Living Without A Heart

"Where have you been!?"

Slowly walking into Pop's, Alice sat in her regular booth.

"Alice, it's been so long! where have you been?" Pop exclaimed warmly.

"I'm sorry I left you in the lurch, I didn't get the chance to say goodbye to anybody." She didn't smile, she was completely void of emotions.

"Do you want your usual?" he asked awkwardly changing the subject.

"Please."

Pop brought her a vanilla milkshake and at the same time a giggling couple burst through the doors. "Look who's back!" Pop said to the couple.

"Alice! you're back, you're okay!" Mary said hugging her, however she didn't respond whatsoever. 

"Are you okay?" Fred asked softly.

"m' fine." her voice barely audible.

"Fred do you mind if we take a rain check?" Mary asked.

"Of course, you'll have a lot to catch up on I imagine." he answered. 

"Alice what happened?"

"He's gone."

"What?"

"They took him."

Alice's eyes were usually a stunning silver but now they were a dull grey, like an endless abyss.

"Hal tricked me into thinking I'd be able to have him and but the sisters told me otherwise. I didn't get a say in the matter because Hal's reputation was on the line."

"Alice that's awful!"

"He knows about FP..."

"Did you tell him?" she asked in surprise.

"He over heard me saying to Sister Rose that he looked like FP and then I turned to Charles and said he looked like his daddy- Hal heard it all."

"What happened then? Did he dump you?"

"Nope, nothing happened."

"Why are you still with him?" she demanded.

"Because."

"When was he born?" she asked, she knew Alice wasn't going to elaborate.

"8.23am this morning."

"What? Alice you should be in hospital!"

"I'm fine." this was the end of the conversation- she was very short in her answers and no trace of emotions showed in her face or her body language. If you imagine a palace guard, how they stand straighter than a board and didn't show emotion, this was Alice sat in her chair at Pop's- it was unsettling.

"Hey FP, guess who's ghost I just talked to at Pop's!" Fred squawked.

"You're seeing ghosts!" FP boomed.

"Not literally! it was Alice Smith... she looked like a ghost though- it was kinda disturbing man" he said running a hand through his hair. "Her eyes are so dark it looks like someone took two black holes from space and embedded them behind her eyes! She looks rough..."

"Is she hurt!?" he gulped.

"I don't know but she doesn't look like the Alice we used to know anymore..."

*****

Two hours later, FP went to Pop's and as sure as the sun rising tomorrow, there she was, sitting in 'her' booth at Pop's, looking liked she'd been to hell and back.