SSS(SS) - Part 3

It’s not that people in Gurlberg like the Diner so much, it’s just the only place in town that works for generic meetings. There’s a coffee shop, but there’s barely any space inside so it’s too intimate. There are tables outside that are good during summer, but not during this weather. There’s a delicious, but trashy seafood restaurant that just isn’t right. There are places on campus, but Sal doesn’t want to meet on campus. So she sits in a booth with an untouched slice of pie. Everyone orders pie at the diner. It’s not good pie, but it’s cheap and it goes well with the strong coffee.

Sal is half afraid that Athena won’t show, but she does. Sal watches Athena climb out of her little white Prius, wearing a gray fluffy, short, chic jacket with a built-in scarf that swallows her upper half. It makes her lower half look delicate, even in her perfect little mom jeans. It’s a clear day, and her chestnut hair is glossy and flawless. She wears it loose and the cut is long and choppy.

She enters the diner wearing the only expression that Sal had ever seen on her: mild neutrality. Athena would always carry some tension when she interacted with Sal, but that was understandable. She never let her mask slip, no matter how much of a bitch Sal was to her.

Athena sits across from her, and Sal feels a nostalgic spark of resentment. Athena’s cool façade always pissed her off. It doesn’t do that now. It mainly just makes her feel inadequate.

Sal feels her mouth becoming a sour smile. She can’t help it. She’s almost glaring, and she’s the one who called Athena here. If anyone should be mad, it should be her.

“I thought that Meri’s role was to make sure that we didn’t have to do this,” Athena says lightly, smiling convincingly at the waitress, who goes to get coffee. “Or is this something else?” she asks, facing Sal.

Athena is wary, but she hides it well. She’s not afraid.

“It’s something else,” Sal replies. Her impression of calm is less convincing. She’s self-conscious. Did Athena have to put herself together so nicely for this meeting? It’s not a date. Sal feels like a gorilla in her jeans and Eddie Bauer coat. Her nails look ridiculous. She needs to get them done.

Athena looks expectant. Sal half-expects her to say something waspish, but she doesn’t.

Sal scowls and pulls the folded check out of her pocket. She puts it on the table and slides it across. Athena doesn’t touch it.

“What is that?” Athena asks, holding eye contact.

“It’s your money.” Sal clears her throat and looks out the window. “Not all of it. But that’s as much as I could put together.”

No reaction. “I didn’t know that was part of the deal,” Athena says finally.