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The first thing Izzy noticed about the man is the fact he’s wearing a plain navy suit in the middle of summer. Granted, he assumed that’s not unusual for the business types that work in the highrises downtown, but that’s miles away, and it’s almost midnight. The second thing Izzy noticed is the look on the man’s face; like he’s seen dozens of horrors and has no capacity to comprehend it any longer. He was a shade of pale that impressed even Izzy, despite the few visible freckles.
Izzy watched the man push through the doors into the diner, and to Izzy it was reminiscent of a moth drawn to flame, seeing as their diner was the only thing still open, the glowing sign a welcoming beacon to anyone passing by. From where Izzy stood by the bar watching, the silence broken only by the jingle of the bell above the door, he saw just how wretched the man appeared. He picked up a laminated menu from the server’s station, filled a glass of water, and followed the man to the cushioned padded bench that stretched the length of the wall where he all but dropped between tables.
Setting the menu and the glass of water down on the closer table, Izzy waited a few beats before speaking. “Welcome in. Take a look at the menu. Have some water. Breath. Keep breathing. I’ll be back in a few.” He did not wait for an answer and wandered away to the kitchen to find Ed in the midst of his hyper focus on cleaning. Izzy stood in Ed’s line of sight and waited for the other man to notice.
Ed finally gave Izzy his full attention, “Hey, ‘sup? Did I hear the bell?”
“Yeah. A mess came in,” Izzy moved to stare out of the window towards the man who’s blank stare was stuck on the wall opposite. Ed joined him at the door and looked, letting out a low whistle.
“He’s cute.”
“Looks like he’s in shock.”
“You just had to say it was a quiet night, didn’t you?”
“Fuck off, Edward,” Izzy groused back, going a bit red, because of course, not twenty minutes ago he’d commented what a nice quiet night it had been. He wasn’t superstitious, but the universe often enjoyed fucking him in that way.
“I’d really prefer not heating up the kitchen again, so maybe steer him towards ordering a cold sandwich, or salad, or something I can heat up in the press. If you come back and he wants a full breakfast, they will never find your body.”
“Fuck off,” Izzy repeated, without heat, and pushed his way through the swinging door and approached the man with eyes so glazed, Izzy wondered if he should even bother the man. Clearly he had some shit to work through. He tried anyway. “Need anything?”
Unsurprisingly, the man remained still, frozen, unmoving with eyes fixed, unseeing.
“Well, just holler if that changes,” Izzy returned to the kitchen and went to the office to begin his part of the end of day routine.
Ed’s head appeared in the office some unknown time later. “Hey, did you get an order off of Blondie?”
“Hm?” Izzy looked up, confused, his eyes shifting to the clock on the wall and then down to his watch to confirm that nearly forty minutes had elapsed. “Christ. He still here?”
“Hasn’t moved ‘s far as I can tell.”
Izzy sighed and stood, stretching his back and rolling his neck. “Fix us something to eat. We’ll sit with him, maybe he just needs some company.”
“Sure thing. Can you drop this plate at his table?” Ed held out the plate with a spread of his own safe foods he kept on hand to munch on. Crackers, grapes, squares of cheese, different nuts, raisins and craisins, and a sliced orange. “Oh and–” He picked up a glass of apple juice.
“Smart,” Izzy’s lip twitched at his partner’s thoughtfulness. They had both been down these roads before and could recognize it as easily as smelling rain in the air. Izzy took the plate and apple juice while Ed busied himself with fixing their dinners, and wandered out to the restaurant. Sure enough the man was still rooted to the bench, eyes glued on the opposite wall.
Izzy approached within the man’s eyeline and set the plate and glass down beside the water. “Glad to see you’re still breathing. I know it’s hard. Keep it up. Here’s some nosh when you’re ready. Take your time.” He turned and headed to the front to switch off the open sign and the bar’s neon glowing sign, and bring the sandwich board in from the sidewalk. He turned the lock on the door and returned to the bar to fill two glasses with water just as Ed was pushing he way through the kitchen door with two plates of heated up leftovers. Izzy grabbed two silverware bundles, a stack of napkins, and met Ed at the table.
They sat across from the man and just talked. Mostly about nothing; the going ons of their regulars, interpersonal drama among their staff, thoughts on upcoming specials, the going rate of local produce, the pros versus cons of trying out brunch on the weekends.
“All you can eat and bottomless drinks are the biggest draw to brunch, Iz.”
