Waterproof

TWENTY-TWO

Carson parked outside of the little diner the GPS took us to. We were lucky we left early enough to have gotten a decent spot.

I looked over at him and sucked in a breath. "What if she's in there?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "She might be."

There was a minute of silence, and I knew Carson was letting me process everything. "Okay," I nodded, convincing myself more than him that I could do this. "Let's go."

Before I let the thought sink in too much, I unbuckled my seat and got out of the car.

Carson followed after as I speed-walked into the little diner.

I started getting more nervous as I approached the door, and when someone held the door open for me, the ding it made as it hit the door brought on a new wave of nausea.

"Thank you," I said, forcing a smile and nodding at the man. He just smiled back and I walked through, taking a deep breath as I crossed from outside into the diner.

It smelled vaguely of biscuits. I felt Carson come to stand next to me, and he took my hand and squeezed it before letting go again. "You got this. I'll be right there next to you."

"Do you think maybe you could speak?" I asked him. "I hate talking to people."

He shrugged. "I guess." He took the lead now, walking towards the service counter. I followed behind him and we waited behind the short line to speak to whoever was taking orders.

"Hey," Carson said when it was our turn. I could see the lady eyeing him. "We'd like two sausage bacon breakfast sandwiches, orange juice, and to talk to Lakyn Smith."

That was one way to put it. Not a very tactful one. The girl, who had a name tag that said Phoebe, put our orders into the register, and then said. "That'll be six fifty. And I'll get the boss out to talk to you about Lakyn."

Carson thanked her as she gave us a little number card so the waitress or waiter could find our table.

It was a few minutes before a man showed up, and a few more before our food was placed. Since Carson was sitting on the same side of the booth as me, the man sat opposite to us.

"Hey," he smiled. "I'm Richard. The boss. You wanted to know about Lakyn Smith?"

Carson nodded.

"I can't help you too much, there. She worked here. Hasn't shown up for a week. Even if she did come back, she wouldn't have a job."

Carson smiled politely. "Is there any way you could give us her address? We're her friends before she moved here."

Richard shrugged. "I'd give you her address if you were out to rob her. I don't have any obligations to her anymore."

Richard left for a minute and then returned with a slip of torn notebook paper. "There you go. And if you happen to see her there, be sure to let her know she's been replaced."

Finally, I spoke up. "Thank you, sir."

He smiled. "It's nothing. Have a good day, you two. Your meal's on me."

"Um, we already paid."

Richard laughed. "Of course! So sorry. Can I get you anything else on the house, then?"

"Maybe two more of these sandwiches?" Carson tried. He didn't want to seem greedy, but he also didn't want to be rude by turning down the offer.

"Of course. I'll be back in a second with those. Bacon- sausage?"

Carson nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Richard."

Richard tapped the table twice as a form of answering before leaving.

"Alright. This can't be too much harder. We know where she lives, now."

"What if she's not there?"

"We'll wait her out. It's not going to be too bad if we miss one day of school."

I sighed. "You're right."

Richard came back with the sandwiches. "Have a good meal, you two. Hope all goes well with Lakyn."