"Yes, sir, have a good weekend," she said.
"You too," he agreed as he turned and headed back out.
Luna shifted her attention to Alex. "Sorry about that," she said. "I knew that would be quick. Welcome to The Poached Egg. How can I help you?"
"Is this the menu?" Alex asked, pointing to the chalkboard that was on the wall behind her.
"Yes, oh, is it your first time here?"
"Yes."
"Welcome!"
"Thanks."
"Yeah, this is our menu," she said. "It's pretty simple."
That was an understatement.
Alex blinked at the menu, which had all of five items. It was basically eggs five different ways, including one item that was called a 'five-dollar protein cup'.
"The protein cup is our best seller," she said. "They're bigger than they look."
"It's the best five bucks you'll spend all day," someone else said, coming up beside Alex. It was another man, and he had come from one of the tables. He reached into a case for a small to-go cup with a lid. "We paid our tab already, but I'll take another one of these to go, if you don't mind."
"Sure, yeah, it's five dollars."
He held up a twenty.
"See? They're popular," Luna said, looking at Alex. "If you need a second to decide, I'll take a second to make change for this gentleman."
"Yeah, of course," Alex said, stepping out of the way.
The internet had lied. The reviews had all raved about how this place had the best poached eggs in the whole world. They failed to mention that it wascramped and busy and not a place to have a decent conversation over breakfast.
"Two Benedicts and two Hungry Man's in the window," a man's voice said, coming from behind her.
"Heard you, Cal, thanks," Luna said, projecting her voice over her shoulder.
She helped that other customer, and Alex felt the urge to turn and walk out. He would have if there had been another breakfast place that had good reviews for Eggs Benedict. He took a deep breath and decided to be patient as the cashier finished what she was doing.
A young guy came out of a door that was behind the counter. "Oh, hey, Cal just put those plates in the window. Can you please take them to table four?"
"Yes," the guy agreed easily.
The cashier checked out the customer, and Alex stepped to the side when the other employee passed by him with a tray of food.
The cashier smiled at him after the customer left the counter. "Sorry about that," she said.
"Yeah, no, it's fine. I see you're busy. Is there a, does there happen to be a different dining room? Something quiet?"
She laughed. "No, this is it," she said. "We have Luna's table in the back. It's quiet. We eat back there, but it's not usually for customers."
"Is it your table?" he asked, gesturing to her name tag.
The girl laughed a little and covered the tag with her hand. "Oh, no, I'm Carly. This name tag belongs to my little friend, Luna. She's four years old. She's the chef's daughter, and she dared me to wear it."
"Oh, okay. So, is it a little kid's table… the one in the back?"
