Makin' Plans (hbo war imagines)

1. Sidney Phillips; The Customer's Always Right

"Sidney Phillips, you are a brave man," you stated as he sat down at the diner counter.

The young man looked a little uneasy. "How so?"

You held up a coffee pot in questioning, and he nodded. You poured some into a mug, before sliding it in front of him. "Well, other than fighting bad guys halfway across the world, I heard you stood up Mary Houston."

"You heard about that?" He stared down at the steaming mug.

You had to bite your tongue to keep from laughing. "Well, Mrs. Houston, called a friend who called a friend who called a friend who called my mama. Let's just say you're not too popular with the mothers of Mobile right now."

He glanced up at you, clearly not thinking much of the joke. "You think my mama knows?"

You offered a sympathetic smile. "No telling, but I reckon she has an idea." You let a moment pass. "You hungry?"

He took a deep breath, sighing. "No. My appetite seems to have left me now." He took a deep breath before taking a drink of the coffee.

You looked at him a little longer before taking orders from some people at the end of the counter. After settling that, you glanced over to see Sid still contemplating over his coffee.

He had been back home for a number of months now, and he came to the diner for coffee semi-regularly. Your friendly acquaintanceship that had existed prior to his deployment had grown into a comfortable friendship as you two saw each other more and more.

You wiped the counter as you worked your way back down to him and stopped. "Why'd you do it?"

"Pardon?" He looked up at you with his pitiful puppy dog eyes.

"Why didn't you go on that date?" you clarified.

He sighed. "To be honest, I'm not sure. I've had the biggest crush on her since high school-"

"You and every other boy in this town," you mumbled under your breath.

He paused and a new expression spread across his face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Mary's a pretty girl, and I have no ill will towards her for it." You chose your next words carefully. Jealousy was your biggest pet peeve, and you never wanted to appear to be that way. "I don't mean anything by it, other than what I said. Everyone loves Mary."

He watched you carefully, nodding. "Right."

You glanced at him suspiciously. "I don't like the way you said that."

"I didn't mean anything by it," he parroted back to you, smirking into his coffee mug.

"Very funny," you frowned. "We were talking about your date. Or, rather, your failure to attend it."

"I guess I had second thoughts."

"About Mary?"

"About going out with her. I mean," he let out a puff of air, "I wanted to marry her the second she looked at me, but now, I just don't know."

You nodded. As you went to open your mouth to speak again, more customers came into the diner. "We'll have to finish this later."

He gave you a nod of acknowledgement. He paid for his coffee and left.

__________

"I think I figured out why I didn't want to go on that date."

Sid had once again come into the diner. He had been in for coffee nearly every day for a couple weeks.

"Oh, yeah?" You were cleaning off the counter, as a couple had just left from the spot next to Sid.

"I think I might have affections for someone else."

As he said it, a family came in, sitting down at an empty table.

"I'll be right with you," you told them. You gave Sid a suspicious look, noting his increasingly flushed face, before going to take orders.

Unfortunately, after that family came more customers and a few refills. You were back and forth for a while before things slowed down again.

Finally back behind the counter, you began cleaning it off, making your way back to Sid. Cleaning the counter had become your way of looking busy while also getting to stay within talking distance.

"So," you began, stopping in front of him. "Who?"

He smiled and leaned forward, like he was going to tell you a secret. "Can I get a slice of pie?"

You huffed. "Are you gonna tell me or not?"

"Sweet Jesus above, child, he's talking about you!" a regular at the other end of the counter exclaimed. "This boy comes in here just about everyday since he got home. The coffee's good, but it ain't that good."

Your mouth went dry. It felt like you had been scolded by your mother, and even without checking, you knew every eye in that room was looking at you. But the cheeky grin Sid was trying to hide made your stomach do cartwheels.

Finishing up his coffee, Sid sat up. "Thank you, sir. I appreciate your help in getting the point across." He turned back to you. "Can I have that pie now?"

"How does supper sound?" Your heart was still hammering in your chest, but you decided you might as well take the dive.

"That sounds fantastic," he answered, his cheeks and ears still blazing bright pink. "What kind of flowers does your mother like?"

"She likes anything red, and we will expect you no later than 6 pm," you told him.

"I'll see you then." He slid his money for the coffee onto the counter, nodded to the nosy regular, and left. He had flowers to pick out.

This was very self-indulgent bc Sid is my favorite and I feel like he's pretty underrated. Thank you for reading! M'kay.

~Mariah