Previously: “Chester and I both thank you for our cool treats. I’d like to say I hope you’ll visit me, but that would mean you’d be sick and well, I’d be a bad doctor to wish that on anyone.” He laughed and I think I felt my knees weaken a bit as I grasped the counter for support. I was barely able to lift a hand to wave goodbye. Out the front window, I saw Stacy walk up just as he was leaving. Her gaze lingered a little too long on his retreating back. Not that I noticed her noticing him.
“Wow wow wow! Who in the world is that hottie?,” she put her pitaka in a cupboard under the counter and rinsed her hands at the sink.
“The new doctor. Evan Forrester he sinabi his name was.”
“Well, I see a physical in my near future.”
“Stacy!” I scolded, and playfully smacked her arm. “You are a happily engaged woman!”
“What? I’m just saying, everyone has to go to the doctor now and then right? His looks alone will make going to the doctor ten times madami fun than it was when Mister Thompson was there. I’m glad he’s retiring. I swear I saw phantom moles on my face whenever I left his office.”
She was of course referring to Edwin Thompson’s large nunal that covered ¼ of his left cheek. Many wondered why he didn’t simply have it removed, he was a doctor after all but he claimed to have a bond with it, going so far as to name it ‘Tommy’. He may or may not have been forced into retirement for tanong about his mental health shortly after.
“He does seem to be madami competent than Mister Thompson, at least for the past couple of years.”
“Oh, don’t tell me you didn’t notice him? That back side of his…mm mm. Although, any side of his would be good.”
I playfully swatted her arm again and set off on my lunch. Meal choices in my lovely hometown of punungkahoy ng mepl Grove were pretty slim pickings so for lunch at work I always headed down the kalye to my paborito diner, the Corner Café owned and lovingly cared for sa pamamagitan ng one of my paborito couples Florence and Grant Hudson. It only took me two minutos of walking down the cobblestone kalye to reach my destination. Patrons sat outside on metal bistro tables hungrily biting into their food, the umbrellas attached overhead providing shade from the glaringly bright sun that day. I pulled open the frosted glass door of the diner, and walked inside. An aroma of beef and hot coffee greeted me, along with the excited chatter of customers inside. As predicted, not a single upuan was vacant.
While waiting in line to place my order at the counter to go, I took stock of my surroundings. The Hudsons’ reminded me of a couple from Old Hollywood and they decorated the place as such. Framed black and white mga litrato of classic actors adorned the walls, along with sepia-toned mga litrato of punungkahoy ng mepl Grove back long before I was born. Booths lined one entire side of the front pader facing the windows, and a child sitting at the counter swiveled his upuan and waved at me. I smiled and waved back.
“We’ve got your order right here, Carly.”
I turned to respond to the man behind the front counter.
“What do you mean, you have my order? I haven’t even placed it yet, Grant.”
“Carly, you come in here every Tuesday at the same time. You order the same meal. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised to see you wearing the same outfit either.”
“I will have you know,” I shook my finger at him playfully, “I was planning on ordering the spaghetti today.”
“You were not.”
“Okay, I wasn’t but…” I sighed, “am I really that predictable?”
“I like to think of it as dependable. Tried and true. There’s something to be sinabi for consistency.”
I thanked him and paid for my order. Leaving the diner, I pondered what he said. Was I too predictable? Did I know how to have fun, let loose? I shook my head to myself. No, I didn’t. I liked things a certain way and if they worked, why change them? I had changed enough, going through a traumatic event a little over three years nakaraan now. I wasn’t ready for anything too different from my routine. Not yet.
“Wow wow wow! Who in the world is that hottie?,” she put her pitaka in a cupboard under the counter and rinsed her hands at the sink.
“The new doctor. Evan Forrester he sinabi his name was.”
“Well, I see a physical in my near future.”
“Stacy!” I scolded, and playfully smacked her arm. “You are a happily engaged woman!”
“What? I’m just saying, everyone has to go to the doctor now and then right? His looks alone will make going to the doctor ten times madami fun than it was when Mister Thompson was there. I’m glad he’s retiring. I swear I saw phantom moles on my face whenever I left his office.”
She was of course referring to Edwin Thompson’s large nunal that covered ¼ of his left cheek. Many wondered why he didn’t simply have it removed, he was a doctor after all but he claimed to have a bond with it, going so far as to name it ‘Tommy’. He may or may not have been forced into retirement for tanong about his mental health shortly after.
“He does seem to be madami competent than Mister Thompson, at least for the past couple of years.”
“Oh, don’t tell me you didn’t notice him? That back side of his…mm mm. Although, any side of his would be good.”
I playfully swatted her arm again and set off on my lunch. Meal choices in my lovely hometown of punungkahoy ng mepl Grove were pretty slim pickings so for lunch at work I always headed down the kalye to my paborito diner, the Corner Café owned and lovingly cared for sa pamamagitan ng one of my paborito couples Florence and Grant Hudson. It only took me two minutos of walking down the cobblestone kalye to reach my destination. Patrons sat outside on metal bistro tables hungrily biting into their food, the umbrellas attached overhead providing shade from the glaringly bright sun that day. I pulled open the frosted glass door of the diner, and walked inside. An aroma of beef and hot coffee greeted me, along with the excited chatter of customers inside. As predicted, not a single upuan was vacant.
While waiting in line to place my order at the counter to go, I took stock of my surroundings. The Hudsons’ reminded me of a couple from Old Hollywood and they decorated the place as such. Framed black and white mga litrato of classic actors adorned the walls, along with sepia-toned mga litrato of punungkahoy ng mepl Grove back long before I was born. Booths lined one entire side of the front pader facing the windows, and a child sitting at the counter swiveled his upuan and waved at me. I smiled and waved back.
“We’ve got your order right here, Carly.”
I turned to respond to the man behind the front counter.
“What do you mean, you have my order? I haven’t even placed it yet, Grant.”
“Carly, you come in here every Tuesday at the same time. You order the same meal. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised to see you wearing the same outfit either.”
“I will have you know,” I shook my finger at him playfully, “I was planning on ordering the spaghetti today.”
“You were not.”
“Okay, I wasn’t but…” I sighed, “am I really that predictable?”
“I like to think of it as dependable. Tried and true. There’s something to be sinabi for consistency.”
I thanked him and paid for my order. Leaving the diner, I pondered what he said. Was I too predictable? Did I know how to have fun, let loose? I shook my head to myself. No, I didn’t. I liked things a certain way and if they worked, why change them? I had changed enough, going through a traumatic event a little over three years nakaraan now. I wasn’t ready for anything too different from my routine. Not yet.