It was eight o’clock already. I was still at work, doing my part in the dinner rush, but the tempo was starting to slow down. Patricia, our other resident waitress, had it under control, so I decided I could call it a day. Brian, our number two cook, just behind Dad, was there to keep an eye on things with her. They were the most trustworthy employees you could ever hope for. They were both older than me, but not by much. Mom hired them some years ago, in a docile attempt to get the family more free time, but Dad still worked his daily shift, down to the last minute. What he did with the extra manpower was that he extended the restaurant’s working hours. It went from being open eight hours a day to fifteen hours a day. It was starting to make sense as the days rolled by why my Mom wanted me to have a change of scenery and see what else life had to offer, but I had the nagging fear that it was too late for me. I didn’t know what to fill my time with either, so I was working my full hours too. I must admit most of my effort was for my Dad, and his pay rates plus the tips made for a pretty decent income for an area like this, but he really was just an excuse for me. I couldn’t think of anything else I could spend my days doing, so I just worked until I was too tired to go on. I was grateful for Patricia and Brian, they took the liberty of closing the diner every night. I was more of a morning girl and by this time on most days, there was a good chance I was passed out on the couch watching reruns.

At this point, all I wanted to do was have a nice little meal, fill myself up a nice bath and be over with my day. A flashback of my neglected fridge creeped through my mind and I realized it was much too late to stop by the grocery store. I wasn’t even sure I had the energy to make a decent meal if I had the ingredients in my fridge but my belly was definitely going to disturb my sleep. I called in a favor with Brian and he willingly went to work on preparing me something to go. I debated what I was going to watch while eating it and preparing to pass out.

After a while Brian handed me my food. I grabbed my purse under the counter, and gave a wave to Patricia and some of the remaining punters on my way out. The jingle of the bell above the door announced my departure as I headed to my car parked out front. I couldn’t wait to get home and go to bed.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of phone ringing relentlessly. It took me a few seconds to register what was happening. I looked down at myself. I was still wearing my waitress uniform. I had done this a million times before and was adding to my ever growing list of lazy habits I needed to quit. I reached over to my phone on the nightstand, right next to my now empty plate of food from the night before.

“Hello?” my voice was so raspy. Whoever was on the other line was definitely going to know that they woke me. I noticed a glass of water next to the phone. Score! High five to me for bringing a drink to bed, even though I should have remembered to take it before falling asleep.

“Hey pumpkin. Did I wake you?” My Dad was on the other line. I took a quick gulp of my water before I responded.

“Not really. What’s up?”

“We’re running low on tomatoes, think you can do something about that before you get here?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll pick up some on my way there.”

He thanked me, but not before he went on a long and droned out explanation of what type of tomatoes I had to pick up, the same long explanation he had given me a million times before. The moment he took a breath, I chimed in.

“Okay, I’ve got it all handled. Don’t worry, see you later Dad.” I hang up and got to work preparing myself for the day.

* * *

“Teresa? Teresa Baxter, is that you?”

I was in the produce section of the local supermarket searching for my Dad’s perfect tomatoes when I heard my name. I turned around and found myself face to face with a middle aged woman and three young children hanging around her calves. I wasn’t sure who would be questioning my identity in the market. I was here every other day and everyone knew me. I stared at the woman’s face for a moment, but I couldn’t place her anywhere in my head so I looked down at her children hoping to see some trait to tag them to a family bloodline I was familiar with.

“Yes, I’m Teresa.”

“Teresa! It’s Janet. We were in the same class for like, twelve years!”

Just then I remembered her. Time had taken a toll on her. The three young children that she seemed to be producing back to back, I mean they all looked under five, weren’t helping her retain her youth either. She was almost unrecognizable. The last mental picture I had of her before this day was a vibrant and full of life girl back in high school. What had happened to her? She looked seriously run down. The grey was settling into her hair, and it wasn’t just at her roots. Her weight gain made me feel comfortable in my own skin for the first time in a long time and the depression in her eyes far exceeded what I saw in Brian’s the night before.

“Janet!” I said instinctively, trying to disguise my shock, or at least pass it off as a good type of shock, the happy to see her kind. “How are you? What are you doing here?” It was genuinely nice to see someone from back in the day, but not really exciting.

“Teresa, it is so nice to see you after all this time. I’m back in town for a week. I’m staying with my parents. You should stop by. They would love to see you. I wouldn’t have stayed the entire week, but you know, the reunion and all. Perfect timing, don’t you think?” Teresa was enthusiastic. She gave off this vibe that made me wonder what she expected me to say her. At that particular moment my brain felt like it was shutting down. “Teresa? Aren’t you excited about the reunion?” she asked, grinning from ear to ear. “My parents will keep an eye on these little monsters for the evening, so I really plan to live it up!”

“Well, I hope you have a good time. Tell everyone hello for me,” I said as I bagged up the two tomatoes I was holding. I gave her a sheepish smile as I prepared to bid her a good day, but the poor looked like I had just slapped her in the face. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“You’re not going? You’re one of the only people I was excited about coming back to party with. I don’t have to a mom for one night and I imagined the perfect night would have you and me going out and living like we’re in high school again, you know?” She was so excited it tugged at my heart a little that she thought my company would be so much pleasure. “You have to go! Pretty please? We need this. We need to go out and fun.” Her emphasis on the needing part made me suspect that her children were really tiring her out.

“I’ll think about it. Okay? It was really good to see you though, Janet, but I have to get going. My Dad is waiting for me at the restaurant. He needs tomatoes real bad,” I said as I jiggled the plastic produce bag in my hand. “I’ll see you later.” I looked down and waved at the kids and headed in the other direction.

“You will see me soon, Teresa. Next weekend to be exact, at the reunion. You can’t miss it!” She almost made it sound like a threat. As if something bad would happen to me if I didn’t show up.