“Yeah, and bottomless drinks are a recipe for disaster. We’re a divvy biker bar, Ed, not one of those downtown types.”
“Could be if we wanted,” Ed huffed, “Could do anything.”
At the squeak, Ed and Izzy both turned to look at the man, his face had screwed up and all of a sudden he was sobbing. Ed’s chair tipped over as he jumped up and moved to sit beside the man, Izzy following to his otherside.
“There you go, mate,” Ed whispered, hovering close enough to offer warmth, but not touching, Izzy mirrored the action on the other side.
The sound of his deep guttural sobs echoed through the bar, Izzy reached for a napkin from the stack and held it out to the sobbing mess of a man. Surprisingly, the man managed to reach for the napkin, but his aim was off and instead his hand closed around Izzy’s fist and squeezed, holding on tight.
They spoke to him in soft tones, innocuous words of comfort and safety. Never once trying to tell him it would be okay–they didn’t know that. They had both been here before, often alone, but this time they could draw their strength from each other and use the tools they had learned to offer this complete stranger a port in the storm.
“Perfect, mate, you’re doing so good.”
“That was a great deep breath.”
“Don’t force yourself through it. You’re safe.”
Izzy placed his other hand on top of the stranger’s hand and applied a bit of pressure to give him something else to focus on. He could see that Ed had moved closer, closing the gap, and the man leaned into Ed. Slowly the sobs finally ebbed, leaving the man gasping for air and a soppy, sniveling mess. Without moving much, Ed reached and picked up a few napkins and held them up for the man.
“You’re doing great. When you’re ready, take a napkin and try blowing your nose.”
Finally, after so much time had passed, the man visibly relaxed between them. He took the offered napkins, blew his nose several times, drank some water, then wiped up his face a bit. He polished off the juice, swallowed several morsels from the plate whole. Then he took a deep breath.
“I think that was your best breath yet!” Izzy genuinely smiled and turned a bit to look at the man, who smiled back at him.
“Thanks.”
“Any time,” Izzy said, and he absolutely meant it. “Need anything?”
The man thought about it while he continued taking his deep breaths. He looked at the plate of easy-eat foods and hummed, “I don’t think so. You didn’t have to–”
“Nah, mate, I’m gonna stop you there. Being kind is free and we didn’t do anything we didn’t want to.” Ed pressed back in a bit of a nudge, even though he was practically glued to the stranger.
“Even so, I’m immeasurable grateful for your kindness. I’m Stede.”
“Hi Stede. I’m Ed. That’s Izzy,” Ed smiled, “Glad you’re on the upswing. If you want to talk about anything, you can.”
Stede took another deep breath, “Maybe. But for now, I want to finish this food… and if you don’t know, I’d like you both to stay right here–if that’s alright with you.”
“‘S perfect, mate,” Ed pressed in so Stede could feel the pressure. “If you liked anything in particular, I can get more.”
“Maybe. I'm okay. I feel warm and cozy, and I’d like to keep that feeling for a bit longer.” Stede reached out to the plate and continued eating.
“Then we’ll stay just like this for as long as you like,” Izzy said, keeping his hand close in case Stede wanted to hold it again. “Want us to keep chattering?”
“Yeah, that was nice. I think I’d like to come here for Brunch. I’d hope you’d do it nothing like the stuffy restaurants downtown. You wouldn’t have to do a buffet, you could do small plates, like tapas, you know? Offer a la carte options and smaller fares. Then do a few different drink specials, like one of those crazy bloody mary concoctions with an entire BLT on top.” Stede relaxed back against the cushioned wall and sighed.
“Yeah! Izzy remember we went to that place that had the entire skewer in the bloody mary?” Ed grinned, “Kinda tasted like ass, but the pageantry was on point.”
“See that’s where you must be better. No one is going to order a second bad drink. They’ll get it for the ‘gram–as my kids say–and then it mostly goes to waste. Infuse your vodkas and offer a build your own Bloody Mary; could do mimosas that way with a skewer of fruit. Go with a coupe instead of the traditional flute, colorful sugar rim with a skewer of seasonal fruits, topped with fresh squeezed juice. See that’s where the stuffy places go wrong. The juice is poor watered down concentrate paired with cheap champagne. The champagne plays such a small role in the mimosa, it all hinges on a great juice.”
“You’re a lunatic–”
“Yes, well–”
“I like it. Tell me more about your opinions on Brunch.”
“Fuck sake.”
