To No One

Ch.7 - The Siren's Domain

<B - Finally, the light of dawn came. I woke up fairly early, given how late I went to sleep that night. I slowly got dressed as I tried to keep myself awake. After I was done with that, I checked my appearance in the wardrobe mirror.

My hair was short, black and in need of a brushing. My emerald eyes were the only feature that stood out more than my hair. The purple jacket I always used was just slightly wrinkled and halfway open, showing the white t-shirt I was wearing underneath it. Since I removed the zipper sleeves from the jacket the scar on my left arm was almost in full show. The short pants I was wearing had long lost their original color, now beige after years of harsh washing. In my mind I thought I looked normal. At least, as much as I could be.

I made my way downstairs to the kitchen. I thought of making myself a good breakfast for once: toasted bread with some strawberry jam on top, some freshly squeezed orange juice, sunny side eggs with fried bacon... I didn't really have any specific hour planned to meet with Claire, so why not treat myself to something nice?

Let me tell you, after years of precooked dinners and cups of instant noodles, fresh food tastes incredibly good. After I finished, though, there was a small thought in the back of my mind. "Why did I start to eat normally now?" I wondered to myself as I leaned on the back of the kitchen's chair. In a way, I had a point. I just had no real reason to start now, but what's done is done so whatever.

After letting the food settle in my stomach for a while I went to the entrance to grab my shoes. I looked at the time on my phone: quarter to eleven. If I walked at a good pace, it would not take me too long to reach the Honey Box.

(...)

I walked along the calm streets, surrounded by the gentle sound of birds and wind passing through leaves. There weren't a lot of people outside, seeing as it was Sunday morning in summer. Just the elderly and the occasional couple going for an early date.

I reached the cafe sooner than I expected. I honestly didn't want to subject myself to yesterday's event again, so I began looking for a place to sit outside. I found a bench covered by the shadow of a tree just in front of the cafe. There was an old man sitting there, but he was taking a nap by the looks of it so he wouldn't bother me too much. I took a seat and pulled out my notebook. I could have slept like the man beside me, but I wanted to be a little more productive with my time.

The old man next to me had just left the bench when Claire emerged from the cafe. Only then, had I realized that her regular attire looked almost identical to the cafe's uniform without the logo splattered on the clothing.

Looking back on how she used to look like I could say that she definitely stood out in a crowd. Her hair was slightly curly and it was tied down into a ponytail. It was also clearly dyed, since her hair had an unnatural tone of orange in it. Her eyes were a blue as deep as the ocean. She was wearing a rolled up white shirt and had a blue tracksuit top tied just over her waist. Her lower body was covered by some short, black skirt-pants and her feet remained hidden under some white sneakers.

She started running towards me as soon as she caught a glance of me.>

C - Heya, Beth! Ya been here long?

B - I would say about... half an hour.

C - Oh, sorry for the wait, then.

B - It's okay. Should we move already?

C - 'Course! Just follow me!

<B - Claire started to skip around in the direction of the train station as I followed her. I guess waitress work is not as demanding for her. It didn't take us long to reach the station. After getting inside a rather empty train we started to idly chat to make the wait a little more bearable.>