Dinner

“Hey, Emily, can you pass me the salt?” Fred asked, breaking the silence. 

Without replying Emily slid the salt over to Fred. 

“So, how’s work been, Greg?" Asked Fred. “I heard that you got a promotion.” 

“Tss, you know how work gets,” Greg said before getting back to his meal.  

Fred, paused before saying, “So, do you guys like this restaurant? It used to be one of my favorites when I was a teenager.” 

“I’ll be back,” Sarah said without answering Fred. She appeared to walk in the direction of the bathroom before disappearing out of sight. 

“Hope you don’t fall in the toilet,” Fred joked. His remark was met with silence from his four remaining friends. Feeling like his conversation starters were not working, Fred got back to eating his steak with mashed potatoes- a personal favorite of his.  

“Ding ding,” John’s phone went off, causing him to pause from eating and glace at his device. 

“Oh, shoot,” sounded John, “I gotta go guys, it was great catching up with you all.” John didn’t explain what the text said and quickly hurried out of the restaurant.  

“Guess that means more for us to split,” Fred joked again. 

“Haha,” giggled Emily. 

Fred felt like he had finally started an effective conversation before looking at Emily and seeing she was in the middle of texting someone.  

“Can I get you guys and gals anything?” The waiter said, sneaking up on the group. 

“No,” all but one of them simultaneously said at once.  

“I’d like six cheesecakes for my best pals,” Fred grinned.  

“Cheesecake right up,” the waiter replied.  

The waiter walked back in the direction he had come from. With that, the noiselessness returned.  

“Sarah’s been gone for a while,” Emily began, “I’m going to go check on her and make sure everything is all right.” 

“Take your time,” Fredd replied. 

Emily quickly got up and walked away. Fred noticed for the first time that Sarah had taken her purse with her and so too did Emily.  

“I have a feeling they won’t be coming back,” Fred muttered, annoyed by the sudden leave of his comrades. 

“Six cheesecakes,” the waiter said, coming back quite fast. 

“Bon appétit,” Fred replied as the waiter put each cheesecake on the individual plates and waltzed away.  

“You know, Stacy would have loved this cheesecake,” Fred said aloud. 

“Why-,” Greg’s voice cracked, “Why’d you have to bring her up?” Tears formed in Greg’s eyes before he quickly wiped them on his sleeve. 

“Sorry man, I didn’t mean-” Fred began. 

“I gotta go,” Greg said, “Look, I appreciated this dinner, and that cheesecake does look good, but I can’t do this. I’ll catch up with you another time.” 

“C’mon Greg, don’t go,” Fred replied as Greg got his stuff together and walked away. 

Briefly coming back, Greg laid out $20 on the table, saying, “I hope this covers my part.” 

After Greg left for the second time Fred said to Alex, “I thought this night would have been different.” 

Speaking to Fred for the first time that night, Alex said, “You really think anyone wants to talk right now, let alone to you?” 

“I couldn’t control her actions,” Fred replied. 

“What?” Alex retorted, “It’s the fact that you let her drive home drunk when you clearly saw that she was intoxicated.” 

“I tried,” Fred said as tears formed in his eyes, “I really tried. But Stacy kept saying she was fine. I told her that I would take her home, but she pushed me away. If I could change what happened last week, I would.” 

“Let’s drop it,” Alex replied. “Imma get going, though, this cheesecake doesn’t taste as good today.” Alex left $20 on the table before putting on his jacket and leaving the diner. 

“Welp,” Fred muttered aloud. No matter how much he had tried to bring everyone back together, the tension was simply too much. Riley and Sarah had been at the party with Stacy but left a little early. Stacy was Greg's girlfriend, and Greg wasn't at the party because he was hanging out with Alex and John. Anyone person could have changed the events that transpired through alternative actions, but it all took a different turn. Hence why everyone felt some type of guilt.

 “Hi, sir,” the waiter said, coming back, “Is everyone all finished up?" 

Fred looked at the five vacant seats before saying, “It appears that is the case.” 

"Great, and I'm sorry about what happened," the waiter remarked, I saw it on the news."

"How'd you know that's what we were talking about," Fred asked inquisitively.

"Caught her name while you guys were talking about it just now and put two and two together. The restaurant only gets so loud," the waiter said.

"You're right about that," Fred replied, remembering the painful silence he'd had to endure. He also registered the fact that the waiter must've been standing there while when he and Alex were arguing- another embarrassment on his record.

Fred paid for the rest of the meal and went to the restroom. The entire place was lively, and vibrant other than the group he had been with. He first glanced at himself in the mirror, noticing his formal black and white suit had a bit of cheesecake on its collar. Suddenly Fred saw another face in the mirror and jumped back. 

“Sorry, but you looked like you’ve had a rough day,” an older gentleman said to Fred. 

Splashing water on his face, Fred replied, “Sometimes, I wish I could go back in time and change what I’ve done.” 

“What has you thinking that?” The older man asked. 

“I made some really bad choices that led to one of my friends passing away. Today was her funeral, actually, and I guess I shouldn’t have insisted on everyone going out to eat with me. I just wanted to release some of the tensions. Who knew friends could become strangers?” 

“I can’t say your wrong for feeling that way, but it takes time for people to heal,” the old man said. “One thing I’d suggest is something my grandfather once told me about. That is buying a bracelet-doesn't matter the color. Each time you feel yourself getting negative, feed positivity into that bracelet. In time those people will come back and the joy you bring to them will be worth the distress you feel now.” The elder flashed his wrist, showing his silver bracelet. 

Fred glanced away before replying, “Thanks, I needed that. What's your name by the way?”

"You can call me Joseph," Joseph replied.

"My name is-," Fred stopped himself, seeing that the man had already left.

“Did he even wash his hands?” Fred smiled before leaving the diner. He knew one thing was for certain: he was going to give his friends the space they needed, and, in time, he would make things right.