Ordinary Girl

Chapter Three: Alice

Alice

I’d only been working at the diner for about a week. Originally I had applied to be a waitress, but the manager said I didn’t have enough experience.  How much experience do you need to waitress at a little po-dunk diner?  I think it was more like I was too fat and dumpy to be serving the public.   Washing dirty dishes all night wasn’t exactly my dream job, but I couldn’t afford to be too picky.  I didn’t really care what I did, as long as I got paid for it.  And it wasn’t so bad.  I mean, it’s the kind of job you can do without even having to think about it.  So I just kinda zone out and keep moving.  The crates of dishes are heavy, but I ignore the aches and pains in my back.  I have a playlist of music to keep me company, and I’m all by myself, so nobody sees me if I dance a little while I work.

I felt a little weird that night though.  I was kind of anxious and agitated and it was harder than usual to get into the groove of working.  I kept looking up, thinking that someone was watching me, and I felt kind of wired, like maybe I’d taken too much caffeine.  Except I hadn’t had any.  I don’t even like coffee.  I tried to shrug off the feeling and just put my head down and keep working.

It was so hot behind the kitchen.  That was probably the worst part.  Nobody likes to be hot and sweaty, and for me the heat was making me feel a little sick.  The boss let me put a fan in the door, and that helped a little, at least the air was moving.  I had just picked up another tote of dishes when the fan blew in the strangest scent.  I’ve always had this really sensitive sense of smell, and I was constantly being bombarded by weird smells from the diner, but this was different.  This was like a fresh cut hay field on a warm summer’s day… combined with the smell of rain.  I know I’m getting my weather patterns mixed up, but it was the most amazing, heady scent.  I actually felt like I could get high off it.

I put down the tote of dirty dishes and wiped my hands on my apron.  My fingers were all pruned and wrinkled from working in the water all night.  I stepped closer to the door, and closed my eyes.  What was that?

And then I see some movement in the shadows behind the dumpster.  I know that’s pretty creepy, and I should probably be afraid, but I’m not.  I don’t know what I expected.  A drunk maybe?  A homeless person looking for free food?  Even a stray dog poking around the garbage.  Instead of that, these two people step out, definitely not homeless, and I’m pretty sure they aren’t drunk.  The man is huge, at least 6’5”.  He’s got these gianormous shoulders and bulging biceps.  He’s wearing an expensive looking white dress shirt with the cuffs rolled up over his forearms.  He looks like he should be the star of some action-adventure movie. 

The woman beside him is equally stunning.  Her hair is a little lighter than his, and its piled artfully on the top of her head.  She has long, long legs under a short red dress.  She doesn’t look sleezy though, she looks elegant, like a princess.  I can’t see their faces in the dark, but I can feel their eyes on me.  Its not the casual, dismissive glance that most people give me, this was an intense stare, I feel like they are boring straight into the center of my body.

I know I should do something.  I should greet them, ask them if they need something.  I should probably tell them that this entrance is for employee’s only.   My sluggish brain even suggests that I should go call the manager.  I do have these foggy thoughts, but my body won’t budge.  They move out of the shadows and step over the fan.  They move like animals, slowly, gracefully, beautifully.  Suddenly I was aware of myself.  I’m a soaking wet mess, my clothes are plastered to my body, my hair is stuck to my head, and I probably smell.  I have the urge to run away from these beautiful people, to run and hide myself. 

“Hi.” The woman gives me a friendly grin.  It seems really genuine, and I feel my lips twitch up in response.  I’m kind of dazzled by her, she’s so beautiful and so strong, and just kind of oozes confidence.  But I couldn’t open my mouth to answer her.  I just stared at her like an i***t.

“I’m Gillian.” She gestured to the giant at her elbow.  “This is my brother, George.”

George smiled too.  He crammed his hands into his pants pockets and looked kind of nervous.  Nervous of what?  I zig-zagged my eyes between the two of them, still at a loss.  Why were they here?  Why were they talking to me?

The woman licked her lips.  It was weird, how aware I was of every little move she was making, and how very pretty her full lips were.  “Look I know this is going to sound kind of strange, but we’ve been looking for you everywhere.”