never the less

Daisy watched Hansen take one whole side of the booth. He propped himself against the wall, his legs spread out as if he were ready to stay awhile.

Derrick introduced him as they squeezed in on the other side. Hansen gave a shrug with a smile and looked at Daisy as if he were happy to see her.

"You didn't like that band, either, huh?" His smile was open, and she wasn't sure if he was so happy that she was here, or maybe it was Derrick. Yet, he could possibly be high on something. And he'd driven here, too.

He wanted coffee right away.

"I dunno about you, but I want pancakes." The wink in his smile suggested it might be code for something, but she couldn't think what. She looked at Derrick thinking maybe she shouldn't be here. She winced back at Hansen trying to figure him out.

He said he was from Denver, originally. "But I haven't been back for months now." He sighed. He got out his cigarettes and played around with the pack. Then put them away as if he'd changed his mind about smoking since it was a non-smoking diner.

He talked about seeing RUSH in Kansas City then.

"Who'd you go with?" Derrick wanted to know with his arms crossed and elbows on the table.

"My brother." He remained even lipped then. He talked about working at the pizza counter with Derrick at the mega-grocery store. "I had no idea Max was your brother." Hansen grinned as if it truly was a small world. "And he hooks up, with like the sweetest thing at the grocery store. God, what the luck, huh?"

Instantly, Daisy frowned. She didn't mean to. She didn't want to hear about Max and his new girlfriend.

"You, OK?" Hansen wanted to know.

That's when Derrick told him Daisy used to be Max's girlfriend.

"Would it make you feel any better, if I told you my brother's in jail?" He looked up at her as she excused herself to the restroom.

Daisy didn't even want to look at Hansen. Honestly, she didn't want anyone feeling sorry for her.