Sean woke up at 0600, right on time. It had been years since he’d left the military, but long-ingrained instincts had a way of sticking around even after they were no longer entirely necessary. He reached over, grabbing his phone before the alarm could go off, and casually reset it to give himself another ten minutes.
Meeting isn’t for another few hours, I can give myself ten more minutes. Sean thought, with the sort of true contentment only felt by those sinking back into their own warm blankets on a brisk morning.
Thirty-something minutes later, Sean reluctantly crawled out of bed. He slid into his spiritual sanctuary - otherwise known as the blistering hot shower - and eventually emerged from its scalding embrace ready to face the one actual day each week where he had to pretend to be a normal, professional human being. He threw some gel in his hair, selected a suit that was half working-class-businessman and half who-let-you-buy-that-tie-with-fireballs-on-it, and slid on some polished black shoes that his tailor had assured him matched well with his tie.
Before walking out the door, Sean picked up his keys and flashed a goofy grin at his own snazzy reflection in the mirror. He knew his own appearance held nothing remarkable, Sean wasn’t under any illusions there, but properly fit clothes went a long way towards making someone presentable. Which he was, thanks to his hydro-furnace melting all that skin off.
“Oh yeah.” Sean said out loud, to the rapt attention of absolutely nobody seeing as he lived alone. “I’ve got this.”
Walking out the door, Sean was immediately greeted by the brisk temperatures and biting wind of what amounted to late Fall weather in the Northeastern US. His eyes burned a bit as the wind stung them, and the massive, sudden drop in temperature threatened his extremities. Or at least, it might have if it weren’t for all the layers of self-preservation the local mom-and-pop cuisine places kept wrapping around his belly. Since Sean really wasn’t about the whole ‘frosted beard’ look though, he made sure to pop on the heated seats as he slid into his car.
“Yup.” Sean told his electric vehicle as he pulled out of the driveway, the heated steering wheel reminding his already chilled fingers that ‘superfluous’ features really did make the difference some days. “Today definitely needs to start with the right breakfast.”
Fifteen minutes of light traffic and lighter snow later, Sean pulled into the Hoppin’ Egg. Now, some people may have judged the place harshly for its dilapidated sign out front, its proximity to downtown’s “less aggressively policed” areas, or the overly-cheery egg-man mascot with chipped paint and too-wide eyes that stood five feet tall at the entrance like the personification of what parents might threaten their child with for not finishing their plate.
But in Sean’s opinion, those people were missing out. There was a reason the Washington Host magazine had once run an article specifically comparing their criminally-delicious waffles to pyramid schemes on the stock market. Or why this place was rated on George the Everyday Gourmand’s blog as the: “#1 Breakfast Joint Worth Terrifying Your Children At”.
The reasons were simple, and twofold: Their custom made, locally sourced, and never authentically recreated proprietary waffle recipe… and their in-house maple syrup. Each of which were worth fighting over separately, but together made their admittedly steep pricing far more palatable.
Sean walked through the place’s double doors, doing his best not to let any more of the weather outside in than he had to, and to his inner delight soon found himself face to face with the other reason he frequented this place. The reason that actually brought him 15 minutes away from the direction he actually worked each week.
“Hey hot stuff, table for one?” Sarah asked with her bright smile, already pulling up a menu and silverware as if his answer was a foregone conclusion.
“You know it.” Sean replied, unable to keep his own smile from his face in light of hers. Then, because he couldn’t help himself, Sean added: “Actually, I’ll take two… assuming you’re interested in the other seat?”
Sarah froze in place for half a beat, her smile faltering as she met his eyes, and Sean’s heart froze right along with her. Then it began pounding as he struggled to keep the confidence he’d had all morning on his face. They’d been flirting back and forth for weeks now, in small interactions here and there, but…
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Maybe she was just being polite? This is her job, you idiot. Maybe she–
“You know, I was hoping you’d ask.” Sarah said, her expression smoothly recovering into the coy grin she usually saved for when they were at his table. “But I’ve already eaten, so…”
“How about dinner, then?” Sean said quickly, possibly too quickly. His mind raced into overdrive as he internally went down the extensive list of eateries he could invite her to.
She mentioned liking Korean food once, maybe ‘KIMMM Bap’? They might be too spicy… We could also do that new Korean barbecue place, ‘Surprise! Chicken’? Their house sauce is amazing. Ooh, or we could try that other one… ‘Bull Go Git’? ‘Bull Go Sit’? Shit. What was its name?
