chapter 2

“Great” beamed Marie “and to drink?”

“Ice water will be fine”

“Are you sure? We’re famous for our milkshakes”

“Oh lord no!” laughed the man “nothing like that”

“Well, the ice water is free of charge but we have an amazing batch of citrus crush in from the local soda company if I could tempt ya?” Marie thought she might be pushing her luck but the gent soon relented.

“I do like a cold glass of soda”

“I’ll bring one right out, you take a seat at a table and make yourself comfortable”

Marie once again used the CCTV footage to spy on her customer as she grabbed the bottle of soda from the refrigerator.

“No surprise he didn’t pick a booth with a gut like that” she thought gleefully as she watched him take a seat. “Seems like he’s concerned about his weight a little though but no worry, I love a challenge.”



Marie wasted little time preparing the customer’s meal and served it with a smile.

“Here’s your burger, exactly how you ordered it” she lied through her teeth before placing the meal down before him “if you need anything just give me a shout...” Marie paused, prompting the man to finally reveal his name.

“Jack” he grunted as he licked his lips at the sight of his juicy cheeseburger and Marie retreated to a spot behind the counter, pretending to wipe it down as she watched her plan move into action.

A number of bites in and she could tell that Jack had picked up on her little “mistake”.

“Is everything okay?” she asked as she noticed a look of confusion appear on Jack’s face.

“Oh, yeah no problem”

“Are you sure” she probed, “I noticed a little grimace there”

“Yeah, it’s just that I was expecting bacon, that’s all”

“Oh my, did I forget the bacon?” asked Marie, knowing full well that she had done just that, “I am so, so sorry, let me go and get that for you right now.”

“It’s okay, really!” Jack called after her but she was already in the kitchen, setting her plan in motion.



Before long she returned with another plate and set it down in front of Jack.

“What’s this?” asked a confused Jack

“It’s your order, correct this time. I even did you some extra bacon as a way to say sorry.” she smiled sweetly.

“You really didn’t have to do that” grumbled Jack “I’ve pretty much finished my meal”

Marie looked at his plate and verified that was true, there was a few bites of his cheeseburger left along with a couple of fries and a single onion ring.

“Well, we have a reputation to uphold here and I won’t have people leaving saying we short-changed them on something” she said as slid his current plate to the side and pushed another bacon cheeseburger, fries and onion rings in front of him. “I’ll go grab you another soda on the house too”

“There’s really no need” Jack called after Marie but she was already back in the kitchen.