Stockholm Syndrome - A One Direction Story

Chapter Fourteen

Harry's POV

"Hey Harry." Tiffany said to me as I was wiping down the counters after a dinner rush. It was about 11pm & I worked until midnight.
"Yeah?" I replied. "So you know how we've been kind of short staffed lately?" She asked.
"Yeah. It's been a bit crazy lately."
"Well I think I just fixed that problem."
"Really?" I said as I finished wiping the counter down.
"Yeah. I interviewed a girl this morning. She just moved here from Carolina."
"Has she worked in a diner before?"
"No. But she used to work in a coffee shop. She had a really good recommendation letter from her previous employer. I interviewed her this morning & I told her she could come in for a week & see how she does. Her first day is tomorrow & she'll be following your shift for the next week. Then I'll get feedback from you & we'll decide if we should hire her full time or not. Sound good?"
"I have to train her for the whole week?"
"Harry I know you don't really like training people, but you're the best one for the job right now. Besides, It's not like you two will be the only ones working. It'll be fine."
"Amelia can't do three of the seven days?" I asked.
"Amelia is a great worker, but she's trained before & she's just too chatty."
"Will you do it for me Harry? Please."
I was hesitant, but eventually agreed. "Okay, sure I'll do it."
"Thank you Harry. She'll be in an hour after you start tomorrow. She should be in around 9pm. & you'll be here for eight. Okay?"
"Got it." I replied. "What's the girls name?"
"Oakley."
"Oakley... that's a cool name I guess. Okay. I'll see her tomorrow night at nine I guess."
"Thanks again Harry."
I nodded as Tiffany gathered her things & left.

***

I was about an hour into my shift. I had just served a couple who were out for a bit of a late dinner their food. I walked back around to the counter & picked up the dishes that were left from customers that were sitting at the barstools & took them to the kitchen. I handed them to Amelia, who was on dish duty tonight.
"Hey, is your train there yet? I could really use a break from washing these dishes."
"Soon." I said & walked back out. I stood at the counter & looked over to the door as the bell chimed to alert us that someone was entering or exiting the diner. A girl with long blonde hair & blue eyes walked in. She was wearing black yoga pants, sneakers & a white top. She was absolutely beautiful. & as my eyes met her I realized she must be my new tranny, based on what she was wearing. She looked around the diner. I could see a bit of tension in her eyes. She was definitely a bit nervous.
"Hi, Oakley?" I said.
She looked in my direction. "Yeah." She said as she approached the counter.
"I'm Harry." I introduced myself as I walked around the counter to shake her hand. "How are you?"
"I'm okay. How are you?"
"I'm good. You ready to start working?"
"Yeah." She said timidly with a slight nod of her head.
"You a bit nervous?" I asked. She nodded again.
"No need to be." I assured her. "We're like a family here. & Tiffany made your first shift the graveyard shift so that it wouldn't be as busy. So there's no need to stress."
"Okay."
"So if you follow me to the staff room I'll give you your apron."
"Okay."
I walked to the back as she followed, as I continued to explain more to her. "So your shift tonight is 9pm to 6am. Shifts range anywhere between four to twelve hours. Tonight you have a nine hour shift. Tomorrow we will start at 10pm & work until 6am, so it will only be an eight hour shift tomorrow. Night shifts are relatively quiet during the week. The weekends can get a bit busy, but this week we work during the day on the weekend." I handed her apron & she put it on. "You're going to help me serve customers until around midnight & after that you can take over dish duty in the kitchen. There won't be a whole lot of customers at that time anyways. Got it?"
"Yes." She said as she followed me back around to the front.
The first three tables i served she just observed. The next three she did as I observed her. She did s pretty good job, I must admit.
"Okay, are you ready to serve this next table by yourself?" I asked.
"I don't know." She said.
"What do you mean? You're doing great. I'll still be here. I'll just be watching from behind the counter this time. It'll be fine."
"Okay." She nodded.
Then she went to take their order. She did really well with her first solo customers. When they left she walked back around the counter.
"See, I told you that you could do it. That was really good."
"Really?" She asked.
"Yeah. Don't don't yourself. You're a natural at this."
"Thanks."
"So Tiffany tells me that you used to live in Carolina & you used to work in a coffee shop."
"Yeah. I did."
"So why did you decide to move to New York?"
"I don't have a lot of family. My dad walked out on us when I was nine years old & my brother was twelve. I barely ever saw him in the first year that he left. Then we found out he had another family. Then we didn't really care to see him anymore. I haven't seen him in almost five years."
"Wow. I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's whatever. If he doesn't want to be there it's his choice. I decided early on that I didn't want to force a relationship with him."
"What about your mom?"
"My mom loves us & she supports us 100% in everything we do. She always has Brent he one to make sure we're always well off. But in order for her to do that she had to work... a lot. She was a flight attendant... She still is. Until my brother Niall turned 16 we would always stay at my mums parents house while she was away at work. After that we started to stay on our own. My grandfather died when I was 15 & my grandma died a year & a half ago. Then, six months ago Niall was offered a job at the Apple Store here in Manhattan. He's a computer technician. He couldn't turn it down. If he was moving to New York there was really no purpose for me to stay in Carolina. I was thinking about going to school for photography, but I figured I could do that anywhere. So we sold our home in Carolina & now whenever my mum isn't working she stays here in manhattan with us."
"That's cool. So are you thinking of going to school right away?"
"No. I think I wanna work for a year first, you know, save up some money. Maybe next September. I'm in no rush. But what about you? Are you in school?"
"Uh no. I mean I was. For two years.
"Oh yeah? What did you take?"
"I majored in English lit & minored in American history. Now I'm saving up for teachers college."
"Wow. Sounds interesting. Those were actually my two favourite subjects in high school."
"Really?"
"Yeah."

