The Princess and the Welder

Ch. 3 “Breakfast with a side of palpable tension”


Part 1


He parked his truck and angled out of the cab. The air smelled so much cleaner here, more refreshing and crisp. They were only ten miles outside of the city, but it felt worlds away. All his old mannerisms started to come back. With each step, he felt his old arrogant swagger return. He reached up and tugged his hair back into a semi-neat ponytail. His mother was going to demand that he cut it. Dee, on the other hand, would love it, he was sure.
He quickly trudged up the few stairs and ed ted the door open. The breakfast fumes flooded the corridor. He shrugged his jacket off his broad shoulders and opened the door.
Munder glanced around quickly. He knew everyone, of course. The Bakers were seated at the counter. The Smith’s and Hackett’s along the window bars; and his parents and the Thompson’s in the middle of the room. He took one further step into the room.
“Jack? Jack! Oh my God, it’s Jack! George, Phil…Guilianna…Jack’s home!” Lori said. She stood up in her chair, staring at her only son.
Munder quickly strode over to the table and embraced his mother, “Hi Ma.”
Lori gripped her son tightly. She had missed him very much over the past year. “Oh my son! You’re finally home,” her head settled up on the back of his head. “What is this?” she asked, tugging at his hair.
He just laughed in response. “Lori, Lori…Lori, leave him alone!” Phil bellowed.
Munder immediately turned to shake his dad’s (his step father actually) hand. Phil smiled warmly and pulled him into a hug. After hugging George and kissing Guilianna on the cheek, Munder sat down in his usual seat.
Only then did he realize that a very important person was missing, “Where the hell is Dee?”
George groaned. Guilianna replied quickly after that, “She’ll be along shortly, Jack.”
Munder nodded. Dee probably slept in this morning. Of all Sundays! She was probably going to be very mad when she finally got here. That thought brought an even bigger smile to his face.
As if on cue, Angela swayed over to the table, “Well, lookee who’s back home!” The young waitress suddenly had sprung to life, no slouching…she stood straight, shoulders back, her chest stuck out at an almost impossible angle. “The usual, there Munder?”
He just smiled, “Can you remember my usual, Angela? It’s been a while since I’ve ordered it.”
The waitress’ tongue ran across her upper lip, “I remember everything about you, Munder…”she said in a deep, husky voice.
Phil, George, Lori and Guilianna exchanged smirks but all conveniently glanced somewhere else. ‘Probably trying not to laugh’ Munder thought but still he grinned, “Nice to know you haven’t forgotten me, I was gone for so long.”
Angela regained her broken composure, “It’s hard to forget anything about you. I’ll get your order in pronto.”
“Thanks, Ang,” he said with a wink.
George reached for his coffee, “Still breakin hearts, I see.”
Munder shook his head and made a face, “Nah, just having some fun.”
“How’s business going?” Phil questioned.
Munder inwardly sighed. Whenever he came home, he had to defend his job to his dad, “It’s going very well. As you can see I haven’t been home for a year…we’ve got to be doing something right out there.”
“How’s Mr. Murphy and little Maureen?” his mother said.
He wished Epps could be here every time his mother referred to her as ‘Little Maureen’. “Everyone is awesome. Greer’s actually getting married in two days. We’re all tired, but good as always.”
Then Guilianna asked the age old question, “How long are you home this time?”
“Three maybe four months, unless a huge job appears out of nowhere,” he replied, hoping it would pacify Guilianna and her mother. Everyone did seem pleased to hear this, he was glad.

Fifteen minutes later, Angela came back balancing a tray of plates. She carefully handed dish by dish until everyone had what they ordered. She flashed Munder a quick smile and was off toward the kitchen again. They began to eat. Munder questioned how things in town were.
“Well, Mabel Surowitz died last August,” Guilianna told.
Munder’s fork stopped midway to his mouth, “No way, really?” he couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face.
His mother seeing this, reached across the table and smacked him, “Jack…”
“I’m sorry, Ma, but she made our lives a living hell during high school. At least, she won’t be able to torment children any longer,” Munder shook his head. He had spent countless hours in detention his freshmen year because of Ms. Surowitz.
“Well, you should still be respectful, Jack…” his mother’s voice trailed off in his head. Well, she was still talking, but he had stopped listening.
Dee.
There she was, his princess.
She was always a breath of fresh air wherever she went. Through no fault of her own, all eyes were drawn to her. That’s just the way things were. His eyes followed her as she stepped over to the counter and said hi to Sammy Baker.
Sammy laughed at something Dee had said. Dee raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. They both laughed. Dee had not changed much at all, Munder realized. Her dark brown hair still fell just past her shoulders. Her clear sky-blue eyes still could not hide emotion, at least not from him. He could see that her jeans still hugged her legs and curves in all the right places.
Even as she was still speaking to Sammy, a guy entered the room. He marched his way right up behind Dee and slid her jacket off of her shoulders. Dee smiled sweetly at him and said goodbye to Sammy. **Whoa, this is different!**