Darkened Smiles

three

chapters will hopefully start to get longer now <3

THREE

The next week Julia was back in her usual spot.

Her hands were once again wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate, lukewarm. Gen stopped by every few minutes, checking up on her, offering more of the beverage. Julia politely declined this time, however. Her stomach was in too many knots to hold it down.

Her mind was spinning.

Julia was a rather quiet girl; not exactly antisocial, but she mostly kept to herself. She was polite to others, but didn't put herself out there much. She was never rude, or outwardly annoyed. She had no family members, at least that she knew of, no close friends. No lovers. No one to check in on her.

So why was she being watched?

She didn't know why, she couldn't figure it out. But she had seen the blue car two more times now—again, outside her house, and a third time, parked across the street from the diner. She had wondered about whether it was a good idea to head into the diner that day, but it was routine. If someone was indeed watching her, it probably wouldn't be wise for her to shelter herself in her home and raise suspicion.

But why?

The word clanged around her head as if it were a screw knocked loose.

Julia took a deep breath, shaking her thoughts away. It would do her no good to sit here and drive herself mad with worry. She glanced down at her mug, deciding that maybe she should get a water instead.

She turned her head over her right shoulder to signal to Gen, who nodded at her before turning back to the customer she was currently serving. Julia's attention moved to the man; it was the newcomer whom she had smiled at last week. Gen was serving him the new pie Art Jennings Sr. had mentioned to her. Julia let her eyes rove over him. He was overly built, his loose clothes slightly worn: blue jeans, a green military-looking jacket, and black combat boots. He had a neatly trimmed blonde beard, paired with a bald head and brown eyes.

Eyes that were staring back at her.

She flushed lightly, embarrassed at having been caught staring, and made to look away when he suddenly smirked at her. Her brows furrowed, confusion replacing the discomfort. Once he knew he had her full attention, the man slowly licked his lips, holding her gaze.

It was safe to say she was a tad bit weirded out.

Julia turned quickly back to her table. She no longer wanted to see that creepy smile of his, although she still felt his gaze upon her back.

Footsteps approached her table but she stared resolutely down into her mug, refusing to glance up at him.

"Miss Julia?" A female voice asked. Julia's eyes shot up, surprised, to find Gen standing in front of her, looking rather confused. Julia quickly looked back to find that the man was gone.

Her brows furrowed, but she shoved her thoughts away and gazed up at Gen. "Yes?"

The waitress giggled, waggling her eyebrows slightly. "It seems you've got a secret admirer."

Julia's heart stuttered. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't mean to spread gossip—" Gen bent down towards her customer, her voice dropping low. "But that man couldn't stop staring at you."

Julia let a huffed laugh; indeed he couldn't. But for some reason, it didn't feel as if he admired her. It was more ... well, she didn't know what it was, but it felt creepy. She glanced out the window, perhaps wishing to catch a glimpse of the man, but instead she felt her heart lurch into her throat.