Freshening up as best as she could in the bathroom, Toni folded up her uniform and shoved it into her duffel bag. She pulled on a black velvet dress—the only nice outfit in her closet that didn’t require ironing—and sheer tights before touching up her makeup. A quick fluff of her Afro and she was out the door, ignoring the whistles from Michael in the kitchen. They were good-natured whistles; Mike was a sweetheart who occasionally used his height to scare off handsy customers.
“Chiara takin’ you out?” Mike called from the open window. The Evergreen Diner was empty, the calm between the dinner and midnight guests. Only Mike and the angry college kid who worked nights remained.
Toni spun on her sparkly heels. “She is.”
“Have fun.” Mike waved her off, grinning so wide Toni could see his braces reflecting in the light.
Toni stepped outside and caught sight of Chiara’s car at the edge of the parking lot. She half-ran over, dropping into the passenger seat with a laugh. “Hi, baby.” She leaned across the console for a kiss.
Chiara leaned back, the freckles on her nose folding in half as she wrinkled her nose. “You have everything?”
Toni glanced down at her bag. “Yeah, I…shit. I think I left my phone in the bathroom.” She pushed her curls out of her face and reached for the door handle. “Be right back,” she called. Toni climbed out and hurried back towards the diner. She pushed open the door, the bell chiming over her head, only to find Mike waving her phone in his hand. “Thanks.” She crossed over and reached out, frowning when Mike held it up over his head. “I don’t have time for this.”
Laughing, Mike looked over Toni’s shoulder and winked. “She’s all yours.”
Toni turned around to see Chiara standing in the middle of the diner, freshly-polished shoes on the linoleum floors. She was dressed more casually in dark jeans and a blue sweater, pin-straight hair tucked behind both ears. “You didn’t have to come in with me.” She smiled.
Chiara shrugged, taking a small step forward. “This is where we first met, remember?”
“Of course.” Toni had just started working at Evergreen when she met Chiara—a graduate student taking advantage of the 24-hour service to work on her dissertation. Chiara came in every night for months, loaded down with books and an overstuffed backpack, ordering coffee after coffee until just before dawn. Toni had embarrassingly switched to night shifts to spend more time with her, reading at the counter on nights when Chiara was the only customer. That was two years ago to the day, hence why they were going out to celebrate. “That corner table might as well have had your name on it.” The memory made her smile. “Just let me get my phone from Mike—”
“I actually asked Mike to hold onto it.” Chiara reached back and pulled something from her back pocket. “Just like I asked Amber to take you to get your nails done, and made sure you were all dressed up for the pictures.” She took another step forward. “You have made my heart so, so full over the last few years. It was like I was empty before you walked over to me with that cute little accent and offered me a cup of coffee.” Chiara knelt down, revealing a ring box in her palm. “I’m not the best at words, so I’m just going to ask. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she whispered. She held out her hand, ignoring Mike’s shouts of approval behind her as Chiara slid the ring onto her finger.
***
Toni had a love-hate relationship with Sundays. Customers seemed to pour in, the staggered end times of various churches ensuring that the rush didn’t end until well into the afternoon. Conveniently, no one else was available to work, so it was just her running orange juice and coffee and hash browns from Mike’s counter to the customers. They had a long list of regulars, so all Toni had to do was call out “Robinson Family” or “Mrs. Stewart” and Mike would have their orders ready. It was absolutely exhausting, but Toni enjoyed talking with everyone. She liked seeing her high school classmates who were home to visit, old babysitters with babies of their own, and now she enjoyed everyone fawning over her ring. She had no intention of leaving Evergreen anytime soon.
“How’s engaged life?” Mike leaned against the counter as the few remaining customers finished their food.
“Well, the last fifteen hours or so have been great.”
“Chiara still pushing you to quit?”
“Not at the moment, but she’ll probably start again once we really start wedding planning. She’ll tell me to focus on the wedding and let her do the rest.”
“You gonna take her up on that?”
“Hell no. I love that she wants to take care of me, but I’m not leaving anytime soon.” Toni turned just as Mrs. Grace lifted her hand for the check.
