Melanie touched his hand, jumping back when he started awake and looked up at her with wide, bloodshot eyes. It was late, almost 2 am. It was almost time to close, and the diner had been dead empty, save for the sleeping patron, for nearly an hour. She blinked in surprise at the intensity in his gaze.
"I...I'm sorry." The man frowned, and raked his hand back through his sandy blonde curls, which just fell back impishly into blindingly green eyes. "What time is it?" He tapped his watch, but belatedly remembered that it had been dead for a couple days. Habit kept it around his wrist, and a poor memory kept him from making the trip to the store to retain the batteries necessary to get it going again.
Melanie looked up at the clock on the wall, and smiled softly. "It's 1:50, sir, in the morning. I hate to bother you, as you seemed to be so peaceful, but we do close at two, and I'll need to bus this table..." She tugged on the short hem of her skirt and gave him a tiny, dimpled grin. Her thick brown hair was stalk straight, and lay most of the way down her back. She considered herself mousey - but there wasn't much mousey about big chocolate doe eyes and full, pretty lips. She didn't wear much makeup, and didn't need it. She simply smiled at the man, waiting for him to get up, to move, to do anything other than continue staring at her.
"Mel'nie." He mumbled sleepily, eyeing her name tag. "Mel'nie Tanner?" She froze in spot. How did he know her last name? Well, it had been her name, before....well. She stiffened and frowned, nodding her head. He smirked. "Long time no see, Mel." Melanie eyed the stranger - or, apparently, a man who was less a stranger than she'd once imagined - and then laughed softly, cocking her hip to the side and tapping her fingers on the jutted bone.
"Well I'll be. What're you doin' around here again, Austin?" She dropped her smirk and smiled softly. It was no wonder she hadn't been able to recognize him, his hair had been darker, and short. She was certain those muscles were relatively new, as well. She blushed, realizing that she was leering at him a bit. She leaned down and gave him a quick squeeze. Austin Peck had graduated with her, but that'd been at least ten years ago. She self consciously wrapped her arms around her stomach; he wasn't the only one who'd put on a little weight...Sadly, the only person who could look at dainty little Melanie Tanner Cole and call her fat, was herself.
Austin smiled and gave her a hug. "Sorry if I caught you off guard. God damned if you don't look a day over eighteen." He grinned, and she blushed softly. "Sorry, didn't mean to embarrass you. Let me buy you a drink?"
Melanie shook her head, quickly. "Nah. My shift ends when we're done here, if you want to hang around, we can head to my place and I'll get you a real drink." She winked at him and took his coffee cup, sauntering a bit into the kitchen. Finally out of eyeshot, Melanie leaned back against the wall, nearly panting. Zelda, the big black woman who owned the diner that was her namesack, laughed loudly.
"Who IS that handsome devil, Melly?" Zelda grinned. "By the Lord, that boy is beautiful!" Zelda peeked out through the glass window in the door, smacking her lips together, causing Melanie to fall into a peal of girlish giggles.
"Austin Peck. We went to high school together. He dated a friend of mine, they left about six months after we graduated. Honestly, I never thought I'd be running into him again!" Melanie smiled and bit her bottom lip nervously. "He didn't look like -that- back then, though...he was a late bloomer, glasses and freckles, and he was all limbs." She peeked out, herself. "Not anymore, hmmm?" She grinned at Zelda, who snapped her favorite waitress with a bar towel.