Chasing Destiny

2. Working the nightshift

1987 – Santa Carla/California

I looked once again into the mirror. I hated the new uniform the diner wanted us to wear now. The salmon coloured waitress dress matched so well with my black hair with the red tips and my pale skin. I looked as convincing as if you'd put Morticia Addams into a tooth fairy costume.

"Well... That's a new one." Shelly poked her head into my room and tried hard not to laugh. I gave her an annoyed glance before slipping out of the uniform.

"Seriously, what was wrong with the old waitress outfit? You looked much better in that." She continued and I agreed. Before today we were serving in a plane withe blouse and a mid-length black skirt. It looked good on everyone and now we were having that, thanks to Audrey.

"If we have to wear this for long I fear I need a new job." I stated overdramatically and put the awful peace of close neatly folded into my bag for tomorrow. My cousin let out a snort. We both knew I wouldn't do that. Working in the diner was maybe not the best of jobs, but it paid the bills and we were able to actually save some money for hard times.

"Is Devin coming over later?" Shelly asked while walking towards the kitchen in front of me.

"No. Actually I told him we were having a girls' night since... Happy Birthday!" She looked at me taken aback for a second and then started smiling when I produced a little gift from behind the potato basket.

"Oh Amy! You shouldn't have!", she exclaimed while hugging me.

"You haven't even opened it, Shell." I grinned at her. I was very content with myself for she hadn't suspected anything. I watched as she ripped the wrapping paper from the small box in excitement.

"Oh... Thank you so much!!!" She hugged me again with tears welling up in her eyes. The box contained a pair of earrings. I made them myself, it was a little hobby of mine and she nearly caught me one evening.

"It was Devins' idea. He saw you looking at similar ones and I remembered us sharing a pair that looked almost like it when we were like five years old." Shelly's' smile grew even wider.

"I love them. They look almost like they did on the old pictures. Oh Amy they must have cost you a small fortune." I shook my head and continued smiling.

"Don't worry about it. I made them myself, so they really weren't that expensive." Her eyes grew wide while she tired putting them in.

"I knew you were making small pieces of jewellery but I didn't know you could pull up something like that. Your amazing, cousin!"

o-0-o

"Hey honey. You're ready?" Devin stood in front of me and gave me a small kiss. I smiled lovingly and looked towards my cousin over my shoulder.

"I'm leaving for work now. Want me to go get the groceries afterwards?" Shelly looked up from her breakfast and nodded.

"That would be great. I don't know how long I will be out since it is Carol's' last day before retirement. Hey there, Devin. Thank you for offering her a ride." He nodded at her and I grabbed my bag so we could leave for the boardwalk.

It was a short drive down to the beach and traffic was low since it was still early morning. I looked out the window and zoned out for a moment. I've been here now for about a year. When somebody would have seen me then and was looking at me now, they wouldn't necessarily recognize me anymore. Sure my appearance hadn't changed that much, I still wore a lot of black but my whole mental state had changed.

A year ago I was hardly ever smiling and mostly kept to myself. Sure I now was still different from the person I had been but I was actually happy. Moving to California was the right decision. It had helped to deal with the loss of my family. Around Christmas I even found someone I could open up to again.