You should try the hamburger, it's to die for.

The bell jingles over the diner door, my head snapped up at the sound. 

“Welcome to the Sun Diner honey!” I yelled, looking over to the entering customers. The young girls smiled, one was tall with gangly arms and legs. Her friend was even taller, with more of a bounce to her step, and braids cascading down her back.

 The shorter one asked for a table, I showed them to one right under the TV. The second-best seat in the house, the first one was for someone very special. 

The girls nodded thanks, and I left them to have Kara take their orders. All the gals in the diner knew, from 3-5 every Thursday, I was busy. That’s when the delivery man arrived, with his meats and veggies for the day. He claimed he had a farm, just a few miles from the diner, where he gets all his supplies from.

 He and I had been meeting each other behind the diner for five years now. We called it business, only with the added flavoring of sweet hellos, and solemn goodbye. He came in once a week, with his big truck, and shaggy hair. 

The clock struck three, as I started toward the back door, it was time. I practically ran through the door, ready for my prince. He wasn’t there, obviously, it was only three, and he could get there anytime between three and five and not be late.

I perched myself on one of the old boxes, it already had a small imprint from how long I had sat there over the years. We had never taken the relationship any farther than the diner, our little meetings were enough. I seemed to live off the way he looked at me, his bashful smiles. 

I sat with my arms resting behind me, my back slightly protesting the strange position. I felt the slight sun reaching toward me, welcoming the new heat, I felt the stifling feeling from the kitchen melt away. My smile returned, and I waited for the sound of an incoming truck to return to my senses. 

After an hour, my mind began to feel sorrow, and the idea of the delivery man arriving seemed to simmer away. He wasn’t ever this late or at least hasn’t been in my recent memory. My heart squeezed, as I thought of him, my back was aching, almost as much as my heart. 

I heaved a sigh at a quarter till five, he most of gotten lost, or caught up at one of his other stops. Maybe he has found another diner girl, one that wasn’t afraid to take their relationship outside of the diner.

He probably had finally gotten himself a girls 

Lifting myself from the dried boxes, I dragged myself to the door. Resting my hand on the doorknob for just a second too long. Turning it seemed to take the muscle of a thousand men. Just before I stepped into the chilled kitchen, a voice rang from the alley. 

“Leaving so soon sweetheart?” the voice asked, smooth yet deep. I snapped my head to the sound and found the delivery man standing by the entrance to the alley. His truck was nowhere in sight, and his face looked sunburnt as always. 

He had his companies shirt on, with the sleeves slightly cropped. The jeans he has on were tattered and sun-bleached, with unknown stains near the bottom of the pant leg. His hair was stuck to his forehead and the back of his. Yet, he was smiling, with nowhere near perfect teeth.

I stepped toward him, thinking the summer heat might finally be getting to me. But no, he reached his hand out to mine, meeting me halfway. I pushed the small bit of hair out of his eyes and smiled at his awe-struck expression. 

It took me a minute to remember he had asked a question, and I dug through my head to conjure an answer. 

“You 're late,” I replied simply, though it hardly mattered now that I was in his arms. His hand resting on my lower back, the other still holding my hand. 

“My truck broke down just about halfway here. Though I hardly wanted to leave my lady alone, so I trekked my way to meet you.” the delivery man soothed, my mind blanked as he called me his lady. I felt my face grow hot, and I noticed every part of ourselves that was touching. Trailing my fingers through his hair, squeezing the hand once more, our simple sign to release.  

His hand left mine, but not before I felt wetness to his hand. It felt he had been sweating, and the thought he was worried to see, or maybe even excited, had me blushing. I noticed he had pinched his eyebrows together, and his far-away look had been forgone. Reaching to his cheek, I placed my hand only a few inches from his eyes, which now had a sour look to them. 

“What’s wrong?” I questioned, he didn’t miss the immense concern in my voice. 

“Oh nothing doll, I just realized I don’t have your order. Sorry,” he replied, I chuckled. I knew that wasn’t the real reason, we both knew there was something else bothering him. There were weeks when we would arrive with no supply, he would come just to visit me. 

He slipped away from my hand, and I watched as he stalked towards the alley. He was almost at the entrance again before he turned around, I swear I could see a tear slip down his face. 

“Doll, I’m probably not going to be back for a while. My shipments having been coming in anymore, or at least not as regularly,” he said, barely over a whisper. 

There was not another word uttered, he trailed out of the alley. Leaving my opened mouth with a drop of blood on my hand. I didn’t notice, I never noticed, and most of me didn’t care. 

*** 

Driving home was a somber event, the light patter of the evening rain my only companion. I felt heavy, chained to something in the dark. Every week I had looked forward to seeing the meat delivery man, now that small light was gone. 

My limbs moved on autopilot as I moved to the house, the weight of my heavy bag nothing to my heavy eyelids. I stepped through the door, to the stuffed entryway, and the cat bowl for the cat that had died years ago. 

I didn't even bother eating dinner, reaching for the remote. Hoping for a simple comedy, with humor I wouldn't have understood even at fifteen. My eyes trailed through the channels when the news caught my eye. 

MURDERER CAUGHT: APPREHENDED AT EIGHT TONIGHT

They had caught the murderer that was in our state. It had been years since he had first become a problem, there was no real connection between him and his crimes. I clicked the channel, there staring back at me was the meat delivery man. 

I barely processed anything before the news reporter continued talking. 

“Oh yes folks, you read the headlines right! Finally, this cruel man has been apprehended. He had been living under a false name, using it to make a small living. The police believe his victims are somewhere on his property, or at least the one on his file.” 

The rest drifted out, being replaced by a sharp ringing in my ear. The remote fell to the ground, my eyes grew heavier than I had ever felt. I slipped, falling, away. 

I barely heard the police banging on the door.