Loving You

IV. Suspicious

Tuesday, December 8th, 2015

That night, I barely slept knowing that Casper was nearby. It was hard enough when he was in the same state, let alone the same small town. I cursed that goddamn music festival for the thousandth time. What if he found out Bexley was his? What if he denied it? Denied her? Or worse, what if he tried to take her away? Like Sam did to my mother? A woman I never grew up to know. The thoughts plagued me throughout the night, not letting up until well into the early morning.

"Ooh, you look like hell," Mia mumbled tiredly, clocking out of her graveyard shift at the same time I clocked in for the morning, with Bexley sleeping on my shoulder. Turned out, neither of us got very much sleep.

"Thanks," I responded blandly, working hard to keep my eyelids from fluttering shut. "Bexley's not feeling super awesome today. I think she's got a bit of the flu or something."

Mia immediately sobered up, glancing more closely at my sleeping toddler. "Oh, poor baby," she cooed. "I'll make a tea for her. She'll be better in no time. My grandmother's recipes are foolproof." She smiled proudly, more eager to leave than she'd been before. It was true, though, her grandma did have the most successful results, even though her recipes were disgusting.

The morning seemed to drag on slowly. While most parents probably enjoyed the moments when their kids weren't being absolute terrors, I actually missed Bexley's wild antics on the days when she wasn't feeling great. She wasn't one to get sick often, but when she did, it was absolutely miserable. So, my morning consisted of cleaning out her throw up bowl, while she laid on the couch in Gus' office, in between waiting on the most demanding customers I'd seen all month.

"Aspen, can you please seat this one in your section?" Jana asked warily, trying to smooth down her fiery red hair where the toddler at table six yanked on it when she reached over him to collect the menus.

Even though I had at least three more full tables in my section than Jana, I nodded warily. "Alright. Hey, if you go on break, grab Knox to take your spot." I was not about to be left alone on the floor for the third time that day while Jana had a cigarette and complained about work on social media.

"I always do anyway," Jana muttered, walking away to deliver the check to table four. Leaving me to fantasize about ripping her bouncy crimson curls right out of her skull, much the way the kid at table six had.

As if the day couldn't get any worse, the last customer to walk in before my shift ended, was the last person I wanted to see that day. The moment the door above the bell rang, Jana scurried off to pretend to scrub a table, leaving me to seat him in my section, however reluctantly.

"Are ya interested in hearing the specials?" I asked, placing his water and lemons on the table before he'd even ordered anything.

There was a small scowl on his face that didn't budge from the moment he walked into the diner. "Nah, get me an eggs benedict, please. With vegetables instead of ham," he ordered, pulling out his notebook and scribbling down the notes in his head. My eyebrows shot up a little when he didn't ask about whether or not it came with tomatoes. It was one of those allergies where the moment he ate one his throat would close, and he'd go into anaphylactic shock. I used to carry an EpiPen for him just like I did for Bexley.

"Is that it?" I prodded, hoping he didn't forget like that everywhere he went. Looking closer at his appearance, I noticed the dark purple bags stained beneath his bloodshot eyes. His cheeks were hollow, and it looked like he'd hardly even run his fingers through his normally stick-straight hair, let alone brushed it. He wore the same plain black hoodie, and black dress pants he'd worn the night before, though they were slightly more wrinkled. All in all, he looked as terrible as I felt.