to stop the conversation from halting, but Shelly gave him a glare that made him give up.
"Well, looks like I gotta work now! See ya later, handsome!" Rose walked off with Rosa to clean some tables. I finished up my breakfast, and was bursting with energy, both from the adrenaline of that battle, and the large amount of fat, protein, and caffeine flowing through me. I triumphantly began to finish off my breakfast. A few minutes later, Frederick came over and handed me my check.
"Good man, Dilz! You finally did it! Shelly is being a bit of a tough one on making sure Rose focuses on her duties instead of you, but I'll try to stop that when you come back later. Rose wanted to give you a piece of pie on the house." he slipped me a container with a very nice looking piece of cherry pie and the bill. I slapped down a few bills, enough to pay the bill and with a generous tip.
"You seem to be doing really well, son. Seeing you like this and seeing you talk to Rose gave me a really good reminder of the old days. Thanks for that! Take care, now!"
"You too, old man!" I walked out of the diner stuffed, waved goodbye at Rosa, who was helping the kid with the jukebox, and headed outside. I went into my car and proceeded to pump my fists in celebration a few too many times. A new man, a new life! Now...
What wi
The device on my watch bleeped. Looking at it, what seemed to be a message in text appeared on it. It read:
This is Bishop. You should really focus on the job instead of broads.
"Wow, her superior told her basically the same thing! Hahaha!"
The device bleeped with another message again. It read:
Please take my advice.
Well, I guess he was right. I wouldn't be able to pay to go back there or go on any dates if I didn't do my job. But I did have a whole week, and considering how this cop guy is only one rank above my boss, he should be pretty easy. At least one day could go to celebration, right? Well, I guess I gotta do something, celebration or otherwise. It was about 2:00 in the afternoon, and the day was still young!
What will Dilz do?
A. Head to the mall. You should follow Bishop's advice and start working.
B. Head to the casino. You're really lucky today, why not get some more money with that luck?
C. Head to the park. You can continue the nice nostalgia buzz you have.
D. Stay in the car and examine the device on your wrist. You can also eat that pie and maybe see if her number is a valid one.
