Ribs

Reunion

Arthur drifted through life for the next week, or however long it was since he last spoke to Trina, he lost count. He still felt awful about the entire scenario, sometimes his guilt turned to anger at himself only to then turn into anger at Trina for leaving him the way she did. That's when he would go back to the guilt and anger towards himself, he knew it wasn't her fault, at least he thought it wasn't her fault.

He would catch himself going out of his way to walk past the diner, sometimes and stand across the street and watch the patrons through the window, sometimes Trina would be there. Her warm smile would cause him to smile in return, only to frown when he realized he couldn't talk to her. He missed her even though he didn't know anything about her. He didn't know anything about her and yet he felt so close to her as if they were meant to be.

It wasn't until late one night when he finally spoke to her again, he had just gotten home from a particularly hard day at work. He wanted nothing more than just to go home and watch the Murray show and try to forget all his problems before going to bed. He stood in the elevator and just as it was about to close Trina managed to make her way in.

When Arthur saw her he looked at the ground and bit his lip, praying to God that he didn't start laughing. They both stood in silence, Trina gripping her coat tightly as she looked at the ground.

The elevator suddenly jolted and the lights flickered, they stopped moving. Trina sighed, Arthur started to feel a laugh bubble up in his throat.

"So, I've noticed you don't come to the diner anymore."

Arthur inhaled deeply and nodded before breaking down into laughter. Trina jumped at the sudden sound and looked over at him.

"S-Sorry-" he cupped his hand over his mouth as he laughed harder.

"Why do you try to hide it?" He looked at her through teary eyes, "To try and fit in, so people don't see you like a freak? Who cares what they think, they're all just a bunch of fuckers who don't understand anything," Trina grumbled as she crossed her arms.

Arthur sniffled and took a deep breath before asking, "Bad day at work?"

Trina laughed, "You could say that" she said as she turned to him and smiled.

The elevator jolted again and it slowly started to move up the elevator shaft. Arthur finally managed to calm down, it's amazing what a smile can do.

"Why don't you come to the diner anymore?"

Arthur looked down at her, she was only a few inches smaller then he, "I didn't want to make you uncomfortable," he whispered.

She let out an amused scoff, "Arthur, you're the customer, it doesn't matter how I feel as long as I serve you. Besides I'm not blind, I've seen you look at me through the window."

"Y-You have?"

She laughed, "You're not that stealthy Arthur."

The elevator dinged and the doors slowly opened, Trina stepped out and began to walk down the hall towards her apartment. Arthur stared at her for a moment before sheepishly turning away.

"Oh, and Arthur," Arthur snapped his head back to look at her, "If you really do care about making me feel comfortable, you'll come into the diner. It makes me uncomfortable when you just stare longingly at me from across the street," Trina grinned.

"O-Oh, a-alright, I'll come by tomorrow."

Trina breathes out a laugh before turning away and walking down to her apartment.

Just like Arthur had said, he returned to the diner the very next day at the same time he almost always did. Trina has greeted him with a smile before taking his order and the two engaged in some brief small talk before Trina retreated to the kitchen to deliver Arthur's order.

Like many nights before they walked home together, talking about work and coworkers. A lot seemed to happen within the week Arthur stopped talking to Trina, she had gotten to become friends with almost all of her coworkers, a girl named Sarah in particular.

"Sarah's nice but her choices in men are more money-driven," Trina said as they made their way to the elevator.

"I can't blame her, it's not the most thrilling living in poverty," Arthur sighed as he stuffed his mailbox keys into his slacks, once again there was no mail from Thomas Wayne, as to be expected.

"Yeah, but she'll date anyone with money, even if they treat her like trash. She once dated a guy who used to hit her but she stayed just because of the money, I don't know, a part of me thinks she has a screw loose," Trina frowned as she crossed her arms.

Arthur pressed the button to the third floor, "Are there any guys you're friends with at work?"

"Yeah, of course, most of our cooks are guys and they're all pretty sweet," she answered.

"Um a-any one of them you're interested in, l-like romantically?" Arthur questioned as he felt his cheeks flush.

Trina turned to look at him and grinned, "And why would you need to know that, Mr. Fleck."

Arthur's cheeks became a deeper red as a shiver ran down his spine, something about the way she said his name, it excited him, "Oh n-no reason, I was just curious."

Trina hummed, almost sounding disappointed, "No, there's no one at work I'm interested in."

Arthur nodded as he rubbed his arm and tapped his foot, the door opened and they walked out. Trina said her goodbyes and began to walk away.

"T-Trina, wait!" She turned and looked at him in surprise, "Would you, uh, w-would you like to get some coffee with me tomorrow?"

She smiled, "What, like a date?"

"W-Well no, not necessarily, b-but if you want it to-"

"Arthur."

"Y-Yeah, like uh, like a date."

Arthur braced himself for her to laugh and say no before walking away.

"Yeah, sure."

Arthur looked at her in surprise, "R-Really?"

"Yeah," she laughed, "Don't be so surprised Arthur, you're a sweetheart, come by the diner after my shift is over. We can get coffee there."

"A-Alright, I'll see you tomorrow," Arthur beamed.

Trina laughed, "Goodnight Arthur."