“When are you going to get an ID so you can buy them for yourself?” she asks.
“One day when I get a day off,” I tell her.
“You are the only person I know that didn’t rush to get their ID the day they turned of age. Don’t you go out or anything?” she asks, pressing the subject of the lack of my ID.
“And do what?” I ask, with my back to her.
“You know, drink or party – like people our age do,” she states.
“No, I prefer my own company,” I tell her.
“Why?” she asks, and I suddenly wonder what it is with her questions.
Usually, we chit-chat, but not about our lives, though I know a lot about her because she isn’t exactly a private person, but I am, so her questions feel a little off to me. Like she is prying too deep into territory which isn’t her business.
“Because I don’t like people,” I tell her, and she pretends to be offended.
“You don’t like me?” Lisa gasps, sarcastically, placing her hand over her heart.
“No, you’re different. I know you,” I tell her.
“Then explain. Your answer makes no sense,” she says, as she places her hand on the counter and stares at me. I notice that Orion has eavesdropped on our conversation and is waiting for my response.
“It’s just easier that way. It’s pointless to make friends for them to disappoint you when they walk out on you.”
“Well, that’s depressing,” she states.
“No, it’s the truth. Everyone leaves. Eventually, they realize you have nothing more to offer,” I tell her and stop explaining myself once I notice someone else walking in.
For the sake of killing this rather odd interrogation, I focus on work and walk over to the newcomer to serve him. I can hear Lisa happily chatting to Orion behind me, and I quickly jot down the man’s order before handing it to Lisa. I watch as she darts out the back to start cooking while I bring him his coffee.
I find Orion following me around while I do things. “Don’t you have a job or something? Why are you hanging around here so much?” I ask, as I walk outside to have a smoke.
“Lisa doesn’t seem to mind?” he says, crossing his arms across his broad chest as I sit on the milk crate, lighting my smoke.
“That’s because you tip big, which leaves me wondering… Clearly, you have money, so why are you slumming it on this side of the city?”
He doesn’t answer, so for a brief moment, I hope this interaction is over. However, of course, given my luck, it’s far from over because Orion has questions. Of course, he does.
“Did you really mean what you said that people just disappoint you?”
“Look at the city, the world; everything has gone to shit,” I mutter under my breath.
Honestly, at this point, it looks like he has landed on the wrong planet. Might as well say so because he clearly doesn’t fit in this bullshit world, I call my home. Orion fails to see everything wrong with this place, wrong with the people that surround us.
“That wasn’t what I asked, though,” he argues.
“Then yes, I do believe that.” I groan. Maybe now that he has his answer, he will leave me be.
“Why do you believe that?”
“That’s none of your business, and you really shouldn’t listen in on people’s conversations,” I snap at him. Can’t he just back off? I really hate it when people think they have a place in my business.
“You have an attitude, you know that?” he says, stepping closer, making me look up at him.
“And you are in my personal space again,” I tell him, standing up and flicking my smoke in the ashtray.
I am about to walk around him when his hand on my arm stops me, as he pulls me back in front of him. His face is close as he leans in; so close I feel his breath fan my lips, and I suddenly forget how to breathe. I am stunned by his manly good looks.
“Does my closeness bother you, little one?” he asks in his husky voice.
And just like that, I suddenly lose all focus as his lips move closer to mine and I see him smile, while I struggle with getting my brain to function instead of going foggy and blank. He pulls me closer, his hand sending tingles shooting up my arm, making me gasp as his other hand wraps around my waist, pulling me flush against his chest. His breath brushes my face, and I lean in, inhaling his scent. He smells so good it makes my mouth water. I hear him chuckle and feel the sound rumble through his chest.
Suddenly, I hear Lisa’s voice singing out for me, snapping me out of my daze. I step back, confused at my reaction to him, while he stands there with a sly smile. I swear I just saw his eyes darken.
Evelyn
“Excuse me,” I say, as I step around him and run back inside.
What the fuck just came over me? Lisa is frantically trying to take orders, as I quickly step in and rush past her to the kitchen where I see a heap of orders.
When Lisa is finished, she comes back and helps me cook while we keep an eye on the door. Orion just sits in the corner, watching. Always watching. His presence doesn’t bother me as it did the first few days he was here. But these days, he has pretty much become a piece of furniture.
After serving everyone, I grab my tray to clean the tables. I just finish stacking the tray and am about to head out the back when I hear the doorbell chime. Lifting the tray, I turn to see who enters.
Two men enter the cafe, looking around before their eyes fall on me. A loud gasp leaves me, as panic surges through my entire being. My heart rate speeds up until I can hear it pulsating in my ears, and my hands start to tremble. I feel clammy as adrenaline pulses through me, paralyzing me, until I hear Lisa scream and realize I have dropped the tray of plates I was holding as they smash around my feet. The noise makes me flinch as my gaze drops. Lisa rushes out with a towel, and I drop down, scooping the glass up with shaking hands.
“Shit, Evelyn, you, okay?” she asks, but I feel nothing but fear, too scared to answer. “Evelyn, stop. You’re cutting your hands,” she says, making me look at my hands, which are bleeding from the glass cutting my fingers and palm.
I don’t even feel it, but I can hear my breathing coming quickly as I start to hyperventilate. The room and everyone in it are watching with worried eyes as the cafe trembles around me. I realize I am having a panic attack as everything slows down, except for the erratic pumping of my heart.
It is them, the men that killed him in the alleyway. I feel Orion move near me; he takes the tray from my hands. Lisa rushes out the back, but I am frozen in place, paralyzed by fear. I feel Lisa grip my arms, pulling me to my feet and taking me out the back. Orion follows us into the kitchen.