𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐑. b.e

two

at 10:30pm on a monday night, theà walked into the diner to take the shift from her coworker. alex, who had the shift before her, was not the friendliest person, and when theà walked in, he looked up, grunted at her, and left the diner without a word. theà was used to alex being strange, so she didn't think much of it. the carpark was scattered with about eight cars, and there were five occupied tables at the diner. theà pulled on her apron, tying it like it was a second nature to her, and made her way behind the counter.

she made herself a coffee—the only thing that kept her awake through her shifts was the free coffee she got as a diner employee. she made use of these coffees, having at least two each night.

she cleaned a few tables as people gradually filtered out of the diner, and by 11:56pm, theà was alone with one couple at a table. they looked bored out of their minds and theà couldn't help but wonder how their date had dragged on for as long as it had. the man was droning on about himself and his career, and the topic hadn't seemed to progress since the last time theà had caught a snippet of the conversation—around half an hour ago. she gave the women's face a once over, seeing undeniable signs that she would not be going on a second date.

half an hour passed of the man talking about himself, and the woman blurted some excuse about having to go to work early the next morning—which obviously wasn't true, she wouldn't be on a date at midnight on a weeknight if that was the case. but theà was happy for the woman being able to get away from the obviously horrific date, so she simply smiled when she made eye contact with the woman as she left through the door.

so now it was 12:34am, and theà was alone again. she breathed a sigh of relief at the silence and instantly put her headphones in.

two hours down, only six to go.

she pulled out her sketchbook and did what she always did over these silent hours in the shop. she drew. she had a half finished sketch of something from the night before, and she stared at it for five minutes trying to figure out what it was before shrugging and turning to the next page.

she wasn't an amazing artist, but she was decent, and she didn't believe that not being great at something was any reason not to do it. so she drew, she drew whatever she saw. the empty diner had appeared many times in her sketchbooks, there wasn't much else to draw when your mind was tired and there were no pretty people right in front of you.

at 2am, the bell above the door jingled and theà looked up, surprised. she was met with red roots and blue eyes and her mouth fell open in surprise. she quickly shut her mouth, and when billie had sat down at the same table as last time, she walked over to her and handed her a menu just like she had the night before. she smiled slightly, "planning on becoming a regular customer or something?"

billie looked up, taking the menu with a soft smile. "yeah, something like that."

theà was unbelievably confused at what was going on, but she smiled once again. "great... well, call me over when you know what you want to order, yeah?"

billie nodded silently, her eyes falling back down to the laminated menu. theà walked back behind the counter, still confused as to why billie eilish, of all people, kept showing up in the shitty budget diner in a deserted part of los angeles.

theà sat behind the counter waiting for billie to decide what she wanted, her eyes occasionally drifting over to the singer curiously. why was she there? in the shitty diner at 2am? she supposed it was really none of her business, but the curiosity was eating away at her. she fiddled with the hem of her skirt absentmindedly.

soon enough, billie called theà over again, "could i have a hot chocolate again?"

god, this was weird. there was nothing special about the hot chocolates at this diner, they were average at best. why billie would come two nights in a row for one was a mystery. but theà simply nodded, pushing those sceptical thoughts out of her mind.