Identity - Rewritten

Chapter Twenty-Two

March 2009

The diner is unusually dead for four in the afternoon.

Though it surprised him at first, Jasper had come to realize that his first time in the diner was a bit of an anomaly: the place could be and usually is jam-packed at all times. Due to the lives of the usual customers– farmers with odd hours, families on road trips, business people on long commutes– there can be any amount of people in the restaurant at any one time.

Four p.m. especially is a popular hour. Jasper isn't sure why exactly that is; maybe it's something to do with farmers' whole days being set hours earlier than everyone else's. Regardless, he usually tries to make time to work a shift that catches the 4 p.m. rush. The customers keep odd hours and so does he.

After all, Jasper does his best to get off work by five so that he can catch a decent amount of sleep before his usual graveyard shifts at Jack's, the one and only bar downtown.

Which is exactly why the diner having all but two customers, both sitting together, is so strange.

Jasper tries to keep himself busy, and scrubs down the front counter. He at least attempt to pretend that he's not watching the door for more customers. Tips are half the reason he prefers this job over his one at Jack's: customers there are much more likely to haggle over prices when they got too drunk than to give him a nice tip.

Mindy walks out of the kitchen door beside him with a few drinks in hand. "You alright?"

Jasper smiles, but it's apparently not too reassuring as Mindy frowns at him before bringing the sole customers their sodas.

Her smile at them is genuine as she says, "Here's your pop. Ready to order?" and hands them the plastic cups. Jasper can't help but envy her ease with customer service. He always feels awkward and every smile is one-hundred percent forced. Not because he doesn't like his jobs, but more because Jasper's just not a very smiley person and it's hard to grin when you don't actually feel like doing so.

By the time Mindy rejoins him, Jasper has already completely cleaned the counter. He starts where he ended and works his way back along the counter, because there's really nothing else for him to do. Mindy holds the customers' order ticket in her hand, but doesn't seem in any rush to put it in.

"Jaz, are you okay?" Another frown is working its way between her sculpted brows. Jasper, for all his faults, can't help but appreciate Mindy's concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just... something feels off." It's true– something about the whole day has been unsettling. He's not sure if it's the overcast, dark weather or the lack of customers or the confusing apprehension he's felt in the air all day long, but something doesn't seem right to Jasper and he can't understand why.

Mindy seems to know what he means, just like she always does. "Yeah, it does. Look, the place is dead– let me ask Sharlene if we can get out of here an hour early. We'll go home and relax. Okay?"

Jasper doesn't need to ask that by "home" Mindy really means he and Hunter's trailer, since Hunter is barely ever there and Mindy's house is always too big and empty when Sharlene's not in it. Nor does Jasper need her to explain that by "relax" she means their usual routine of drinking hot chocolate in his room, with only the natural light from the window to see by, and listening to simple folk music, a taste they shared.

"I really like the sound of that," Jasper says, and sighs, finally releasing the dish cloth from the vice grip he has it in.

Mindy kisses his cheek, and Jasper catches the smell of her– like a forest in the middle of the night– as she walks back into the kitchen. As it usually does, the scent relaxes Jasper and he allows himself to pause and take a moment to stretch and crack his back. Sometimes, he wishes he could love her.