“I’ll be right here,” Kelly replied with a smile, grabbing the menu from the stack at the far end of the table. She glanced through the limited options they had, but she wasn’t paying too much attention, not with her mind distracting her away from reality with intrusive thoughts of the hospital, Dr. Zvikas, and Jimmy.

“Excuse me, miss? Would you like some coffee?” The young waitress had approach the booth, pot of coffee in one hand and two white mugs in the other, without Kelly noticing.

“Yes, please,” Kelly replied, watching as the young woman poured the hot beverage for her and Czigani. 

“So you ladies out for the day, taking a break from your husbands?”

The question caught Kelly off guard. “No, we’re not married. “We’re actually dating,” she replied, slightly exaggerating their relationship status. She noticed the waitress making a face, and that’s when Kelly figured that the woman was more than likely a bible-thumping bigot. “Does that bother you?” she continued, annoyed by the waitress’ reaction to what she had just said.

“No, it’s just that—"

“You don’t approve of same-sex relationships, is that it?” Kelly interrupted.

“Well, I…I don’t think it’s right—”

“Because of your religion?”

“Yes, exactly. Jesus talks about it in the bible...” 

“Oh honey, that’s all bullshit.” 

The waitress was visible shocked, as if the insult was aimed directly at her. “You have no right to speak of our lord using such language!”

Something within Kelly snapped.

“No, [i]you[/i] have no right forcing your beliefs down everyone’s throat!” she replied as she pointed an accusatory finger at the waitress after standing up to be eye-to-eye with her. Kelly didn’t realize that everyone had stopped eating—or doing their job—to stare at the women. “Stop treating people like—“

Kelly stopped when someone placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled. 

“That’s enough, miss.” 

She turned around only to face a uniformed police officer. He must have walked in after her and Czigani as Kelly hadn’t noticed any cops when she entered the diner.  But Kelly knew better than to do anything stupid. 

“My apologies officer. I’m gonna go get my friend in the restroom—"

“Actually, you need to come with me,” he demanded, “I have to take down your information and [i]then[/i] you can get your friend and get out of here.” Kelly looked in the general direction of the restroom, then put her hands in her pockets.

“Alright,” she sighed, “let’s get this done and over with.”

@Rawk