Whisper

Whisper: Chapter Three

Song Choice for Chapter: Maybe Tomorrow by Stereophonics

The diner was alive with customers. The group of girls, my good customers, sat at their usual table laughing and joking with each other. There were a few men scattered around the diner, those were the creeps. Two families were in the diner today.

One of the families consisted of a Mother, Father and two children. The boy looked around seventeen and he looked bored. The girl looked around ten and was staring at the menu, wondering what she was going to have.

The other family consisted of a Mother and three small children. They all looked between the ages of maybe three to six. The Mother looked exhausted. She saw me looking but said nothing as she tried to calm her hyperactive children down. I gave her a sympathetic look. She must have been a single parent. I could relate to her. My mother raised me on her own. I was an only child though.

It was Friday afternoon and the sun was shining outside, which made the diner warmer that it usually is. I'm  ten times hotter than I usually am. God damn sun I cursed to myself. The air conditioning worked but it wasn't great and with all these extra bodies in the diner, it wasn't helping one bit.

 Paige hadn't came into work again. I was starting to become really worried about her. If she was ill then she would have called in but she's not. I've not even received any text messages from her either. Where is she?

"Aria! Take these burgers to table seven, baby-doll." Vince instructed me from the kitchen.

I groaned. I hated it when he called me names like that.

After placing the two plates on my tray, I headed over to table seven. The two men looked up as I approached, grins spread across their unshaven faces. I tried not to gag as I made my way back over to the counter.

Looking up at the clock, it read four o'clock. Four hours to go, thank god. When my shift is over, I have decided I'm going to buy a newspaper on the way home and start searching for a better job. I was a little nervous about it but anything was better than this.

The bell on the front door rang as someone entered. My heart stuck in my throat. What if it's Alexander? I wondered to myself. Slowly turning towards the door, Paige came into view. I gasped slightly. 

Her hair was all over the place, like she hadn't bothered to brush it before she came out. Dark sunglasses covered her eyes and her leather jacket was hanging from her shoulders slightly. She looked terrible.

She sauntered over to me and sat down on one of the stools at the counter. I stared at her, unsure of what to say. She looked really rough. Had she been out drinking?

"Paige, are you okay?" I asked her.

Watching her, she slowly removed her sunglasses and placed them on the counter. She turned her head in my direction and stared at me through the messy parting of her fringe. She looked scary. A smile slowly played on her lips.

"I'm fine, Aria. I'm just really tired." She replied in a raspy voice.

I frowned. She didn't look fine or sound fine for that matter. I slowly reached over and moved her blond hair away from her face. Surprisingly, she looked fine. She didn't look tired and her face wasn't dirty or anything.

"Rough night?" I asked.

"You could say that." She laughed slightly.

"You know that Vince isn't going to be happy that you were off yesterday and now you're late today." I informed her.

She sat up straighter. "I really don't care."

"Well, I better get back to work." I replied.

She nodded and I turned to continue working. I stopped dead in my tracks. A tingling sensation washed over my chest. My breath caught in my throat. Alexander was sitting down at the table he was yesterday. I stood there, staring at him. Almost hypnotised by his presence.