by Lilly Mance
“Yeah,” I grinned.
“Good choice for table one,” she winked. “What will it be, little one?”
“I'll have an ice tea,” I said and looked at others. Pride on their faces told me how lucky I was to have such support. Priceless!.
We stayed at Mario's longer than ever. Although Brad and Shawn were new additions to our trio, their warm personalities and genuine care fit right in. It didn't feel at all awkward exposing my fears and doubts about the job in front of them. Both of them encouraged my decision to explore this path before college, which earned them shoulder punches from my girlfriends. Looking at our group, I felt sadness due to their soon departure, and the solitude of my chosen path. At the end of summer, they'll be gone, and new faces will call Mario's their home. Good thing Maya and Helen didn't know that adrenalin fueling my emotions at that moment could have made me change my mind about going to college.
~*~
Mom worked graveyard shift again. I came home from Mario's just as she was about to leave. She squeezed the soul out of me, and her eyes watered.
“My little working girl,” she said, caressing my cheek. “Fresh clothes for the morning are on your bed.”
“Aww, Mom. You didn't have to do that,” I kissed her on the cheek.
“Oh, yes I did! On my first day, I would have gone out in pajamas if it weren't for my mother,” she giggled. “Never underestimate first day jitters!” She kissed my forehead, and was out the door.
Adrenaline wore off, leaving me tired as hell. I went upstairs, and crashed on the bed next to neatly folded clothes. Fabric softener spreading from it gently lulled me into a half dream state. My eyelids felt heavy, and I fought to keep sleep away. Squinting, I traced the outline of a white blouse two inches from my nose, when I heard knocking on my bedroom door.
“Did you forget something?” I called out thinking it was Mom.
“May I come in?” A slightly hoarse, male voice jolted me into high level of alertness. I cleared my throat, and sat up, saying:
“Sure.”
“Congrats on getting a job,” my ghost stalker said, closing the door behind him with a silent click.
“Thanks, I guess.” Was he there? Good thing that never crossed my mind.
“You'll be great at it,” he said, leaning his back against the door. I expected him to fall through just like ghosts do, but he didn't. His body remained comfortably in place, filling my room with his presence, and a hint of vanilla mixing with my room’s usual scent. No doubt, he was incredibly good to look at. Otherworldly beautiful. Paranormal creepiness aside, I'd give my all to have him. That prompted me to say, “Can I help you?”, regretting it immediately. How stupid of me, knowing he wanted something from day one.
He cracked a smile, and crossed one foot over the other, “My name is Zack.”
“Oh-kay,” that was weird considering our past conversations. “I'm Lyra, but you knew that already.” He nodded, maintaining a mysterious half smile, so I asked, “What's funny?”
“Oh, nothing,” he sucked in both lips for a split second.
“It must be something since you're smiling.” Was this the same guy? Where did that stern soldier go? He seemed...relaxed. Almost normal.
“The way you frowned when I introduced myself,” he said, throwing a bland look my way.
I rolled my eyes, “Glad to see I amuse you.”
“It's a nice change,” that patronizing attitude he maintained irked my bitchiness, making me want to smack his Royal Smugness. He practically begged for it!
“What do you want?” I said, gruffly.
“Back to your old self, I see,” the smile disappeared from his face. Detaching his back from the door, he pushed himself toward my bed. And me.
“Excuse mua, but you're the one who came into my room. Not the other way around,” I said, watching him approaching me dangerously close.
“True. Cut me some slack, will you? I'm trying to be polite here,” he bent, and placed each hand next to my thighs, our noses almost touching.
“Would you mind removing yourself from my personal space? I got to breathe,” I raised one eyebrow, and stared in those easy-to lose-myself eyes. He chuckled, and straightened up.
“Look. I really need your help. Put yourself in my position for just a moment,” his expression revealed a hint of vulnerability, melting my guard down. For a moment, I was able to forget what he was, and saw in front of me just a regular guy that needed my help.
