“Smoking is bad for you.”
I hear his familiar voice before I see him. The sound makes my eyes snap open. Not creepy at all.
“Gotta die of something,” I tell him, waiting for him to leave. He leans on the side of the building, watching me. “Can I help you with something? Are you lost?” I ask, a little annoyed.
“No, I was looking for you, actually,” he replies, looking down at me.
“Well, you found me, so you can leave now.” I wave him off, and he chuckles.
“That’s not very nice,” he says, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Last I checked, you’re invading my personal space, so I don’t need to be nice,” I tell him, quickly finishing my smoke and putting it in the ashtray. Walking back toward the entrance, I groan when I see my boss’s yellow car pull up out the front. Orion opens the door and waits for me to enter.
Quickly stepping past him, I put my apron on and warn Lisa that Vick is here. She walks out to the front counter, while plastering on a fake smile. I don’t bother hiding my disgust for the man, especially after yesterday when he told me I had to blow him if I wanted my tips. Filthy asshole. I am the same age as his daughter.
The bell jingles and Vick walks in. He is a middle-aged man who is overweight and balding. His white shirt is covered in grease, probably from last night’s dinner. Oh, and he is ripe today. I have to fight the urge to gag when he walks past and I catch a whiff of his body odor.
“Ladies,” he says, walking out the back. I roll my eyes, and Lisa groans loudly once he is out of sight.
I notice Orion watching us. A strange look crosses his face as his eyes follow Vick. Then, all of a sudden, I hear Vick shout out my name, and I look past the kitchen to his office with a groan.
“Maybe we can make a run for it?” Lisa jokes, light-heartedly.
“Evelyn!” Vick screams from his small office.
I grab a mug and fill it with coffee to take to him. I hope he is distracted with something and doesn’t remember me calling him a perverted pig before I stormed out of work yesterday.
As I enter his office, Vick is sitting at his desk. He runs his hand over his bald head, a cruel grin on his face. “Shut the door,” he snaps, as he reaches forward and snatches the mug from my hand. Coffee sloshes all over his desk. I grab the tea towel tucked into my apron, mopping it up.
“Do you have anything to say about yesterday?” he asks, raising his unibrow.
“Nope, I am pretty sure what I said was pretty accurate,” I tell him, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at the vile man before me.
“You should watch who you are talking to, girlie. I am not firing you only because we are understaffed, but I am cutting your shifts as punishment.”
“Who are you punishing, Lisa or me? She can’t run the place by herself,” I state.
“She will manage. Unless…” he says, uncrossing his legs and looking at his pants zipper.
I walk out, no way am I degrading myself for my shifts. I need the job, but I will manage without it. I have some savings to last a week or two till I find another job if need be. Slamming the door, I walk back out to Lisa.
“What does he want?” she asks, staring at me worriedly.
“He is cutting my shifts because I wouldn’t blow him,” I whisper, and she frowns.
She knows what he is like, but mostly, he leaves us alone. He used to be only touchy-feely, but he has taken it to an entirely new level of disgustingness since his wife passed.
“So quiet this morning,” Lisa says, looking out the front windows.
I turn to look out and notice Orion glaring at the office door. His anger confuses me, as he shoots daggers at the door.
“Probably because they spotted the dark ones,” I tell her, taking my eyes off him and turning to Lisa.
She nods. “Yeah, I heard they destroyed the north side of the city. They need to just fuck off. This world is hard enough to live in without them killing everyone and destroying everything. I heard a hundred people died when the bank collapsed because of that psycho,” she whispers.
Suddenly, the office door opens, making us look toward the kitchen. Vick strolls out, a cruel smile on his face. He walks over to the register and retrieves the tip jar before walking out.
“Vick, that’s bullshit!” Lisa calls out to him, but he ignores her and keeps walking out. We both huff.
“Not like much was in it. I haven’t seen one customer besides him,” I say, looking in the direction of the man named Orion. Only, he is gone. I look around, but he isn’t anywhere. “Where did he go?”
Lisa looks up, noticing him gone too. She walks over to the table he was at before coming back.
“I have no idea where he went, but he left a $500 tip!” she says, waving the cash in front of my face.
I chuckle as I walk to his table to clean it.
Once he left, after an hour or two I notice the place was filling up with customers again. We’re run off our feet for most of the day. Lisa and I take turns cooking and serving, because the place has no cook after Miranda left. She was sick of Vick’s constant harassment.
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