❝DRIVING DOWN THIS ROAD, IF I HAD IT MY WAY , OH, YOU'D BE HERE RIGHT NOW❝
✧
WATERVILLE, MAINE
JUNE 8, 2017
10:47 PM
✧
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
✧
THE suds from her washcloth seeped into the vinyl cracks in the table as she swirled the seeping rag around. hushed music played from the speakers, some old tune she couldn't remember the name of. the empty streets outside caught her eye as she stepped away from the now clean table.
the diner was blissful yet again.
having the closing shift was one of the only things she looked forward to these days. it made her feel in control, something she thought was lost a long time ago.
being the only one with this shift meant more than any of her coworkers realized. for some reason, she fell in love with having the place to herself.
technically, this was the only shift she got. sometimes she worked early mornings on weekends, when darren, the owner, could close. the rest of the staff were underage high schoolers, so it was completely mandatory that mariah work every closing.
darren only came in a couple times a week during her shift, to take inventory and work on some kind of statistical data she never showed interest in.
darren's father passed away before mariah even applied, she would've been in eighth grade. he was pulled from his senior year of college, just halfway through the first semester. legend had it that he was the only one left in the family tree, and he never finished school. no one ever dared to ask him about it, anyway.
she got the job at the restaurant when she was a sophomore in high school, complete with a set of braces and acne. darren interviewed her, and the two found more than just similarities within their family lives. mariah still had her parents, but most of the time it didn't feel like it.
darren and her became best friends as soon as the interview ended. he didn't even have to ask her about her work ethic.
she always thought of him as a brother, and never denied it when customers asked how they were so close.
they had spent equal amounts of time on the job and off. he was her ride to and from the diner; up until she got her license a year or two later.
