The Cheeseburgers Aren’t For Me

A short story

She was short, slender, and had big brown eyes. She was beautiful.

My friends and I drove home from a road trip to El Paso. We were only an hour away from home, but no way we would make it with the fuel tank running on fumes for the last ten minutes. I pulled over to the nearest gas station to put twenty dollars in the tank.

I parked the truck on fuel station number seven and headed inside the gas station. As opened the door to the store, I laid my eyes on her. My heart skipped a beat. Her existence overwhelmed me.

I’ve dated a few women in the past, but none were as beautiful as her. For the first time, I felt butterflies crawling inside my stomach, batting their wings against my insides. It could’ve also been the huge lunch my friends and I had at that Ethiopian restaurant in El Paso, but I chose to equate it to butterflies instead.

I stood in line behind two other men, waiting to be attended by her. She was the only cashier working this shift, so I was lucky no one else would come in and offer to help me instead.

The other men left, and only she and I remained inside the store.

“Hello, how can I help you?” she mumbled. She didn’t look at me. Instead, she stared at her phone on the counter, expecting someone to call or text her. I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. I hoped she would look at me.

“How can I help you?” she said again, louder this time. Hey eyes finally met mine. My heart dropped when I looked directly at her. Under her eyes I found darkness. I found the same darkness I had as I went through grad school, spending every night studying, only getting three hours of sleep a night.

“Oh! Um, twenty dollars on number fi-seven, please,” I said. I looked towards the pump to check the number again. I almost gave her the wrong number. She pressed some buttons on the cash register as I swiped my credit card. She handed me my receipt as I worked up the courage to engage in small talk.

“So, how’s your day going?” I asked. Even though I’ve dated women in the past, this was the first time I ever attempted to ask out a stranger. This was the best I could do in terms of conversation starters.

“It’s okay,” she uttered. She tied her hair back in a ponytail as she chewed gum. She blew a small bubble and popped it. She looked behind me as if expecting to find another customer, but only she and I stood in the store. She looked towards the aisles but found no one.

“Oh, okay. I was just asking ’cause you look tired,” I pointed out. She gave me a sideways glance and raised an eyebrow as she stood straighter. She looked at me as if I had insulted her. She looked into my eyes and found concern. She relaxed her posture.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “Just been working a long shift. Been here since five in the morning, and I have homework due for my political science class, and — hey!”

A thud came from one of the aisles behind me. I looked and found Snickers and Twix bars scattered on the ground. She ran to the aisle and scolded someone. I took a few steps towards the aisle and found her talking to a child. He couldn’t have been more than three years old. He had her big brown eyes but lacked the under-the-eyes darkness she had.

“What’s his name?” I asked.

“Andy,” she lifted him from the ground and carried him as he fumbled with one of the Twix bars. She took it from him and placed it on the rack behind her. She hauled him behind the counter and placed him away from view.

“What’s Andy doing here?” I asked. I realized I might’ve come off the wrong way, and proceeded to correct myself, but she spoke before I could.

“He’s my son. No one else can take care of him right now. My mom is at work and she was supposed to pick him up, but they gave her extra hours. Guess I have to eat something from here for lunch,” she looked over to where the day-old hot dogs and burritos were. Although they stayed warm under the heat lamps, they didn’t look appetizing. Her face twisted in disgust as she looked at the cheap food.

“I mean — you don’t have to eat that for lunch,” I replied. She glanced at me, then looked at her phone.

“I can’t go anywhere to buy food. I’m the only one working right now. Even if I wanted to leave, I don’t have a car to go anywhere. My mom always picks me up.”

“I could buy you something,” I offered. I shrugged a little, to hint it wasn’t a big deal. Her eyes perked up.

“Really? Oh my god, you don’t have to,” she said.

“Just tell me what you like,” I answered.

“I mean, anything is fine. Really, you don’t have to,” she insisted.

“What does Andy like to eat?” I looked behind the counter to find him. He had disappeared. We looked around the store and found him playing with the Twix bars again.

“What do you want to eat, Andy?” I asked him.

“McDonald’s!” he yelled.

“Alright then, McDonald’s it is,” I responded. She laughed.

“What does he usually like to eat from McDonald’s?” I asked her.

“Cheeseburgers are fine. Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah! Totally. I just need to fuel up and go pick it up. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I dashed to my truck and pumped the twenty dollars of gas. One of my friends called me out for taking so long.

We all entered the truck and drove down the road, where I found the nearest McDonald’s.

“Dude, where are you going? We just ate like an hour ago,” my friend insisted.

“It’s not for me.”

“Who’s it for? Wait, did you ask out the girl at the gas station? Look at you, making a move!”

“That’s not the reason I’m buying her food. I’m buying her food out of kindness,” I snapped.

“What the hell for?” my other friend, who sat in the back seat, leaned forward. “Why are you buying her food?”

“Am I not allowed to do something out of kindness?” I snapped again. They rolled their eyes and said nothing more. I ordered two cheeseburgers, fries, and two drinks.

I drove back to the gas station and waited in line as she helped a customer. The customer gave me a weird look as he wondered why on earth I would bring McDonald’s into a gas station. I smiled as I handed her and Andy their lunch. She smiled back.

She pulled out the cheeseburger first and handed it to Andy, who immediately chowed down before she could finish removing the wrapper. Just seeing her smile was enough for me.

I walked out of the gas station while she wasn’t looking. I didn’t need anything from her. I felt happy to have made her day. I jumped into the truck and drove off the parking lot.

“Did you get her number at least?” my friends asked. I didn’t answer. I just smiled as we drove home.