Demons

Chapter 14

It’s been two weeks since I had heard from Zayn. And now I am worried. We never went longer than a day without talking and he used to come to Rusty’s about 3 times a week, but it feels as if he fell off the face of the earth. Okay, yes I know it’s only two weeks so maybe I am being melodramatic.

On a brighter note, Lillian moved in, which made my life much more hectic. Harry was super helpful, taking me to school and bringing me back home, where we worked on unpacking Lillian’s belongings. Damian and Ava came by a couple times to help, and the process was finished within the week.

“Lacey! Come down for lunch!” Lillian’s motherly voice calls from the downstairs. I moved from the attic down to the second floor, which used to be the “guest room.” Though, Sandra only said that so I wouldn’t be able to stay there.

“You didn’t make anything for me, right? I didn’t want to trouble you; I can just eat when I am at Rusty’s.” I replied, gathering my things and heading downstairs into the kitchen.

“Nonsense! I signed up for the mothering job and I am here to do it. Oh and if you don’t want to, there is no need for you to still work, school is hard enough and you don’t have to pay the bills anymore,” she said with a smile, replacing my purse and waitress apron with a plate of salad.

“Thanks Aunt Lil, but I still like working there, my boss is awesome. Plus, we could always use a little more money.”  I said, placing the plate back on the counter.

“We don’t need any more money, that’s why I have a job. You obviously can still work there, and do whatever you want with the extra cash. I will save this for dinner then.” She gave me back my things and wrapped the plate of salad in saran wrap, placing it in the refrigerator.

“Okay, thanks. I should go now, bye!” I yelled back, running out the door. I was going to be five minutes late, just great.

I sprinted out of my car into Rusty’s. Today the owner was checking up on the diner to see how it was running and, of ‘course, that would be the day that I was late. It was a busy day for Rusty’s but I had hardly noticed for I rushed to the kitchen.

Once I had fixed my apron and clocked in, I started my shift as usual, behind the counter making the coffee. My back was turned as I brewed the coffee and I heard tapping on the counter behind me. The tapping became extremely frustrating as my brain blocked out all other noises. Annoyed, I whirled around to ‘politely’ ask the person to stop.

“Lacey?” Well this is just wonderful.

“Zayn, what are you doing here?” I lowered my voice. Your boss is here, and he is going to be trouble.

“Well, I remember that you work today so you can’t run from me anymore. We have to talk, Lace,” Zayn reached over the counter and grabbed my hand in his. His eyes pleading with mine, just as they had the last time I saw him.

“Zayn, stop it!” I struggled to be out of his grip with my other hand, but he would not let go. Nobody had noticed us, thankfully.

“No listen to me,” was all he said.

“No! You listen to me, asshole!” I whispered angrily, fuming at the mouth. He makes me so crazy!

“Lace, come outside before we get in trouble.”

“It’s Lacey to you.” I hissed. He did have a good point actually; nobody would even notice I was gone.

I snatched my hand out of his and walked out the door with him following right behind me like a puppy. As soon as we were both outside – on the side of the diner where no one could see us – Zayn wrapped his big arms around my waist and pulled me up to his level, hugging me tightly. Panicking, I hugged back when I was supposed to push him off.