***
Starting another pot of coffee, Toni nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of a woman in the corner. “I’m sorry; I didn’t hear the bell.” She wiped her hands on her apron and walked over. The woman was young, wearing a vintage sixties dress and black kitten heels. Her brown hair was pinned up on her head, very reminiscent of Jackie Kennedy, with large pearl earrings on her ears. “My name’s Antoinette, nice to meet you. What can I get you to drink?” She pulled out her notebook and flipped it to the next clean page. Customers always seemed to tip more when she used her given name. The Evergreen Diner was in the middle of its afternoon lull, so right now the woman was the only customer. Toni’s coworkers had both taken their break to be back before dinner guests started coming in.
The woman almost looked surprised. “Oh, uh, a glass of iced tea.” Her voice was light, her smile even lighter.
“Sweet or unsweet?”
“Unsweetened. Have to watch my figure, you know?” She glanced over her shoulder. “I’m waiting for my date.”
Toni nodded slightly at the figure comment, knowing it was best to neither agree nor disagree with her customers when diet or weight got involved. The woman looked small enough to blow over in the wind, though, which was mildly concerning. “First date?” She kept to the safer topic of conversation.
“No.” The woman smiled wider. “I just got engaged.” She waved her left hand to show off a three-stone ring. Toni knew from months of engagement ring research that the ring was from the fifties or sixties, white gold with a round stone in a square setting.
Toni smiled, “Me too.” Her ring was highly modern, with an oval solitaire on a yellow gold band, platinum prongs to ensure the diamond stayed in place. All of the times she “accidentally” left her Pinterest boards open had paid off. “You wanna go ahead and order or wait for your fiance?”
“Oh, I’ll wait. Just tea for now.” She clasped her hands neatly in her lap.
Toni brought the woman her tea and then leaned behind the counter and had a cup of coffee in preparation for the evening rush. She kept her eyes on the woman at the corner table, waiting for the bell to chime to signal that the woman’s fiance had entered.
The woman sat at her little table until closing, leaving a few dollar bills and slipping out when Toni was turned away.
***
“It was horrible,” Toni groaned. She dropped onto the couch, her entire body sore from a full day of work. “She just sat there all evening only for her fiance to never show up.”
Chiara lifted Toni’s feet into her lap and began to rub. This had become their routine. In about fifteen minutes Chiara would get up and bring Toni a plate of the dinner she made, having been home since five in the afternoon. When Toni worked nights Chiara would do the same with breakfast, spending a little time with her before heading in to work at 8. “Do you think something happened to them?”
Toni closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the sensation of Chiara rubbing some of the stress out of her overworked feet. “God, I hope not. But I also don’t want to think about her getting stood up by someone so important. A first date is one thing, but a fiance?” Toni lifted her head. “You would never do that, would you?”
“Believe me, honey, if we’re supposed to have a date and I don’t show up, I’m in some sort of trouble.”
Toni nodded, folding her arms over her eyes and trying to push the woman out of her mind.
***
Another pot of coffee. Toni downed a glass of water as the breakfast rush finally died down. She was alone again; on weekdays she was surrounded by part-time college kids who shuffled in and out on rotating shifts. There were a handful of customers, and after serving their food she turns to find the woman back in the corner. She was wearing the same outfit, down to the run in her stockings.
“Are you alright?” Toni walked over, crouching down so they were at eye level. “I didn’t see you leave last night.”
The woman smiled at her. “Oh, I’m alright; I must have gotten the days mixed up. My fiance will meet me tonight.” She nodded, looking away towards the stripe of black-and-white tiles on the wall. “I used to work here,” she whispered.
“Really?” Toni had been a waitress at Evergreen since she was sixteen and couldn’t imagine this woman was much older than her.
She smiled, looking around the space. “It looks different now; the walls used to be blue.”
Toni frowned. Evergreen Diner hasn’t changed since it was remodeled back in the nineties. Black and white tile, red pleather seats, chrome details along the edges of tables, and the stools at the counter. Maybe she was confusing it with somewhere else. “Can I get you anything while you wait?”
“Iced tea.”
