Chapter 5
“Why cheeseburgers?” Steve asks as they stand in line to place their orders.
“Hmm. The one really good day I remember with my dad. For some reason, out of the blue, he took me fishing. He got me out of bed at like, maybe four in the morning, and we drove for an hour to this really gorgeous lake. We didn’t have a boat, we just stood on the shoreline - he tried to teach me how to fly fish. I was terrible at it. I think I was, hell, must have been ten, end of summer break or something. We didn’t really talk, but we watched the sun rise, and he had brought cocoa in a thermos for me. There were all kinds of birds. He would tell me what some of them were. There were dragonflies, and I think I heard some frogs and there were some nasty mosquitos. Anyway, we were there for four hours, didn’t catch a damn thing. But he didn’t get angry, We just drove a couple hours to his favorite burger place and had cheeseburgers. Still the best I ever had.”
“May I take your ord -” The cashier blinks at them. “You’re him. You’re definitely you and you -”
Tony shakes his head and insists politely, “no, Ma’am, you’ve got us confused with some other guys. Happens all the time.”
She squints at him then shrugs. “Takes all kinds, I guess, what can I get for you?”
“We’d like four whoppers with everything, two large orders of fries and - milkshake?”
Steve stifles a grin but manages to mutter, “vanilla.”
“Figures.” Tony rolls his eyes. “One vanilla shake and one chocolate.”
Tony grabs a stack of napkins and a couple more straws than they need, then sits down at a booth. “Sit. Before someone realizes who we really are. I don’t think she’ll say anything.”
“I didn’t even think that anyone would notice us,” Steve admits with a shake of his head.
“Uhm. Steve. You are, well, you, and you have that blond, blue-eyed thing going on. Me, I’m kind of average looking, people expect me to look taller, and since I’m not wearing the armor - it’s easier for me to blend in.”
“But, four years ago -”
“That was four years ago. These days that’s like forty in press years.”
“New York. That was just last week?”
The cashier places their tray on the table and mumbles under her breath. “It’s on the house, fellas. You all are getting a bad rap. I figure if you all weren’t fightin’ your rather attractive asses off, none of us would be here right now. Enjoy your lunches, boys.”
Tony removes his sunglasses and offers her the most sincere smile Steve has ever seen on his friend’s face, then pulls out a business card and writes his personal cell phone number on the back. “If you ever need anything, just give me a call, Grace.”
“Well, damn. Don’t you just - eat up before it gets cold and your milkshakes melt. You just made my day.” She turns from the table and they can hear her whistling as she makes her way back behind the counter, and yells out, “next!”
“I think next time we’ll just go through the drive-thru.” Tony growls under his breath as people keep turning and looking at them. Steve can’t help but smother a giggle as Tony pushes his sunglasses back into place, and he wishes he had brought his sketchbook with him. He’ll just have to remember - and as Tony grins back at him, he already knows it’s a trip he won’t ever forget.