Double Pepperoni, Hold the Payment

By Bonnie Doran

My husband and I enjoy pizza, and we have several favorite places. Usually we spend our time with our noses in our books.

One evening, we had finished our meal, asked for a box, and waited for our check. And waited. Finally we flagged down our server and asked for it.

“It’s been paid,” he said.

We looked at each other. “You must be mistaken,” John said. “You never gave us the bill.”

“You’re right. I didn’t. Did you see that couple sitting across from you?”

“No.” Of course not. John and I had buried ourselves in our books.

“They paid your bill.” pepperoni pizza

“Huh?” In all our lives, no one had paid our dinner bill except for friends who won the argument about whose turn it was.

“The woman was a retired librarian. It tickled her so much that you were reading that she and her husband paid your bill.”

We looked across from us. The table held only un-bussed plates and napkins. “They left already?”

“Yes.”

The server walked away. John and I frowned. A couple we never even saw had paid our bill just because we were reading? We occasionally pay for a friend’s meal, but never a complete stranger’s.

That incident sticks in my mind. We’ll never be able to repay them. Our only option is to extend the kindness to someone else. “Pay it forward,” as the saying goes.

I hope the Lord blesses that couple for their generosity. They certainly blessed us.

Bonnie Doran’s first published work was a poem about the planet Mercury, written in fifth grade. After she abandoned poetry, she tried her hand at devotionals and magazine articles before turning to the Dark Side—science fiction.

Her debut science thriller, Dark Biology, was published October 2013 by Harbourlight (Pelican Book Group). Here’s a teaser: Marooned on the International Space Station, a scientist races to develop a vaccine for a deadly virus, unleashed on Earth by her brother.

Find her at:

Website: Where Faith and Science Fiction Collide: http://www.bonniedoranbooks.com/

Blog: The Mad Scientist’s Wife: http://bonniedoran.wordpress.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bonniedoranbooks

Twitter: @bonniedoran

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2FWJ0RYIt0

Author

Jennifer Hallmark

Jennifer Hallmark writes Southern fiction with a twist. Her website and newsletter focus on her books, love of the South, and favorite fiction. She creates stories with unforgettable characters—her stories are a little eerie and otherworldly but with a positive turn. Jessie’s Hope, her first novel, was a Selah Award nominee for First Novel. Her latest novel, Smoking Flax, was released on January 16th, 2024. When she isn’t babysitting, gardening, or exploring the beautiful state of Alabama, you can find her at her desk penning fiction or studying the craft of writing. She also loves reading and streaming fantasy, supernatural stories, and detective fiction from the Golden Age or her favorite subject—time travel.
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