Who are you?

Cecelia: Part one.

Looking dead into my eyes, the deputy asked her first question. "Can you tell me about how you first met Mr.Williams?"

Chapter one 7/4/2021

I think I met him in July. Standing at the front counter, I prepared for another long and uneventful evening. The counter had been cold, but I tried to keep my smile warm because my boss told me that looking friendly was the most important part of the job; so I waited. Smiling, polite, and attentive. Patty Princess, my employer at the time, was one of the better fast-food joints in town, but it was still fast food and nobody respects fast-food employees. A customer would approach and I would say "Hello," or "Welcome" and immediately they would set off to say "I need a..." which always bothered me. You do not "need" a large milkshake. But alas, I would tell them their total and serve them regardless of their mannerisms.

Working at Patty Princess was not all bad. It was my only social interaction since school let out a few months ago, so I had a few coworkers that I considered friends. There was Tucker, who always picked on me, resulting in nearly daily lectures from our shift leads. He went to my school and was even in the same class as me, but I never spoke to him until he became my coworker. Overall, I was pretty friendly with everyone at my job. It was a good way to pass the time while I waited for my junior year of high school to start. But I am getting off track.

It was a normal day until he came in. We were getting ready to close, but entered anyway, clicking his shoes right over the areas I had just swept. Smiling through the annoyance, I greeted him. Thinking about it now, I believe the conversation went something like this:

"Hello and welcome to Patty Princess. I can take your order whenever you're ready." My typical greeting.

"Thank you,"

Despite walking on my clean floor, I will say he seemed polite.

He continued. "May I have a..."

I entered his order. He ordered enough to feed three people. I assumed he was just a father, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

"Anything else?" I asked.

"No thank you."

"Is that for here or to go?"

"To go, please."

His tone had shifted, obviously in a rush. I remember that very distinctly.

Patty Princess was slow but always made up for it by having the best tasting food. Since there was nobody else in the lobby, I tried to start a conversation. He seemed so pleased with my demeanor.

Our conversation started light. I asked, "Are you in a rush?"

"Quite, but I had a craving, and your drive-thru looked long."

"Our drive-thru is only long on days that end in Y," I told that joke to nearly everyone that came in. "Which is every day, obviously."

He chuckled at my stupid banter and then there was a short beat of silence. I bagged his food.

"How long have you been working here?" he asked.

"About five months."

"Do you plan to continue to work here?"

"For now, yes."

"Then I will continue to come in...for now." He took his food and left.

I guess that was our first interaction.