Reilly threw his head back, his eyes falling on the rear view mirror. He had gone to an especially heavy drinking party last night and had woken up with the worst hangover he'd ever had. It was already fourteen minutes since he was supposed to have started his shift, but he thought that he might as well push it to fifteen; it wasn't as if they would have any customers this early in the day anyway. He dragged himself out of his car, shielding his eyes from the sun.
'Morning sunshine!'
Aileen spoke louder than usual, knowing that Reilly would be hungover, just like every other time he'd shown up late.
'Any chance you could throw on a jug of coffee?'
'Already some made! Our customer over there ordered one five minutes ago.'
Reilly's eyes followed where Aileen had been pointing. In the corner booth Siobhan was sitting, reading a book and sipping on coffee. She was wearing a simple blouse with the top button undone, and high waisted denim jeans that hugged her thighs. She looked up and noticed him looking at her, giving him an inviting smile.
'Come on! If you don't get that girl's number, I will!'
Reilly chuckled, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. He hoped that he looked at least a little presentable. He grabbed a cup of coffee and traipsed toward the table.
'Is this seat taken?'
'Wow, has the hangover really affected your eyesight that much?'
Reilly laughed again, unsure whether to sit or stand. His mouth was opening and closing as if he were a bloody Pez dispenser. Siobhan extended her arm across the table, offering the seat up with an open palm.
'So, what brings you to this boring diner on a Wednesday afternoon?'
'Well, the ambience is pretty great; and I hear that the staff here can do killer covers to some of the best songs.'
Siobhan smirked at him, his face burning. He looked down at the table, dragging his fingers through his hair.
'I've been really tryin', baby. Tryin' to hold back these feeling for so long. And if you feel, like I feel baby, then come on, oh come on...'
Reilly's head shot up, spinning to where the jukebox was. Aileen was leaned against it, presenting two thumbs up towards them. Reilly sighed, shaking his head.
'I'm sorry about her. I'm not sure if she was ever taught boundaries.'
Siobhan giggled, a massive grin on her face.
'Don't worry about it. I quite like this song actually.'
Reilly grinned back at her. They kept talking for nearly another two hours about family, jobs, and just life in general. He learned that her father had run off when she was young — something about not being able to handle being a parent — and the man who had come to the diner with her and her mother the night before had been her mother's date. They were on date number 'whatever it took to want to meet the child, but still go to somewhere cheap in case it doesn't work out'. Somewhere only one other man had gotten to before him. Siobhan said that she preferred to see her mother's boyfriends like teacher aides, that way she could pretend that they were discussing her curriculum when she heard her mother scream 'harder!'.
'I hate to have to break this up, but Reilly unfortunately can't be paid to talk to a pretty girl all day.'
Siobhan looked at her watch quickly, having not realised the time.
'Ah, shit! I told my mum I was just going for a walk. Dress sexy for my funeral, okay?'
She rushed off, not waiting for a response, grabbing a cardigan from her bag and wrapping it around her.
'That seemed like it went well.'
'It did.'
Reilly grinned at Aileen, showing her a piece of paper with Siobhan's phone number scribbled on it; the 'i' dotted with a heart.
ns 172.70.38.232da2
