Mayonnaise. Real mayonnaise – soybean oil, whole eggs, water, distilled vinegar, egg yolks, salt, sugar, lemon juice concentrate, calcium disodium edta to protect flavor, natural flavor. She turned the packet over and over again, reading the small passages of text. She had practically memorized every word at this point. Placing the packet on the table, she looked around without calling attention to herself. None of the faces turned toward her. Her hands moved absentmindedly to smooth the creases of her skirt and pull the sweater tighter over her slight shoulders.

Silently, she reassured herself that she had indeed come to the right place at the right time. She fingered the paper in her pocket with the date and time written in her precise, flowing handwriting. She toyed with her watch, occasionally glancing at the time. The watch had ridden halfway up her arm, leaving little impressions of links on her skin. Funny, it had not seemed to be so loose before.

“Whatcha havin’, honey?”

She looked up and shook her head, muttering something that sounded like “Nothing yet,” to the waitress. The woman’s name tag read Dakota and clung desperately to the shirt strained over her bosom. Dakota shifted her weight and held out the pitcher to the bird-like girl with a warm smile.

“Do you want some more water then?”

“Yes, thank you.” Her voice came out higher and more girlish than she had intended.

She watched the flow of water and ice in silence. Dakota finished pouring and clicked off in her high-heeled pumps. The girl lifted the water toward her face. She looked down through the glass at the table, the wood grains stretched and warped through the liquid. Ice cubes drummed against each other, pressing cold kisses to her lips. She lowered her head and bit the rim of the glass between her teeth. The colors on the table swirled and glittered, dancing slowly in the sunlight. She bit down harder, trying to calm the swaying. The shapes and forms ignored her and continued.

The gentle tap on her shoulder startled her. She turned around slowly, still holding the glass against her mouth. Strands of hair swept across the base of her neck, assuring her of movement. The man behind her was very distinguished looking without being the least bit handsome. His face, all curves of tan, molded clay, looked oddly out of place with his plain, straight figure.
“Do you happen to have the time?” His meaty lower stuck out more that the upper one, but lifted easily to smile. His teeth were blindingly white.

She pointed helplessly at her wrist, barely holding it out. The man leaned over close to look at the small numbers. Too close. She could smell his cologne, some brand too refined for her own taste. The pungent scent made her think of ornate foreign cities where girls drowned in jewels and richly colored silks. The rings under his eyes were a deep purple. Up close, their smooth texture seemed unlike skin. When he blinked, his dark lashes created a soft crescent of shadow over the puffiness.
“Are you waiting for someone?” He asked nonchalantly as he leaned back, crossing his legs. The pants followed in suit, clean and pressed without a wrinkle.

The girl shrugged and shook her head at the same time. His eyebrow raised a little, but he did not respond. She lifted her glass and turned slowly back in her seat. She felt as if she should cross her legs as well, but she only succeeded in banging her shoe against the leg of the table. A metal twang rang out and faded into the air around her. The sound made her shiver, but no one else seemed to hear anything. She sat in her chair, her legs awkwardly bent and stiff with supporting her immobility.

The man noticed the dark stain on her left leg, a small spillage across her white calf. The sunlight through the window wavered, and the dark spot, some birthmark no doubt, shifted as a muscle in her leg twitched. The man wiped his mouth and paid his check. As he stood up from his chair, he tried to catch the young woman’s eye, but she purposefully avoided him. Outside, his thin shirt billowed about him in the wind, giving him a temporary roundedness. His body inflated like a parachute, balancing the curves in his face. Fine leather shoes took him swiftly out of sight.

Watching him leave, she had the sudden urge to twist up an end of the mayonnaise packet until it exploded. It would spill all over the woman sitting across from her, a sweet motherly type with her pretty little son out for a bit of lunch. Dakota drew near the table often, engaging the mother in cheerful conversation while she teased the boy playfully. The boy answered back boldly with a spark of wit he did not understand. Dakota let out a hearty laugh, a big one that made her chest jiggle. She playfully ruffled the boy’s fine hair. The blond strands caught gold in the light. The girl’s eyes pricked with tears, and she fought to keep her mouth from twitching.

A daddy-longlegs danced in the window pane by her face. It took her a couple of glances before she assured herself that he was indeed on the other side. Making sure no one was watching, she pressed her fingertips to the cool glass. She almost felt wispy tender legs fluttering across her skin. The sudden need to have herself laid flat against the window washed over her in a heated wave. She leaned sideways until she the sheet of glass pressed back against her pinked cheek.

Dakota made her way back over to her table.

The girl turned her face to the waitress without moving her head from the glass.

“Yes, I would like a steak, please. Medium rare. And a glass of red wine.”

“Anything else, sweetie?”

“No, that’s all. Thank you. Thank you very much.”