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of them cringed.
    “There’s no paneling in here,” Freddy said. “Is this chicken just this juicy or is it grease?’
    “Both.”
    Freddy shrugged then chuckled.
    “What?”
    “You know six months ago if someone would have told me I’d be wearing Levis, living in a trailer in Ohio and eating Popeye’s chicken, with my hands mind you, I would have laughed.” He reached for another piece of chicken. “I see my cholesterol raising now.”
    “It’s kind of refreshing, don’t you think?” Grace asked.
    “What? High cholesterol.”
    “No. No.” She shook her head. “Freddy all of my life I have lived in a world where I had to be perfect. Eat the right foods. Act the right way. Be beautiful and thin all the time. Dress properly.”
    “But you like being all those things.”
    “I think anyone would. But it’s a lot of pressure. Right now, in our lives, we have a chance to live without the perfection pressure. We’ve never lived normal, Freddy. At least I haven’t. I’ve never done laundry, did dishes, cooked …”
    “It’s not all that it’s cracked up to be.”
    “But I want to know that it isn’t. I want to eat foods because it looks and tastes good, not because some chef from San Francisco flew in to make it. And …. Don’t be shocked.”
    “Go on.”
    Grace breathed in deeply. “If you and I gain a few pounds, who cares as long as we’re enjoying life.”
    Freddy gasped. “I’ll never fit my butt into those jeans.”
    Grace snickered. “Freddy, eighty percent of the people in Hollywood drink, do drugs, or in therapy. And they’re miserable. I bet not even ten percent of these people are in therapy or running to rehab. And they’re happy!” she tossed out her hands. “They’re happy.”
    “They do seem to be.”
    “Yes, they do. I mean, we haven’t met them yet. But we’ve seen them. You and I never made it in Hollywood, maybe, Freddy because what we have to give isn’t what Hollywood needed. Maybe the gifts we have, maybe we are meant to share them where they are appreciated.”
    “In Lodi?”
    “Maybe.”
    Freddy tapped his finger on the table. “This is quite the attitude change. It’s like you were struck with lightening.”
    “It was the Popeye’s chicken girl.” Grace said matter of fact and put her napkin down.
    “The one that took our orders, the large woman.”
    “Yep. Her. Greasy uniform, her one front tooth was missing and she smiled.”
    “I saw that.”
    “She smiled, Freddy. She smiled and then she joked around with the manager while fixing our order. Maybe she doesn’t have the best job in the world. But... she was wearing a wedding ring. She has love, someone to share her life with and she’s happy with who she is. If she wasn’t she wouldn’t have smiled with a missing tooth.”
    “That is a point well taken.”
    “I think we should make a pact.”
    “Oh, I’m always up for that.” Freddy rubbed his hands together.
    “I think, no matter what, we’re here. Not many people get the chance to live in someone else’s shoes. We should find positives in everything. We should make the best of it and give the best of ourselves in everything we do.”
    “Even if our jobs are at Popeye’s Chicken?”
    Grace paused. “Even then. Hey … we’d get free food.”
    “Re designs the uniform.”
    “Make someone’s day.”
    “It’s sounds so Doris Day and Martha Stewart.”
    Grace raised her eyebrows. We can learn so much.”
    “I’m in the pact.” Freddy held out his hand. Just as they connected in an agreement shake, the doorbell rang.
    “You think that’s George.”
    “I don’t know.”
    “I’ll get it.”
    “No, I got it.” Freddy stood and handed Grace a napkin. ‘You have a little jam on your chin. Don’t want to open the door like that.”
    Grace took the napkin, “I have jam on my chin? For how long.”
    Freddy snickered and walked to the front door, not far from the table.
    When he opened the door, there stood the most petite