His Only Drug

Chapter 6

Dedicated to officialfuryevans

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"What?" Judy asked with a shocked expression.

"Yeah, you heard it correct" I replied as I scrubbed the dishes.

"Was he hot?" Bella teased.

"No" I replied dryly.

"So, you guys had fun last night?" Ryan mocked with an amused look plastered on his face.

I stopped scrubbing and threw some foam at Ryan. He laughed his ass off at my childish behavior.

After the morning incident, I came straight to the diner, fuming. None of my friends dared to speak to me as they thought of me as a ticking bomb, until now. I was shaking with anger as I revealed the narrated story to them.

"Let's get back to work guys or else boss's gonna kick our asses!" Bob ordered, suddenly. We did as told. Halfway through preparing steak, Judy came rushing to the kitchen.

"There's a customer who is annoying the hell out of us. He's asking for the chef." She looked between Bob and me.

I nodded and walked behind her. She led me to the table where the complaining customer sat. His shoulders were hunched as his back faced us.

"Sir, here's the chef," Judy spoke politely.

He turned around and frowned.

"You!" We both exclaimed in unison, as our eyes went wide. The staring contest went on for a few seconds before I took the initiative to speak.

"What do you want?" 

"Excuse me? Is that the way you speak to your customer?" he gasped, oh-so dramatically.

This asshole has the audacity to walk in here and complain? First, house, and now, here.

"What do you want, sir?" Agitation was evident in my voice.

"This is so far the worst cheese sandwich I've ever tasted!" He stated with a smirk.

"What's wrong with it?" My eyes widened. I'm not boasting but, none of our customers complained about my sandwiches. Matt says I make the best cheese sandwiches.

"You see there's a lot of cheese in there. Also, you didn't trim the wedges."

"To begin with, there is a reason why it's called cheese sandwich. Secondly, we did not receive any request to trim the wedges." 

"I didn't like the taste of it." He said out of boredom.

What?!

"Then get out and find some other place to eat." My patience was already running thin because of his morning act and now with every second passing, I could feel myself weighing the options between kicking him out and losing my job, or calling Bob and throw him out. This is too tiring and I don't have the energy to deal with him. I looked around and noticed that Judy somehow managed to slip away from the current situation.

"What's with you, kicking me out of everywhere?" He raised an eyebrow, bringing my focus back to him.

Is there any point in arguing with this guy? Clearly, not.

"Are you mad at me because I don't remember anything from last night?" He whispered.

"Nothing happened between you and me last night," I said through gritted teeth.

"Look I might be drunk but I can guarantee you that it must've been one of your best nights. So, you don't have to hide it. I know you loved it."

That's it.

I grabbed his collar and yanked. He stumbled across the table as his eye widened. I pulled him closer and whispered, "It was my mistake bringing you home drunk. Now, either you finish this sandwich or I kick your ass out of here." Annoyance flared in my eyes and hostility in my fingers.

I stomped back to the kitchen without sparing him another glance. I slammed my hands on the kitchen counter, making Bob flinch in his spot. I winched as I felt the pain I just caused to myself. Bob came rushing to my side, immediately.

"Are you alright?" 

"Do I look alright?" I spat. He looked shocked, completely taken aback by my behavior. He retreated to his workstation and I realized I shouldn't have spoken to him this way.

"Bob I'm sorry. I just... I didn't mean to upset you." 

"It's okay. I understand." He smiled and I felt relieved. "If that kid annoys you again, you know where to find me."

"Thanks, Bob." 

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Time flew away too quickly when I wasn't paying attention or replaying everything that happened this morning. Before I left the diner, I made sure everything was in place - all neat and cleaned up.

Upon reaching home, I decided to catch some sleep but the universe had different plans for me. Some banged my door, furiously. The old memory of Ethan banging the door came rushing in.

I woke up at the sound of my front door banging. I panicked and checked the time. It was 2am. Who can it be? Is it him?

"Open the door!" I heard the familiar voice slur. Relief washed over me.

I rushed out of my room and opened the door only to find Ethan wobbling.

The door banged again.

What if it's Max? Fuck!

To say I was scared would be an understatement. I kept looking around to find something to use in my defense in case there comes a time where I have to hit Max. Damn it, I should keep a baseball bat nearby. Grabbing the nearest object, which happened to be a tall vase, I went to the door with fearing steps.

The door opened to reveal the drunken stranger. He looked worse than this morning. His lips and knuckles were bleeding. There was a bluish-green mark under his left eye which indicated that he got punched severely. For the lack of better words, he looked like shit.

"I need your... help." He whispered, sounding defeated.

"What do you want?"

"I can't talk here." Shaking his head he brushed past me, entering into my house as if he owns it.

It's gonna a be a long night.

I sighed and shut the door. A tiny part of me wanted to hit his head with the vase I was holding. Why? Because he was rude to me, in the morning but you cannot solve issues with violence.

He sat on the couch and signaled me to sit down. I kept the vase aside and sat on the couch as I faced him.

"You better have a good reason for barging into my house at this time," I said bitterly, crossing my arms.

"I need somewhere to hide."

"What makes you think I'll help you?" 

"Because you helped me last night too." Oh, so now he realizes it?

"And why do you need to hide?" I enquired.

"There are few men looking for me. Dangerous men."

"Did you steal their money? Or you owe them some?" My mind was racing at the sound of 'dangerous men.' Because that category includes people like Max. And I'm not ready to deal with all the crap that comes with it. 

"No. I owe them drugs." He said bluntly as if he's talking about stealing candies.

I froze in my spot, unable to speak or move.

Did I hear it correctly?