crimson kills [h.s.]

3. | Effervescent Glow

Chapter 3

TWO WEEKS LATER

After my one night only experience as a drummer for Crimson Kills, I was looking forward to moving on with my life. However, when my girlfriend would send me every tweet or article that mentioned me, it was hard. I stopped opening the links she texted me.

The money Zayn sent me had been cashed and gone already. I paid my debts and I was back to balancing two jobs. In the mornings, I'd work a shift at a diner by the beach and in the evenings, I helped repair motorcycles at a local bodyshop. The diner brought in good money with tips, but there was something I enjoyed more in fixing things that were broken. I would immediately destress whenever there was a bike I could work on.

I had barely clocked in for my morning shift at the diner when a tail of hungry people began to form outside the closed doors. I shook my head in annoyance when someone would try to open the door without reading the sign in front of their fucking face. We weren't open for another few minutes. The idiot tourists were always like this, however, eager to post pictures of their food online.

I had finished my share of the opening chores and just started to brew coffee pots when I heard whispers coming from my coworkers. I looked over at them, several feet away, and I scoffed under my breath. I already knew they were shit-talking me. They never liked me and I never liked them, but they became visibly bitter towards me after finding out why I had missed a few shifts two weeks ago. As long as they didn't swoop into my section or waited my tables, I wouldn't have a problem. I stayed out of their way.

When the doors opened, the customers were flowing through. It was busy and expected for a Sunday, but these kinds of days would go by faster. I already had a new customer at the table that had just been cleared. I walked over, already plastering my fakest smile, while saying, "Hello, welcome! My name is Benny, I'll be your server today. Is there anything I can start you off with?"

The moment my eyes shifted to my customer, my shoulders tensed and my smile fell. Harry pushed his sunglasses, tucking them into his hair, as he looked around with a smug grin on his face. He was pretending as if he didn't know who I was talking to. "Oh, shit... I almost didn't recognize you with a smile on your face."

I raised my eyebrows, holding back a laugh over the audacity he had. "What the hell are you doing here?" I asked. I was sure this wasn't a coincidence, him being here. My eyes scanned around only to find out he was alone.

Instead of answering me, Harry lifted his menu. "I'd like to start off with a coffee, please."

I looked around again. This time I was making sure nobody was watching us. "Too bad we're out," I lied. "I don't know what you're doing here, but you have to leave."

Harry looked at me as he inhaled. He lifted an arm to rest it above his booth and it was almost odd seeing him so casual. He wore a black hoodie with matching sweatpants A white t-shirt peeked underneath, matching his white sunglasses that were tucked in his messy hair. Instead of asking if he was not hot in this heat, I assumed he was attempting to go unrecognizable. "I can't leave, Benny," he then said to me. "Not without asking you something important."

I frowned. "How did you even find me?" If I didn't know any better, my girlfriend could have had something to do with him being here. I didn't like it.

"Does it matter?"

I opened my mouth to argue that it did, but one of my customers had called for me. I could feel myself wanting to snap at the customer, but I walked away from the frustration before I could. I tended to them, refilling their cups of coffee to keep up the good service.

My eyes glanced over to Harry's table as I carried dirty dishes to the kitchen. Melissa, my co-worker, was pouring coffee for him. She was smiling at whatever he was saying.