“Zack, is it?” He nodded. “Right. Zack, I don't understand your position, so I can't put myself in your shoes. All I know is that you're stalking me, supposedly cannot leave me, and we verbally attack each other whenever we speak. You need to explain more, if my understanding is what you seek.” Wow, that was weird to hear coming out of my mouth. He let out a deep sigh, crossed to the other side of the bed, and sat down. “You can sit?” I asked, amazed by that fact.
“Maybe we should start at that. My current existence is exactly like yours. I have to walk, ride the bus, open doors, put bartenders on fire,” he chuckled, “—everything like a normal person.”
“Thank you for that,” I said, but then his words sunk in. My mouth dropped from shock, that couldn’t be true. He couldn’t be like me. He’s a freaking ghost, for crying out loud!
“Don’t mention it,” he smiled, over-confidently.
“But you're hovering, not walking,” I challenged his prior statement. If what he said were true, it would be a game changer. He would, in fact, be real. That thought sent a heat wave down my spine. I swallowed a knot. Did someone turn up the heat in my room?
“I'm not hovering. That's how you see me because we don't share exactly the same realm. That's how I see you, too.”
“No way!”
“That's what I was trying to tell you, but you wouldn't listen,” he shook his head.
“Wait a minute! If everything is normal, how do you get snapped next to me? That's a bit contradictory, don't you think? In my world, we don't get snapped no matter what,” I frowned, suspecting foul play.
“Exactly!” He jumped up, excited, as if I had struck gold, or something. That confused me; not a typical reaction for a liar. “Now, imagine if that happened to you in your otherwise normal world. Wouldn’t you think it had something to do with a person you get repeatedly snapped next to?”
“Hmm,” he had a point. I would. But I wasn't gonna fall for it until all puzzles fit in. “And what about vanishing in the middle of a conversation, or appearing out of thin air when I called you the other day?”
“Imagine two overlapping circles,” he formed circles with his thumbs and index fingers, and then cuffed them. “We can both move inside our own circles, but see each other only in the overlapping parts. I don't vanish, I just move out of your visible spectrum,” he sat back down on the bed, but I jerked up, and started pacing up and down my room with hands crossed behind my back.
Everything sounded so logical, and I was quite willing to believe it all. Replaying all the events in my head, I couldn't find a flaw in his story. Suddenly, I was aware there was an incredibly handsome twenty-something guy on my bed. Real. Flesh and blood. Not a ghost, not a paranormal apparition, but a person. The room suddenly felt small, suffocating me.
“Lyra? Please, say something,” he said, his words stopping me in my tracks. There was only one way to put an end to that story. If what he said was true, I must be able to touch him. For real. “You've got a crazy look in your eyes,” he said, studying me carefully. “What are you up to?” His head tilted. I clenched my fists. “Lyra?” His voice took on a pleading tone. I took one step closer, staring straight into his eyes. “You look like a mad woman,” he added, nervously grinning. One more step, and finally determination took over me, and I found my finger clashing against his stone hard abs.
“Oh my God!” I shrieked, bulging my eyes. Zack burst out laughing, throwing his back on my bed. “Not funny!” I said, caressing my finger as if it was burned.
�
�So you didn't believe a word I said,” he replied, still laughing. I didn't respond. It was too much to process. He was REAL. Real as I was. Not to mention the implications that had on my religious beliefs.
“For someone I had to fight with to say what I wanted, you're awfully quiet now,” he spouted, sitting back up, and nudged his head to the side, looking quite amused.
“How can this be?” I uttered, barely audible.
“I don't know,” he answered, his face going back to being serious. “When I first found myself in this state, I had no recollection of who I was. Gradually, some things came back to me. Things like my name, some fragments from past memories, but mostly inconclusive.”
“Do you know where you're from? What happened to you?”
“Nope. Most fragments don't match anything from around here.”
“Zack?”
“Yeah?” A set of pearl white teeth lined up on his face.
“This is a lot to digest. I feel so tired right now. Can we continue this another time?”
“Sure. I waited this long, didn’t I?” Zack flashed a smile, got up, and went for the door, turning around to say: “Sweet dreams.”
