Dinner plans

Wow, I did a lot of sleeping last night. Might have been related to the two mezcal margaritas I had for dinner along with some barilla tacos. 

My car was finished by about 3:30 PM after having two tires and a snapped tie rod replaced and the wheels realigned (to the extent that it's still possible). Well, I've got two new front tires to face the winter with, if it ever decides to come to Massachusetts. No snow or ice here yet. That car has traveled 413,000 miles with me so far though. The fenders are rusted out and covered in gorilla tape, the bumpers are cracked, the roof is dented in, the arthritic door hinges make strange sounds as they open and close, the motor runs on just two cylinders and burns so much oil I no longer have to get it changed. It won't pass inspection anymore. The mechanic, as he was charging me $536, told me I ought to write a letter to Hyundai. None of them go that far, he said. 

I drove over to the next town to obtain a signature on a Health Care Savings Account form that will enable reimbursement of the six hundred dollars I paid out of pocket for two pairs of glasses. One of them has  what was described as three-stage progressive lenses. The top part of the lense is for distance, the middle is for looking at computer screens, and the bottom is for reading. If I can master them, it will save me having to constantly take them off and put them on based on the vision demands thrust upon me at any given moment. The optometrist was suffering a barrage of hiccups but she signed the form without question.

The Mexican place was next door. It was a little early for dinner, but I figured it wouldn't be crowded. I sat  at one of the corners of the three-sided square bar. There weren't too many people there. I started with a beer. A man came in, calculated a safe and appropriate distance from me, and selected a stool leaving two unoccupied between us. My initial reaction to him was one of mild dislike. A woman came in and joined him. I liked her better. Something about her face. I'd guess they were both in their forties, but I'm getting less accurate with those estimates as I age. Probably has something to do with not wanting to acknowledge the growing distance between us. 

Anyway, I mention this because I kept finding myself staring at the woman. They were far enough away, and the place was sufficiently noisy that I could not hear their conversation, but something held my interest. She was attentive to him. Her eyes seemed to leave him only when she was taking a bite of her salad or a sip of her drink. His back was to me while she was facing in my direction. There was something delicate and exquisite about the bone structure of her face. She noticed me staring more than once and her response was completely neutral. Mostly, I got that way because I'd start thinking and drift off not realizing that I'd left my eyes on her. I was thinking that no one is going to look at me the way she is looking at him anymore. I noticed her caressing his thigh and I liked the man even less. It had not been difficult in my day dream to imagine myself replacing him until I realized that my dreaming was more delusion than possibility. I sat there confused and disoriented for a few minutes, probably still staring. 

There was a man sitting beside me to my left now. 

Any big plans for New Year's Eve? he asked. I realized he was talking to me. 

Not my kind of holiday, I replied. 

Mine either, he said. Just stay home and order Chinese.

How about you? I asked him absently.

Just staying home and ordering Chinese, he said.

I was still watching her. She was looking at him steadily now trying to reassure or convince him of something, I thought. Her red nails were tracing along his thigh a little faster. I experienced a sudden flash of memory. This guy's incredibly unlikeable face staring at the woman I was with from across the bar and the heavy steak knife I had in my hand. 

I thought it was probably a good time to leave. And so, I did.