176. MY PANORAMIC WAITRESS

MY PANORAMIC WAITRESS
'I never ate here before.' I said that as I
was sitting down. She sidled up alongside me
and said - 'Makes no difference to me, I was
just waiting for you to come in.' As if we'd known
each other for ten years already. Her skin was just
waiting for touch. I could feel it in her eyes.
'You probably think I mean business,
but what this is is sport.'
-
Something bedazzled me with cool:
the pencil, the apron, the little clip-on tag.
'I could put this on ice if you want it.'
She said that, too, with her eyes;
'Here, try one of these, or order this,
with fries' - she pointed to something
on the table. 'I don't yet know what I'll
order for now, and you already have,
and I'll try your coffee on for size.
-
What I'd meant to say was this:
she'd already frozen my heart.
A solid-block of moment gone.
Everything came out wrong and
I wound up eating alone.
I didn't need any ice.