by Bree Wolf
“Sorry,” he said but it was no more than a whisper; that stupid grin still on his face.
“You so owe me.”
“How about dinner?” he suggested.
I snorted. “That doesn’t even begin to cover it. Believe me.”
Suddenly the door opened, making him jump out of the way to avoid getting hit. Abby walked in, glancing from me to him and back to me, taking in the scene. Her eyes narrowed and turned back to my brother. “What’d you do?” she hissed.
“Why do you always assume it was something that I did?” he said indignantly.
Abby just shrugged. “Experience.”
***
The rest of the day passed in a less stressful manner. And once ten o’clock lay behind us, the restaurant slowly began to empty. Only the bar was still crowded. But my feet started to complain and suddenly I couldn’t wait for the day to end.
Clearing yet another table, I suddenly felt like someone was watching me. I turned to the bar, looking around for Abby–maybe she needed my help–but instead my eyes fell on the guy who had repeatedly asked for but never approached me.
He looked just the same. Again he was staring at me with that concerned and somewhat urgent look on his face; as though he had an unpleasant but important message to deliver.
For a moment I stared back; neither one of us moving. But as soon as I took a step toward him, he turned and walked away, leaving the restaurant.
What was this about? Who the hell was he? If he needed to talk to me, why didn’t he? Was he some kind of stalker?
I had to admit I was getting worried. And a weird sense of foreboding followed me home that night and didn’t leave until I finally closed my eyes. But although sleep came quickly, it wasn’t undisturbed. Again I dreamed. The same dream I’d had for a couple of days; ever since I’d hit my head and blacked out. The sound. The voice. But just as before that was all there was and I couldn’t make any sense of it, which didn’t change when I finally woke up and found the sun streaming in through the window.
Back at work, everything went smoothly for about an hour. Then dark clouds rose at the horizon. My brother returned, seating himself at a corner table, which not only annoyed me but also Abby. Quite obviously he had nothing better to do than watch us work. I didn’t recall ever slacking off like that during college. And what made matters worse, he had a smug smile on his face that stayed where it was all day. It seemed like he was doing it out of spite. Abby fumed, but since he was a paying costumer, she graciously refrained from kicking his ass.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I hissed at him when I stopped by his table on my way back to the kitchen, a pile of plates balanced on my arms.
“What are you talking about?” he asked, his mouth full and a look of innocence on his face. Knowing him as well as I did though, I didn’t miss the amused sparkle in his eyes.
“You know damn well what I’m talking about! I don’t need a babysitter. Actually, I already have one. And I don’t think she is willing to give up her position just yet. So, if you could just get lost, I’d appreciate it immensely.”
Andy just shrugged. “No idea what you’re talking about, sis. I was only enjoying a peaceful lunch...at least it was peaceful before you started ranting.” He winked at me.
“Oh, go to hell!”
I stormed off to the kitchen, freed my arms from their heavy loads and rushed back to see people to their tables and take new orders. All the while I did my best to avoid running into Abby. I knew she’d blame me for Andy being there simply because the moron was my brother. It was a weird world.
Fortunately, lunch hour was as busy as always, sparing me from having to deal with the two thick-headed idiots, who on a normal day I’d have admitted to care about. I ran back and forth, here and there, without so much as registering who I was talking to. I probably wouldn’t have been able to pick a single customer out of a line-up.
However, on one of my many returns from the kitchen, my head snapped up as I heard a loud shattering. Sam had dropped a tray and shards were flying everywhere. Without much ado, he quickly got a broom and dust pan to clear away the mess. The customers just as quickly returned their attention to the food on their plates. Only my eyes lingered in the air as they had just now recognized a face I knew.
Knew may be a bit of a stretch. It was ‘the guy’ for lack of a name. He was standing only about four feet from where my brother sat munching his French fries, and he stared at me with the same expression he always bore. For a moment, I thought he might be frozen in time. Like a statue, that always looks the same, only its position in the room could be changed.
As I headed toward him, I only heard someone from behind me yelling “Watch out!” before Sam, dustpan in hand with shards piling up on it, ran into me, throwing us both off our feet and sending the shards flying once again.
I ended up with a bruised knee and a thin, inch-long cut on my left hand. From the expression on Sam’s face, I could tell that he hadn’t gotten away without an injury either. Abby as well as Andy rushed over, faces overly concerned, as though a minor disaster had just occurred. After assuring them that I was more or less all right–again–I turned back to ‘the guy’ but as I’d suspected he was no longer there. It was as though the universe was trying its best to keep us apart.
By the time I finally got home, I was exhausted. I refused to join Abby’s night out on the town, while wondering why she never seemed to run out of energy, and turned in early. Never before had my bed seemed more inviting than it did then. Sinking into the pillows and pulling the blanket over my head, I was out in less than five seconds. But once again as though an annoying routine had taken root in my life, there it was again, that strange sound and the voice. The voice I knew but didn’t remember.
