Jennifer, the newest waitress, was going to be stuck with the late night shifts until she either quit, or a newer waitress was hired. It always went that way. Usually, the only people that filled an occasional booth or table were secret lovers, insane travelers who insisted on driving through the night, ever now and then a small group of military men would stop by on their way through the tiny town and she would always flirt with them, or a couple of people, most often men, in long black trench coats and unrevealing hats meeting, exchanging an envelope or briefcase, and then disappearing once again into the night.

That particular night, however, around eleven twenty or so, only about ten minutes away from closing time, a tall, lanky man walked in with one arm around a short red-headed woman, both wearing long trench coats slick with rain water. The moment they stepped inside, they took off their dripping coats, chose a booth, draped the coats on one side, and sat on the other side, the man's arm around the woman's shoulder again. The couple completed all of this without saying even one word. Jennifer just watched, amazed, from behind the counter she was wiping off.

Jennifer was looking at the couple, trying to figure out what their connection was. They seemed too comfortable with each other to just be friends, especially now that the woman was leaning against the man, closing her eyes, but not comfortable enough with each other to be lovers.

Jennifer slightly shook her head, threw the cloth she had used to clean the counter with into the sink, took her order pad from her pocket, and walked over to their table to take their orders. The sooner they ordered, ate, and left, the sooner she would be able to close and go home because they were her last customers.

The man seemed oblivious to her arrival at their booth, but the woman opened her eyes. "I know it's late, but do you have anything to eat and drink?" she asked.

<Hmm. She must have heard me come up,> Jennifer thought to herself. The woman had opened her eyes and asked about the food before Jennifer was able to ask what they wanted and make them aware of the fact that it was late and the kitchen was closed.

"We have a few pieced of pie left, I believe, and probably some iced tea and soda," Jennifer replied.

The man quickly leaned over just enough to whisper something into the woman's ear (which, to Jennifer, sounded a lot like "It could be love"). The woman smiled. "Iced tea or root beer, Mulder?"

<Mulder? What kind of name is Mulder? That is one hell of an unusual name. Oh well, can't they just order? I want to go home!> Jennifer thought.

"Scully," he started. Jennifer's thoughts interrupted her listening again, <Scully? Like that announcer? That's almost as weird as Mulder. What was wrong with their parents? Couldn't they just give their poor kids normal names like Frank or Dana or something?>

Jennifer missed what the rest of what the man said, but the woman told her they wanted to pieces of pie and two glasses of iced tea. In a hurry to go home and get into bed, Jennifer rushed off to fill the order.

As soon as she left, the woman leaned back against the man again and shut her eyes, causing Jennifer to wonder again what their connection was. She found the pie, just like she had remembered, but saw no iced tea, so she brought the pie out and was about to ask if they wanted soda or water when the woman opened her eyes and cut her off before she could open her mouth.

"Out of iced tea?" the woman asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid we are. Is there something else you would like to drink? We have water, Sprite, Coke, root beer."

In unison, the couple responded, "Root beer." They then giggled and fell silent again.

Jennifer sighed at their strangeness, but got them two glasses with root beer, just like they asked.

To her delight, they finished quickly, and came to the counter to pay at exactly eleven thirty-two.