Dinner

Dan and Ashley sat across from each other at the tiny square table, both of them staring deeply into their phones. The restaurant was nearly empty, because Dan had forgotten about making a reservation and they had to wait until a free table opened up. Their waiter eyed them with barely-hidden contempt as he brought over their meal, checking his watch after he placed the dishes haphazardly in front of the couple. Dan had a giant steak, Ashley had a bowl of soup, and a small cake with a sputtering 'happy anniversary' candle sat between them.

"Looks good," Dan said, digging into his steak.

Ashley nodded and swirled her spoon through her soup, bringing a scoop of the lukewarm liquid to her lips. "Sure is."

"Do you want a bite?" Dan asked, gesturing to the steak with his fork.

Ashley shook her head. "I'm good." She let the soup fall back into the bowl and stared at it, wondering if the waiter would reheat it if she asked. She made brief eye contact with him from across the room before he spun on his heel and disappeared into the kitchen.

"I've got a salt packet if you want it."

"No thanks." Ashley shook her head again. "Salt isn't gonna fix it."

"Well, I don't need it." Dan tossed the packet across the table, but Ashley wasn't paying attention. It bounced off her head and landed in the soup with a plop. She sighed and tried to fish it out, but the paper ripped and disappeared into the depths.

"Whoops," Dan mumbled absent-mindedly.

The silence between them was soon interrupted by the custodial staff, who emerged from a side door and started vaccuming the carpet in the corner of the room. The waiter poked his head out of the kitchen, checking his watch again and groaning.

"You know, I'm not actually that hungry," Ashley said, after choking down a spoonful of salty soup.

Dan didn't respond. His eyes were glazed over, slowly rolling left and right as they followed the vacuum cleaner across the floor.

Ashley cleared her throat. "I'm not hungry. And I think they want us to leave."

"Hm?" Dan turned back to face her. "What was that?"

"We should go."

"Don't you want cake?"

The candle had long since gone out, and the cake was starting to look dry and crumbly. Ashley shook her head. "No. I don't want cake."

Dan nodded. "Yeah, me neither. We should go."

The two of them got up and left in silence.