When I woke in the middle of the night, light shone into my room from under the door, announcing Abby’s return. I could hear her steps; the kind of steps of someone trying too hard not to make any noise and failing to do so. But knowing that if I brought my wakeful state to her attention, she would keep me up for the rest of the night, I lay quietly in bed, waiting for her to find her own. When all sounds had ceased, I snuck out to the kitchen and got a quick drink from the fridge. For some reason my stomach felt a little queasy.
As quietly as possible I returned to my room, stopping by the window to draw the drapes all the way shut to lock out the last rays of the moon shining in. And then I froze.
Down in the street right under the street lamp on the sidewalk from across our apartment building stood the guy from the restaurant looking up at my window.
Cold shivers ran down my spine and I quickly shut the drapes, panic creeping into every fiber of my body. After taking a few breaths I had finally calmed down enough to take another peek but as though in honor of the little routine we had going he was gone. There was no one there. So I returned to bed but sleep just wouldn’t come. Every noise to reach my ear, however fleeting, instantly and honestly without any doing of myself grew in volume until I couldn’t help but wonder how the rest of the world could remain asleep. It sounded like doors opening, silent footsteps approaching my door or someone climbing up the fire-escape and trying to break open my window.
By the time the sun finally rose, I was a nervous wreck and in desperate need of a good night’s sleep.
“Did you see a ghost?” was Abby’s refreshing comment when I finally crawled out of bed. “You look dreadful!”
“Maybe,” I said, pouring myself a cup of coffee.
Abby’s eyes narrowed as she watched me walk around the kitchen. “Late night visitor?” she asked, winking at me.
I was too tired for anything but a straight answer, “Something like that,” however vague it might be.
Abby jumped up with a little yelp and, pulling me over to the couch, insisted, “Dish.”
“It’s not what you think,” I tried. “It was ‘the guy’. I saw him. Here.”
“He came to the apartment? Bold move,” she
said, sounding appreciative.
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean? C’mon, don’t make me pump you for more details. I don’t have all day to wait for you to finish your little anecdote.”
I couldn’t help but shake my head at her. However, knowing that an argument would only give me a headache, I started my tale. “I woke up some time during the night and when I wanted to close the drapes, I saw him standing downstairs under the street lamp, looking up at my window.” I admit I wasn’t the greatest story-teller of all times.
And as though she’d read my mind, Abby asked, “That’s your story?” A disapproving frown showed on her face.
“Yeah? What?”
“It sucks, sweetie,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “Ever heard of a little thing called ‘tension building’? And you want to be a novelist?”
“Eh, no, I don’t.”
Another frown appeared on her face. “Yes, you do. You’ve been pestering me with this crap for years. And now you say it’s not your ‘dream’ anymore?” She actually used air quotes when saying the word dream.
I put on the most appalled expression I could come up with. “Okay, first of all, I appreciate your honesty and am terribly sorry to have bothered you with my ‘crap’,” if she could use air quotes, so could I, “and secondly, no, I never wanted to be a novelist but a columnist. However, I can see how someone with a tiny brain as yours could get the two confused.” I put on a devilish grin, sure that I had her this time.
“Now, see, that actually has potential,” Abby laughed. “Especially combined with that weird expression on your face. What’s that supposed to be? Indignation? Not bad.” She gave me a pat on the head and returned to the kitchen for another cup of coffee. “So, about the guy. He stood under your window looking up? That’s creepy!”
“I thought so, too,” I admitted. “That’s why I couldn’t sleep which is why—”
“You look like hell,” she finished for me.
I shrugged. “Not exactly the words I was looking for…but they’ll do.”
She grinned at me. “How about you lie down for another hour or two and try to get the creepy out of your face? Looking like this, you’ll just scare away the guests.” Grabbing her jacket, she added, “Don’t worry, I’ll tell Leo some heart-warming crap about…oh, I don’t know yet…I’ll think of something.” And she was out the door.
When I walked into the restaurant not three hours later, I felt a little refreshed and at least halfway able to tackle the day. However, as soon as I came around the corner from the entry desk, I was tempted to just turn around and leave. Right in front of me at the bar sat my dear little brother, a glass of water in front of him–I’ll give him that–shouting at Abby who in turn shouted back. I doubted that either one of them had the faintest idea what the other was saying.
For a second I rested my head against the wall, closing my eyes, and hoped that if I ignored them, they would just go away. Unfortunately, that didn’t work. Instead, I heard Leo call my name and on opening my eyes, I saw him hastening toward me. Abby and Andy were still oblivious to their surroundings.
“You gotta do something,” Leo said, face in agony. He was a little, round man with a balding head and a soft heart. How he managed to keep the restaurant in business was beyond me. “The guests are starting to leave.”
“Have you tried kicking them out?” I asked, glancing at the two idiots by the bar.
Leo nodded, eyes shifting to Abby.
“And?”
“She snapped at me to get lost,” Leo said feebly, eyes avoiding mine.
I however wasn’t feeling particularly sensitive right then. “You’re aware that you’re her boss, right?”
Again he nodded, embarrassment coloring his cheeks.
“Have you ever heard the expression ‘barking dogs don’t bite’?”
He glanced at Abby, who had just thrown a drink into my brother’s face. “Are you sure that applies to her?”
I just shrugged my shoulders, starting to feel tired again. “Almost positive.”
