I sighed, rubbing my back. It was my third evening in a row to work at the diner and to have class in the morning also. I ached all over. I stared down at my cute Mary Jane shoes. Perhaps I need to invest in a comfortable pair of walking shoes. I outgrew my shoes so quickly that it was hard to keep up. Hopefully my growth would start slowing down soon.
I plopped down in a chair for a moment. My shift ended in twenty minutes, and I'd completed all of my side work. Though the diner was a twenty four hour joint, we only had two customers, obvious college students, sitting in a booth, drinking coffee. I decided now would be a good time to rest. I closed my eyes and put my chin on the counter.
The ringing of bells stirred me from almost falling asleep. I snapped my head up quickly and noticed Natalie walking in the door, the bells above it ringing. She had a smile on her face. "Hey, Ness."
"Oh, hey Nat. What's going on?"
"Not too much." She sat down in a bar stool across from me, grinning widely. "I just had the most amazing evening of my life!" Her greenish brown eyes widened.
I laughed. "Life changing, huh? I wanna hear all about it."
"OK. His name is Jason, and we have lab together in the mornings. I knew he'd been eyeing me for a while, and today he finally asked me for my phone number. I gave it to him, not expecting much, but he actually called me right after class..."
I nodded, trying to listen intently to my new friend, but then I heard someone enter into the diner again. Great, I thought. A potential rush of customers may have to cause me to stay late, and I just wasn't feeling it tonight. I'd hustled my butt off all night. On the plus side, I'd made a pretty decent amount in tips. Jack, the manager, had been a lot more respectful to me since that first night, and even Janet, the server from the other day, had warmed up to me. I stood up to seat the incoming customer. "Be right back, Natalie. Hold that thought."
As I walked toward the table the man had selected, I noticed that he was sitting in a booth with his back turned to me. I walked around to face him. My heart dropped into my stomach. It was him. His hair was a messy collection of spikes and he had on a t shirt of a punk band from the eighties, with a corduroy blazer over it.
"Um, hi. My name's, my name's Renesmee, and I'll be your server today," I stammered. I had a hard time remembering my own name, staring into those piercing eyes.
He grinned. "Pleasure to meet you, Renesmee. That is a gorgeous name." He extended his hand. "My name is Damien. Damien Adams." He paused, staring at me. "You look exhausted. Why don't you have a seat?"
"Uh..." I shook his hand awkwardly. "I'm not really supposed to..." I scanned the diner and the evening manager was nowhere in sight. What the hell? I sat down across from him.
He tilted his head. "You look familiar. Didn't you almost plow me over in front of this very building a few days ago?"
I blushed a deep red. "Guilty."
He laughed. "You almost knocked me on my ass. You're strong for such a dainty looking thing." Normally, I would be annoyed as such obvious flirting, but I was speechless. I just shrugged.
"Anyway, no harm, no foul. I'll just have a cup of black coffee for now, but it's no rush." I nodded and stood up. "Feel free to join me again if you get a moment."
"Sure." I didn't know what else to say. I felt drawn to this guy for some reason, and I don't think it was just his looks. He had some sort of air about him... I couldn't put my finger on it. Oh, and he smelled delicious. Slow down, I chided myself. You barely know this guy. You might want to stay away. He could be a murderer for all you know.
I made my way back to the counter where Natalie sat. I leaned into whisper in her ear. His back was turned from me, after all. "That's him!" I hissed into her ear. "The one I ran into the other day..."
Natalie lit up with a smile again. "Really?" She turned around in her stool to get a glance, but only could see the back of his head, spiky blonde hair pointed in all directions. She giggled. "Doesn't he own a comb?"
I shrugged as I poured the coffee. "I think he's cute."
She nodded. "I'd love to see his face. I think I need to make a bathroom break." She walked deliberately past his table, trying to discreetly look in his direction. She seemed pleased with what she saw.
I returned to the table with the coffee. "Here you are."
He smiled at me again and I got really dizzy. "Thank you, sweet Renesmee. Such an interesting name..."
I nodded, sitting down again. "It's a combination of my two grandmother's names, Renee and Esme."
He sipped his coffee. "Esmee, huh? That's pretty old fashioned."
Watch what you reveal to him. "I guess it was more popular back then. You can call me Nessie, though, or Ness. That's my nickname."
"I don't know... I really like Renesmee. It's really unique." He paused. "I'm sorry if I'm keeping from your work."
"I actually get off in about fifteen minutes, and all of my work is done."
He smiled and sipped his coffee. "I guess I may have to stick around for a while then."
