Larry and Joe returned to Daily Donuts on one of their shared late shifts. Joe had suggested it, of course, donut lover that he was. But that was alright by Larry. He had been a little worried about his weight lately, but he couldn't help but feel less self conscious about his little bit of a belly when hanging out with big old Joe.
A young woman stood at the counter tonight, and asked for their orders. Joe ordered his two creme donuts and a coffee, as he usually did. Larry considered his order for a moment when it came his turn. He was really craving that donut, but at the last moment decided to skip it and just get a coffee.
"Actually," the cashier said, "we have a promotion going on. One free donut with your coffee." That certainly pushed Larry over the line. He ordered an old fashioned, which the young woman handed over happily.
"Lucky you," Joe said, as Larry got his free donut. "She didn't remind me about the free special."
"She could probably just tell you probably don't need any more free donuts, pops." Larry ribbed, poking the side of Joe's gut with his elbow.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Joe monotoned.
The employee, apparently having overheard the exchange, popped back up with another bag and offered it to Joe. "I'm sorry about that sir. Here, on the house." Larry rolled his eyes at the amount of pleasure immediately visible on the old man's face as Joe thanked the young woman.
The two made their way to a booth and slid into opposite sides. Joe immediately set to work on the first donut out of his first bag as he waited a moment for the coffee to cool. They made a bit of small talk about various goings-on at the station and around town as Larry pulled out his donut.
After his first bite, Larry immediately recognized that he had made the wrong choice initially, and was grateful for the correction. The donut was delicious. He wasn't sure why he would ever skip this habit he had. He thought fondly back over the years of patronage he had given this place, and realized he really shouldn't have been faltering.
As he took his first couple bites, a wave of changes began. First, the faint beginnings of a gut he had sitting around his waist materialized into what was undeniably a gut, albeit a small one. Nothing compared to what old Joe had. The changes continued as he continued eating, Larry blissfully unaware all the while. His face appeared to age as he left his late twenties and approached his mid forties. He grew out a solid mustache, his eyes began developing some wrinkles, as did his forehead, and his temples grayed just a touch. However, unlike his partner across the table from him, he at least still had all of his hair.
Larry took a brief break from his donut, to respond to a question old Joe, no, good old Joe had asked him. Good old Joe, the two of them had been on the force for years now. And over the course of those years, they had made these donut runs a regular occurrence. It hadn't been great for his waistline, Larry thought, taking in thickset arms and mid-size gut, but as Joe started in on his second donut, he figured that comparatively he was still looking pretty slim.
Larry took another couple of bites of his donut, and changes continues. He grew a little heavier, his gut stretching out over his waistband, his backside expanding a bit in his seat, pushing him closer to the table. His hair grew more gray, and his mustache became entirely gray, as he wiped his mouth off with the back of his hairy hand, dislodging some crumbs that had accumulated there.
He gave a little whistle as Joe began licking his fingers, having finished polished off his second donut. "You sure can put them away, Joe." He said with a bit of mocking admiration. Joe smiled back at and said "What can I say, pops, I learned from the best."
Larry felt like there was something off about what Joe had said, but he couldn't place what. He could remember when Joe had started on the force, and he remembered introducing him to his favorite local donut shop all those years ago. Certainly Joe was the real donut man around here, but it wasn't unfair for him to say he had gotten his start under Larry's tutelage.
Now seeing that Joe had gone in for his free and final donut, Larry made moves to finish his own donut. As he had maintained enough weight, he didn't look drawn the way some older men did, but his developing jowls certainly didn't make him look young. His eyes developed more crows feet, and he could feel a pair of readers pressed into his chest pocket, atop his somewhat saggy chest. His hair was entirely white, now, as was his mustache, and the little hairs on the backs of his hands and poking up from his collar.
With his donut finished, Larry thought about the years and years he had been doing this same old thing for, and wondered how many more of these trips he had left in him. He was getting closer and closer to retirement now, seeing as he was over 60, and probably wouldn't be able to do this forever. He was getting to old for this. But he did enjoy some of the quiet moments, shooting the shit with his boys. This donut habit had certainly served him well over the years, buying him so many moments like this.