In Stone

8: "Is Caspian in trouble?"

8: “Is Caspian in trouble?”

Work passed by very slowly.

Caia usually enjoyed her job. Waitressing wasn't a glamorous job by any means, but she got to meet new people and there was always something interesting going on. Her personality meant that she had a great many regulars who came to the restaurant just for her and that she made a great many friends in those she served. She got tipped really well, she had a very happy demeanor that brightened most people's day, and she herself loved meeting so many different people. It was a great place for her to work.

But today she just couldn't put her normal amount of energy and enthusiasm into it. Her regulars kept asking if she was okay and, since she couldn't lie or tell them the truth, she just told them a different truth. So her regulars that day all found out that her parents were getting divorced and were putting her in the middle of it.

She got a lot of well wishes for that story. As they left, her regulars would leave bigger tips than usual as though the money made it better for her. She had to admit, telling sympathetic people the story really did help her a bit.

Despite what was going on with Caspian – or more accurately what wasn't going on with Caspian – she did still felt horrible about her parents. It was something she had yet to deal with because she hadn't had the strength to. She had already gotten emails from both parents demanding that she hurry up and write/not write the character statement her mother was demanding. Though Caia had deleted them, the words they had written about her were still festering in her head.

Telling the people who came to be served by her did help, but only so much.

Caia looked at the money they left her and felt even more lonely though. She couldn't help but wonder how many of these people would still care about her if she left the restaurant. None of these people tried to be her friend outside of work. She pocketed their money, but she felt cheap doing so.

The other girls she worked with didn't care about her. One of them was jealous of her and the customers who left her such generous tips, the other three were too busy with their own lives to be bothered with her. Normally, Caia was okay with that. Today, not so much.

The only thing that helped her get through today was knowing that there was another meeting of the Chiselers tonight. She was going to be around other like minded people, people who maybe cared more about art than her, but at least they weren't paying her after their conversation.

That was what put a pep back into Caia's step. It helped her smile at people who weren't her regulars and still demanded good service and helped her dealing with that one co-worker who hated her so and got her through the pitying looks from those who she told her story to.

She still thought about Caspian, of course. It would have been impossible for his face not to come into her mind every time it had an opportunity to. And it always seemed to have that opportunity because it seemed that she kept stopping to stare into the air and just think about him.

It took a force of will for her to stop. It also made her question her mental well being. She didn't understand why she was so obsessed with a man that so clearly hated her. She wanted to say it was just because he had once been a statue and if that wasn't a good enough reason to want to get to know someone then she didn't know what was.

That wasn't the truth though. At least, it wasn't the whole truth.

It had just been really nice to be around someone. She hadn't thought it would be, but it was. It eased the loneliness that usually she kept at bay with her art. And it was unbelievably great to have another living person to be around.