Dairy Queen Girl

Some things are just meant to happen.

Dairy Queen Girl

I sat in my little red Ford Mustange parked in the front of the Dairy Queen parking lot starring at the leather covered steering wheel. My mind was in a state of disarray. How could this happen to me?

Of all the people on earth, why me? I'm a nice enough guy...aren't I?

Pretty little, blonde headed, Sandy Williams sat in the passengers seat next to me.

She was dangling my college ring on a blue ribbon in front of me and explaining all the logical reasons why we just had to break up, after all, it seems, it all made perfectly good, and common sense.

Common sense to who...a maccaroon?

I didn't understand any of it. What was going on here?

She handed me my ring and, with a smirkish grin on her face, said,

"Okay then...bye."

"What?" I murmured.

She jumped out and ran directly into the arms of Brady Anderson.

Brady was the captain of the football team.

He was an all round cool guy at the University in Commerce.

In most respects, he was a pretty nice guy.

 As far as I knew, everyday people liked him, especially Sandy.

As you might suspect, most of the girls on campus were after him.

It was Sandy who caught his eye, though.

Suddenly I began to doubt myself.

 What's was wrong with me?

I was captain of the cross country team. Didn't that amount to anything?

I think for Sandy, being captain of a bunch of guys who ran around golf courses in funny looking shorts and T-shirts was not exactly the glamor she was looking for.

She was after bigger fish.

So, here I was, in a state of utter shock, not believing what had just happened.

I had been in love with this girl ever since  first grade.

I was more in love with her than any other girl I had ever known, well, except maybe Mary Beth, but that's ancient history.

Mary Beth was a sweet girl. 

Why I ever broke up with her is a mystery still yet unsolved. You see...I'm sort of an idiot.

But Sandy and I seemed so right for each other, so perfectly in sync, so...so...so, who was I kidding? 

We were like night and day.

Still in shock, I staggered into the DQ.

It was strange because I couldn't remember which door I had come through.

Pieces of time seemed  missing.

I was standing at the front counter staring up when I heard her voice.

"What can I get for ya mister?"

It was the Dairy Queen girl. I had seen her a hundred times before, but I was usually with Sandy, which explains why I barely paid any attention to her.

I stood staring at the large menu board  over the counter area.

"Well mister, whatta ya want?"

"Hmm," I replied, still slightly dazed, "Do you have anything for a broken heart?"

She looked at me with a silly smile and winked.

"Well, I always get an extra large order of fries with melted cheese, jalepenio slices, and chile on top.

And ya gotta order the largest drink ya can too. 

It's non-negotiable. 

But even that won't be complete without the double meat, double cheese, double everything, Dairy Queen Belt Buster with a twist. It's what we're famous for around here.

 There's no room left for a broken heart after eating all that."

I looked at her and frowned. I wasn't sure I believed her,

"You really think that will help?"

"Honestly I doubt it mister, but it sure will impress the heck out of my boss."

I stood there  pondering my choices and then asked,

"Out of curiosity, do you really order all that stuff after a break up?"

"Yep," she smiled, "Twice this year already."

I looked at her again and nodded my head in agreement,

"Alright then, let's do it."

"Is that for here or to go?" she asked.

 I scratched my head and pondered the question,

"I don't know, what do you think?"

 She seemed to be an expert on the topic of broken hearts, so, why not ask her about, to-go-or-to-stay?

"Definitely eat it here." she replied.

"Being around other people, especially strange people, helps keep your mind off your troubles, at least, that's been my experience."

"Okay then." I said.

"Great!" she exclaimed, "I'll bring it right out."

Looking at the cash register she frowned. I could tell by her expression she was up to something, I just couldn't figure out what.

"Well...it looks like you owe me....let's seee, Belt Buster, humongous fries with cheese, and all that other stuff too...you owe...you owe... ah, forget it mister, today it's free."

"What, free food!" I exclaimed.

"Yep," she said, "It's the heart break special."

