My All

Part 9

At five o' clock, Deborah walked into the diner adjusting her apron looking around. She walked behind the counter and put her purse down. Carl came out of the kitchen with two plates and handed them to her. "Here, take this to the couple over there." He said pointing to the only taken booth in the diner.

She took the plates and returned back to the counter. Shawn was nowhere to be found. She was feeling nervous. He must be so mad. Why did she do that? How could she push him into the lake on a freezing night? "Desiree!" Wilma made her snap back to reality.

"Good morning, Mrs. Wilson. Is Shawn here today? I haven't seen him."

"No, he called me earlier today to see if I could open because he wasn't feeling well. Do you know anything about that?" She asked suspiciously.

"Me? No. No."

"Desiree, did you guys have fun last night?" Carl asked, interrupting them.

"Yes, it was fine." She said as a couple walked in and she ran to take their order.

"Carl?" Wilma asked him. "What did these two youngsters do after I left last night?"

"They went out. I'm guessing they went for a stroll in the park." He said before returning to the kitchen.

Wilma couldn't take her eyes off Deborah. As Deborah returned with the order, she grabbed her arm. Deborah tried to get loose but she was holding her tight. "I need a word with you, now. In the office." Wilma let her go and walked to the office followed by Deborah. In the office, Wilma sat behind the desk and motioned Deborah to take a seat.

"Is there something wrong? I thought I was doing a good job."

"What did you do to Shawn?"

"What do you mean?"

"He's clearly upset about something. What did you do?"

"I thought you said he wasn't feeling well."

"What did you two do after I left last night?"

"I don't think that's any of your business." Deborah said standing up.

"What did you do?" Wilma yelled, slamming her fists on the desk making Deborah jump.

"We just went to the park across the street to talk."

"I thought I was pretty clear with you. I thought you would be smart enough to understand, but it seems I'm going to have to spell it for you." She said getting up and standing in front of Deborah. "Stay away from my son!"

"We weren't doing anything!"

"He's engaged and he has a son. He has to do right by his fiancé and son. He can't be distracted by some cheap floozy."

"Excuse me? What did you just call me?" Deborah said, taken aback.

"I didn't want to say anything before, but your mother was a whore, the town's biggest whore. I guess it rubbed on you." Wilma said as Deborah slapped her.

"My mother was not a whore. You are mistaken." She said with tears in her eyes.

"How dare you? You are fired!"

"You can't fire me, Shawn hired me."

"He's not here right now, is he? He told me to get rid of you. I wanted to give you the chance to tell me what happened with you two last night that made him so upset, but you screwed that away. Now, get out of here. I never want to see you again."

"Don't worry, I quit!" Deborah left the office, grabbed her purse and ran out of the diner.

Three weeks later, there was a knock on her bedroom door. She answered it and the motel owner was standing behind it. "Miss Thompson."

"Janine. How can I help you?" Deborah asked looking around to see if they had heard her call her by her real last name.

"Is that time, sweetie. You can't stay here anymore."

"I can pay you for another week, please. I need to find a job so I can rent a place. Give me one more week."

"You know it's not about the money. I can't have a young girl living here by herself, this is no place for you." Janine whispered.

"I'm eighteen already. Just one more week, please."

"I'll give you two days. I'm doing this for your own good. If you can't find anything, it's a sign that you should go back home." Janine said leaving.

Deborah closed the door and slumped to the floor. She hadn't had any luck finding a job. It seemed Wilma had used her connections to bad mouth her to the whole town. She needed to talk to Shawn. She quickly got dressed and headed towards the diner.

She walked through the back door and saw Carl. "Hey, honey." He said whispering as he hugged her.

"Is Shawn here?"

"No, but I heard he might be leaving town for a while."

"Do you know where he lives? Can you give me his address? I need to reach him before he leaves. I need to talk to him and apologize."

"Of course." He said as he wrote down the address in a piece of paper and handed her to her.

"Desiree! What are you doing here?" Wilma said entering the kitchen.

"Don't worry, I'm leaving." Deborah said as she left.