After Midnight

by Lacy Hart

  “Nice to meet you, James,” I said to him. “And you as well, Lizzie,” I said to the girl who hung a little bit to the back behind her father. She gave a sheepish wave hello.

  “Nice to meet you too, Caleb,” James said. I could tell by the way he was looking at me that he was sizing me up in the way any brother would when getting introduced to a man by their sister.

  “Sarah said you are in the Army,” James said to me as we stood facing each other.

  “I was,” I corrected. “I retired about six weeks ago.”

  “Were you out of Fort Bragg?” he asked. He was feeling me out to see what information he would get and if I were honest with his sister.

  “I was, but I hardly spent any time there,” I told him. “I spent a lot of time overseas.”

  We stared at each other for a minute, and he could see he wasn’t going to get much more out of me.

  “Well, thanks for your service,” he said to me in a sincere tone. I just gave him a simple nod. James then turned to his daughter. “Okay, Lizzie, let’s get out of here and let Sarah get back to work. Nice meeting you, Caleb. Sarah, I guess we’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Yep,” she said casually. “Oh, James, I’ll be a little later getting home. Caleb and I are going for a run after I get off work.”

  James looked back at me, and then at his sister and gave her a smile. He nodded his head to her.

  “Okay, well enjoy your run.”

  James put his arm around his daughter, and they started to walk out.

  I sat back down in the booth and finished what was left of my coffee. Sarah looked down and grabbed the empty plate in front of me.

  “Your brother and niece seem nice,” I said to her.

  “They are,” she said to me. “I’m sorry about the interrogation. I think it’s a big brother thing.”

  “It’s okay. I do the same thing with anyone that my sister introduces to me, and she’s older than me. It’s just a protective brother thing when you meet a guy your sister…” I cut myself off before I let the word “likes” slip out of my mouth and assume something.

  Sarah noticed and sensed what I might say and quickly changed the subject.

  “Can I get you anything else?” she said, fumbling with her pad.

  “I think I’m done,” I said to her.

  She reached into her apron and pulled out the check for me and handed it to me.

  “Thanks,” I said to her. “I guess I’ll see you at six?”

  “You bet,” she said with a smile. “I’ve got my stuff, and I’ll be ready. See you then.”

  I got up from the booth and started walking out, making sure to walk over to the booth where Adam was sitting. As soon as I walked over, everyone got quiet at the table.

  “I’m taking off,” I said to Adam.

  Adam looked around the table and removed his arm around from the girl sitting next to him.

  “Is it okay if one of the guys gives me a ride home?” Adam asked.

  “Sure, no problem,” I said to him. “You guys have a good time. I’ll see you later.”

  “Thanks, Dad,” Adam said. I gave him a wave, and as soon as I started walking away, the noise at the table started up again.

  I got up to the counter to pay, and Doug was there to take my check.

  “How was everything?” he asked me as he rang up the check.

  “Great, as always,” I said to him. “Sarah is fantastic,” I said to him as I watched her walk by with a tray of sodas for a table.

  My eyes followed her out into the dining room before turning back to Doug, who was standing there smiling at me.

  “Yes, she is,” he said to me. “Best employee I have had here in a long time.”

  I handed Doug the money for the tab. “Say, do you know what the check will be for that booth over there?” I said to him, pointing to the table where Adam and his friends were sitting.

  “No, I don’t know it, but knowing typical teens, it won’t be too high.”

  I reached into my wallet and handed Doug $120. “Take this to cover their check,” I said to him, “and whatever is left, please give to whoever their waitress is. She surely will have earned it.”

  Doug let out a hearty laugh. “I will do that, sir,” he said to me. “That’s very kind of you. Have a good night.”

  “Thank you, you too,” I said to him as I walked out the door.

  I had walked a few paces down the block before I realized I had driven to the diner and had to go back to get my Jeep. I took the quick ride home, pulling into the driveway and parking the car next to Linda’s. I looked over to the house as I got out of the car and could see that the lights were off in her bedroom. She must have gotten home from her meeting and gone right to sleep. I decided to leave her be and just went up to my apartment.

  I tossed my keys and wallet on the counter, my sweatshirt on the back of a chair, grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge, and put myself down on the couch. A quick look at my watch showed it was 11:30, so I still had plenty of time to relax before I needed to get back to the diner to meet Sarah.

  I flipped the TV on, putting on the sports channel so I could avoid the politics and world news that I likely didn’t want to hear. I mindlessly watched while the anchor talked about some baseball player that had just retired after setting a record, but I was thinking more about how well the day had gone overall.

