Breakfast At Wally's

The two teenagers split a large honey, jalapeño, triple bacon, steak, potato and sriracha burger breakfast skillet with 32 ounce soda pop's for each of them. Plus, Brad had himself an 8 oz. orange juice and Alicia had herself an 8 oz. milk.

The old restaurant owner, Walburgh Brennan, was deep into one of his lectures, "I don't know about you kids. I only know that limestone, marl, iron ore, clay, shale, sand and, in some cases, industrial by-products are used to cement things in Portland. Yes?"

Brad and Alicia, looking lost, dazed and confused, simply shrugged and, mumbled their, "I guess"es.

Wahlburg, whom they called, Wally, began bussing the nearby table and he continued, "I don't know how to cement a friendship. I am much like the calcium silicates, Alite and Belite."

Observing their blank faces, he forced an exhale, comically, threw his hands up in feigned surrender and further explained, as best that he knew how, "Sometimes, I harden soon, and real quick, but sometimes, much later, and when I up and get hard", Wally, fast catching himself, paused, then had bustled some dishes and looked back up at them from his arduous cleaning work, blushing quite a bit, "Let's just say, it reinforces the structure in my life."

Wally, then carried on, to no one, in particular, "But love? Love is like hydration with soft water. Nice, soft, flowing water", pointing to Alicia's un-drunken glass of complimentary water, "like that there, good to drink. Oh, yes! Very good to drink."

Wally turned to Brad, "Now pay up and finish your drinks. I need this table. The register doesn't fill itself."

"Wally, your parent's spent real good money on your education, yet, all they had to buy you was a plain 'ole glass 'o' water to love.", teased Brad.

"Leave my parents out of this. They may have bought some expensive paper, for me, but they weren't paying customers.", laughed the always jolly, Wahlburg Brennan, who then took a load of dirty dishes back to the kitchen.

Alicia watched after him and, as he made his way to the back of the house, she inquired of Brad, "Do you think Wally is lonely?"

Bradley Cunningham just jeered, in response, "Nah, he's married to his restaurant."

Alicia just opened her gray eyes wide, shrugged, laughingly, gesturing with outstretched hands, palms upwards, nodding her emphatic agreement.

"I guess, you're right.", she said.

Once outside, Brad quickly insisted, "Com'ere, Alicia, I wanna show you something."

Without waiting for a response he led her to an outcropping by the nearby Blue Harbor pier.

It was when they came close that she could see what all the big fuss was about. Alicia then rushed to some rocks, excitedly announcing, "Baby heron's!"

"I found them here last week.", Brad boasted.

"Where's their mother?", asked a very worried Alicia.

Brad said, "She's around, probably gettin' food.", after a pause he asked, "Alicia, do you think two friends could ever be more than friends?"

"Hey, you two!", the voice of their new friend, Roger, startled them, then their other friend, Marrick, added, "We've been looking all over for you." She gave a coy look to the pair of them.

Brad and Alicia were both like, "Hey guys! What's up?" Everyone nodded their hellos and Terrance popped off with, "Lenny wants to get to the fair early."

An eager Lenny pushed fair tickets into their faces, exclaiming, "My dad gave me my sisters extra tickets from yesterday!"

Alicia turned to Brad, "What were you saying, Brad?"

An embarrassed, Brad wanted to just casually dismiss the whole darned silly conversation and move on to some other topic and he settled on saying, "Oh nothing. Let's get going if we're gonna go."

Everyone could see the way they looked at each other and Marrick cut the tension with her own personal brand of butter-knife, by remarking, "What are you two gonna do? Kiss?"

Terrance interrupted, with gagging noises, and one, Monza P. Ford, who had been quiet, up until now, bolsters out, impatiently, "Move it already! I wanna go!"

Everyone laughed hard and they had put feet to pavement and headed to the fair. Alicia smiling, more than usual and Brad cautiously looking at her, constantly, trying 'not' to be seen smiling.