Bitter Sweet

16. Day at the Park

 A loud noise woke Stephanie up from her restful sleep. She sat up and reached for her phone from under her pillow. It was four in the morning and the slight murmur from outside seemed out of place. She crawled to the window and pulled the curtains to the side, just enough for her to see what was happening outside. It came from next door, a couple words were uttered and she could see Daniela's outline in the dark. She seemed to be dismissing her son's nanny. The seventeen year old walked to her car, which was parked at the side of the road and drove away swiftly. Stephanie rubbed her sleepy eyes, did Daniela just get home? She looked at her phone again and laid back down to sleep, she wondered if Daniela did anything stupid, she wondered if she would tell her about it.

Stephanie couldn't sleep, she spent the last four hours tossing and turning trying to get comfortable. It was Sunday, it was church day and Stephanie was dreading it. Church was so stressful for her, always had been. Ever since she was little, she despised going to church, her mother had to drag her out of bed so she could dress into the uncomfortable church clothes, she preferred to be anywhere else, but church.

She got out of bed at eight and decided to go down to the mini market to buy her breakfast. She pulled on her sweatshirt and threw on some old jeans. She walked out the door quietly, her parents weren't up yet and she wanted to avoid them. Hopefully, they would see she was gone and they would leave without her. She walked down the street rapidly, the cool morning was too cool and she wished she had worn a thicker jacket.

She arrived at the empty parking lot and walked inside, the warmth from the heater made her want to stay.

"Why, look who's here," greeted the only cashier of the store.

Stephanie couldn't help but smile. "Hi, Jason. How are you?"

"As good as a successful owner of a mini market can be," he replied as he leaned on the register counter, his fists under his chin. His tall, thin stature looked odd and painful as he crouched like that.

Stephanie laughed. His father ran the store, now he did, he didn't go to college because his calling was staying home and joining the small business owner's association.

"You here for your usual?" he asked reaching to the bag of powdered mini donuts.

"Yeah, only because it's ninety nine cents."

He handed her the bag as he said, "It's on the house."

"What? No, I'm not stealing donuts."

"You're not stealing them, I'm getting them for you," he reached in his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. "There."

"Thanks, Jason."

He nodded. "Why are you here so early?"

She shrugged. "Avoiding my family."

"Mh, that sounds awfully familiar. Remember we used to hang out at the bus stop after school because you wanted to avoid your mom?"

Stephanie laughed. "Only because she always made me memorize bible verses the second I stepped inside."

"Those were the days," he replied nostalgically.

Stephanie smiled. Jason was the only guy she could be herself with. He was basically her only guy friend.

"Are you alright, Steph?" he asked in a sudden serious tone.

"I'm fine, why?"

"No reason," he replied rapidly as he saw Stephanie's drastic change of demeanor.

Stephanie tried her best to not be angry at him. Jason was a great friend back in high school, she knew he was only looking out for her. She decided to leave before she could say something she might regret. "Good to see you, Jason. And thanks for these," she said raising her bag of donuts.