Lance sent Melanie a text message, giving her directions as to the waffle house he’d chosen. He ordered something that he thought she’d both appreciate and find extravagant; just like with the impulse-purchase of a car he bought for her (the keys of which he still had in his pockets), he didn’t care. He had too much funds to spare or fret. She’d have to accept his gifts, he decided, and without strings.
Being remembered or forgotten often wasn’t a concern of his. What went down with Melanie and her alternate self upset him because, as one of the few he considered a genuine and dear friend, he happened to really and deeply care about their connection. He was glad she was back; although he wasn’t still a hundred percent sure, if he was being honest, that it truly was the Melanie of their universe (paranoia, he knows), he was going to greet her in the way he would in usual circumstances. He planned to take their plates and sneak up on her, delivering the food; he would then joke, “Stacks of New Orleans’ finest waffles, along with the friendship of the Newcastles’ finest son, all requiring only time and companionship in exchange. I’m no expert, Miss, but that’s what I would call a bargain.”
( closed starter for @witchesofnola​ )
