Page 127 of Come Back to Me

“Are you okay?” Valerie asks.

“Yeah,” Violet says.

“I’ll be back in a bit with your meals.” Valerie runs off, leaving us alone again.

“I think I ate too much of the cheese sauce.” Violet clears herthroat a few times.

“Maybe, but I know you have moments where you sometimes cough out of nowhere.”

“You remember that?”

“I remember everything about you, Angel.”

A female server with dirty blonde hair brings us our main meals. “Who has the traditional wings?”

I stick my pointer finger up, and she places the wings in front of me. She sets down Violet’s salad in front of her.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” The server asks, grinning.

Violet and I glance at each other, focusing our attention back on the server. We shake our heads in unison.

“Enjoy,” the server says.

The wings are always served in a plastic, wire basket with paper inside. They are loaded with barbecue sauce, but the fries and vegetables are separate from them, so they don’t get sauce all over them.

I watch Violet as she drizzles ranch dressing all over her salad, but it’s the smile growing on her face that’s making my heart beat fast.

In all fairness, she always makes my heart beat like the sound of a drummer performing at a rock concert.

now

VIOLET

Grayson’s memory is impeccable.

Sometimes I don’t remember what I did yesterday, but this man remembers the tiniest details about me that I believe are insignificant.

The interesting thing is Ialsoremember certain things he does or small personality traits about him because I care about him so much.

There are people in our lives we know everything about because we consider them as family. For me, my friends are my family. I’m a very lucky person to not only have that, but to say that I do.

The sound of my chewing brings me back to the restaurant and Grayson.

Looking down at my salad, I’m overwhelmed by how massive it is. They most likely threw an entire bag of lettuce in this with a large piece of grilled chicken sliced up. There’s so much color from the guacamole, corn, salsa, black beans, and cotija cheese.

I wish I could bring it home with me, but I don’t think it will travel well.

Stabbing my fork full of all the elements of my salad, I slowly chew on all of the food. I don’t need another coughing fit to happen again.

I barely look at Grayson’s basket, and I see two wings left. He ate all of his fries, but his veggies are still there.

To this day, I’ll never understand how this man’s appetite works. Whenever we ate anything together, he always ate everything before I could take my first bite. If I eat too fast, I get heartburn.

I envy him for that.

“Is there a scientific reason why you always finish most of your food before I start eating mine?”

“Yeah, it’s called me being a dude.”