Traveling Soldier

Vanilla Milkshakes

I brought the milkshakes over and set them down. "So do I get the name of the person I'm sharing a milkshake with or...?" I joked around a bit. "My apologies ma'am. My name is Justin Pike," he smiled and tipped head. "You're not from round here. Are you?" I asked after I listened to accent a bit more carefully. "How'd you guess?" He smiled. "Well a Texan accent is a bit different from a Carolinian accent," I said as I took a sip of the milkshake. "I'll keep that in mind," he smirked.

"Were you in the army at one point by any chance?" He asked while pointing at my outfit in general. I looked down for a second because I completely forgot what I was wearing. It was my dad's jacket and dog tags that I don't take off. "No. Actually, my father was," I mumbled. Things turned very depressing very quickly. "Was?" Justin questioned. "He died a year ago in battle," I told him. "I'm sorry. I had no clue-" he started to apologize, but I interrupted him. "It's fine. You didn't know. Besides, I'm grateful for the time I did get with him," I tried to smile at the end but failed miserably.

"If it makes any consolation, I know what it's like to lose someone you love. While I was on my first tour, my father, mom, and little sister were in a car crash. My sister was the only survivor," he confessed. "I'm so sorry, Justin. You didn't have to tell-," this time he cut me off. "I wanted to. I feel like you should know," he said. "And why should I know?" I asked suddenly curious. He paused for a second. "I don't know... Maybe it's because you brought me this wonderful milkshake," he smiled again obviously trying to lighten up the conversation.

"Well thank you. My father and I used to share them here at this booth every year once he got on leave," I told him smiling. Justin leaned forward a bit and grabbed the dog tag that hung around my neck. "Marcus Taylor," he said reading off my father's name. I nodded. "Great man. I've heard stories about him. I was lucky to be in the same room with him a few times, but I was only introduced once. He was truly a great person. Kind hearted. You remind me of him," Justin told me. "You met my father?" I asked. He nodded.

"We used to sit around at the army camp in Cali and talk about him. They told stories about how great he was. It was a tragedy when we heard he died," he said. "Indeed it was," I sighed as leaned back into the booth.

"Andrea! It's almost time to close," Dominic said from the back. I looked at the clock. 11:57pm. I slowly got up and collected the empty glasses. "It was really nice talking to you, but I do have to close up the dnner," I said apologetically. "No problem," he said setting cash on the counter, but I stopped him. "It's on the house," I told him. He smiled. "Well then at least let me buy you a coffee tomorrow morning. Meet me at the Market in front of Caviar and Bananas?" He asked. I smiled,"it's a date."