text: Olivia massaged her forehead and read, “Chalupas... Enchiladas... Gorditas... What is all this shit anyway?” “Honey, I believe it’s called ‘food’”, retorted her fiancé, with a smug little smirk in the corner of his mouth. He turned to the next page of the menu, being careful to mind the Band-Aid on his middle finger that covered a nick that would pulsate when disturbed, and began to scan the section labeled “COMBINATIONS”. “Hardy, har, har. ‘My name is Noah and I’m super funny’... You know what I mean. This is all the same stuff! No matter whether you get a burrito or a taco, it’s just meat, cheese, salsa, and some vegetables all inside of a tortilla. I call bullshit.” She said dropping the menu on the table in front of her, hitting hard enough on the small plastic corner protectors to make a fairly audible clacking noise. Noticing this noise was louder than she intended it to be, she shrank back into the safety of her side of the booth with her arms clutching her jacket closer to her chest and her eyes darting quickly around to make sure she didn’t draw any unwanted attention. "Okay, first of all, real tacos don’t have cheese in them. Trust me, I know a Mexican. Second of all, I don’t think you can call bullshit on food. If you think it’s all the same thing, then just pick something because you know you like all of the stuff that you just listed.” he said, lowering his menu in an effort to be the voice of reason. Olivia rolled her eyes and sat forward to look back at the menu again, while letting out a slow, deep sigh. She flipped a page and stared. She flipped another and began to twist her long blond hair around her index finger. Letting out an obviously bored sight, she flipped the final page and the back cover in quick succession and let her right hand rest firmly on top of it as though it were a Bible and she was being sworn in to give testimony, saying to Noah, “I’m going to the bathroom. If the waitress comes by, order for me.” Watching her get up and adjust her hip hugger pants, Noah asked with a look of puzzlement on his face, “How am I supposed to order for you if I don’t know what you want?” Walking backward down the aisle of tables and booths, she threw her arms out to the side with complete apathy and said, “It’s all the same stuff, right? So surprise me.” Noah continued to look in her direction for another few seconds as she made the turn out of view on her way to relieve herself. Coming in the opposite direction was their waiter with a Sprite in one hand and a sweet tea in the other. Clean shaven, hair wet with gel, and filling a set of clothes that stood about five and a half feet tall, he was eager to do his best, and Noah appreciated that. He would be sure to leave this man at, bare minimum, fifteen percent. “Are you ready to order now? Or you want to wait for the lady?” he asked humbly as he set the Sprite in front of Noah and the sweet tea on the empty side. “I’ll go ahead and order for the both of us.” Noah said with a polite smile on his face. “Okay. Go ahead.” Double checking the menu, he began, “Alright, I’ll have the Enchiladas with a side of beans and rice and she’ll have the Fajitas Texanas. That comes with beans and rice too, doesn’t it?” Ceasing his furious scribbling, the waiter shot his gaze to the menu in Noah’s hand and reached out with his pen to point to the description and said with a smile on his face, “Yes sir, you see right there? ‘All fajitas come with beans and rice.’” “Oh, good. I think that will do it for us then.” He said handing his menu over and reaching for Olivia’s with the same polite smile on his face. The waiter, with both menus in one hand and the order pad in the other shuffled away in the same direction from which he came. Noah had been here a few times with Olivia but he never really took a moment to look around at the decorations, which were all typical of a Mexican restaurant. Lots of pictures of deserts, sombreros, and bright colors. The mariachi music wasn’t bad but it was hardly distinguishable to anyone who didn’t know the style that well, of which Noah had to regrettably count himself. He sipped on his Sprite and turned his head to look behind him to the picture on the wall of a desert, much like the others, but in this one, you could see mountains in the distance. They weren’t snowcapped or anything special at all, but it was a nice picture. Some cactus in the foreground and a tumbleweed on one side, all set in front of giant backdrop of upward reaching rock. “Nice picture.” Olivia said, sliding back into her side of the booth. A little startled, Noah dashed his glance in her direction. