Anne smiled slightly. “At least a three months now. We both were working at Dick’s Diner. He was the cook and I was a waitress. We would party after work. He writes poetry and songs. It didn’t take long for him to win my heart. Of course, my parents hated him from the start. They never gave him a chance.”
John reached over and shut the sound off on his cell phone that was ringing. “Rats, it’s the men’s mission.”
John looked back up at Anne and she continued. “They told me to slow down. But how can you slow down true love? They wanted me to go back and finish high school. I only have a couple of classes. They took one look at his long hair and ear rings and totally missed his deep brown eyes.”
Anne seemed to be gathering strength with each moment.
“Anyway I told them they were total hypocrites and were judging. Judge not lest ye be judged, I guess I told them. But now I am thinking that maybe they were right.”
“I’ve never met Mark. So I don’t know. What does he think of the baby?”
“I haven’t told him yet.”
“Why not?”
“I’m afraid.”
“Tell me about that fear?”
Darlene came in and sat down.
“What if he leaves me like Eric did? And my dad before him?”
Anne totally lost all control of her emotions at this point. Darlene walked over and hugged her deeply and they held each other in silence. John left them alone and went to his office to check messages.
John’s computer brought up a message. “Meet with the city and Ron 15 minutes.”
Oh yeah. John looked out at the table where the two women were now talking quietly. John walked over and gently touched Anne’s shoulder. “Darlene can help you better than I can but can we talk later? I have a meeting to get to.”
“Thanks for listening. Yeah I’ll be around later.”
Even though John moved on to business the conversation with Anne was still ringing in his head. The city and Ron discussed using the city’s homeless management system. The mission was not required to use it since they did not use state funds; however there might be benefits that would enable all of us to win if we would voluntarily jumped on board. Everyone involved was respectful and polite and various ideas were thrown about.
Suddenly a knock on the door interrupted the conversation. John stepped out.
“We’ve got a problem,” Darlene glanced up a little embarrassed. I’m meeting with Anne but Becky and Sarah are going at it in the parking lot.
