Writing Prompt 2

"Sunday morning, rain is falling,
steal some covers, share some skin"

The music floated in the air as Hallie pushed open the doors of her favourite diner.
In this small town, this is the only diner that serves her favourite vanilla latte with skim milk, which she will sometime have with their famous chocolate fudge brownie. Even though it is just a little after six in the morning, but the diner is busy with people that come in for a quick breakfast before heading off to work. Here, everybody knows everybody. A stranger in this town would stick out like a sore thumb. The locals will immediately flock to that person and gather all of his or her information, which will then be circulated in the gossip mill. After that, everyone will start saying hello to this person like they have been living here their whole life.

The owner, Harry looked up from his coffee making and gave her a smile, while automatically starting on her drink.This is why I love this town, Hallie thought. She was just so familiar and comfortable with everything around her. From kindergarten where she bruised her knee because her would be best friend pushed her in the sandbox, to college when she tried skinny dipping with said best friend in the lake near her house. Luckily, that incident was not known to anyone except their parents as it was the embarrassment of the century being discovered in nothing but your own skin at 3am in the morning.

She smiled at Harry, then took her coffee to her favourite place by the window. It was always not occupied in the morning as everyone knows that this is her spot. The view is simple, facing the front of the diner, where you can watch people going about their daily business but it just gives her a comforting feeling, like a warm blanket wrapped around you on a cold winter night.

After a few satisfying sips of her coffee, Hallie realised that there was a newspaper on the table. She was not a paper person, as she often read her news and novels online. Maybe someone left it here after finishing it. As she took the newspaper and was standing up to put it back on the magazine rack, a piece of paper floated to the ground. Odd, the piece of paper had her name on it. She picked it up and sat back down on the sofa. She flipped the paper over and there it was, a short sentence that said, "At 7am sharp, walked out of the diner and turn to your right."

Hmmm, though Hallie.This is intriguing. She looked down at her phone. It says 6.30am. She still got a half an hour to go. Should she follow the instructions on the paper? What if this is another one of those prank where she get conned into something stupid? Her past experiences told her that she did not want to relive her college days.
How many Hallie was there in this town? She pondered, which was stupid, as the only other Hallie was Mrs.Potter who is currently pushing seventy and she never ever came into the diner, claiming the food would clog up her arteries.

She stood up and walked over to the counter, where Harry was busy heating up a muffin for Mr.Ronald, who always specifically wants his blueberry muffin heated at 1 minute, no more, no less, with extra whipped cream and chopped almonds on top.
Finishing his order, Harry turned around and was surprised to see Hallie staring at him.
"Who put the newspaper on my table?" she asked, all the while, staring at his face, trying to gauge his facial expression. Harry was one of those person who you will lose your entire savings to at the poker table, over and over again. His face was like a stone wall. Once, he told Juliet, his part time worker, a joke and she didn't even know it was a joke until afterwards. She told me, "He said it with such a straight face, that I just stared right back at him, while he shrugged his shoulders and walk away like nothing happened."

"What newspaper?" said Harry, while turning back to his counter, a dishrag in hand, wiping down the already cleaned surface. He then topped of coffee for Mr.Ronald, who was eating his muffin with a fork and knife, slowly cutting it into bite sized pieces with equally divided whipped cream and almonds on top of each one of them.

"In the past 10 years, there was never a newspaper on my table until today. You saw who put it there. Who is it? Is this some kind of prank?" Hallie asked again.
Harry, with his blank expression, just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, "No, I didn't noticed anything or anyone. I was quite busy since opening the shop this morning, you know, making coffee and special order to cater to each and everyone one of you." He continued wiping down the counter, moving next to the shiny and immaculate coffee machine. "What's up with the newspaper? Maybe someone left it there after reading it." He looked back at her.

"Fine, if you don't want to tell me, then maybe I will just go along with it, since my work does not start until 9am." Hallie showed him the note.
"Hmmmm." Harry read it and then continued his wiping. "I love surprises. Call me if you need anything else." With that, he walked away, gesturing to Juliet to mind the counter, and disappeared behind the office door.
No point in asking Juliet as that will lead to attention that Hallie didn't need at the moment.
Oh well, let's just wait and see. What's the worst that could happen?

At 6.59am, because Hallie is a punctual person, she obediently got up from her spot and walked out of the diner. As she passed by Harry, who appeared at the counter again, he gave her a wink. Hallie just shake her head and continue out the door. The sun was up and shining, so she closed her eyes for a moment to soak up the sunlight. Accustomed to hearing the hum of people conversation every time she walked out of the
diner, she was surprised when it was quiet. Slowly, she turned to her right. There, with the sunlight streaming down behind him, was Brian, the love of her life.