𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊

𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝

"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙚. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙚

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚, 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩.

𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙚. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙚

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩, 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩."

Michael thought you were stupid for being so kind to him. You must've been. Because who else would hear about everything he did – everything that his father did – and come rushing to offer him a sucker?

That thing inside of him thought you were stupid too. For not noticing how off he was. For looking directly into his coal-black eyes, surrounded by his sickly purplish skin, and not seeing a monster.

But you weren't stupid. You noticed it all, right down to the way his body would occasionally twitch and hum with a sickening mechanical click. You just didn't care.

Michael was fine with that. You could be the stupidest girl in the room for all he cared. As long as he could watch you from his corner, he was totally content.

Until that motherfucker showed up.

It was his nephew's birthday from what you gathered, and an avid smoker from what you smelled on his clothes. Michael watched disapprovingly from the doorway as he whistled for your attention, beckoning you toward the birthday table with two fingers. Like you were a dog instead of a criminally underpaid waitress.

It made Michael unfathomably angry.

"𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄'𝙢 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚.

𝙄'𝙢 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪.

𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬

𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙."

You cringed at the man seated beside the head of the table. You got your fair share of guys like him. You couldn't even count the number of times you'd had to sheepishly approach Michael and ask him to escort a drunk father out of the building for touching one of your girls. He always did it with the polite tip of his hat, and you never ever saw those assholes again.

Right as you were about to lift up the countertop to go attend the party, your newest waitress, Chelsea, grabbed you by the arm.

"The cat came back," she whispered, round eyes darting toward the entrance of the diner. You didn't even bother to look before exhaling a long sigh of relief. Michael was there.

You attended the party, never looking, but comfortable in knowing that somewhere close by, Michael was watching you. The uncle of the birthday boy only grabbed your ass twice – only one of which you were able to successfully swat away with a tight customer service smile.