“Mhm,” I muttered, already curled up in a foetal position, hugging my teddy. I needed to distance myself from all the info I had received. My mind was boggling. I struggled to stop the thoughts swarming inside, torturing me. After a while, all that was left in my head was a tiny voice repeating “he's real”.
~*~
The alarm clock pierced my ears. I slammed it shut with a heavy thud. Still curled up and fully dressed, I looked around my room. Zack wasn’t there. I stretched my aching body, and all of my joints made cracking sounds. My neck felt stiff. Thank god, I didn't roll over the clothes Mom had laid out for me.
Still drowsy, I dragged my feet all the way into the bathroom to wash my face. Cold water brought relief to my weary eyes. I took a look at my own reflection in the mirror. Teddy's buttons left deep imprints on my left cheek. In slow motion, I squeezed out the last drop of toothpaste, and brushed my teeth. Wide, slow circles across my gums felt more like massage than brushing. Birds nest on my head would require more work, so I left it for later.
Fully clothed, I went downstairs to force some breakfast down my throat. The smell of bacon and eggs hit my nostrils.
“Mom?” I said, as I walked into the kitchen.
“Morning sleepy,” she replied with a wide smile.
“Did you sleep at all?” She couldn't have; not after her graveyard shift.
“Not yet. I couldn't miss my only daughter's first day at work.”
“Aww,” I felt all warm and fuzzy. I didn't expect her to do that. Preparing clothes was already way too much.
“Besides, I have all morning to sleep, and you'll need extra strength to get through the day,” Mom put two fried eggs next to bacon on a plate and pushed it down the table. The plate stopped inches from a glass full of freshly squeezed orange juice.
“What would I do without you,” I said, splashing salt over the eggs, and my stomach churned in response.
“Dig in,” Mom giggled.
~*~
Making my hair behave turned out to be harder than I thought. Finally, I managed to make a bun out of it, hoping it would hold till the end of my shift. Thick, heavy hair such as mine wasn't easy to tame. That's why I always wore it straight down. Not today, though. All I needed was my hair slipping into drinks on the tray.
I took the bus to Mario's, thinking about last night's conversation with Zack. A part of me wanted to accept it as real, the part that was attracted to him from the moment I saw him. The scared part struggled with that possibility. It nagged how it was all a dream, knowing it would be easier to come to terms with that version of events. But it couldn't have been a dream. Though, it would have been so much easier to get back to having a paranormal stalker than to face flesh-and-blood person no-one else could see, I had to acknowledge the fact. Zack is real. My insides quivered to that thought. Immersed in my thoughts, I almost forgot to get out of the bus on time. At the last minute, I slipped through closing doors, getting an angry honk from a bus driver. I fought the urge to flip him.
Mario's was so much different early in the morning. A stale stench of hard liquor filled the air, combined with a sweet smell of freshly baked pastry, and a sour smell of coffee.
“There she is,” Lisa's cheerful voice interrupted my observations. I smiled, and said hello. “I'll be working with you today, but from tomorrow, you're on your own.” I nodded. Mr. Thompson had mentioned it the day before.
After putting on an apron, preparing pots of coffee, arranging muffins and other pastry in quantities usually sold during morning, people started slowly coming in. I was baffled by the fact how natural it felt to serve them. Lisa said they rarely had new faces in the morning, and that soon I'd know which newspaper to bring to whom, and how many coffee refills each of them needed. According to her, night shift was a nightmare compared to morning, because of all the drunks.
“But that's not in store for you,” she said. “Jake and I own that shift,” she giggled, throwing an enigmatic look toward now vacant Jake's bar. I smirked, suspecting there might have been more than work between them.
“Speaking of Jake, when does he come in?” His gruff face came to mind. The later, the better—I thought.
“He works night shifts, but like yesterday, he jumps in when he's needed. He lives upstairs,” she pointed a finger at the ceiling. A knot formed in my stomach at the possibility of Jake popping in whenever he felt like it.
