Preferred Customer
The Seaview Diner in Edgewater once had an unobstructed view of the sea or so that’s what the owner always claimed. Alison though believed that it was just more of the tall tales her boss, Marty used to say to pass the time. What Alison could see when she peered out the large pane windows of the diner were trucks, cargo ships, containers, and the highway from across the street. It wasn’t a very appealing view but then again the customers that frequented the diner weren’t exactly the “beautiful people” of Mega City, so they weren’t complaining.
She just finished taking the breakfast order from table six, only one more hour till her shift ended and she could catch the bus home and get her tired feet up. Life in Mega City can be hard for most, Alison was only glad that the hardships of Mega City didn’t take too much of a toll on her. Even at forty her hair was still the same color of honey without a follicle of grey. Her face with a few lines, yes but it want something that couldn’t be hidden with some makeup and hope. She still kept her shape and more importantly her dignity intact and in a place such as this it was more than a rarity, it was a miracle.
Like everyone else in the city she had hopes and dreams too, she wasn’t always a waitress and although her mother before her was, she wanted to do something else with her life. She used to write a lot, the stories she would write as a youth helped her out a lot to get away from the dump of an apartment she lived in when she was a kid, and her two screaming parents. The worlds she would make up for herself helped a lot, she could write so clearly that she could almost see it in her mind like some movie in fact she…
“Allison wake up! You got a customer!”
She shook her head once as if coming out of a dream to see her boss, Marty looking at her almost exasperated.
“Uh, sorry. Guess I was in a daydream.”
Marty sighed and nodded with his head to the entrance of the diner while saying sarcastically “well lucky for you it’s your “preferred customer.”
Allison looked over to see that Marty was right as the woman at the entrance waited patiently. Allison headed over to her, grabbing a menu on the way there. The woman that was waiting patiently was dressed in a business suit, her jacket, blouse stockings, shoes and skirt were impeccable. Her blond hair was done up in a bun, and the make up she wore was light but it only accentuated her beauty, not take it over.
She stood patiently while she waited for Alison to make her way to her and for Alison this woman was the biggest rarity in her whole career.
“Well good morning dearie” said Alison as she stood in front of the business lady “want me to take you to your regular booth?” The business lady smiled slightly and with a small nod said “sure, that would be fine.”
“Follow me then.”
Alison led the business woman, thinking how the day for her just got brighter. It was like that everytime this particular customer came to the diner. The first time Allison ever saw here was three months ago and it seemed like the business lady always seemed to order something different every morning for breakfast. It didn’t matter to the business lady if what she ordered was better served for lunch or dinner, she wanted to order it and as Marty always said it didn’t matter if they wanted a dead rat as long as they were paying.
She escorted the lady to the table and was just about to pass the menu when the lady smiled and gave her order. That was also something that Allison found peculiar, she remembered showing the lady the menu once but it seemed that the woman had the whole thing committed to memory.Allison took the order and brought it to the kitchen, Dan was working tonight so at least Allison knew the food was going to be somewhat edible.
She looked at the clock, 10 minutes before her shift ended. It was almost as if the lady knew when Alison was going to be at the end of her shift, and that was fine with Allison. She had no real friends and she couldn’t really consider her husband remotely as one. The man was with her for ten years and as with all doomed relationships it started out with fiery passion, then came the time for settling in, then the fights until finally it turned into a waiting game with each party waiting for the other to kick the bucket first.
Her husband wouldn’t be back till late in the evening so no one was waiting for her at home. Allison knew she should head home but the lady was just going to call her over like she did 3 months ago when she first came here and everytime afterwards when she was here.
Allison heard the small bell signaling that the food was ready, a real gut buster too. Two chicken legs, French fries, a sundae, and a chocolate milkshake, she grabbed the tray and headed over to the table wondering what the hell was the lady’s secret that she could eat all this stuff and not gain a pound. Allison laid the plates and large glass on the table in front of the lady with a smile “enjoy your meal hon” Allison said and as always the lady pointed to the empty seat across the table and said “please, sit with me.” Allison put the empty tray and sat down and as always marveled at the way the lady actually enjoyed the food. The lady didn’t just eat the way the other customers that come here to eat. They would eat as if it was just something to do; their minds always seemed to be a million miles away from here, but not this lady. She focused only on what was on her plate. Every forkful of food went slowly into her mouth; her eyes would close as she slowly chewed her food, sampling every taste, even the texture of the food itself. Allison once saw a show on wineries and she doubted any of those tasters had even half the concentration of the lady in front of her. The lady would finish one portion of the plate and as always, she would start the conversation. “So how was your shift today?” she asked. Allison chuckled and said “you know you always seem to start our conversations that way.” The lady blinked once with an almost far away look and Allison could almost imagine that the woman was trying to recall every conversation they ever had. Blinking again she focused back on Allison while saying surprised “you know Allison, I think I have!” Allison chuckled again and the lady smiled slowly “well” said Allison “the night was pretty much the usual stuff. The lady nodded as she put another fork of food into her mouth, closing her eyes again to savor it.