“Anything else?”
“No, thank you.”
***
“I don’t like it, baby.” Toni sat on the kitchen counter as Chiara made dinner. “This is the fourth day in a row that she’s shown up to wait for a fiance I’m not even sure exists. She orders an iced tea and nothing else, just to sit in her chair and do nothing.”
“It’s probably nothing,” Chiara shrugged, giving the vegetables in the pan a stir. “Maybe she just wants somewhere to hang out during the day.”
Toni sipped on her wine with a frown. She couldn’t remember the last time Chiara had been so dismissive of her. Evergreen Diner wasn’t stranger to a variety of concerning customers: runaways, domestic violence survivors, people who generally had nowhere else to go. Toni had good instincts for this sort of thing, having worked at Evergreen for nearly a decade, and when she brought her concerns up to Chiara she had always believed her. No hesitation. “I don’t think that’s it. Something’s wrong, Chiara. I just don’t know who I should call.”
“Maybe you’re just stressed.” Chiara came over to kiss her cheek. “You work so hard; a break might be really good for you.” She reached for Toni’s left hand.
“Absolutely not.” Toni pushed her back. “You don’t get to use this to launch another one of your ‘quit your job and stay home’ schemes.”
“I’m not, I’m not. I’m just saying maybe you could take a break from the night shift. Get some good sleep.”
Toni finished her wine in silence.
***
Pouring two cups of coffee, Toni walked over to the woman and sat down across from her. “Hello.”
The woman didn’t look at her, shaking her head. “She left me,” she whispered. “She left me.”
“I’m sorry,” Toni spoke softly. “Do you want some coffee?” At her nod, Toni slid one of the mugs across the table to her. “When you say she, do you mean your fiance?”
Another nod. “I don’t think she’s coming back.”
“Okay,” Toni reached across the table and offered her hand. “Do you have somewhere to stay tonight? I can call a hotel, or you can stay with me—”
The woman shook her head again. “No, I can’t leave. She told me to meet her here. What if she comes back and I’m not here? I can’t leave.” She curled her hands around her mug and took a nervous sip.
“Okay, okay. Why don’t you keep drinking your coffee, and when my shift ends we’ll figure something out, okay?” Toni gave the woman’s fingers a squeeze. “Just stay right here.” Toni checked on the other customers before stepping outside and calling Chiara. “Hey, baby.” Toni hesitated, remembering their conversation from a few nights ago. For once she didn’t trust Chiara would actually show up. “My car won’t start, yeah like last time, can you come pick me up? Thanks, baby. I love you.” Toni hung up and headed back inside, guilt settling in her chest. Once Chiara was here she would see that Toni was right and it would all be fine. She continues serving customers while waiting for Chiara to show up. She was carrying dishes back to the kitchen when she heard a scream.
Chiara had entered the diner, and the woman was shouting at her.
“Where have you been?” She cried, not moving from her seat. “How could you leave me?”
Toni walked over, wiping her hands on her apron. “What’s going on?” She lightly touched Chiara’s arm. There was no way Chiara was cheating on her, there couldn’t be. She certainly wouldn’t bring the woman she was cheating with to Toni’s job. No, the woman had to be confused, maybe Chiara looked similar to her fiance.
Chiara looked at her, a strange expression on her face. “I have to go.” She reached out, gently clasping Toni’s hands.
“What?” Toni shook her head. “Do you know this woman?”
Chiara pulled Toni towards the corner table where the woman sat. “I have to go,” she repeated.
Toni felt her limbs stiffen, and for some reason, she didn’t resist as Chiara pushed her gently into a seat across from the woman. “Go where?” She finally managed to ask, blinking slowly. Her body settled into the seat as if knowing she would be there for a long time.
Chiara knelt down in front of her, still holding her hands. She rubbed her thumb across the ring on Toni’s finger. “Just wait for me here, okay?”
Nodding, Toni didn’t move as Chiara kissed between her brows and walked out of the diner. She didn’t move when Mike called out for her, walking right past the table as if she wasn’t there. She didn’t move as the woman passed her the half-empty cup of coffee, a sad expression on her face.