The breakfast

Malcolm opted for a nice chocolate pancake, with caramel syrup and chocolate chips on top. Candace, on the other hand, stayed with the traditional dough and cookie syrup.

"You have chosen very well. I've never seen this syrup, and although I love cookies, I was afraid I wouldn't like it. I hate choosing the wrong food." He commented, which made Candace's eyes light up, as this was something she herself used to talk about all the time.

"So you did well. Even so it tastes special, it is a bit too sweet. I may think it's wonderful and you, sir, don't. If you want to try it..." She said.

"Please, 'sir', no! I'm past thirty, but I still don't look that old. Do I?"

Candace's mouth dropped open. She didn't mean to be rude!

"I swore you were younger." She commented.

"For real? I'm thirty-one years old now. And you must be kidding me. You even called me 'sir'." He said, lifting his chin and pretending to be offended.

"Why, si-" she stopped and corrected herself, "you, even at thirty, are still older than I am. Plus, we're not close. How could I not show respect and just call you informaly?" She questioned, which made him cross his arms and look at her seriously.

"I'll let this one go. But just this once! We're ordering pancakes, and clearly I can't sulk over pancakes."

"I fully agree!" They laughed and Jacqueline came bringing their food.

"Bon appetit!" She walked away, happily.

They started eating in silence, just enjoying the food. Candace didn't like to eat and talk at the same time. She only did this if the food was really bad, otherwise she considered it disrespectful. At least that's how her grandmother taught her.

Once they were done, Malcolm didn't ask for the check, as he wanted to talk to the pretty girl in the pink pajamas in fron of him.

"Now that we're properly fed, tell me, what's the crime of the poor phone?" He placed the napkin on the table and waited for her to start talking.

"Well, it's a crazy thing. You'll probably walk out of here thinking I'm insane." She answered, smiling awkwardly and looking down, before looking up at him.

"Maybe not. In these years of life I've had my share of strange events, so maybe I'll understand it. Come on, tell me." He offered her a beautiful smile, one she thought was irresistible.

"OK. Ah... I work in a nursing home, you know? Yesterday was one of my shifts and a gentleman who's been there for years said something in a weird way and since then I think I've been kind of haunted by it."

"What did he say?" Malcolm was frowning very seriously and interested, but Candace wasn't looking at him and therefore didn't notice it.

"He said 'it's time'. It didn't make any sense to me. Then I got home, and I had some hallucinations. I saw broken things that were actually normal, I saw my floor all wet when it was dry and the damn phone... Someone called me and kept repeating Mr. Stanton's phrase, and as I had a rough night, probably because of tiredness, I ended up terrified and broke the phone. I went back to sleep and woke up to the remains of the phone ringing. I couldn't take it and decided to throw the phone away. It wasn't even connected to the line!" She finished speaking and realized how surreal what she reported was. A phone ringing with no line on? Seeing things changing; dry and wet floors? She was lucky the man was still there, and not running out the door.

"Mr. Stanton?" Malcolm's eyes gleamed strangely, and again, Candace wasn't looking. When she turned her attention to him, he had already composed himself.

"Yes, the old man who said the phrase that stuck in my mind. He has been in a nursing home for a few years now. I think he's the oldest resident there. Since the sixties, I guess."

"I understand it. Seems like you dreamed a lot last night. As you said, you were tired. And now, will you run out of phones? How am I going to call you?" He asked, placing both hands on the table next to hers.

Candace turned super red with embarrassment. Was he really flirting with her? Was that how it happened? But wasn't he too old for her? She was twenty-three, while he was thirty-one.

"I will buy one soon." She said, a little shy.

"If you want, we can set a date and we will go together. I have to go downtown to buy some items, later. I'm moving here and my house is still half empty." He gave a little laugh. "The trouble of being single."

"Oh, well, I'm off today and there's still time to go over there. In my kind of work, I cannot be incommunicable." She shrugged, for really, having a phone was a requirement of her job. If they needed her to cover someone's shift, for example, how would they go about letting her know? The time when staff went to the nurse/sdoctors home to pick them up was long gone.

"Then it's settled. We can go right now, if you want."

"Yes, of course." She was still kind of dizzy. In fact, what she really wanted was to go home. But at the same time, she didn't want to part from him. What if she continued to have the hallucinations from before? Taking a walk and breathing some fresh air might be just what she needed.

"Let's go then. Today it's on me, and next time, we'll see." He said, taking his wallet out of his pocket and signaling to Jacqueline.

"No way. I'll pay for my pancakes!" She didn't like anyone paying her anything. And according to her grandmother, when you let a man pay you something, before you have any relationship, it's like letting him pay for you.

"We are in the eighties. I'm not buying you, Candace." He said and raised an eyebrow. She was a little uncomfortable, but relented.

"Next time, I'll pay and there's no argument." She decided, making it clear that this was immutable. He raised his hands, in surrender.