Cherry

Chapter 36

Summer

Cherry

Before I left for the diner this morning, I heard the TV anchorman say that today is the official first day of summer. However, it's felt like summer ever since May. The temperatures down here have been scorching, and the news anchors explained the temps in the south are breaking record highs.

Though I don't like sweating right when I step one foot out of the door, I honestly shouldn't complain. Summer has always been my favorite season. No matter how sad I was when I was little, I could run outside and find happiness wherever I looked. I could play pretend with the tree in my yard, or play in the inflatable pool my birth mom bought me once. I remember she never used to buy me anything, so when she bought me that, I used it quite literally all summer.

I'm lucky that my depression has improved drastically since my attempt. I can sleep all through the night now, which is something that I never knew was possible. I still have nightmares some nights, but they don't bother me as much, with the help of Dr. Sanchezes' techniques.

Whenever I first survived my suicide attempt, I never understood why I... well, survived. I constantly thought, 'Why me?' But, over these few months, I learned that life truly is beautiful, and if my life ended short, I wouldn't have gotten to experience the rest of the things life had planned out for me. I never would have received my Bachelor's degree in May. I even got a perfect grade on the realism painting I created for my final. Though I haven't been able to find a job with my degree yet, I know that it is in my future. The universe wouldn't have saved me if it wasn't.

If I passed away, I wouldn't have been here whenever Momma's cancer disappeared. I remember how thrilled we all were almost a month ago when we got the news. We all went out to dinner, which is something we hardly do since homemade meals are a must in our household. We all beamed over our steak dinners, chatting about what we were going to do this summer to celebrate. I truly am blessed that I got to witness all of that.

If I was gone, there would be no more movie nights with Cora. No more talking about boy problems. No more giving her tarot readings and having her freak out and ask me a million questions about what the cards she received meant.

No more singing and dancing in the kitchen with my family.

As I walk into Heaven's Diner to open, I continue to think about my family to keep me in a positive headspace for work. I try to head straight to the back, but to my surprise, Sylas unexpectedly rushes out from the kitchen and stops me.

"We got someone at table six," he tells me. "Ya' can't go back here."

"What?" I question him. "We don't open for 30 more minutes."

"It's an important guest."

I grab my apron off of the hook it rests on and pull it over my head, tying the two strings behind my back into a bow. I laugh and tease, "An important guest? Who is it, a food critic?"

Sylas just smiles at me, but not a happy smile. It's more of an evil smile like he's up to no good. So, curiosity getting the best of me, I look over at table six and find a man's back to me as he sits in a booth. Confusion hits me on who the hell this could be, but whenever I look harder, and begin to analyze him, I notice that his hair is dirty blonde and floppy. Then, the worst nausea I've ever felt in my life takes over my body. The hair and the build are all too familiar to me.

Nope. Nope.

I quickly turn back to Sylas and almost gag as I tell him, "I can't do this."

I don't know what else to do besides run to the back and hide in the kitchen for all of eternity. But, Sylas' hand grabbing ahold of my arm stops me.