“Ugh” commented Allison “I don’t know how you can enjoy that slop.” The lady looked surprised again and said “that is a rather strange thing to say since you work here.” Allison nodded in agreement saying “yeah, but is the truth. I have been here for almost twenty years now, and I never have seen anyone enjoy this stuff like you do.” The lady looked up for a moment and looked curiously and asked lowly “do you think I eat strangely?” Allison chuckled and shook her head “No dearie” she said “well maybe a little for this place. It isn’t exactly Le Vrai you know.” The lady finished her plate and pushed it to the side, bringing the sundae closer to her, lifting up a spoon, she started to sample it. She opened her eyes excited and said “this tastes wonderful!” Allison raised an eyebrow and with a smile she said “well yeah, but don’t tell me that’s the first sundae you ever had.”
The lady nodded and said “well let’s just say this is the first sundae I ever had that was made this way.” Allison nodded a little confused wondering if there was another way to make a sundae but said “can I ask you something hon?” The lady nodded as she ate another spoonful.
“Who are you, really?”
The lady looked at Allison confused and said “I’m afraid I don’t understand the question.” Allison sighed and clarified her question “well what I mean” she said “is that you seem to be more than you let on. You don’t dress like anyone here. You sure don’t act like anyone here. I seen you once with some other well dressed men and I take it they drive you here. So I’m thinking you either work for a company in upper management or you work for the government.” “Hmmm” said the lady thoughtfully “and if I said I worked for a company, would you believe that?” Allison shook her head slowly “Ithink you work for the government.” The lady said nothing but raised her eyebrows almost prodding Allison to continue which she did but much lower this time “I noticed the gun a few weeks ago.”
The lady nodded and said before reaching for her milkshake “well I do work for the government; I guess you could call me an agent even.” Alison rested her head on her hand and asked “is your job fun?” The lady sipped some of her milkshake and then said “well it has its days, some go by almost boringly and some days I wonder if I’ll ever see the next day.” Allison smiled and said “I wish I could do that.”
“Do what?”
Allison smiled at the question and answered “well doing like you do. You seem to have a very interesting life, well compared to mine that is. I would just love to be able to have that kind of freedom.” The lady looked at Allison thoughtfully and asked “and what would you do if you had that kind of freedom.” Allison stretched tiredly a moment before saying “I would go to a writing school, and then just spend the rest of the day writing or just meeting new people, seeing new sights, that sort of stuff.”
The lady sipped the last of her milkshake and said with a slow smile “well you never know, maybe your dream will come true.” Allison chuckled at that as the lady reached in her jacket for her purse. She left the payment for the bill and pulled out three 20dollar bills. “The tip” she said as she placed it under the glass. Allison’s eyes widened as she said “that’s a lot more than you should pay you know.” The lady shrugged, saying “call it a going away present.”
Both women slowly stood up and Alison said “so this is it then?” The lady nodded slowly and said “Yes Allison, I have tried everything that was on the menu.” Allison chuckled and said “well I do hope that you enjoyed the food here.” The lady smiled and said “I did, I found it quite…educational.” Allison nodded and said lowly if not sadly “I am going to miss our talks, you were my favorite customer.” The lady put a cold hand on Allison’s shoulder and said just before leaving “follow your dreams Allison.”
Later
Her husband never came home that night, but the phone call did. His foreman from the job sounded like he didn’t really want to make the call and when he spoke he did it hesitantly as if steering through a verbal minefield. They called it just one of those freak accidents that usually claim the lives of the unsuspected. Allison listened on the phone as the foreman struggled to say how her husband died, how tragic it all was and that the medics did all they could to keep her husband alive. Allison had to wonder though how in the world anyone could be kept alive after being flattened like a pancake under a cargo container.
The funeral was brief and to the point, she shed her tears for the man that died in her heart long ago, and moved on as best as she could. The life insurance lawyers paid her a visit two weeks later, her future held in the check they held, she quit the diner the next day…
6 months later
She walked along Edison Parkway in Stratford Campus. Her school bucks held at her chest, a smile on her face. A man with a suit and dark glasses approached her from the opposite way and stopped in front of her. He reached in his jacket and handed her a small note which she took before he walked away. She looked back at the man walking away curiously before opening the note.
Dear Allison
I hope the life insurance gave you enough funds so you could do the school full time. I miss the diner you know, the food was great but I miss our conversations more. Follow your dream Allison.
Pace
Allison read the note again with some growing suspicion concerning the lady and her husband’s death before shrugging her shoulders and deciding that was done was done. “time to just start living” she muttered and walked on with a smile under the bright blue day…
NOTE* I had most of this written out in one day. These are one of those stories where I'm not wracking my brains to figure out where it will go. I think every once in a while you get lucky and start a story that just seems to write itself. I like doing this one, the whole idea of a Machine Agent and some regular Blue pill could actually have a conversation in a near empty diner just appealed to me. Oh and before anyone slams Pace for killing Allison's husband (well let's just say that she got the ball rolling on that one) I would just say in her defense that although she makes attempts to learn more about us humans, sometimes she makes some choices that are decidedly "machine-like" 
The next story I'm gonna try to start tomorrow but no promises (it is Christmas day after all! LOL) I will say that I want to bring out a rather unique situation. Hope to see you soon !