Normally I wouldn’t agree to go anywhere with a stranger, but I figured wallowing in my own self-pity was worse than eating pizza. I smiled, genuinely this time. "I'd like that."
***
We arrived at a place called Peter's Pizza. The little girl—whom I learned was Alex's niece—had run up to a guy sitting alone at a booth. She squealed as approached him with her arms wide, ready to hug him. He reciprocated the hug by picking Millie up and squeezing her tight, then sitting her on his lap.
Alex and I sat down across from his friend and his niece. His friend had not looked at us yet, as he was trying to take his straw out of the paper with one hand and secure Millie from falling off of his lap with his other.
"I already told the waitress our order since we get the same thing almost every time," Alex's friend said, still focused on the straw.
There were already two lemonades sitting on the table, clearly for Alex and Millie. I wondered if Alex had told his friend that I, a random stranger from the park, would be joining them.
"Killian," Alex called.
In an instant, Killian looked up. That was when he finally noticed me sitting there, awkward and slightly uncomfortable. My eyes were most likely still red and watery, as I had only stopped crying ten minutes prior to this moment.
"Uh, hello?" Killian greeted me, if that's what you could even call it. He didn't seem upset that I was there, but he clearly was not given a heads up that I was going to be. I sheepishly waved at him.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
"This is Elias," Alex introduced me warmly. "He's my friend."
I raised an eyebrow at Alex. Friend? We had only just met, so him stating that I was his friend caught me off guard. Though, introducing me as a random guy he found sobbing in a parkten minutes ago was not a better option. Alex then gave me a reassuring smile, so I nodded in agreement to Killian.
"We found him crying on the playground!" Millie exclaimed as she took the lid off her lemonade and took a sip. "He was super sad."
Oh, how I loved children and their loud mouths.
Alex’s eyes widened. He mouthed a‘sorry’ to me for Millie's blurting before looking back at his friend. Alex and Killian were giving each other knowing looks, looks that I did not know the meaning of. I shifted in my seat. Alex had such a welcoming personality, but his friend was a bit off putting.
"Maybe...maybe I should go," I mumbled as I tried to scoot out of the booth.
Alex grabbed my arm and pulled me back closer. "Don't go. Killian doesn't bite, I swear."
Killian gave me a forced smile.
Despite not wanting to, I settled down. Honestly, being with three strangers was much better than having to go home and face the people that I knew. These people had no preconceived notions about me, or at least if they did, they did not show it. It was easier.
Eventually, we fell into conversation. They told me a bit about their lives, and I told them nothing about mine. They did not pressure me into talking about myself which I appreciated. Killian got less scary as we conversed. He might have just been upset at the fact I barged in on their friend date. It also seemed that it was his usual demeanor; intimidating and angry.
Despite having walked past this pizza place many times in the past, I had never actually been inside and eaten because I never had any money that I was willing to spend on pizza.
Money. Shit, I had no money with me.
We finished the pizza and the waitress was coming up to us with the bill. I did not have even a dime on me. I spent my last bit of cash on—well, what I spent the money on was not important.
When the waitress handed me my portion of the bill, I froze. I did not want to dine and dash. It was stealing and my conscience could not handle that, but I couldn't tell that lady that I had no money. I sat there and stared at my bill, not a clue of what to do.
But my bill was suddenly pulled out of my hand. Killian held his bill, mine, and Alex's. "I got you, don't worry about it."
"No, I—"
"Killian's treat," he said.
I looked between them both. “I’ll pay you back.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Killian waved me off and put his debit card on the bills.
I thanked them multiple times to show them that I truly was grateful. I didn't know if they could tell that I had no money or if they were just being nice because of how they found me. Either way, these two were good people and they really cheered me up. It was a pick me up I desperately needed and probably would not get again soon.
