The earings matched the blouse. That was all Penelope could ask for before she was out the door. Though if she wore her hair down, she skipped the earings, but her bracelets had to match her shoes. It wasn’t easy being a waitress.

“For Gad’s sakes, Carole, will you turn that down?” Penelope whisked to her roommate while crossing the living room. There was no reason to be watching Wheel of Fortune on extra loud. For crying out loud, all the words you needed were written right there on that gigantic screen.

“Bye Penny, have fun at work,” Carole replied. Her voice was airy and good-natured, and she smiled like she meant it.

Penelope hated being called Penny. She slammed the door shut behind her.

Gary’s Din-Din was just around the corner from Penelope’s apartment, but she climbed into her rusty Isuzu Trooper and drove anyway. She didn’t like the thought of being heckled by hoodlums and youths while walking. Gary’s Din-Din had gotten it’s namesake in a roundabout fashion. While the owner Gary wanted the name ‘Gary’s Diner,’ that name in town had already been taken. So instead, he had settled on ‘Gary’s Dine-in.’ Unfortunately, the workers hired to make his sign had made a mistake while fastening the letters and had set the hyphen one letter early before realizing their mistake. And so, the small restaurant became Gary’s Din-Din. People repeatedly alerted the workers on how ridiculous they thought the name sounded But at least Gary had gotten a free sign out of the frustrating ordeal.

“Hi there, Penny.” Gary was standing by the sink with his hands on his hips, smiling at Penelope like he had all the time in the world.

“Gary,” Penelope responded. She threw her purse on the back counter and snatched an apron from the clean laundry bin. Glancing through the order-up window, she could see several people at the bar and a few in booths, but didn’t hear anybody talking. They all sat glumly, eating and drinking their regulars, wearing their regular garb, sitting with their regular buddies. There was only one face she did not recognize, and he looked apprehensive as hell. Penelope grabbed a menu and headed his way.

“Welcome to Gary’s Din-Din. My name is Penelope, I’ll be your server. Can I grab a drink for ya to start out?” The man looked up at her from his long gaze out the window.

“Oh, I’ll just have a coffee.”

She placed the menu on the table and headed back to the kitchen. Gary was busying himself over a large pot on the stove. Its insides spewed with cabbage and maroon mush. “Special of the day, Gary’s Beet Surprise,” he said, catching her staring at the mass as she poured coffee.

“It looks disgusting.”

Penelope walked back to the table and set the coffee down. “So what will it be? Special of the day is Gary’s Beet Surprise.”

“Oh, uh, just the coffee, actually.” The man inched the menu timidly back across the table towards her, though it still lay where she had set it. She smiled sweetly at him.

He smiled back “Thanks Penny.”

Penelope walked briskly back to the kitchen, drawing her cigarettes from her purse before reaching for the back door. “I’m taking a break.” She was out the door before Gary could muster out a solemn “Already?”