“It’s Not the Potatoes”

Abby looked up from her plate of food, scrunched up her brow. She knew something was bothering Alex, but she couldn’t figure out exactly what it could be. He’d been quiet, somber even, for the past couple of days.

She watched him quietly as he pushed around the food on his plate, lost in his thoughts. Finally, she couldn’t stand it any longer and broke the silence, “You know, if you don’t like the potatoes, I’m sure Andy won’t mind making you something different.”

“Hmm?” he asked, looking up at her, “What was that?”

She pointed to his plate, “The potatoes... you’ve been stirring them around for the past 15 minutes. If they’re not to your liking, I’m sure Andy won’t mind exchanging them for something else.”

He looked down at the mess he’d made of his meal, grimaced, “Oh, um... they’re fine, really. It’s... um... not the food.”

Abby cocked an eyebrow at him, picked up her napkin and wiped it across her mouth, then laid it back in her lap. “Oh, well then, if it’s not the food... it must be the company then?”

“The...compan...,” he started to ask, then realization set in, “Oh! No, no... really, Abby, it’s not you, sweetheart. It’s...,” he looked up into her big brown eyes, let out a sigh, “it’s nothing, really.”

“Well, it must be something, Alex,” she told him, “you haven’t been yourself in days. If you’ve changed your mind... if you want me to leave, really, just tell me.”

“That’s the last thing I want, for you to leave,” Alex told her, his lips curved up into a slight smile, “you’re the best thing that’s happened to me, doll. I just... I don’t want to fuck it up, ya know?”

“Well then, let me in, tell me what’s bothering you,” she reached out, placing a hand on his, “maybe I can help.”

“Thanks,” he smiled at her, “Maybe you can, maybe you can’t. I don’t know, I just know that I care a lot about you and I don’t want to lose you.”

“Oh Alex,” she told him, quietly, “you aren’t gonna lose me, sweetie. I care a lot about you, too, which is why I’m concerned about what’s been bothering you.”

“Heh... you might not say that if you knew...,” he muttered under his breath.

“What was that?” she asked, not quite sure she heard what he’d said.

“Nothing, nothing, really. Look, you wanna get outta here? Go have some fun somewhere? I don’t know about you, but I been goin’ stir-crazy lately, need to stretch my legs a bit, get some fresh air.”

“Go somewhere?” Abby asked, curiously, “Like where?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he ran a hand through his hair, thinking, “How ‘bout to the beach? We could rent a little place there, stay the weekend, or longer, if you like. How about it?”

“Yeah, okay,” she said, “that sounds great. Let’s do it.”

“Good, it’s settled then,” he replied, happily. “I’ll just pay the tab and we can pack up a few things, make a couple of calls and head out. I heard about this great little place up the coast... a buddy of mine told me about... real secluded.”

“Sounds romantic,” Abby grinned at him.

Maybe that’s all he needs, time away from this place, she thought to herself, as she followed Alex out of the restaurant and up to their room to pack.