The Note

Rusty gazed out the window of the diner as another car sped past. His coffee had grown lukewarm, a result of nursing it over the past half hour. He finally looked away from the window and noticed the bill on the table. He didn't recall the waitress stopping by, but maybe she had. With a grimace, he downed the last of the coffee and set the mug down.

Reaching into his pocket for some change, his fingers felt the crumpled piece of paper that had brought him here. Rusty pulled it out and studied it. He'd found the note stuck under the wiper of his truck when he left for work three days ago. It was terse, almost cryptic - just his name, the name and address of the diner, today's date, the time 6PM and a message: "Be there, we need to talk. D."

Rusty had almost ignored the note. He knew a few people whose names began with D, but none were the type who would leave such a note. He resolved to ignore the note. Still, he couldn't stop thinking about it and somehow found himself driving to the diner. He'd arrived at 5:45, ordered coffee and waited. Penelope, his waitress, seemed intent to ensure that he ate something and Rusty finally ordered some food just to get her to leave him alone. He went with the special, Gary's Beet Surprise, an unremarkable dish suffering from an identity complex - it didn't know if it was a sandwich or a salad. In the end, it managed to encompass the worst qualities of each. He picked at his food, much to Penelope's distress. After repeatedly assuring her that the food was fine he finally just began ignoring her and staring out the window. Eventually, she left him alone.

Rusty looked around the diner again. He felt a little foolish and wondered if maybe one of his buddies had left the note as a prank. He was just sliding out of the booth when he heard the jingle of the diner door opening. A woman entered and immediately made eye contact with him. Rusty settled back into the booth and waited.