3
The next morning everything seemed like it was just a bad dream. Especially when Cherry banged on the door at 7am, immediately beginning to bitch and complain about what a “crappy lay” that guy from the bar was. Of course, she didn’t apologize for ditching me at a bar full of creatures she knew I was terrified of. It was the Cherry show as usual. And like usual, I listened to everything she had to say while I got ready for work.
Cherry’s father was some bigwig on Wall Street and still provided for his “little girl.” Even though his little girl was now 25 and has never worked a day in her life. Cherry always said that her job was to find a rich husband because she was born to be a socialite. It hadn’t happened yet for her, but she certainly gave it her best effort.
“Are you even listening to me?” she blurted, while helping herself to the last of my cereal and milk. I guessed the free bananas at the Vepar stand out on the sidewalk would have to do for breakfast.
“You’re going to have to eat that as we leave,” I explained somewhat impatiently. “I have to get to work.”
“Can’t you take one day off? We were out so late last night, I’m wrecked.” I didn’t bother mentioning that she had no idea how late I was out until since she ditched me.
“Sorry, after what happened yesterday with my pay being docked, I can’t miss a shift,” I told her, beginning to push her out the door. Something I couldn’t identify flickered in her eyes but it quickly disappeared. It almost looked like guilt.
Not having the energy or time to analyze Cherry this morning, I finish pushing her out the door, then locked the door behind us. I learned the hard way after I came home one night and my loft was completely wrecked that I could not leave Cherry unattended at my place. I wasn’t sure why she came to my place so often in the first place since her father paid for a luxurious apartment by Central Park. There was a lot I didn’t understand about that girl.
Cherry and I had just parted ways, and I was about to cross the street to arrive at the diner when a luxurious black town car pulled up in front of me. The back-seat window rolled down slowly. I rubbed the goosebumps out of my arms. A beautiful blue-eyed man with hair so blonde it seemed to sparkle in the sunlight that streamed through the car window was staring at me from inside the car. It was the Vepar that had been watching me last night before I fell in his green-eyed companion’s lap.
“Need a ride, Ella?” he asked, his smooth voice sending shivers down my spine.
He knew my name? I tried to remember if I had told his Vepar friend my name last night, but I couldn’t remember. My mind felt addled, everything from the night before seemed blurry, like it had all been in my imagination. A terrible dream that had me waking up feeling hot and uncomfortably turned on this morning…
Shaking my head at the direction my thoughts had turned, I turned my attention back to the fact that a Vepar that I had never met was offering me a ride and somehow knew my name. There was no way that this was a coincidence and he had just happened to be driving by and decided to offer me a ride after his friend told him about me. Yeah, right.
Everyone said to stay away from the Vepar, but it appeared I’d gained the attention of multiple ones last night. I’d have to correct that now.
“Thanks, but I’m just going down the block,” I told him, my voice trembling as I started to jog away as the crosswalk light turned green, giving me the okay to cross the street. The truth was the diner was quite a bit more than a block away, but I would run twice that distance if it kept me away from the charmingly dangerous stranger. What did he want?
I didn’t turn around to see if he was still there as I ran away. It wasn’t necessary since I could feel his gaze following me until I made it around the block and was out of sight.
Once I arrived at work, I stored my bag in the locker in the back and put on my apron, then I hurried into the unusually full diner and started my shift. The place was packed. Where had everyone come from today?
The business meant that the day flew by fast. As usual, Sandy had called in sick, so I served all the customers on my own. It was amazing that Sandy could consistently fail to come into work, yet she managed to keep her job. I wondered if her new boyfriend was actually Greg.
Speaking of Greg, he didn't say a word to me all day, not even hello, but he watched me like a hawk, especially each time I used the register for customer payments. Bastard still believed I stole the money the other day, and that annoyed me more than I cared to admit. I knew I shouldn’t care what he thought but I worked my ass off, and he was treating me like a criminal. With each passing hour, the walls of the diner seemed to close in around me as my exhaustion and frustration grew. I kept going, in auto mode, taking orders, smiling, delivering food, and cleaning tables. Luckily little thought was needed for those activities because my mind was far too occupied with all of my current problems plus the new Vepar one. Questions like, how was I ever going to get ahead in life? Was I ever going to have enough money to do more than just scrape by?
I finally admitted to myself that I needed to get back to the job hunt. There had to be something, even another waitress job that would pay better and that wouldn’t work me to the bone. Not that I had an aversion to working hard, but I needed at least a little bit better quality of life if I was going to live to see my next birthday.
At the end of my shift, I stepped out of the diner with my handbag, pretending not to hear Greg complain to the cook about having to close for the night on his own, and how he needed more reliable staff. Unlike other days, I didn't jump and take the responsibility. If he didn’t trust me, then why should I work after hours for almost nothing in return?
Outside, orange and blues streaked across the afternoon sky and a cool breeze cooled the perspiration on my neck. My heels ached with each step from being on my feet all day, but something about the colors overhead reminded me of my parents. A longing swept through my chest at not having them in my life, not having someone to talk to when I felt so alone. We grew up in an apartment, and like me, they lived from one paycheck to the next, but we were happy, and we had each other.
Instead of crossing Bexter Road to head home, I kept strolling straight ahead past storefronts and people shopping, unable to stop remembering my parents. And when I missed them, one location always eased the sorrow somewhat. A little slice of paradise where I could leave society behind and I could think in peace.
It wasn’t long before I stood in front of the six-foot-tall gates made of twisted metal rods. The ends were curled in a circular pattern, and while spiders had made the corners of the gate their home with a maze of webs, it still was a beautiful sight to me. Behind me lay the city museum, but it was closed as it was past 4pm, which meant that most of the patrons to the garden had left as well. I had one hour to enjoy Greenwood Botanical Garden before it closed.
The crunch of tires sounded behind me before I could go in, and I turned around, for some reason expecting the black sedan from this morning to be waiting for me. Instead a white hatchback full of laughing teenagers coasted past. I laughed at my jumpiness and proceeded into the garden.
The incident turned my attention from my parents back to the Vepar. He had offered me a ride this morning. Just thinking about it made my earlier goosebumps return. I wanted to believe that it had just been chance that he had found me as he had been passing by. But I knew I was in denial.
I had been unextraordinary my entire life. The most out of the ordinary thing that had ever happened to me was becoming an orphan. Human men didn’t pay me any attention. Why would a Vepar?
I hurried into the gardens, tiny pebbles crunching under my worn-out sneakers. I silently chanted to myself that everything would be okay...it had to be.
Lofty trees with bottle green leaves flanked my path, and the blossoming landscape was filled with the fragrance of jasmine. Up ahead, copious flowery beds lay in every direction, segmented by colors. Whites, fuschias, oranges, and violets. I followed the curved path to where the trees grew denser and shadows fell over the land. Birds chirped and the scratching of dried leaves indicated that little critters or lizards were scurrying through the foliage beside me.
There wasn’t a person in sight, which on my most days I preferred. Today the solitude made the hairs on my arms stand on end. I kept glancing over my shoulder, feeling like someone was watching me. But every time I turned to look, there was no one there. So, I kept walking.
I marched up the hill. I passed the glass greenhouse before crowning the hill which gave the best view of the city. From this height, the city seemed to lay beneath my feet. You could see the way the tall buildings had been so carefully regimented and ordered. The descending sun illuminated the shimmering glow of pollution that lay just above the city.