The Meeting
	by:C. Adam Scott

	It was a clear black night.  I don't believe that there was a star in the sky.  It was pitch black.  There weren't enough street lights to block out the stars.  That meant that there were no stars to be seen.  I could only assume that there were thin clouds blocking their light from this part of the Earth. 
	That cloud must have been why moon seemed to be orange.  The moon was full and orange.  It is said that when the moon is orange, it has blood on it.  It's not supposed to be good.  In fact, it is a decidedly bad sign to the superstitious.  I knew that in that night.  However, I didn't know of that many good signs among the superstitious.  Whether it was an accurate bad omen or not, remains to be seen.
	It was curious in its own way.  I think I must have stood there for a minute or three before I started looking around at the parking lot in which I found myself.  I had found myself in the parking lot of a diner.  If I remember correctly, the name was something generic, like "All Night Cafe," or some such thing.  It doesn't really matter right now.  At any rate, I decided that I really was hungry for something, so I might as well go in and eat.
	The cafe, itself, was something of an interesting set up.  The only windows faced to the west.  With the trees to the sides and the canopy above the windows, a sunset would be the only sun to be seen from the diner.  I noticed that quickly, but I didn't think anything of it at the time.  It was just a half an hour after the sun had finished setting for that night.  So, the sun wasn't going to be of any importance for quite a while.
	The aroma of the cafe was the first thing I had noticed upon entering the cafe.  It was a mixture of something baking, some soups, and a suspicious aspect of far too strong coffee cut through all the rest.  All in all, it was something I could take for long enough to enjoy a meal.  In fact, it added quite nicely to the atmosphere.
	That was the first thing I noticed in the cafe.  The next thing I noticed sort of blocked out anything else I would have noticed afterward.  That was the waitress.  She had a look that made a healthy young male suddenly think "Hello," as if this was the first of the species you had seen.  At least, that's what she did for me.  She was beautiful all the way through.  She was thin enough to be fit into the pants she was wearing without stress, but not anorexic.  She was also tall.  Tall is always nice.  Not amazon, but tall enough to look me in the eye without having to look up too far.  And, her eyes had a large catlike quality that I always enjoyed.
	But, the one thing that put the topper on all of that was the hair.  It was red and just on the brighter side.  I love red hair.  It's just something about me.  Her hair was short with a very feminine cut.  And, one curl of that semi-bright red hair fell between her eyes and found its way to stay just the smallest measurement closer to the right eye than the left no matter what she did.
	She came up to me just as I sat down at the counter.  "Now, what would you like?"
	"Uh...How about some chicken soup?  That smells like it might be nice."  I was trying to speak in a relaxed tone in order to hide the fact that I noticed her so well.  My success, to this day, is still in internal dispute.
	"Sure.  You'll like it," she said.
	Before going to the kitchen, she walked over to the only other customer in the cafe.  I couldn't hear anything, and I was trying not to stare.  But, even so, I noticed him taking out a couple bills and collecting a receipt.
	I only sat on the stool at the counter and wondered.  I wondered if there was a bit of flirt in her tone or it was only my imagination working overtime.  The final decision was to err on the side of caution and assume that she wasn't interested.
	After she went into the kitchen, I allowed myself to become oblivious to the world for a moment.  In that moment, I fell into a bit of pubescent fantasy that every healthy young adult should be allowed to fall into now and again.  That bit of fantasy was only allowed a moment of life before it was broken.
	"You know, she likes you," were the words that gave me that most unwelcome shot of reality.  I almost jumped.  "Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you."
	"That's quite alright," I said looking to see the man that had just settled his bill.  "What?"
	"I said she likes you."
	"Okay," I said in a tone that made no effort to disguise my skepticism.
	He leaned in a little closer as if there was anybody else in the room who would here him.  "I know, you don't have any reason to trust me, but I know her.  She likes you."  I said nothing.  "I just thought I'ld help."
	"How do you know?"
	"She asked me to pay the bill."
	"So?"
	"She wanted me out, and I have a good idea why...Listen, when you know somebody for as long as I have, you get to be able to figure out things."
	"Well, uh, thanks then," were my final words to him.  He simply got up and left.  The last thing he did was a small wave good-bye as he walked out the door.
	I didn't know if he was telling the truth.  It probably wouldn't have been the first time that somebody had mislead another in that manner for nothing more than the thought of embarrassment.  The thought of the possibility of a joke lingered on for a moment.  But, sometimes, all one needs to be encouraged is the possibility of encouragement.
	I allowed a warm smile to arise when she came back in with a bowl of soup and a cup of water.  It was a bit of joy to me when I found that the smile was quickly returned.  Perhaps the man was right.  She set down the soup and the cup.
	"Thank you," were the first words I had the courage to get out.
	"No problem at all," was her only response.
	I waited for a moment, debating possibilities against possibilities.  In less time than it takes to type or read, I thought of all the good and bad results there could be.  After an eternity of less than ten seconds, I finally decided that the gains out way the risks.
	She was just at the door to the kitchen when courage won out.  "Would you mind if I flirted?"
	She turned her head and looked at me through the corners of those big eyes.  The warm smile was still there to let me know that I hadn't just made myself into a bigger fool than I had ever been.  "Excuse me?"
	"I'm sorry if I was too forward.  It's just that I've been staring at a beautiful woman for a while now and debating how much of a fool I can make of myself.  I've finally decided that it isn't any bigger a fool than I've made of myself before."
	She laughed.  It was a beautiful laugh.  But, even a beautiful laugh won't ever be very reassuring at a moment like this.  "I would like to talk with you," she said.  I almost visibly sighed in my relief.
	"For example, what do you do?"
	I just stayed shocked for a moment.  How did this conversation turn to me?  "Uh...Well, I ...What do I do?.. Oh yeah, I work at a super market."
	"Really."  That warm smile stayed even through that.
	"Please don't even pretend its interesting," I said with a slight chuckle.  She just laughed.
	"Besides, I sort of thought that the conversation would begin more like ‘hello, my name is Mark Antony, and you?'"
	"Cleopatra."  That warm smile grew just one notch.
	"Please.  My name really is Mark Antony.  Robert and Margaret Antony both had a sick enough sense of humor to name their son Mark."
	"Well, then if that is so, my name is Betty McDowel.  If that isn't so anything is possible."
	I laughed.  "Well, Betty, how about you?"
	"How about me what?  Its perfectly obvious what I do for a living."
	I leaned in a little closer keeping my watch on her catlike eyes.  "What isn't obvious is why you do what you do.  I mean, is this what you want from life, or do your dreams take you out of this small town?"
	"Well, I've lived a few of my dreams...Now I just do what I do, and sometimes I enjoy it.  I enjoy this."
	"It probably would be nice working in the night if you don't have anything to wake up for."
	She put one of her hands on one of mine and looked into my eyes in a way that made me feel like she was looking into my soul.  "No, I mean I like this."