Once it disappears I’ll reappear, right in front of her door watching over her all night.
There are no cameras in this building, let alone the hallways, so there’s no fear of a strange situation with the landlord in the morning. The only thing that’s to be feared is me, if any of those thugs were intentionally targeting her and try and track her down and finish what they started.
Although I think it was a random act of intended violence, if they were targeting her, and are stupid enough to come this way, the things that were started will get finished…as in me putting an end to them for the exact same amount of time this girl is going to be mine.
Forever.
4
Diana
“Your buddy’s here,” Alice, my co-worker, teases.
“He’s not my buddy, he’s yours. He’s never sat in my section, always in your area,” I shoot back, knowing exactly who she’s talking about.
“Not today,” she counters, her eyebrows raising in a devious kind of way.
Goosebumps cover my skin and I grab my order pad and pencil and make my way over to his booth, which, now that I’m up close to him for the first time, I realize he takes up an entire side of all by himself.
I just drink him in, like the tallest glasses of milk we sell in the morning, not trusting my voice at the moment.
“I’ll take the steak and eggs, and a coffee black,” he says, and I almost catch my lips moving in rhythm to his order, knowing he was going to order that because he orders that from Alice each and every day.
I nod, and then hurry back behind the counter where the employees grab our orders.
“Whaddya think?” Alice asks.
“He’s normal. Just likes to eat what he likes to eat, at least for breakfast,” I say, realizing after the words come out that he’s been eating it three meals a day.
Alice jumps on me, reminding me of the fact and asking if I find him hot.
“He’s…okay if you’re into that look.”
“That look? Every woman with a pulse has been staring at him since he walked in the front door. Heck, I’m not gonna lie. My eyes locked on when I saw him half way down the block. His long, commanding stride is unmistakable.”
“Wait,” I say, bringing the tip of my pencil to my temple as I slide his order to our cook, Ernie, who quickly wisecracks, “Never would have guessed it,” he says after seeing the order.
“Leave him alone. He likes your cooking, you should take it as a compliment.”
Ernie holds up his hands in mock surrender and throws a fresh steak on the grill, the sound of it crackling on hot butter like music to my ears.
I fell asleep late last night, first from being stirred up because of the fight and then with thoughts of him. I slept so late I was literally jogging to work this morning.
“Wait, what?” Alice asks. “You never finished your sentence.”
I rack my brain, already forgetting what I was going to say.
“And why are you so protective over this guy if you don’t find him attractive, aren’t interested in him, and basically pretending as if he’s nothing special, when it’s completely clear that he is?”
“First of all, he’s a customer, and a loyal one. I’m protective of my job, and we need people in here like him…coming in, spending money, tipping, never causing a problem. Reliable people.”
“Uh huh,” Alice says, clearly not believing a word of my attempt to rationalize my actions.
“And I said ‘wait’ because I was surprised he didn’t drive here, but walked instead.”
“Maybe he lives close, like you, and just prefers to walk in the morning.”
“Maybe,” I say, not about to give away that he’s my next door neighbor.