Escape

Chapter Three

Having slept better than the night before, I woke up right at 5:00 am feeling rested. I head to the bathroom to get ready for my morning run. My first shift at the diner is today, but not until 8:00am. I have some "first day" nerves and I'm hoping a good run with shake them. I usually hate 'first anything's', but especially first days of work. I always feel like everyone's eyes are on me and I'm not one to enjoy any attention. But of course, it's unavoidable. So, I tell myself to just muster through it until I'm regular enough to blend in with everyone else. That's all I want, is to blend in.

I put my headphones in my ears and my playlist full of high tempo songs fills my ears. My run took its usual route, stopping at my favorite coffee shop to start off the rest of my morning. I walk up to the counter and the barista from yesterday, and almost every day before that, is there. It must be his regular shift. He looks up at me and raises his eyebrow with a smile.

"The usual?" He smiles.

I casually look at the menu as if I'm not going to order that same thing. Faking my best "thinking" face.

After a moment I look at him and laugh, "Yeah, you already know. Who am I kidding?" I cave. I walk over to my usual table. I look around the coffee shop and find that I'm the only one here this morning. It's so peaceful as the sunrise fills the coffee shop and I look out at those beautiful cobblestone streets I admire every day. The barista walks up and places my order in front of me. I thank him and begin to drink my coffee.

"You Americans and your coffee," he says with a teasing tone and a kind smile.

"You Brits and your tea," I reply with a laugh and take another sip.

He laughs, "Okay, fair enough." He goes to turn away, but turns back towards me, "My name is Noah by the way."

"Um, Payton," I reply, and I look up at him.

"Nice to meet you, Payton." He smiles. He smiles a lot.

"So, my girlfriend and I just moved here from the city a few months ago and we don't really know anyone." He continues.

"Oh?" I reply.

"And I thought maybe you'd like to hit the pub with us one of these nights. Ya know, just a couple of newbies." His offer is very kind.

"Is it that obvious that I'm new around here?" I laugh. Clearly, I don't blend in here as much as I thought. I must have "NEWBIE" or "LOST" tattooed on my forehead.

"Only a little." Noah laughs. I pounder his offer for just a moment. It would be nice to have a friend, or two, here. As much as I love to sit at home, it has been feeling a little more lonely than usual.

"Sure, I'd love to actually, it'd be nice to make some friends here." I accept his offer and we agree to meet up this weekend where I can meet his girlfriend, Olivia. After we exchange phone numbers, I finish up my scone, wave goodbye to Noah, and walk back to the apartment.

I begin to get ready for my first day at the diner. I feel nervous but excited to be placing some roots here. I jump out of the shower that turned cold much sooner than usual. I dry my hair and tie it back into a slick ponytail. I dress in the black shirt and khakis that Laura stated as dress code in the interview. I will have to go buy more pants after my shift today, this is my only pair of khakis and I do not want to be at the laundry mat every night. I grab my bag and toss in my lunch from yesterday and the book from the bookstore. I'll stop there after my shift.

I get to the diner and Laura comes up to me immediately and pulls me into a hug.

"Happy first day! I'll show you where to put your stuff. You'll shadow Lily today," she says as she introduces me to Lily, a petite brown-haired girl with a kind smile and soft voice.

The morning was slow, as predicted by Laura, which gave me the opportunity to ask Lily a lot of questions. Lily is very kind and answers every single one. If my questions were annoying, she hid it well. The lunch rush was a little more hectic, but I was already getting the hang of things by then. Lily even let me take a few tables by myself before the end of the shift. As my shift came to a close, I grabbed my stuff out of my locker in the break room. I thanked Lily for her patience with me and I said goodbye to some of the other coworkers I met on my shift today. Everyone was very friendly, including the patrons, and I feel like I'm going to really like working here.

I walk down the street to the clothing store I stopped in yesterday and grabbed a couple pairs of khakis and a few black collared shirts. I check out with a soft-spoken girl that raised her eyebrow at my accent. Another reminder that I am not from around here. I walk out of the store and almost forgot about swapping my book at the bookstore before I saw the old wooden sign swinging outside the door. Barett's Books was carved into the sign.

I walk into the bookstore and up to the counter. No one is at the counter, so while I wait, I look through the basket full of the "mystery" books. After a few minutes someone walks out from the back and up to the counter. I look up and found myself oddly disappointed when I see a dark-hair girl.

"Can I help you?" She asks, her voice is very kind.

"Um, I got this book yesterday and the guy here before told me I could bring it back and swap it out for another one." I ask, feeling awkward and wondering if he was supposed to let me do that.

"Oh of course! Feel free!" She says as she holds her hand out towards the basket. Feeling relieved, I dropped the old book back into the basket and nodded to her with the new book in hand. I get to the door to leave as a hear a familiar voice behind me.

"There's no way you finished that book already!" It's the guy from yesterday. He's walking towards me with a leather jacket, black jeans with holes in the knees, and a pair of worn-out black boots. His neck is filled with silver necklaces and I must not have noticed the silver hoop in his nose yesterday. I can't help but admit to myself that he's attractive, like really attractive.

"Um, actually yes." I laugh. "It was really good, and I honestly don't have much of a social life." I clench my jaw as I can't believe I just admitted to this stranger that I lack a social life.

He laughs as he runs his hand through his hair. His laugh is much warmer than his appearance. "What's next on the reading list?" he asks as he looks at the book in my hands.

I look down at the description of the book written on the cover and read, "Tender story about the enduring power of love. Set amid the austere beauty of coastal North Carolina in 1946."

"Hopeless romantic, huh?" He asks, but not in a judgmental 'I cant believe this chick reads this crap' way.

"I guess you could say that." I reply as I offer him a warm, slightly awkward, smile. He looks up at me through his shaggy hair, his eyes almost as dark as his hair.

"Well, I hope you enjoy it," he replies and offers me another kind smile. I nod and walk out of the bookstore. I get about ten steps down and hear the bell of the bookstore's door ding behind me, signaling someone else has walked out. I turn around and see the man outside, lighting a cigarette and holding it between his black painted fingers. I watch him take a deep inhale that turns into a large puff of smoke around him. He ashes the cigarette and takes another hit and his other hand runs through his hair. Just as I realize I'm staring, he does too, and he smiles. As his eyes meet mine, I turn around quickly and head back down the road, my face beat red I'm sure.