Friday, October 20, 2006 7:08 p.m.

With the same table and even the same waiter as last week, Cindy was starting to feel more like her life was going around in a loop. Granted, working at Mel's Diner was pretty routine in itself, but she generally liked to mix up her weekend activities by going to the library, shopping, cleaning her apartment, or even just getting on the bus and riding it around town. Sitting at the same table in the middle of the Phoenix Grill while the same waiter hesitatingly refilled her water glass was almost too humiliating.

"Will Miss actually be ordering something tonight or will she just content herself by drinking several glasses of water and then leaving?" The glare she shot up at the waiter was more than enough to let him know that his attempt at levity had not been taken well.

"I apologize." He once again bowed back into the dim shadows of the restaurant.

Cindy couldn't help but wonder why she had agreed to a second date considering the fact that the first had never even happened. Then again, she was far too used to lowering her expectations considering how often guys gave her the brush-off via phone or email. Honestly, how could she be mad at Aram? The next day he went into the dinerlooking for her, even though she was not scheduled that day. He kept coming in and apologizing through the week after that until she agreed to see him for dinner that Friday morning as she poured him his third cup of coffee.

Maybe she should have listened to her co-workers when they told her that she was crazy for agreeing to see him. Then again, Cindy always believed in giving people second chances, even if they didn't always believe in giving her a second chance. Six waiting jobs in the past few years only led her around her hometown and the surrounding burroughs, but somehow she ended up at Mel's for a more permanent stay. In all truth, it was her very first job from when she was in high school. Even after she had left for the first time, Mel had told her that she was free to come back any time she wanted, that there would always be a place and an apron with a nametag for her. By the way things were looking now, it would most likely be her last job.

The ice shifted in the glass after some of it had melted. Cindy was starting to reach her limit again. By all rights, she should just go to the bathroom and leave. Nonetheless, she had come hungry. This time she would order something, whether or not Aram would actually show up. It didn't even matter to her that she couldn't pronounce anything on the menu. Most likely, a lot of people who came to the Phoenix Grill needed help from the waiters. What was nice was that a brief listing of the main ingredients was printed beneath each item.

The korma looked good since it was mild and Cindy didn't have much experience with spicy food other than her father's chili recipe, which only consisted of opening a can of chili and dumping almost half a bottle of tabasco sauce in it. The only problem she had was that she couldn't decide whether she wanted chicken or lamb. Perhaps lamb was more "authentic" and chicken was the familiar alternative anyone could agree on. There was also the vegetarian option, but she could hardly imagine a meal without meat. Aram had mentioned that he was a vegetarian. Cindy still hadn't found out if it was for religious or merely personal ethical reasons. One of the college students who had eaten at the diner late one night had left a pamphlet about the factory farm system. The images of the diseased animals in cramped pens were hardly appetizing, but Cindy was a hard sell on vegetarianism nonetheless.

Maybe she would get a side order of Naan bread with the korma. She wasn't sure if it was pronounced like "non" or the name "Nan" or even an odd combination of the two like "nay-on" with the a-sounds separated. She had seen trays of it pass by with the warm buttery smell filling the air. It was large and uneven, not quite like the pita bread she had seen at the store. Cindy had seen food preparation at Mel's, where "baking bread" meant to thaw a frozen slab of dough from the manufacturer, and then tear it into perfect spherical shapes and baking in the oven for awhile. Yet there was something fascinating about this misshapen flatbread. She imagined that it was made fresh from scratch with the flour, yeast and other ingredients mixed and kneaded by hand. She pictured an iron skillet heating over the stove greased with real butter.

All this thinking about food, not to mention the delicious smells in the air only continued to whet Cindy's rather ravenous appetite. After years of taking home meals from the diner, she definitely needed a change. Perhaps it was like how other women got a different haircut or changed their wardrobes and managed to get their lives back together afterward. Cindy knew that was probably silly. In her case, she never seemed to have her life together at all in the first place.

She raised her eyes and turned her head to see where her waiter was so she could indicate that yes, she was finally ready to order. Instead of finding him, she saw Aram walking quickly over to her table.

"I'm sorry I'm late." He smiled nervously.

"It's okay." For some reason, Cindy actually believed that she meant it when she said that.

"No, it's not. I usually pride myself on punctuality, so what I did last week was inexcusable." Aram seemed to be beating himself up quite a bit over this. Cindy thought it was excessive, but he definitely tried harder than anyone else she had gone out on a date with to get her to like him.

"Well, let's not dwell on that. At least you're here now." Cindy flashed a smile at him and motioned for him to take a seat.

Why was it that important to him? In all truth, any interest men had taken in Cindy through her rather mundane past was half-hearted at best. Even if she and Aram might have nothing to talk about, it seemed like Aram would put a great deal of effort into that nothing. It didn't seem like he was physically attracted to her, especially considering how much older she was than him. Well, maybe not that much. She knew that sometimes women cruised for men twenty years their junior sometimes. Then again, she wasn't exactly the glamorous Hollywood type anyway.

Aram gestured to the waiter, who smiled at Cindy as if to say "Well, look who finally made it." as he walked over. Cindy noticed that Aram didn't bother even glancing at the menu, let alone survey his options. He ordered a cup of masala chai and some naan bread and a bowl of sambar, which from Cindy's reading of the menu was some sort of spicy lentil soup. This seemed light compared to her ordering an order of lamb korma with rice and naan bread. Upon remembering that Aram was a vegetarian, she wondered if it was ok with him that she ordered something with meat in it.

"What? You looked like you were about to say something." He looked up at her after removing his coat.

"Oh, I just feel silly for ordering something with meat." Cindy felt her face warm a bit.

"Why?"

"No reason, I was just afraid it would offend you."

"Why would you think that?" Aram laughed as if she had said something ridiculous.

"I don't know, because you're a vegetarian and all..."

"Oh, so you were afraid I wouldn't approve?" Aram took a long drink from his ice water. "Don't worry. I don't eat meat as a personal preference. I just don't believe it is healthy, but at the same time, I would never go around telling other people that they should do as I do just because."

"Oh." Now Cindy really did feel ridiculous. Worse yet, she couldn't hide the fact that she had nothing to say with a drink of water because she had just drank this one down to the cubes again.

Fortunately, the friendly waiter had returned to refill her water and bring Aram's steaming cup of masala chai.

"Your food will be out shortly," he said briefly before disappearing again.

Cindy could smell the spices rising from the small clay cup. From reading the menu so many times, she realized that there were probably as many spices in that little cup of tea as there were in most of the dishes. Something about this was unnerving to her. Perhaps it was just the idea of a beverage usually served with a sweetener like sugar or honey served with spices used with savory dishes as well that violated her usual ideas of what food should taste like. Then again, this was what she had set out to do in the first place.

"Would you like to try some?" Aram noticed that Cindy had been staring at his cup.

"No, I don't think I'd like it." She shrugged and shook her head.

"How would you know until you try?" Aram lightly pushed the cup across the table.

"No, but thanks though." She slid the cup back to its original place in front of him.

"It's funny, but this is often used in place of coffee as a morning starter." He blew across the top and took a small sip.

"Why is that funny?"

"Well, I wasn't really a coffee drinker until I came here, or more specifically, to your diner." He explained. "This place doesn't open until lunch time, so it's not like I can come here before going to work."

"Ah." Cindy smiled. "So, I guess we wouldn't have met in that case."

"No, I guess not."