The Proposal and the Promise

With nothing in front of him but a small plate sprinkled with crumbs and a coffee mug running on empty, Henry sat in his booth and played with the wedding ring on his finger, wondering how much longer he’d be wearing it. He decided he would wait until after he got home and had the big talk with his wife before he took it off. Once Henry took off that ring, he knew that would be the end, and he would walk out of the house and out of their life together.

Henry stared out the diner’s window, watching the blizzard gain more strength. It was the worst he had seen in years, and he wondered if this type of weather was common in this part of the state. Should he even continue the long drive home? Could he? Thinking about it more, Henry knew he had to. His heart wouldn’t let him go on another day without settling things with his wife face-to-face.

“Here’s your check, hun,” said the young waitress who appeared at Henry’s booth. “Employees get pie for free, so dessert was on me.”

“Oh, uh,” mumbled Henry, stumbling out of his own mind and fumbling to get out his wallet. “Thank you. That was very kind of you.”

The waitress bit her lip, smiled, and said, “You don’t remember my name, do you?”

Henry’s eyes dropped to the waitress’s chest as he scanned for a name tag. “Look all you want, hun. It’s not down there,” said the waitress.

“I’m so sorry,” said Henry. “I don’t mean to be rude; I just have a lot going on tonight.”

“It’s Susie, and I can tell,” said the waitress. “This job has made me somewhat of an amature therapist. You can share your troubles with me if you’d like.”

“No, but I appreciate the offer,” said Henry.

Susie slid into the other side of Henry’s booth and said, “Come on, hun. I can see you really want to get it off your chest.”

“No offense, but don’t you need to get back to work?”

“Do you see anyone around here who needs me to wait on them?” asked Susie. Henry looked around the diner, realizing he was the only one there, and he heard Susie say, “I’m on break.”

Henry looked back at Susie, but not for long. He squirmed in the booth while doing his best to avoid Susie’s gaze as if it would turn him to stone. “I’m not looking forward to going home,” he said finally.

Susie looked out the window and said, “I bet. It’s really starting to come down out there. I hope the buses are still running.”

‘No, it’s not the snow,” said Henry.

“Oh? What is it then?”

Henry exhaled deeply and asked, “Are you married?”

“Boyfriend,” said Susie. “The way things are going, I think he’s going to wait until we’re collecting social security to ask me to marry him.”

“Kids?”

“No, but I would love to have three. Two boys and a girl.”

“I have two boys.”

“Really? I bet they’re just the cutest things. Can I see a picture?”

Henry was about to say something but gave up on it and opened his wallet. He removed a photo of him with his wife and sons, sitting in front of their Christmas tree in their pajamas. Henry tried not to stare long at the photo and handed it to Susie. “I knew it. They are cute,” said Susie. “They look just like you.”

“Thank you,” replied Henry.

“Your wife is pretty, too,” said Susie, handing Henry’s picture back to him.

“Thanks,” exhaled Henry as he turned his head to look out the window.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No.”

“You act like hearing your wife is pretty puts a sour taste in your mouth.”

Turning back to look at Susie, Henry said, “Thinking about my wife right now puts a sour taste in my mouth.”

“Susie, what are you –” the diner’s cook began to ask from behind the counter.

“I’m on my break, Mac!” said Susie.

“Whatever,” said Mac as he walked away.

“So that’s why you’re not looking to go home,” said Susie to Henry. “Is she sick? My mama had the cancer last year, and I could hardly bear to see her.”

“The only thing my wife has been sick of is me,” said Henry. “I found out she was having an affair – is having an affair.”

“Oh,” said Susie, putting her hand over her mouth. She dropped the hand and said, “She has children at home.”

“It’s with one of her coworkers. A friend of mine called me yesterday when he saw them exchanging spit in a restaurant.”

“I can’t believe it. That little hussy.”

“She didn’t even try to deny it when I called her about it. She apologized, and she cried, and we’re supposed to have the big talk about it when I get home so we can keep the relationship together. She wants us to stay together.”

“Is that what you want?”

“I want… to live in a world where this didn’t happen.”

“But it did happen, and like my mama used to say, ‘You can’t run from life. It’s best to run to it.’”

Henry gazed at Susie, using her direction as a canvas for his thoughts, and said, “Yeah, I guess you have a point there.”

Susie smiled and asked, “What’s your name, hun?”

“Really? Weren’t you getting onto me for not knowing your name?”

“Yes, but I told you my name when I first walked up to you.”

“It’s Henry.”

    “I like that name," said Susie, sweetly. "You look like a Henry.”

“Oh, really?" said Henry. "And what does a Henry look like?”

“Like someone who deserves better than what he’s been getting,” said Susie.

A slight smile grew on Henry’s face, and he said, “Thank you.”

“What if…,” started Susie, looking down at the table before looking back up at Henry to continue, “What if you didn’t go home?”

“What are you talking about?”

Nervously, Susie said, “I know I’m just some waitress you hardly know, and this is going to sound completely crazy but… don’t go home. You won’t go home, and I won’t go home, and we can just hop on in your car and drive west. We could keep driving til we hit San Fransisco. San Fransisco would be perfect. Then we could get married, have boys of our own, and a sweet little girl. And I’d be so good to you, hun. I know I would. So… what do you think?”

Henry stood up from the booth slowly, put more cash than was necessary onto the table, and said, “I think I’m going home to my little hussy.”