  I was feeling good about myself, about Adam, about Linda and about life in general, and had something to look forward to in the morning with the time I would spend with Sarah. I made sure to set the alarm on my phone for 5 AM in case I fell asleep on the couch and went back to watching TV.

  The sports anchor said the player had decided that he was at a good place in his life and now was the time to enjoy it the most.

  “You said it, brother,” I said aloud to the TV, holding up my bottle of water to the ballplayer’s picture.

  12

  Sarah

  Friday nights are the perfect mix, for me at least. The nights are always busy with customers, pretty much from the time I arrive at 10 PM until about three or four in the morning. Even then, we still get more than usual in the wee hours of the morning, with college kids looking to come in to eat something greasy to help them get through the binge drinking they just did, or other kids looking for a jolt of coffee to keep them going for the night. There’s also always the couples that come in just looking to get away and have a quiet place to go when they don’t want the night to end just yet.

  Sure, the work can be hectic for us as we run around filling orders, clearing tables, cleaning up messes and so on. But the busy times make the hours go that much faster for all of us that before we know it, our shift is over and we are ready to call it a day.

  This Friday was just like that for me, with some added excitement thrown in because of Lizzie and her friends, Caleb coming in with his son, and the feeling of looking forward to going for a run with Caleb. It was wonderful to get to see him with his son, who was a nice young man, and see that they were having a good time. Couple that with the great time Lizzie had with her friends, and it was a nice night.

  When it got closer to six and the morning crew had started to arrive, I was able to take a few minutes to go into the back and grab the clothing I wanted to change into for my run with Caleb. I pulled out a baby blue t-shirt and my black running shorts, some cotton socks, a sports bra and my sneakers and went off to the bathroom in the back that was for employees. I changed into my clothes quickly, pulling my ponytail a bit tighter so that it would stay out of my face while I ran. I kept adjusting the sports bra, one I hadn’t worn in a while since I had given up running myself or going to the gym, hoping to get it to fit right, so it didn’t look like I just had a uniboob under my shirt. I knew I shouldn’t care so much about how I looked while going for a run, but something inside of me wanted me to make sure I looked good.

  I stepped out of the bathroom and walked back over to the break room, grabbing the little ba
ckpack I had brought to put my purse and clothes in so I could run without too much getting in my way. Justin was just finishing up his shift in the kitchen, talking things over with the morning cook and asking about supplies he wanted to be left out for tonight when he saw me stroll out of the break room.

  “Where are you off to this morning?” he said to me as he tossed his dirty apron into the hamper in the kitchen that would get taken to the laundry with the other linens.

  “Oh, I’m going for a run this morning,” I said to him, hoping not to draw too much attention or too many questions about it. We started walking towards the front door, giving Francesca a wave as we went out and she headed towards the back.

  Justin and I walked down the steps together and stood outside as I waited for Caleb. Even though the sun had not come up quite yet, it was already feeling warm and a bit humid out. I knew the run was going to be a challenge for me if the weather stayed this way.

  “Are you going running with that guy who's been walking with you?” Justin asked me.

  I looked at him with surprise.

  “Don’t look so shocked, Sarah. I’ve seen him here the last few mornings walking with you. It’s the same guy who has been coming into the diner at night to see you.”

  “I’m sure he hasn’t been coming in just to see me,” I said, crossing my arms in front of me and looking around to see if Caleb was coming soon.

  “Come on, Sarah,” Justin said to me with a smirk. “No one is coming in at 2 AM every night because they can’t wait to try what I am cooking. He obviously comes in to see you.”

  Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew what Justin was saying was right, but I was reluctant to admit to that just yet.

  “Okay, so maybe he has been coming in to see me,” I told him. “He’s a nice guy, and is friendly, and asked if I wanted to go for a run with him this morning.”

  “Good for you,” Justin told me. “It’s nice to see you doing something.”

  “I do things,” I said defensively.

  “Sarah, you come to work, go home and sleep, do your school work, and then come to work again. I haven’t even heard you say you are doing something fun on one of your days off. It’s great that you are going out, making friends, meeting people.”

  Just then, Caleb came running around the corner and met us in front of the diner. He had a little bit of a shine of sweat on his forehead, and I could see a bit of a ring around the gray t-shirt he was wearing.

  “Hey,” Caleb said to me as he came up, a little surprised to see me standing there with Justin.

  “Hi, Caleb,” I told him. “Caleb, this is Justin. Justin is our cook overnight.”

  I watched the two men shake hands and greet each other cordially.

  “You’re the guy that makes the awesome chicken salad,” Caleb said to Justin.

  “Among other things,” Justin said with a laugh. “But thanks, I am glad you enjoyed it.”

  I saw Justin take a glance at the t-shirt Caleb was wearing.

