Matthew Neil
Feb 20th, 2003, 01:11:42 PM
A table in an inconspicuous corner was where the man had chosen to seat himself. While he didn't feel the bar to be the most secure surroundings, it was somewhere he was growing familiar with. He was clinging to that feeling of repetition, though he had a distinct axiousness about doing so. It was this that had been the motivation for contacting his awaited company.
Matthew Neil sat rigidly, hands clasped in his lap. A glass of water sat untouched, directly in from of him on the tabletop. Absently he prodded his left wisdom tooth, flinching unnoticeably as the tender gums protested. Well he hadn’t done it absently. Matthew didn’t do anything absently, he had found. Everything was done in total awareness, calculated to work an advantage. He’d been trying to figure out just how bad the tooth was and judging from it, it could be an at-home job.
“Can I get you something other than that water?”
It was the waitress. Again. Matthew shook his head.
“No.”
She smiled and leaned an arm on the table, preparing to talk.
“You’ve been coming here pretty regular lately.”
“Yes.”
There was no need for him to encourage a conversation. But the woman, who couldn’t have been much older than twenty-three, didn’t pick up on his aloofness.
“Do you live around here?”
“Yes.”
Not a lie. He did live nearby, for the moment. She grinned teasingly.
“What’s your name?”
Matthew stared straight ahead, avoiding any eye contact that might make him seem eager.
“Sam.”
“Well Sam, I get off in—“
“You’re married.”
The waitress stopped and looked at him, flustered.
“What? Now what makes you say that?”
Matthew looked at her for the first time. His gaze drifted to her hand and then snapped back to her face. Motioning her to come closer, Matt smiled and tilted his head in a conspirational manner.
“How happy do you think your husband would be if he knew you didn’t wear your ring at work?”
There was a ghostly circle around her ring finger where the band usually was. Matt grinned and resumed his prior position as the waitress did her best to walk away gracefully.
The man closed his eyes for a moment and went through a mental list of those in the bar, a practice he performed often that calmed his nerves. He was hoping to reel in some insight as to why he did just such exercises. Hopefully this rendezvous would be the start of a long haul to answers.
Matthew Neil sat rigidly, hands clasped in his lap. A glass of water sat untouched, directly in from of him on the tabletop. Absently he prodded his left wisdom tooth, flinching unnoticeably as the tender gums protested. Well he hadn’t done it absently. Matthew didn’t do anything absently, he had found. Everything was done in total awareness, calculated to work an advantage. He’d been trying to figure out just how bad the tooth was and judging from it, it could be an at-home job.
“Can I get you something other than that water?”
It was the waitress. Again. Matthew shook his head.
“No.”
She smiled and leaned an arm on the table, preparing to talk.
“You’ve been coming here pretty regular lately.”
“Yes.”
There was no need for him to encourage a conversation. But the woman, who couldn’t have been much older than twenty-three, didn’t pick up on his aloofness.
“Do you live around here?”
“Yes.”
Not a lie. He did live nearby, for the moment. She grinned teasingly.
“What’s your name?”
Matthew stared straight ahead, avoiding any eye contact that might make him seem eager.
“Sam.”
“Well Sam, I get off in—“
“You’re married.”
The waitress stopped and looked at him, flustered.
“What? Now what makes you say that?”
Matthew looked at her for the first time. His gaze drifted to her hand and then snapped back to her face. Motioning her to come closer, Matt smiled and tilted his head in a conspirational manner.
“How happy do you think your husband would be if he knew you didn’t wear your ring at work?”
There was a ghostly circle around her ring finger where the band usually was. Matt grinned and resumed his prior position as the waitress did her best to walk away gracefully.
The man closed his eyes for a moment and went through a mental list of those in the bar, a practice he performed often that calmed his nerves. He was hoping to reel in some insight as to why he did just such exercises. Hopefully this rendezvous would be the start of a long haul to answers.