Fear of Falling

breakfast is in order. We owe it to each other.”
    I put my menu on the table and narrowed my eyes. “And what if I don’t want breakfast?”
    Blaine grinned but didn’t get a chance to answer before a stocky-built young woman wearing an apron came by with glasses of iced tea.
    “Hey baby, been a while since we seen you ‘round here,” she said to Blaine. He smiled at her politely then nodded towards me.
    “Mavis, this is Kami. Kami, this is Mavis. Her family runs this old broken down joint.”
    Mavis flashed me a smile before smacking Blaine on the shoulder. “Hey now! If Mama hears you bad-mouthing her establishment, she’s liable to send you back to wash dishes. Don’t think you are above some real hard work, Blaine Jacobs. I knew you when you didn’t have two nickels to rub together,” she jibed.
    We all chuckled before Mavis turned her attention towards me. “Well, you two get back to your date. Mama will be by for your order. It was nice meeting you, Kami. And Blaine, try to stay outta trouble, ya hear? And you still owe me a bike.” Then she sashayed over to a table of rowdy teens.
    “A bike?” I asked once we were alone.
    Blaine shrugged. “She’s adamant that I stole her bike and rode it into a ditch when we were eight. It was actually CJ that did it, but I never ratted him out,” he winked.
    “Hmph. Interesting.” I picked up the menu and began scanning it again.
    “Seriously,” Blaine began, prompting me to lower the menu from my face. “Order whatever you want. You don’t have to get breakfast.”
    I simply nodded and went back to perusing the selections in silence until a squeal rang out from beside us.
    “You better stand up and give me a hug, you rascal!” the older grey-haired lady exclaimed.
    “Yes, ma’am,” Blaine smiled, standing up to wrap her tiny frame in his arms. He looked like a giant compared to her.
    “And who is this beauty?” she asked, smiling at me.
    “Ms. Patty, this is the lovely Kami Duvall. Kami, Ms. Patty has been whoopin’ my ass since the day I was born.”
    “Hush that mouth, boy,” she laughed, smacking him lightly with a rag. “Not in the presence of ladies. Now I know I taught you better’n that!”
    “Forgive me. You certainly did, Ms. Patty.”
    I couldn’t help but smile as she looked at Blaine with a loving pride that only a mother figure could possess. She loved Blaine, and I could tell that he loved her too. It made the walls around my heart crumble just a tiny bit more.
    “It is so good to finally meet you, Kami,” she said, grasping my hands with hers.
    I just barely stifled a yelp from the contact and tried my hardest to transform my grimace into a smile. “It’s really nice to meet you too, Ms. Patty.”
    “Oh, Blaine, she is just too precious,” she remarked, patting him on the back. The look on his face was pure adoration, and I found it hard to tear my eyes away from his.
    “Ok, what can I getcha? Blaine, you’ll have your usual, right?” Ms. Patty said, pulling out a pen and pad.
    “Yes, ma’am. Kami?” he nodded.
    I pushed the menu away and gave Blaine a wink. “And I’ll have whatever he’s having, please.”
    The spontaneity was unlike me in every way, but the look on Blaine’s face was worth it. I don’t know what I would call it. Not quite joy, not quite admiration. It was something else…something warm and gratifying. Something that gave me the urge to do whatever I could to make him look at me like that again.
    I must have gotten lost in those expressive eyes, because I totally forgot about Ms. Patty until she walked away, announcing that she would put our orders in right away. I shook my head, trying to regain my bearings.
    “You’re doing it again,” I said, grasping a neon green flyer on the table advertising a car detailing shop.
    “Doing what?”
    “Giving me that look. Like you’re studying me. Like you see something in me that’s invisible to everyone else.”
    “I’m sorry. Does it make you uncomfortable?”
    I shook my head, my fingers mindlessly tearing the paper. “No. Not really. But remember you said I distract you? And that’s why I couldn’t wear skirts?”
    I heard him chuckle, but I was too bashful to meet his gaze. I knew the Asian flush was in full effect.
    “Yet you have one on right now. Which you look incredible in, by the way. And it’s distracting the hell outta me.”
    I chewed my bottom lip, my face flaming like a 12-year old girl with Bieber Fever.