“Is he always that friendly?” I just had to ask.
Lisa giggled, “Oh, don't let him get to you. Underneath that hard surface, he's really a sweetheart.” Maybe to her, but he freaked me out. I frowned.
~*~
At the end of my shift, my feet were killing me. Everything went the way I hoped, and I really enjoyed my first day at work. Jake came down only once––for breakfast. It was a bit awkward serving his lovable personality, but he didn't even acknowledge me, so as soon as he had finished his breakfast, and took his grumpy self back up, I was able to relax again, and enjoy.
Walking across the street toward a bus station, I was surprised to see Zack waiting there—something a normal person would do. My heart fluttered. A small smile escaped my self-control, and I had to admit to myself that I was extremely glad to see him. This time, though, it was different. I wasn't walking up to a ghost that annoyed me; I was walking up to a guy that would make any man look like a hog next to him. Absolutely aware of his entire godly appearance, and the effect it had on me, I felt so simple and plain. My reflection in a window didn’t exactly boost my self-esteem, either. That ever-present pale complexion combined with dark brown hair that usually made me feel pretty and confident, now made me look like a zombie. All I needed was red eyes instead of brown ones to pass as a one. I rustled my fingers through the hair. A couple of butterflies tripped over each other in my belly as Zack cracked a smile.
“Good day?” He asked, his dark green eyes sparkling in broad daylight, only a slight translucency of his body giving away his ghost status.
“Yap,” I responded shortly. “What? Don't tell me you weren't there to spy on me?” I grinned, struggling to keep my act together. Amazing how much had changed by the fact that he was real. I was nervous!
“Now that you know all about me, where's the fun in that?” His grin widened. “I decided to stalk your mother for a change.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but instead I chuckled. There was a hint of smugness on his face that told me he must have been joking, so I said, “No, seriously. Were you there?”
“Ha! None of your business,” his eyes revealed he was enjoying my interest, so I decided to push that topic further.
“I feel offended,” I formed a fake pout. “I liked you more as a ghost.”
“You liked me?! God! Remind me to never get on your bad side. If that's how you treat people you like—” a deep laughter burst out
of him.
“I didn't say I liked you at all,” my cheeks started burning up. Oh, I liked him, alright. “If I hate black and blue, saying I liked blue more than black doesn't mean I stopped hating either one of them. There's a difference!” I rambled, feeling weakness in my knees.
“So, you still hate me,” now he made a sad face.
The bus was nearing, and I took a step toward the curb. “If you keep your mouth shut on the bus, I'll try to hate you less,” the bus opened the door, and I took a step in.
“Oh, I'm not coming along,” he said, sending a painful sensation straight to my gut. I hesitated for a moment with my back turned toward him, then entered the bus without a word. I sat on the first available seat and stared forward. The bus started moving.
Stupid, stupid, stupid!—I reprimanded myself. He's still the same arrogant, obnoxious person he was. Why did I let myself forget that? So, he's not a ghost, but that doesn't change a thing. I was angry with myself beyond control. I behaved like love-sick schoolgirl there. Flirting? What has gotten into me? Stupid, stupid...
Nevertheless, a bus ride home was a bitter experience. And for what? A set of assumptions on my side? As soon as I saw him there, I assumed he was waiting for me. I needed to set my priorities straight. Defiantly, I picked up my chin. It’s time to take two steps back, and start thinking with my head for a change.
~*~
Chapter #5
Each day at work went better than the previous one. I loved working at Mario's and felt as if I had always been a part of the team. My friends made an effort to come earlier than we ever used to so they could catch the end of my shift. Instantly, it became a ritual—I served them, finished cleaning up, and then joined them at the table. Today was no different.
“Hi gang, what will it be?” They recited their orders, and before I went to get them, I whispered: “Today I get my first paycheck,” and winked. Their eyes watered. I was the first from our group to get a job, so it was kind of our group's baby. Maya made a few silent claps with tips of her fingers. There was one more table to serve, and then I had to meet the manager. Excitement boiled in me.