spwilcen
A look back always suggests things might have been different.
Blue Eyes
Thirty-odd years ago, the place was just a bistro. Good Italian food. Better atmosphere.
Blue Eyes came in. Alone. And sad.
Though I owned the place, I waited tables, just starting out, you see? I suggested dinner. She agreed.
We hit it off. For several months she was regular. So was I. Suddenly, she stopped coming in.
I focused on business. It was easier that way. Lost track.
Two years later, the place was doing well. Great Italian food and a reputation. My bartender and I were chatting, listening to the kitchen close-down.
Blue Eyes came in on the arm of a well-heeled gent. Floor staff gone already, I waited the table. Nervously, those eyes pleaded as she shook her head ‘no’ at my unspoken question. I knew what she meant, you see?
He was big politics. Won the state house.
Newspapers told of two children and a mistake.
Thirty years. The place is gangbusters now. Best in the tri-state area.
Almost closing time. Blue Eyes walked in. A little older. Alone. And sad.
Sending the best staff to her table, I stopped by for a word. We never discussed any of it.
Sometimes you can’t start over. You see?
© spwilcenski 2020
spwilcenwrites 10/29/2020
Ramblings 