But Leo didn’t move. He just stood there, waiting.
“All right, all right,” I said, heading toward the two wranglers. Knowing that my brother was the weaker one of the two, I ignored Abby and just grabbed my brother’s arm and dragged him to the door. At first he tried to resist–and Abby snapped at me for ruining her entertainment–but then he gave up and I was actually able to push him out the door.
“What is wrong with you?” I barked at him. “You know you’re a red flag to her? Why did you come here? Do you have nothing better to do?”
Again he put on that innocent expression that always made me want to slap him. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I worry about—”
“Oh, give it up!” I snapped. “I bumped my head days ago. Plus, that’s not an unusual occurrence. We both know that that’s not the reason you are here.”
“It’s nothing,” he insisted.
“Fine,” I shrugged my shoulders. “You know what? I don’t care.” My eyes narrowed at him. “As long as you don’t come back here.”
“As you wish, ma’am,” he said, giving me a fake salute.
I just rolled my eyes and went back inside.
“What the hell did you do that for?” Abby hissed at me.
“Okay, next in line,” I mumbled. This day was getting better and better. “You were scaring off the guests,” I said, trying to reason with her.
“So?” she huffed, obviously still trapped in her frenzy where there was no room for reason.
I gently took her by the shoulders and turned her to the swing-door that led to the kitchen. To its left, at a little desk behind a fake brick wall covered in fake grapevines sat Leo, looking over his little domain.
“See him?” I asked. “That’s Leo, your boss. You like Leo, remember? Leo good man.” I felt a little foolish but from experience I knew that simplicity was the only way through that thick skull of hers.
After a while I heard her exhale.
“Feeling better?” I asked.
“Not really,” she said, actually looking a little embarrassed. “I have no idea what happened there. But that little dwarf…” There was a twinkle of anger back in her eyes.
“Easy,” I cautioned. “Don’t let him get to you again.”
Abby took a deep breath, for a moment closing her eyes.
Watching her carefully, I said, “I’m almost afraid to ask…but what were you two fighting about?”
She looked at me then and a deep frown appeared between her eyes. “Honestly? I’m not sure.”
“You don’t know? Then what were you yelling at him for?”
She seemed to be concentrating. “Something about him being a little nasty dwarf who…”
“Yeah, you mentioned that,” I said. “Then let’s just move on and forget about it. He won’t be coming back here anyway.”
“Not if he knows what’s good for him,” Abby said, triumph in her voice. “Seriously, your brother is no match for me. No offense.” Then she turned around and headed back to the kitchen as though nothing had happened. Before she disappeared through the swing-door by Leo’s desk, she smiled at him and he beamed back at her, happy that his little kingdom was back in order.
Chapter Four – The Guy
“And you haven’t seen him since?” Abby asked, still in her bathrobe. She sat down at the kitchen table, clutching a cup of coffee, the Sunday paper unnoticed in front of her.
I shook my head, helping myself to a cup as well. “No, he only seems to show up at the restaurant.”
“Except for that time you found him staring up at your window. Let’s not forget that.”
Annoyed, I stared at Abby. “Gee, thanks.” My shoulders slumped. “You know, before that it was just weird. But ever since that night, it’s also creepy. What does he want? Do you think he might be a stalker?”
“Who is a stalker?” The door swung open and Andy appeared in its frame, holding a box of
donuts.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Abby hissed. “You gave him a key?”
“Just for emergencies,” I defended myself. “I just thought someone should have a key in case…well, in case of an emergency.”
“Like what?” Abby was still not looking at him.
I shrugged my shoulders, otherwise ignoring her question. “Hey, give it a rest. What bad could possibly come of this?”
Abby pointed at my brother, wrinkling her nose as though smelling something rotten. “He’s here, isn’t he?”
Closing the door, Andy approached the table–cautiously. “As entertaining as it is to have you two discuss my possible shortcomings in my presence, I would very much prefer a change of topic.”
“Wow, mighty big words for a weasel!” Abby eyed him with a disgusted look on her face.
“I’ll just ignore that,” Andy whispered as though to himself. Then he put a cheerful grin on his face and, placing the box on the table, opened it. “I don’t come empty-handed. Here, a peace offering.”
“The Greeks came bearing gifts as well,” Abby said. “And we all know how that ended.” But nonetheless, she took a donut, dunking it in her coffee. “You may go now.” Like a queen ending an audience, she waved a hand at my brother dismissively.
“Thanks,” he said, pulling out a chair and seating himself between me and Abby.
She looked at him with raised eyebrows. “I meant go as in leave. The apartment. Now.”
“I just got here,” Andy objected, helping himself to a donut.
“Doesn’t mean you get to stay.”
“Then make me leave,” he challenged her, a big grin on his face.
“Hey, stop it! Both of you!” I interfered, seeing a furious gleam light up Abby’s eyes. “It’s Sunday. The day to recharge your batteries before another busy week empties them again. But with you two around, I’m not getting any recharging done.”
“What are you looking at me for?” Abby asked, looking slightly offended. “He’s the one causing all the trouble.” She turned to Andy. “You couldn’t just stay away, could you?”