He Stole My Bandana (So I Stole His Heart)

Chapter Twenty-Nine.

"I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream"

- Blank Space by Taylor Swift

With a sigh, I tied my blue bandana around my head and adjusted it to get ready for my four-hour shift at the diner. I took one last look in the mirror before walking out of the bathroom. I entered the kitchen and smiled at my coworkers as they cooked over the stoves in Danny's Diner. I carefully tied my apron around my waist after putting it over my head and made my way to the cash register.

There were days when I wished I worked in the kitchen. But then I remembered that I may be a good cook, but I tend to burn things. The cash register and waiting on people was a good place for me.

I sat on my stool in front of the cash register and took a look around. All the Christmas decorations had been taken down back in early February. Only some of the small strands of Christmas lights were still up. I noticed an old couple sitting at a booth by the door. They were chatting away while sipping their steaming coffee. The old lady was smiling from ear to ear as the man talked animatedly to her.

I sighed and picked up a pen before lazily doodling on the notepad beside the cash register. I didn't realize someone had come into the store until they sat down at the bar in front of me. My head snapped up to look at Charlie. I gave him a small smile before moving over to him with my pad and pen.

"Hey, how can I help you?" I asked. I never understood why I asked him what he wanted since I knew he'd say the same thing every time.

"The usual," He told me with his usual grin. I nodded my head and wrote down all the things he wanted. Clipping the order on the string for the cooks to see, I turned back to Charlie to see him already looking at me expectedly.

I leaned on the counter and looked at him. "What's up?" I asked, shielding my emotions. Charlie always knew what was up in my head - it was like we were related.

"What's up with you?" He asked me. I looked down at the counter and back at him.

"How's Hunter?" I grabbed my stool and pulled it over so I could sit in front of him.

Charlie took a deep breath as if he were about to tell me bad news. With Hunter, I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

"He hasn't been the same, Jasey." Charlie said tiredly as he lifted his hat to scratch his almost-bald head. I nodded my head in understanding.

"Because of what happened in New York." I stated as an answer. Charlie shook his head slightly and looked me
in the eyes.

"Because you left him. I know you guys weren't together or anything," Charlie told me, "but I know he's upset about it. He was fine when he came back from New York because he expected that adventure to end like that. He doesn't like to admit anything, you know that. It's not hard to tell why he's upset." I listened closely to Charlie because I wasn't used to hearing him talk like that.

I wasn't sure how to respond to that. Hunter didn't want me telling him it was a bad idea to go to New York, yet he already knew it was. He had his hopes up too high. He told me he wanted alone time when he did get back, so why is he upset?

"I talked to him last week when I stopped by your garage. He told me he wanted alone time and wanted me to leave. I asked why he was back so soon and why he had a bruise under his eye." I explained to Charlie. I heard the bell ring that signaled an order was ready and I hopped off my stool. Grabbing the plate of hot food, I sat it in front of Charlie. He didn't touch it, instead he just looked at me.

"Hunter is very confused in what he's supposed to do. The reason he came home was because he found his mother using drugs again, in an alley, with a stranger. He got that shiner after trying to get his mom to stop and the man she was with stepped in. He came home right after that went down." Charlie explained and took a sip of his drink. I was quiet as he continued.