Work was busy this evening and it was a welcome distraction. I
worked as a waitress with Ebony at the Burger Grill. It was a small, family-owned
diner. It had been around for over forty years. Ebony had gotten me on a few
weeks ago.
“How was your day?” Ebony asked as we were putting our aprons on.
“I’m getting used to the flow of school. How was yours?”
“It will be better once this shift is over. I’m bloated and
cramping today.”
“Did you take some medicine?”
“Yes, but it hasn’t kicked in yet. Any luck with J?”
“Not sure. We talked some.”
“At least he is talking with you. It’s a good sign.”
“I hope so.”
“People are getting seated in our sections. We’d better get to our
tables,” she said.
We tended to our tables, and around an hour later, Ebony tapped me
on my shoulder.
“Look what the cat dragged in. I sat him in your section,” she
said and giggled. I saw Jason across the room, sitting with his brother and
sister.
“Thanks a lot,” I said, sarcastically. Now I would have to face
him again.
“You’re welcome,” she replied still laughing and walked off.
I took in a deep breath and went to their table.
“Hi guys, I’m Melanie. What can I get for you this evening?”
Jason looked up in surprise and blushed slightly, making my
stomach do a somersault. Their sister said, “Hi Melanie. We get to formally
meet now, I’m Harmony. And I will have a Coke.”
She and her brother did look exactly alike. “Are you guys twins?”
I blurted out.
“Yes,” her brother replied. “Nice to meet you, Melanie. I’m Jaden.
How do you like Cashmere so far?”
“It’s okay, but slightly different from school in Australia.”
“I love your accent,” Jaden said.
“Thanks.” Jaden was handsome, but his brother was gorgeous.
“Melanie, how long have you been working here? My siblings and I
come here often,” Jason interrupted and appeared to give his brother an evil
glare.
“For just a few weeks.”
He looked like wanted to ask something else but didn’t.
“What can I get you guys to drink?” I didn’t want to stand there
making goo-goo eyes at him.
“I will have a Coke,” Jaden said.
“And I will have a Sprite,” Jason replied.
“Coming right up.”
I brought them back their drinks, took their food order, and took care
of my other tables. A little while later Ebony stood next to me, waiting on her
order.
“I’ve noticed he keeps staring at you.”
“Who?”
“You know who. Jason.”
“Don’t you have tables to tend to?” I replied playfully.
“I just thought you should know.”
She winked at me and took her food order. He was eating a French
fry. Gosh, he even looked sexy doing that. He caught my eye and signaled for me
to come over.
“We’d like the check, please,” Harmony said.
“Sure,” I answered, pulling out the bill and placing it on the
table.
“So Melanie, are you seeing anyone?” Jaden asked.
Excuse me! He was very direct. I had just met him. Harmony giggled, and
Jason turned red. I cleared my throat. “No, not at the moment. Why?”
“Maybe we can hang out sometimes,” he replied with a smile. He
leaned back and folded his arms behind his head, waiting for an answer. Harmony
was amused, and Jason looked aggravated.
“Um no. Absolutely not.”
“Geez, well why not?”
“Because Ebony’s my friend first off, and second, I have my eye on
someone else.”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you guys were friends,” he replied,
looking remorseful.
“Yeah, we are good friends,” I said, walking off.
I went to the kitchen and glanced back at their table. Harmony and
Jason were laughing. Jaden appeared annoyed. Served him right. It was obvious
he thought he was Mr. Casanova.
“What was Jaden talking to you about?” Ebony asked.
“Nothing much, the usual. He noticed my accent and wondered where
I was from,” I lied. I wasn’t about to tell her he was flirting. He did apologize
when he realized we were friends though, so maybe he wasn’t a total douche. I
glanced back over to my section, but they were gone.
*****
After my shift I stopped at the corner store. There were only a
few cars in the parking lot, and no one in sight. I headed to my car, and hit
the alarm. Before I could get the door open someone grabbed me from behind. I
struggled against them, and fought with all my might, but he dragged me into
the side alley. Another person charged from the side, and then something hit me
in the head. I fell to the ground, and touched my throbbing wound. It was dark
with only the side light from the building, so I couldn’t see the blood
clearly. But I could feel the liquid stickiness on my fingers. I squinted in
the dim light, straining to see my attackers, but I couldn’t see any facial
features. They were blurry. They appeared to be males with short hair, and
their broad body frame.
“Leave me alone!”
One man’s response was a kick to my stomach. I gasped and cringed
in pain. Why was this happening to me? I had been told that burglaries and
assault hardly ever happened on this side of town. Me and my rotten luck were
going to make the crime rate sky rocket. Taking a deep breath, I gathered my
courage, and tried to get up. One of the men pushed me back down. I saw an
object in his hand, the silver color bounced off of the light. It was a knife.
I had to find a way out of this. Heat pulsed through my body as I glared into
his eyes. And fear consumed me with the black depths of them, dark as midnight.
The other man held me down, and I fought to get out of his grasp. The one with
the blade leaned closer to me. He didn’t have on a mask, but I still couldn’t
make out his features. He was faceless. He thrust the blade against my neck. The
pain was sharp, and tears sprang into my eyes.
“Please stop! Why are you doing this?”
He snorted. “Because the greater good has preordained it.”
Before I could contemplate his strange explanation he slit the
knife against my throat.
I have a serious addiction to anything Coach and would live on Starbucks if I could get away with it. If you follow me on Facebook you'll also find that I'm slightly enamored with Charlie Hunnam. I'm also a tad obsessed with tattoos and have thirteen scattered on my canvas. I'm an avid reader (literary whore to be more precise) averaging around 300 novels a year and wish I had time to read more.