The rest of the night we talked as we worked, just getting to know each other. She was really cool. Amelia met her & the two of them hit it off as well.

***

"So, that was your last training shift." I said to Oakley as I grabbed my backpack from the back room & she grabbed her bag. "How do you feel?"
"I don't know." She said as we walked out to the parking lot.
"Don't worry. You did really well. I'm sure you'll be hired. But Tiffany will let you know regardless within the next two or three days."
"Thanks." She said as we reached my car. "Well, hopefully I'll see you again soon." She said. "I better get home."
"Wait." I said as I unlocked my car. "How are you getting home?"
"I'm gonna walk. The busses barely come at this time of night."
I checked my phone for the time. "It's almost eleven. I can drive you home if you want."
"No it's okay. It's only a 20 minute walk if I cut through the forest."
"The forest? There is no way you are walking those forest trails alone at this time of night. Let's goo, get in. I'll drive you home." I insisted. She looked at me knowing I wouldn't let her turn the offer down.
"Thanks." She said as she opened the passenger door & got in.
We arrived at her apartment in about five minutes.
"Well thanks for the ride." She said.
"Any time. See you later."
"Yeah." She said, then got out & walked up the front steps leading to the building. I watched until I couldn't see her anymore. Half to make sure she got in safe & half to just admire her. She was really cool & I really hoped she would get the job. I knew I would be putting in a good word, that's for sure. As she got in & the door closed behind her I pulled out from the curb & headed on my way home.

I sat on the sofa in the staff room with my head in my hands. This was the first time in three days that Amelia & I would be working a shift together since our fight that we had on my birthday. I hadn't talked to her since. I figured it was best to give her some space or we would end up fighting again. She walked in to put her stuff away in the closet. She just looked at me but didn't say a word.
"Amelia..."
"Don't talk to me." She said as she  shoved her bag into a cubby whole in the closet.
"Amelia. I'm sorry, but I don't know what you want from me."
She laughed as she hung up her coat. "No, I don't want anything from you Harry." She said as she closed the closet door. "Other than maybe you having some faith in our best friend. In the girl that you've secretly loved for over a year. Maybe just have some faith that we'll see her again. Then maybe, MAYBE I'll talk to you again."
"Amelia, I haven't given up on her."
"Then what would you call it?"
"Trying to tell myself it's okay to move on from her. That she wasn't the be all & end all of my life. That I can live without her." I said, trying to hold back tears as my emotions came evident in my voice.
"& can you?"
"I don't know!" I shouted. I turned away from her as I felt tears start to well up in my eyes.
"Harry."
I refused to turn around as she spoke my name as I now felt a tear run down my cheek. I could hear her footsteps as she approached me. She put a hand on my shoulder.
"I'm sorry." She said as she turned me to face her. I looked at her without saying a word. I just stared almost through her with sadness consuming me. She pulled me into a hug as she tried to comfort me.
"How could this happen Meels? How could someone just take her away from us?"
"I don't know Haz. Sometimes life is just so unfair. But we can't give up. We have to have faith that she's still out there somewhere. That's all we can do."
She held me for a couple minutes longer until I had calmed down & was able to start my shift.