I shook my head and told her I didn't believe her, but she insisted.

I grabbed my giant drink glass and filled it with the strongest stuff I could find, Mr. Pibb.

I found the most secluded spot in the place and sat down.

It seemed no time passed at all before Dairy Queen girl stood at the end of my table, just as promised.

"Here you are mister, enjoy."

I looked at the massive burger and order of fries. There was no way I was going to be able to eat all this. Heck, I wasn't even hungry.

But I had ordered it and, out of common courtesy, thought at least I should give it a try.

I started to reach for my Belt Buster when Dairy Queen girl showed up again, this time she was carrying a large knife in her left hand.

So, this was it, I thought. She was going to perform open heart surgery with a butcher's knife to heal my shattered and mangled self.

I pushed myself back in my booth and looked at her,

"You gonna slice me open and remove my heart?"

"No," she giggled.

She reached across the table and sliced the Belt Buster in half. She sat down and pulled it to her side, along with half the cheesy fries.

"Thought you might need some help with this. If you're like me, you'll never get halfway through all this stuff."

She looked at me and smiled,

"You don't mind do ya'."

"No, be my guest," I laughed.

Huh, she had made me laugh, after all that had just happened, she made me laugh.

"You don't mind my company then'?" she smiled.

Dairy Queen girl had just finished her work shift and was free for the evening.

Somehow, in her own perceptive way, she knew I needed to talk, even if it meant to a perfect stranger.

"So cowboy, what's her name, this heart breaker of yours?"

I leaned back, crossed my arms, and watched her take a rather large bite from the Belt Buster. Mustard stuck to the corner of her mouth.

I pulled out my cell phone and pulled up a picture. I pointed to a blonde haired girl standing next to a large, blue channel catfish.

Sandy was a fisherman and had just landed a record catfish.

"Sandy," I said.

"Ah, a fisherperson. Does she hunt too?"

I slid my finger up the photo screen and pulled up a picture of her and a ten point buck.

She had downed it with her compound bow.

"Hmm, I wouldn't make this girl mad." she laughed.

"Ah, she's not so bad. Really kind of nice." I said.

Dairy Queen girl looked at me curiously and said,

" That Belt Buster in your hands tells me a different story."

Sometyhing strange was going on. Suddenly the pain of losing Sandy didn't sting so much anymore.

Dairy Queen Girl and I talked for the next two hours.

Seems we had both had our own share of lost loves and lousy break ups.

We fell in love that day, just like that.

A year later I married her.

Twenty five years later we're still married.

I thank God every day for Sandy Williams. If she hadn't broken up with me I might never have met Dairy Queen girl.

There seems to be a reason for everything.

The End

Author's Note

This is not a true story, but it was inspired by a girl who works at the DQ. She has 5 kids, probably a mix of hers, his, and theirs. She's probably in her mid to late twenties.

Reviews

[BBP]

Really cute story. Had an American Graffiti feel to it.

The girls personality and dialogue brought it all to life. Fun, well put together story.

[iamthewriter]

enjoyable and the layout of the story seem to hold in common truism, I understand most 'stories' like this are fictional... But the girls out there should listen to the way the DQ girl deals with this brokenhearted man. Men get broken hard sometimes, and most women would rather step over them then step up to them. I understand that most women would never think in this realm (it a males ego that is displayed in the woman's responses) and that's pretty much the difference between male and females end game.

[Coral Fang]

this was really enjoyable to read!

[Robert Parlange]

One door closes, another one opens.
Great story. You have a gift for dialogue and narrative.

[roarke]

Nice telling of the "boy loses girl/boy gets another girl" plot. I like the concept of Dairy Queen Girl, set a mood right away. I also enjoyed the way you handled the conversation, quick, quirky, personal and relatable. Great moment capture. Two suggestions, salt in some visual descriptions of DGG and the male that also fit their dialogue characters. Second, I might leave off the type of ending, doesn't add anything to the story unless you are going to make it longer. Enjoyed your writing.