I sat down at the counter and picked up the menu. I really wanted a big thick sandwich for lunch as I was starving and needing to make up for lost time. I looked at the burgers and the subs, but they didn't appeal to me at all then I saw the turkey club with a side of fries and coleslaw. That was exactly what I was looking for.
I hadn't had one in years, they didn't have them, or anything that tasted good, on Mars, and my mouth was watering at the thought of it. It wasn't my first meal since landing back on terra firma but the first one at a restaurant since returning home to central New Jersey.
When I had signed up to travel to the red planet back in 2044, I'd been told it was a one-way trip and there wasn't going to be any possibility of returning. It had been an easy decision after losing my family in a random bombing incident at the local mall while I was off having a tryst with my girlfriend, Michelle.
If I was on Mars, I would never have to look into the eyes of her family again or see the disappointment in the eyes of others in our community. And, I could regret having to end things with the sexy young woman who made my life full of joy without having to worry about crossing her path. It was a great plan and less further guilt-inducing than suicide, which had been my other choice. At least with going to Mars I would potentially be giving something back to society by moving forward plans to expand life to another planet.
I found out on the way to Mars that they also didn't tell us that they didn't think we would survive more than a week if we landed safely and in the right place. The joke was on themβnot only did we survive more than a few weeks; we established a viable colony. It wasn't fun but I imagined it was much like being a pioneer in the 1700s with exploring unknown territory with about the same absolute zero chance of being rescued if something went wrong.
When we were still around beyond their expectations, the folks at The Worldwide Intergalactic Team (yep, they called themselves TWIT) were required to reassess the plan and figure out how to get future supplies to us, like food, new oxygen tanks, space suits and other things like that. I could just picture the look on their faces when they realized that they had the choice of letting us die millions of miles from home or get us new supplies in under a year and keep sending them yearly.
I still wasn't completely convinced they'd made the right decision, but a bit more than seven months after we started to set up on Mars, we received our first shipment. No other people, however, were sent to help us establish a base for life on the barren landscapeβwe were on our own.
It took another ten years to fashion a ship that would be able to get to Mars with a group of people to replace us and be able to, hopefully, bring those who wanted to leave safely back to Earth. No one was sure it would actually work or what life on Earth would be for those of use who had spent the last eleven years on another planet. I was tired of the limitations of living life on Mars, which included no sex to eliminate the chance of pregnancy and being trapped with the same 30 people in a confined space.
Those of us who chose to return to Earth spent six months in a special facility that prepared people for life on Mars and was retrofitted to help those who had returned to re-acclimate to life on Earth. It was nearly twelve years to the day when I'd boarded the shuttle to Mars when I was given the thumbs up to leave.
I wandered around a bit as I didn't have anywhere to go. My family was pretty much all gone other than my estranged abusive younger sister and a few aunts who had stopped talking to me when I transitioned to living life as a man more than twenty years ago. My late wife's family were unlikely to have forgiven me for my choices so long ago. I was truly on my own.
Thankfully, I'd been paid handsomely for my time on Mars and for becoming a science experiment for the rest of my life as they monitored my health and did check-ups every three months as long as everything was normal. It was more than enough to buy a small house in the Pine Barrens, aka the middle of nowhere, in New Jersey. I could be far away from everyone most of the time and only interact with others when necessary.
After I got settled in, I got an internet connection and laptop. I signed up for a Facebook account to see if I could reconnect with friends from high school and maybe find some of my old lovers, too. Honestly, I was surprised the site was still around.
The site didn't have the same look or feel that I remembered. I supposed that's what some would call progress. After searching for an hour one afternoon, I really didn't think I would find anyone as I went one by one through my yearbook. I finally found a few classmates which led me to find more classmates, including Amy who had been my best friend throughout high school. After graduation we stayed in touch for a few years but eventually we drifted apart and were connected only by Christmas cards until I moved to the red planet.
Amy was now living on the New Jersey shore with her young daughter. I friended her and after catching up a bit online we agreed that I needed to visit so we could really catch up. There was only so much you could talk about in chat on a website.
On my second day with them, Amy had to work and her daughter was in school, so I was on my own and decided to check out town and see what kind of fun I could have with the local "wildlife." That's how I found myself in a diner drooling over a sandwich.
After telling the waitress what I wanted, I looked around. The decor of the place hadn't changed in probably 60 years. The painted portion of the walls were mint green. The booth seats were a matching mint green imitation leather with more than a few covered with duct tape from where holes had started to form. And there was a counter, which I had chosen to sit at, with spinning seats that matched the imitation leather on the booths on silver bases.
The floor was covered with large black and white checkerboard tile and there was a mirror running along one wall so that the waitstaff could see everything going on from anywhere in the small building, which explained why I didn't see any security cameras and made it perfect for my needs.
I hadn't really paid much attention to who else was in the little diner when I entered. There were a few couples at booths near where I was sitting at the counter. Then I saw a younger guy sitting in a booth towards the back. Bingo!
He was slim and looked to be about seven inches taller than my five-foot-two-inches. He had short dark hair, pale white skin and was wearing glasses. If he had been sporting a beard he would have been perfect for me but as they say, beggars couldn't be choosers. I looked away when he caught me looking at him but not before winking at him. The trap had been set.
I pulled out my phone to check the time and give myself something to do while I waited for my food. I glanced over the top of the phone and discovered that he was checking me out. I sat back on the stool and ran my fingers through my thick long white hair as I licked my lips seductively without looking at him. Then, when my sandwich arrived, I concentrated on eating and ignored him completely.
My mouth opened as wide as it could be as I took a bite out of the sandwich. It was so thick, and my jaw was stretched almost beyond its limits, but I managed it. I guess after more than eight years of eating almost everything as a shake or dehydrated meat it shouldn't have been that much of a surprise.
I glanced back over at the guy while I chewed; he was staring at me. His cheeks were flushed and he was squirming uncomfortably though I wasn't sure why I knew it was going to be something weird. He was giving off major fetish vibes.
I smiled as I continued to pointedly ignore him. When I finished, I paid the check and headed out. I paused a few feet from the entrance and pulled out my phone, so it didn't look like I was waiting for him to come after me, which I was ninety-nine percent sure was going to happen.
"Hey, wait up," he called from the door then he stepped outside. "I was wondering if you'd like to join me for some dessert."