  “ODA 3211?” Justin said, pointing at Caleb’s shirt. “I never got to Fort Bragg myself when I was in the Army.

  “Oh yeah?” Caleb said, taking an interest. “Where were you?”

  “Oh, I spent time in a lot of places. Fort Stewart, Fort Hood, overseas in Germany and Korea, some time in Afghanistan. I put in my twenty years and got out and retired down here. It’s much quieter than leading the Army life.”

  “You said it,” Caleb said with a smile. “I just retired myself. I’m still getting used to life outside.”

  “It takes a bit, but I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it.” Justin took a look at me and could see I was ready to get on with our run.

  “Well, I’ll leave you two to your run. I am going home to crash. I’ll see you tonight, Sarah. It was nice to meet you, Caleb,” Justin said, shaking Caleb’s hand again. Justin winked at me as he turned and started walking towards his car.

  “You all set?” Caleb said to me, looking me up and down.

  “I think so,” I said to him with some hesitation. “I haven’t run in a while, so hopefully I won’t hold you back too much.”

  “It will be fine,” Caleb said to me. “We’ll go at your pace, for as long or short as you want. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

  “I’m not that fragile,” I said to him with a smile. “I can hold my own.”

  “Great,” he said, flashing his own confident smile. “Let’s do it.”

  We started off at a light jog just to get things going. We worked our way down Oak Street for a bit before turning off down one of the side streets that I had not been down before. Munson Lane was a quiet, tree-lined street with just a few homes on it, and the houses were nicely spaced apart, so there was plenty of room between each place. We ran along quietly, and I kept myself in step with Caleb’s pace so that we were running right next to each other. Every once in a while I would glance over at him and could see him concentrating on his stride and his breathing. He made the run look very effortless, and it was easy to see that he could go for many more miles than I could.

  Munson Lane went down a lot further than I had ever known, and soon we were far off from Oak Street and away from other homes. I was starting to feel the running, with my calves burning a little and my feet asking me why I was torturing them like this after being on them for eight hours straight at work, but the run was making me feel good. Sweat built up quickly, and I could feel it starting to soak through my shirt, making me wish I had brought one of my wicking t-shirts with me instead of this blue one.

  I had started to drop a little behind Caleb, who was still going strong without any sign of a struggle. He was probably about five yards ahead of me when he turned, didn’t see me next to him, and stopped and turned around. I caught up with him, and we stood for a moment, me huffing hard.

  “You okay?” he asked me, checking his watch to see how far we had gone so far.

  “I’m alright,” I said to him, though I could feel that my cheeks were red, and I was breathing hard.

  “We can take a break for a bit if you want,” he said to me. “I didn’t realize it was going to be this warm this morning.”

  While I put my hands on my knees and worked to catch my breath, Caleb looked around at the area.

  “You ever been down this way before?” he asked me.

  “No, I haven’t,” I told him.

  “Me either,” he said to me. He walked a little way up the street to a house that had a sign just outside the driveway that it was for sale. Caleb stood at the top of the driveway, looking down at the house. He waved over to me to come where he was.

  I slowly walked to his spot, glad to give my legs a break from the running. I looked down the driveway and saw a nice house sitting on a well-manicured piece of property. The house was smaller than many of the others that I had seen, especially in the neighborhood where James lived where big mansion-like homes were the norm.

  “Looks like a nice house,” I said to Caleb. I was finally catching my breath a bit as Caleb started walking down the driveway towards the house. “Caleb? Where are you going?” I said to him in a rushed tone.

  “I just want to get a better look at the house.”

  “Caleb, we can’t go down there.”

  “Why not?” he asked. “It’s for sale. We’re not doing anything wrong. Come on.”

  I followed Caleb down the driveway towards the house. I could see there was a separate garage at the end of the driveway in the same colored siding as the house, a light yellow that looked a little faded. The house itself was small, clearly older, and well-surrounded by large trees lining the front yard, the back, and the sides. There was a small front porch that gave the home a very quaint look to it.

  As we got closer to the house, we noticed a woman come walking out wearing a gray suit jacket and matching skirt.

  “Oh, hello,” the woman said to us as we walked near the house.

  “I didn’t mean to disturb you,” Caleb said. “I just saw the sign
at the end of the driveway and wanted to see the house.”

  “No disturbance at all,” the woman said to us. She was middle-aged, with her hair perfectly straight, and gave us a big smile you would expect to see from what was clearly a real estate agent.

  “I was just setting everything up for the open house that starts later this morning,” she told us. “I’d be glad to show you around if you two would like.”

  Caleb looked back at me and smiled. I was reluctant to do it, but I could see in his eyes that he was prodding me on, so I walked up next to him, and we followed the agent into the house.