God Hates Us All (Part 3)

 

     What started off as one piece of toast turned out to be two pieces, one sausage and half an omelet. Devon didn't mind because he was from a big family and was very used to the idea of sharing everything. Hungry siblings are what helped him keep trim all this time, so it wasn't a big deal. Besides, he enjoyed the company of Helen much more than he did the food, and he didn't want this to end. Not this quickly at least. While Helen was in the little girl's room, he made the call he made often but not too recently. He spoke to his team leader and let him know that he wasn't going to be in for work that day. When asked why he said for personal reasons and that he'd explain when he came in tomorrow. That gave him 24 hours to come up with some reasonable story that will fly with them and management. Plenty of time, Devon thought to himself as he waited for Helen to come back to the table.

 

     "So should we change gears a bit?" Helen asked as she returned to the table with a muffin from the counter.

 

     "I'm game, what would you like to know?" Devon asked, eager to do anything to keep the conversation going.

 

     "Parents still alive?"

 

     "Yes and at a safe distance too."

 

     "You prefer them at a distance?"

 

     "Well, I moved to this state to attend college. I picked this school specifically because it was thousands of miles away. Distance is the best thing I ever did for our relationship." Devon cracked a cute smile, "We used to fight and clash all the time. Now that we don't see each other as often, we get along much better than we used to and cherish our time a little more."

 

     "That's sweet. Siblings?"

 

     "Three, all sisters."

 

     "Ouch, that has to suck."

 

     "Not really, no one stole my toys."

 

     "But that had to be lonely."

 

     "It can be, but sometimes space is nice too."

 

     "Do you prefer some space now?"

     "No, I'm having a good time. Are you?"

     "Yeah," Helen said as she polished off yet another cup of coffee and looked around for the waitress for a refill.

 

     As she waited, it was Devon's turn to seek information, "So what about you? How many siblings do you have?"

 

     "None."

 

     "Now that must be lonely."

 

     "It was, especially since my parents both worked like dogs and therefore absent most of the time. My grandma and I spent a lot of more together than I ever did with either of my parents."

 

     "What did they do for a living?"

 

     "I'm not mad at them or anything, they were hard workers and did a lot so that I could live reasonably well. Dad was in construction and Mom's a nurse." at that moment, Helen checked her watch and realized that there was somewhere she had to be, "Well, it's been fun but I really should get going."

 

     "Does it really have to end?" Devon quickly asked.

 

     "Are you asking me out?" Helen retorted with a question of her own merely to avoid answering his.

 

     "You could say that." Devon conceded, "Come on, right now; call in sick. It's a great day outside so let's go out there, do something and enjoy it." Based on her posture and deep thought, Devon could tell she was seriously considering her offer.

 

     Helen paused for a moment and Devon could clearly tell she was tempted by his offer, ""I don't know if I can afford to skip a day." she replied, "my bosses don't like it when people skip out."

 

     "I'm only asking for one day, promise." Devon hoped that she was feeling the same we he had about their day so far, "We're downtown and there are zillions of things we could check out. It's not like there's nothing for us to do. This is one of the busiest cities on the planet!"

 

     Helen paused for a moment, and Devon could tell she was seriously considering his plea for more time, "All right, but when the day is over we go our separate ways like we do at the end of an average workday."

 

     Devon nodded, "Sounds all right to me." he then tossed a twenty on the table, more then enough to cover both of them with a little extra on the side. As they were grabbing their coats, he was the first to speak, "So what would you want to do first?"