Prompt: Rumor amok

Peter Belden moved his newspaper to make room for his Wimpy’s burger and settled back in his booth, intent on spending his quiet lunch hour completing a challenging Sudoku. He was deep in concentration when he became aware of voices at the counter behind him.

“Hey, Mike, did you hear the news?” asked an excited diner.

“No, what?’ answered Mike as he wiped down the counter for the millionth time that day.

“Webster’s girlfriend is pregnant.”

Peter sat upright as the pencil dropped from his fingers, rolled across the table, then dropped to the floor. Sitting in stunned silence, Peter felt his lunch start to churn in his stomach. He barely noticed when another diner entered.

“Hey, Tad,” called Mike. “Your order will be up in a minute.”

“Thanks, Mike.” Tad sat down at the counter to wait for his order.

Slowly, Peter slid out of the booth, stood up and faced Tad.

“Hey, Mr. Belden,” said Tad. “I see you’re here for your usual Wednesday burger.”

Peter, stony faced, pointed to his booth. “I believe I need to have a word with you, Tad.”

Puzzled, Tad left his stool at the counter and slid into the booth across from Peter.

“Is there something wrong, Mr. Belden?” asked Tad.

“You tell me.”

Tad stared into the stormy, unblinking eyes of Peter Belden and began to squirm. “I don’t know. Is there something on your mind?” he asked nervously.

Peter inhaled slowly. “I just heard the most interesting news,” he began.

“Yeh?”

“I heard that Webster’s girlfriend is pregnant. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

Tad’s eyes widened in surprise. “No, I don’t.”

Peter continued to stare at Tad, oblivious to any other activity in the diner. A strong hand on his shoulder interrupted the tense conversation.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Belden.” Startled by the familiar voice, Peter looked up and saw Spider Webster standing next to the booth. “ It’s my girlfriend who’s pregnant.”

Both Peter and Tad exhaled loudly before standing up to congratulate the father-to be.