F is for Finn (Men of ALPHAbet Mountain)

I got dressed, a boundless energy and irrepressible good feeling permeating every inch of my body. Today was going to be a good day. I could feel it in my bones. I turned on some music, keeping it low because of the hour, and finished getting ready.

By the time I got to work I was still smiling as I caught sight of myself in the mirror of the office. I was tying on my apron and laughing, thinking about how my smile probably wasn’t going to go anywhere all day. Even without much sleep, it was probably the best night of my life. Nothing was going to knock that grin off my face.

As waitresses and customers began filtering in an hour or so later, I was still on cloud nine. I found myself whistling, which was something I didn’t do normally. It was enough of a change from my normal behavior that I saw Janet eyeballing me suspiciously when she dropped off a new ticket.

“You get a good night’s rest or something?” she quipped from the window.

“Actually, I barely slept,” I said, working on a pan of pancakes and flipping one.

“Uh-huh,” she said. “Well, whatever you’re on, I want some.”

I laughed and shook my head.

“Hey, can I get a scramble on the fly?” Candice, another waitress, asked.

“Scramble on the fly, heard,” I said, switching gears and grabbing a new pan to put on the stove.

“He seems awfully chipper,” I heard Candice say to Janet, who was filling a mug with coffee.

“Suspiciously chipper,” Janet agreed.

“Oh, here comes the logging crew,” Candice said, and I perked up, looking through the window to the front door. To my dismay, Wendy was not among the group. Gerry, however, was, and I felt slightly better about it.

“Well, that’s my cue,” Janet said. “Finn, it’ll be a number four and a mega-pancake, I can tell you that already. Let me see what the new guy wants, though, before you fire them up.”

“Alright,” I said.

Janet walked away and headed toward the table, pulling the pencil from behind her ear and opening her pad. The only reason she ever wrote anything down was for the kitchen’s benefit. She had a memory like a vice. If someone had come to the diner more than once and ordered the same thing both times, she knew what it was the third time they came in and would suggest it before they even got a menu in their hands.

She was directing her attention directly at Gerry, seemingly getting the usual responses from Everett and Deacon, who were both with him. A couple of other crew members filtered in, some going to the counter to get a coffee and others sitting in other booths around the room. I didn’t know them all, especially since some of them were temporary guys, but I recognized a few faces and waved.

When the orders came in, it was the busiest I had been all morning, and yet it didn’t affect my mood at all. I was still spinning spatulas in my hand between using them, clicking the tongs along with the music softly playing over the speakers, and generally just having a blast in the kitchen. When I saw that the logging crew were packing up and about to head out, I grabbed the bag I had prepared and went out to grab Gerry.

“Hey,” I said, catching his attention. “Could you do me a favor?”

“Hey, Finn,” Gerry said. “Sure, what do you need?”

“I was wondering if you would bring something over to Wendy,” I said, handing him the bag.

He looked at it suspiciously and then back up to me as he slowly took it from my hands.

“Sure,” he said.

There was a questioning look on his face, a hopeful one that seemed to say he was waiting for me to explain what exactly was going on, but I wasn’t quite ready for that. It was still a little new, and if nothing else, I didn’t want to jinx it. I handed the bag over, and Gerry took it, snapping off a tiny salute before following the rest of the crew out of the door.

20

WENDY

I reached out for Finn when I first woke up, wanting to feel his warmth but only encountered an empty place in my bed. The cold sheets where he should have been made me sad, and I briefly thought he had just gotten up and slipped out of the house before I woke up so that we wouldn’t have to have that awkward morning-after situation that followed a one-night stand.

Fortunately, that thought only flickered through my head for a second before I remembered him waking me up and letting me know he had to leave for work. I’d been so deeply satisfied that I didn’t think I’d come all the way out of sleep even as I was responding to him. But I’d definitely enjoyed all those kisses he showered me with to gently ease me awake.