A Stroll Around

[SleepyPlayz 52]

“Ah, shit.” Martinez shouted out as he dropped his phone on the concrete. Saskatoon had been eliminated from playoff contention, so he was just exploring local restaurants and various places to go to. He wasn’t the type of kid who stayed inside and waited for the world to pass him by, unlike one of his friends who became cynical and pessimistic after a life tragedy. He didn’t blame his friend, but he wished he could revert back to those days and talk to him more. Instead, he lost a friend, literally in multiple senses. That wasn’t something he wanted for himself, and that suffering wasn’t something he wanted to see in any more of his friends. He took up a psychology class in final year in high school before transferring to a Canadian high school in Saskatoon, and now he mostly looks up his psychology advice. He sees through some of his friends’ excuses for their shorter than usual responses or their dry texting if they aren’t a try texter. Becoming the type of person who would sit inside and, for lack of a better term, rot, was never in the tarot cards he pulled for himself. 

 

He stumbled his way into a restaurant that was highly rated, and a fairly cheap one at that. Well, cheap in terms of Canada. He came into the country with about CAD249 if he did the conversion properly. He wasn’t the richest. He did have a part time job in the Philippines, but that only gave him an extra about 500 Pesos to work with, which is just about CAD12. If he did the math correctly, of course, that means he wouldn’t have all that much money to spend right now, maybe a 20 and some change for a light meal? Or maybe just an appetizer before he left. He honestly couldn’t think of which option to go for until he entered the place. That’s a lot of people…

 

“Hello ma’am,” The waitress said, a most likely corporate smile on her face for the customers, “Table for one?”
“Um… I-I… Y-Yeah.”
“Right this way then, ma’am.” 

He followed right behind the girl, staring mostly at the floor. Damn… he hated that feeling. Oh well, not like he could change it right now. For that, he’d need the money. He didn’t have that money, so he, unfortunately, would probably have to get used to it. Well, no, he wouldn’t have to get used to it! He’d just tune it out. That’s more like it. He sat at the table he was seated at, giving a nod to the waitress as a thank you. Speaking was the last of his worries. What did he even want here? He had an idea where to look, but he didn’t want to spend more than CAD30, since that was just about all of the money he could come here with. 

 

A waiter came up to the table and pulled out a touchpad. “Good afternoon  ma’am, welcome to this fine establishment. We hope you enjoy your meal. What can I get you started with?” He asked. Agustin looked through the menu, and… pointed to it. He was way too shy on his own, why? He didn’t know. “Got it. Anything else?”
“A, uh… a coke.”
Some tapping sounds went by, and he nodded. “Your order will be at your table shortly.” He walked away, leaving Martinez in a state. It wasn’t exactly disbelief or sadness. No, it was more like every negative emotion at once flooded his brain. He hated what he was called. He didn’t identify with a girl. He just scooted over to the farthest end of the booth and laid his head on the window, looking outside and counting the passing cars. Passing. He wish he did. 

 

Eventually, the food he ordered came to the table he was at, and that marked the end of most of his socializing for the day.