It was rare that Valeria let herself eat out. Her mother always considered it an unhealthy habit. Bad for your body and your wallet; she'd laugh when Valeria's friends wanted something simple like McDonald's, opposed to homecooked meals.  So she'd never gotten into the habit before since she moved out, she kept it as a treat to herself — something she saved for the hard days where she was just exhausted. Today was no better; only she'd gone out to a diner instead. Still a somewhat homecooked meal, she would've felt too gross if she ate something greasy like McDonald's. She'd had three meetings, two interviews, three tutoring lessons, and a test that day. Mentally and physically, it was safe to say that she was ready to drop. But she was starving, stomach rolling at the slightest mention of eating.

So she found herself snuggled into a booth by herself, accompanied by a strawberry milkshake, a burger, and a plate of fries. She'd been slowly nibbling at her fries while scrolling through her texts. That was when the sound of a strange voice floated into her ears. Dark eyes lifted from the device to land on a man who seemed to be just passing by and had stopped. Her eyes dipped down to the Double Bacon Mozarella burger she'd chosen, topped with lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions, mushrooms, and mustard. Her mouth watered just looking at it, but she'd only just had the plate sat before her, and she knew her tongue would shrivel up and die the moment she even tempted to eat it.