Page 21 of Chaos

17

Eris

Every daythe sunshine came through the diner’s door and Drex didn’t, I hated. There were no promises traded, and he told me he wasn’t good for me. What he didn’t tell me was I’d miss him. I didn’t know I would need him. Each time my mind would wander into the dark, I’d pray for rain. I knew it was stupid, but I wanted the rain to come to help me remember him.

“I hate sunny days,” I mumbled, pouring sugar into the tea, the steam traveling around the white grains.

“Do ya now? What has you suddenly hating on this beautiful gift?” Ray said, stabbing an order ticket down and ringing the bell to let Gretchen know her order was ready.

“Just don’t care for it anymore,” I lied.

“Right. Well, you’ll be happy to know a storm’s coming tomorrow.” His eyebrows raised, and he nudged my side with his elbow.

I answered with a smile, “Thanks, Ray.”

“Any time, girl.” He laughed, shaking his head as he walked away to prep the next order.

“Um, there’s a woman with the ugliest dog in the world outside asking for you,” Gretchen said, popping her gum and putting a pen into her bun. “You want me to get rid of her?”

“No, it’s Courtney.”

“Courtney?”

“Yeah.” I didn’t explain who Courtney was, because why would I? The real question was, why was Courtney here and how did she know where I worked?

Courtney was bent down talking to V with her back to the door. The bell dinged as I opened the door and slid through, watching her tap V’s nose with her fingertip.

She jumped at the noise, and her butt landed on the cement. “Ugh. Today has been shit!”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized, wondering how this brought her to me.

“Anyway.” She stood and brushed the dirt from the back of her pants.

“You haven’t been into the vet and V missed you,” she said cheerfully, handing me her pink leash.

“Courtney, how’d you know where I work?”

Her skin flushed and she peeked at me through her thick, dark lashes. “I saw your uniform top in your bag the other day. You left it open. I wasn’t snooping or anything. It was just there,” she babbled.

Of course, there was a logical reason she would know where I work. I was paranoid.

“Well, if V missed me, I guess I better visit with her. I get off in twenty, if you, I mean, she wants to wait around or come back.” I smiled half-heartedly. I’d planned to go home and well, go to bed, honestly. I didn’t have anything else to do.

Courtney returned the smile and took the leash back into her manicured hand.

“Sure! Yeah! I’ll be back. I’ll go grab us something to eat.” She paused and her lips formed a thin line. “I mean, unless you’ve already eaten. I was going to get a pizza with my brother, but he ditched on me. Probably for booze. I’m hungry, but I can eat without you—”

“Pizza is great,” I interrupted her to keep her from continuing. I pulled some cash from my apron, and she shoved my hand back into the pocket.

“It’s my treat. I didn’t want to eat alone. Thank you.” She squeezed my hand.

“You’re welcome, Courtney.” I smiled and headed back into the diner.

Sam was standing behind the counter. A wide smile graced his lips, which, of course, had a toothpick in the corner.

“What?” I said through a smirk.

“Not a thing, Sug. Not a thing.” His broad hands wiped down the bar with a clean rag, and then he dipped it into the sani-bucket. “I’ll clean up out here. You go ahead.” He wrung the rag with his hands over the bucket, forcing the excess to drip back into the water.

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