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail now. He preferred it to be down because he liked the way it framed her face, but seeing her blue eyes more clearly wasn’t bad in the least. “Yeah, I don’t know what it is, but I like seeing the mountains and the desert together like that. They always seemed like totally different landscapes that don’t belong anywhere near each other yet there it is.” He said as he shifted his weight around in the seat. “Hmm, I never really thought of it that way, but you’re right.” She said with a smiling innocence on her face. “Where is the menu?” “Oh, the waiter came by so I placed your order and he took them.” He answered, grabbing the glass of soda in front of him and feeling the cool condensation around the Band-Aid on his finger. “Fajitas Texanas.” “What?” she asked, looking at the drink in front of her with one eyebrow raised. “That’s what I ordered for you... Fajitas Texanas. It’s fajitas with beef, chicken, and shrimp... Oh, and a side of rice and beans. You said you were starving earlier, so I wanted to make sure you had plenty.” He said smiling at her and crossing his legs under the table. “Aww, aren’t you sweet. Thinking of little old me like that.” She joked, moving the tea to the end of the table and pushing closer to crowd the table with her body. “Maybe I’m hungry for something else...” Taken aback at the sudden shift in conversation, Noah pulled his shoulders back and suddenly, unusually, became very suspicious. “Here comes the waiter, why don’t you take a drink and we can eat our food.” “Here you are... Fajitas Texanas and beans and rice for the lady...” The waiter said setting down the loudly sizzling plate in front of Olivia. “And the Enchiladas with beans and rice for you, sir.” He finished, setting the final plate down with his gloved hand. “Everything looks okay?” “Everything looks...” Noah began, but was interrupted by Olivia. “I’m sorry but could I get a Coke instead?” she asked, holding the glass of sweet tea up to the waiter. “Oh, of course. Be right back.” He said, with a slightly puzzled, but still smiling, look on his face before darting away. Turning her gaze back to Noah, she could see that he was not happy. With a butter knife in one hand and a fork in the other, he was sitting with his back flush against the booth. He was staring directly into her eyes and his jaw was set. “How long have you been here?” Noah asked. “What are you talking about?” she asked with a slight chuckle and a smirk. “Please don’t fuck around with me right now, okay? I was trying to have a nice dinner out with my fiancé. I really didn’t want to have to deal with this.” He said, with an air of frustration setting down his knife. Looking shocked and kind of offended, she started, “I don’t know what...” “Stop it Gwen. I want Olivia back.” Gwen looked down, shame rolled across her face. The waiter was back now, this time more nervous than smiling. He looked in Gwen’s direction, “Your Coke...” then glanced to Noah, who returned a small but uncaring smile. “I just wanted to have a nice dinner too...” Gwen said, still with her head down almost crying. Noah was frustrated. He had a feeling that Gwen might make an appearance. Olivia was having bouts again lately, with her courses finishing and finals coming in the next few weeks. Stress always makes it worse. Sitting forward, he said, “I’m sorry I talked to you like that. I know you need time too but what did we agree on?” “To let you know when I come around because it’s not fair to you or Olivia when I don’t say so...” she answered, now moving her face up to meet Noah’s. “Right, I know you’re an adult too and you get lonely just like Olivia and I would but we’ve got to act like it, don’t we? Especially after last time?” He asked, doing his best to reason with her. She chuckled and smiled a little, now glancing to and away from Noah’s eyes, “Yeah, but it felt really good so I thought we could try again!” “No, that will never happen again.” “But!” “No, Olivia is my fiancé and it would be cheating if I were to do that with you. It will never happen again and you have to deal with that.” He stated, picking his utensils up again. “So just eat your food and drink your Coke.” Gwen picked up the fork in front of her and began to mix the beans and rice together, “will you at least let me tell you a story?” “Sure.” He said between bites. “Go ahead.” “Okay, do you want to hear the one about the ghost and the dog or the one about the turtle that has the world on his back?” Gwen asked with great enthusiasm. Noah looked up and said, “Surprise me.