Unable to decide and unwilling to let the pause stretch any further, Sean added in what he hoped was a casual tone. “I’ll pick you up here, and we’ll go from there?”
Her answering smile washed over Sean’s nerves like a gentle rain.
“Done.” Sarah said, and the two of them just stood there in the lobby for a second.
There were no other customers waiting, so the moment stretched briefly out into one of those pleasantly awkward situations. The type where both parties would happily have broken the silence, but were too busy enjoying the moment to figure out a tactful way to do so. In the end, Sean’s stomach broke it for him.
A gurgle like the waking of some great beast erupted from the pit of his stomach, and Sean’s embarrassment reached new heights. He laughed to cover the reddening of his cheeks as he clutched his stomach with one hand and Sarah laughed along with him, partially covering her face with his menu in a manner that was far too cute to be fair.
“I uh, haven’t eaten yet.” Sean admitted, as if that weren’t already obvious.
Sarah’s eyes twinkled. “Clearly. Let’s go take care of that, shall we?”
Turning on one heel and swirling her long red hair behind her, Sarah led the way to his seat. Sean followed after, doing his best to keep his eyes on only socially appropriate places. He… mostly succeeded.
“Triple stack with an egg’s benedict, coffee and fresh-squeezed on the side?” Sarah asked, after Sean had taken his seat. She held the menu halfway towards him in a playful fashion, though she knew he wouldn’t take it.
“You’re too good to me, Sarah.” Sean said, waving the menu away and pulling the house-special maple syrup over to his side of the table. His taste buds already switching his mind’s gears over from ‘possible-date’ to ‘culinary delight imminent’. Sean was so lost in sudden daydreaming, that he almost missed her next words.
“Not yet I’m not.” Sarah said in a low, confident voice that sent electricity racing through him.
With that little comment, Sean’s mind split into two entirely different camps of interest. One half watched the feisty little waitress sashay away from his table. The other focused on the heavenly smells wafting over from the tables of other diners. As was usually the case for any hungry man, food won out.
Sean checked his watch, noting he still had plenty of time to make it to the office, and then rubbed his hands together. He stared out the window at the rush of morning traffic and marveled, not for the first time, at how lucky he was to have landed a work-from-home job. Sean watched a man half his size shiver in the cold as he pressed forward against the wind.
“Yep.” Sean said out loud, taking a sip of the hot coffee Sarah had somehow left at his table without him even noticing. “I do not miss that.”
The rest of Sean’s morning went remarkably well. Breakfast was every bit as delicious as it always was. The myriad flavors somehow packed into their house syrup made his taste buds sing their praises of the Hoppin’ Egg yet again, and the woman he’d been interested in for weeks left her phone number on his receipt. That last detail somehow ended up a better cherry topping off his day than the actual maraschino they had put on his waffles.
Sean’s meeting went off without a hitch, and his boss, Ebony, was so impressed with Sean’s latest code commits that he was granted the rest of the day off. Seeing as that effectively freed him up from being a functioning member of society for a few hours until his date, Sean went home to engage in his favorite pastime: watching Mark Ruben’s Mighty Meals.
It was a cooking show that pitted bodybuilders from all over the world into making the healthiest - and most massive - dishes they could whip up, with the winner judged not only on the overall taste and mouth-feel of their creations, but also their sheer calorie count. Last season they had even started introducing a new scoring category based on how effective the dish was on increasing the weight they could lift after consuming it.
Sean was no bodybuilder but, like all men, he shared a love for eating immense amounts of food. As an amateur foodie, it was also basically his ‘niche’. A niche that had expanded his waist a few sizes, but hey. Some prices were worth paying.
Slipping out of his suit and into his favorite mid-day robe, Sean popped on the TV and settled in to catch up on this week’s latest in the world of ‘hefty eats’. A family-size bag of ‘Macho Cheese Chips’ was popped open alongside a whole bottle of ‘Fury Fruitasm’, Sean’s favorite - if indulgent - lunchtime snacks.
In short, it was essentially a perfect ‘start’ to what would hopefully also be a perfect evening.
Sean had just begun allowing his thoughts to drift into imagining just how perfect his night might end up, when he thought he heard a faint crackling sound. It was followed by the power in his whole building going out, interrupting Mark Ruben right as he began final judging.
Before Sean could rise from the couch to diagnose the issue, a pitch-black hand shot out from a circle of swirling nothing directly in front of him…
… and just like that, Sean died.