Expiration

Chapter 1 - Backstory

     The restaurant is loud and rambunctious as my shift begins. I pass my boss and he gives me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. Tonight all eyes would be on me. I lived in a small town in Florida where nothing ever happened. Anything that did happen always seemed to connect back to me. I smile brightly at the restaurant owner, to show I was happy to be back at work as a waitress. My boss was handsome, in a toned down sort of way. He has strawberry blond hair that falls wispily past his chin. His skin always seemed a little red from the sun but it made him look rough and manly. He was wearing a green button up that had rolled up sleeves, which revealed his muscular forearm that was still on my shoulder. 

  "Anna-Mae, you know I won't be mad if you leave work early. You've suffered a tragedy and you're lucky to be alive." Landon told me, his green eyes staring into mine. 

  "I'm fine. I can't stay holed up in my house forever and I need the money." I tell him, pulling away as I saunter to my first table. 

    Our town was small, and this restaurant was definitely a favorite of the locals. It supplied a bar, which was made of shining maple, pool tables and a plethora of tables and booths. It was popular with everyone, from bachelors to families. And although the town was small we had a interstate exit which resulted in out-of-towners coming by. The table I went to serve was full of rowdy college boys from a few towns down. 

   "Hey sweetie." One boy says, as they all try to sneakily look me up and down. It was May and our summer uniforms were black denim shorts, skirts or pants with green tee shirts that had Marcel's embroidered on the front. Marcel was the owner years ago before he sold it to Landon.  

I'm a waitress, so of course i'm used to the subtle glance to my body from customers. I'm 5'5 with a body god blessed with curves in the right places. I'm definitely not petite, or very large in figure but men never seemed to mind. 
   "Hi boys. What can I get y'all?" I say with my best southern smile.
The boys snicker, as i notice three empty pitches of beer they must've ordered before my shift started. It was now clear to me these boys were drunk.
   "I'd like a piece of... a piece of that ass." Another boy says as he reaches out and grabs my rear end.
My eyes narrow. I was out from work for a month and had been eager to get back. Is this really what i'd been missing? I'd honestly been surprised I still had a job waiting for me. Martin Erbrook, a family friend, stood up from his table a few feet away and walked up to this scene.
   "This here restaurant is a fine establishment and the customers don't disrespect the employees." He grumbles. My heart feels touched because personally I was never close to Martin. He had been my fathers employee before....
   "This girl has been through hell and if you keep giving her a hard time me and my boys will smack y'all down." He says, using his hand to reference his group of friends who all looked equally pissed. The boys look scared shitless. Martin isn't in his prime or the best shape but he is still a big guy, resembling a big lumberjack. He worked at the motorcycle repair shop the next town down. 

    "Sorry Ms... Anna-Mae." The first boy says as he reads my name-tag. "It won't happen again." Martin goes back to his friends and I finish taking the rowdy bunches orders. As I turn to walk away I hear them whisper "She's the girl who..." "Yeah the whole thing, up in flames." I squeeze my eyes shut. My misfortunes seem to have become famous.

    The rest of the night went smoothly. I quickly got back into the swing of my job. People always quieted down as I approached their tables but I didn't mind. gossip is gossip and any small town residents would be discussing this, so at least they weren't saying it to my face. Well most of them weren't.

"Anna-Mae, sweetie, come here." Slurred Margie Johnson. She was an older women who reeked of cigarettes and gin. She had fiery red dyed hair and a face full of cheap, poorly applied makeup. She was a regular at the bar.

  "Hon,  you're so pretty." She said when i walked up. She reached out her hand and stroked my shiny, naturally blonde hair. "Why can't you get a man?" She said, looking genuinely perplexed. Then Margie gasped. "Oh... I forgot. You have the most terrible luck. First your parents, then your..." She was cut off.

  "Margie, I'm calling  your brother. You're obviously too drunk to drive."  Said Landon. Poor Margie had nobody left after her husband died and her kids grew up and moved away. I was tempted to tell her that she was the one with the rotten luck, but I knew that'd be a lie.

    Everyone in town had looked at me with pity since I was around five. My parents died during a boating accident that I miraculously survived, thanks to a floating piece of wood. Then when I was 9  my grandmas car went off of the road, and down a cliff. luckily, the back seat I was in didn't get much damage but the driver's seat did. When I turned 14 my godfather that I was visiting was bit by a snake and died before reaching the hospital in town. The snake slithered away, ignoring me. Then, for 7 years I seemed to have a fine time. I lived with my aunt and cousin but when my cousin moved out this year that changed. My aunts bed and breakfast caught fire and she was burned alive. I was asleep on the couch downstairs and awoke  to see smoke billowing out from the top of the stairs. As I ran to them the ceiling collapsed on me, but the fire fighters arrived and got me out before the whole building turned to ash.

    People could easily have found  me suspicious but not once did I hold any guilt. There was always an explanation. They'd say the motor malfunctioned or a guest left her hair straighter on but how can one person experience so much death? I shook myself. I couldn't let myself fall down the pit of guilt and depression. My whole high-school years had been me wallowing in self-pity. I never went to parties, I had few friends and my grades were poor. I wasn't dumb but school was hard to succeed in when you stayed in bed half the week. Now, I was trying to live. I'd gotten a job, tried to smile at everyone but my aunts death had shook me. 

     For the past month people had treated me like a paper doll. They brought me casseroles and other dinners, offered to do my laundry and other little favors. At first I was grateful I was being babied but for the past two weeks I had politely declined. Death has been my constant throughout my whole life. Why couldn't I try to live it? I had always wanted to be the southern-belle who had friends, threw get-togethers and eventually settled down with a nice guy. It wasn't MY fault the men in this town thought I was cursed. 

   So, I was back at work. My hair was tied into a pony-tail and my lips were bright red. I looked like a good-little southern girl that could easily get a man but other than drunken comments men stayed away from me. 

"Hey Mae-Bae." My best friend Dixie called from the door. She was tall and lean with olive skin and thick brown hair that framed her thin face beautifully. She strutted over to me, looking sexy in her low-rise denim shorts and tied up tee-shirt. "What time are you off work?" She asked, obviously wanting to hangout. She had been my friend since 8th grade, being the only other orphan in my class. "8:30" I said, pleased I only had 30 minutes left. 

"Okay hun. I'm gonna go have a smoke by my Harley, meet me there when your all finished." She told me. She abstained from drugs and drank very mindfully but she still had gotten in the habit of smoking, which she knew I despised. I waved her off and as I turned I saw him....