Doing the Waltz With the Devil

Chapter 1

Today felt different. 

Today felt big. 

I have no idea why but today felt like it would change the rest of my life. These thoughts were swimming around in my head for the last twenty minutes as I sat in front of my vanity starring at my reflection. When I look at the time I realize I need to hurry or I'll be really late to work. I work at a small cafe downtown. It's quiet and sort of secluded yet it still gets a lot of business for it not being a chain cafe like Starbucks.

As I run to my closet throwing on a pair of black jeans and the baby blue work uniform top I snatch my white tennis shoes and bolt through the door making sure to lock it behind me. I quickly unlock my car and head to work, the car isn't the best and newest one out there but it does the job for me and it has since high school. As I pull into the employee parking lot I check the time and realize somehow I got here five minutes early. 

'Go me' I thought to myself as I walked through the employee entrance and start my shift. Five minutes of being here and I already want to leave, not because I don't like working here but because of the girls who just walked in, the ones I left behind with my high school years, well sort of anyway. These girls come in every day at the same time because they can afford to go to the college that's two blocks away, oh but they don't even walk over they drive their expensive cars that are awful for the environment. They always have to mention to me how they haven't seen me since high school, except they see me every day and always have their dimwitted comments spilling out of their pores.

"Arabella I haven't seen you in years how are you? What are you doing here?" asks Kayla, or as I like to call her leader of the Oompa Loompas. Her little army is full of fake-tanned minions so it only seems fitting. 

"Kayla, I have seen you every day for the past year, and you still have the same silly remark" I growl out.

"Arabella that is no way to act towards a paying customer" she acts appalled although everyone in this cafe knows it is an act, that includes my boss so she always makes their coffees beforehand so they can leave as fast as possible.

"Girls your iced skinny macchiatos no sugar are ready" yells my boss from down the counter before I had the chance to say what was really on my mind. Who even gets that a drink like that? What even is it? 

I scoff and get on with the orders behind them and soon time is flying by. It is soon 9:00 pm and that means it is also time to close the shop, I do not know who actually needs coffee this late, actually, nevermind I drink coffee this late. As soon as I finish cleaning I grab my coffee and keys and lock up for the night, considering everyone left about ten minutes ago as I was finishing with the safe. I walk out the back towards my car when I see something glint out of the corner of my eye. 

Please do not be a knife. Please do not be a knife. I hide behind the wall hoping to magically become invisible as I take a better look at the glint. Well, it's not a knife, but damn do I wish it was now.

It was a gun. There was a gun less than ten feet away from me, and with that knowledge, I do the dumbest thing on planet earth. I fucking scream.