Blood Rose (3 page)

it ended. Sneering at the thought, my decision became final. Stay quiet.

“Well I should get home and get some sleep. You work tonight?” I shook my head no with my gaze still on his feet. The day was not promising from the start. I felt drained and ready to climb back into bed. Yet he just kept talking. “Well I know tomorrow’s your birthday and I wanna do something with you. ‘Sides Shannon wants us all to go to Penny’s tomorrow night don’t forget.”

While groaning my complaint, my eyes rolled at the thought. Penny’s is a café. The full name is Penny Cluse Café. Pretty much everyone in town could be found there at some point in the week. Some even go on a daily basis. Don’t get me wrong it was a great place I just never liked being forced into social situations where I was the one in focus.

You see, I am the exact opposite of most nineteen year olds. I hate to party and I have never had a real drink. It’s just not worth the puking or the hangover. This is Vermont, very few of us even smoke cigarettes. I don’t do drugs. I’m screwed up enough without them. It’s not that I mind crowds- I just suck at the social scene. Thus my reasoning for going to an online college versus a campus in this mecha of college towns.

Shannon Miller was his actual current girlfriend. She was a sweet girl. We had become friends when she had moved to Vermont about five years ago. I introduced them. Shannon looked like a trendy, new age hippy type but with hair like that chick from the film Pulp Fiction. Mia Wallace black hair- devil red lipstick with hemp purses, hippy skirts and toe rings. Strange girl but sweet as could be- Always so full of life.

Then again, who am I to call anyone else strange?

Strange fact: She’s adamant that she’s never seen the movie Pulp Fiction. A lie or not it was hard to tell with her. I was voting for the lie myself. Oh come on, I’m not that cynical. Everyone lies.

“Don’t bother arguing. I also figured you could use a more relaxed night. So since you’re not working, you can put the books down and come over for dinner. We’ll rent some movies and get a pizza or something. Just the two of us, like we used to do.” He seemed thrilled over the idea to my absolute dismay.

Nodding obediently I chose to remain silent. It would save not only time but personal duress to just agree with my friend’s plans. Paul grinned ear to ear. “Okay. I’ll see you about six. Night, Anna.” That said he gave me a quick peck on the cheek as he walked to the door. Double-checking the lock on his way out, he locked it behind him.

Once Paul shut the door, I slid off the counter and walked to the window waiting for him to leave. Once he was gone, I turned on every light in the apartment and shoved the chair against the locked front door. It was quite a task moving the mammoth old chair across the room. Once that was done, I checked the window and contemplated locking it too. Why bother? I live on the third floor.

With the lights on, I climbed back into bed with the bat pulled tight against me. Burying my head under the mound of pillows I prepared to let the nightmares take me away. Yeah, Red Bull doesn’t really give you wings if you drink it all the time.

II

“BIRTHDAY WISHES”

Dinner at Paul’s was uneventful. Paul had all six of the
“Star Wars”
movies on top of his DVD player and the first disc was already in and waiting for him to push play. We ate pizza and made it through the first two movies and were half through the third when Paul fell asleep. I snuck out and went home.

The day of my birthday was nicer to look back on than how I enjoyed it at the time. We had the back section of the cafe crammed with as much furniture as we could cluster together. There were quite a few people to my surprise. Most of whom I barely knew or barely wanted to know.

Mia- I mean Shannon was bubbly with delight. All of her poetry-slam buddies showed up. Along with them, a few people that I had a study group with here locally showed too.

Paul- of course he brought his brother Richard and Lily his stepsister. Lily is fourteen and the coolest kid I think I’ve ever met. That day I talked to her more than anyone else. Most the time she claims me more than Paul as a sibling. Simply because he’s still titled number one butthead in her eyes.

Among the crowd were two people from work. They both received appropriate glares to keep their mouths shut. News of my birthday was not to be shared at work.

There was lots of talking and laughing while I mostly smiled and nodded. I got some nice thoughtful gifts and some gag gifts too, including a squirt gun to replace the ball bat Paul claimed. Oh yes, he made sure to tell that story in well exaggerated detail. Lily got me a book. It was the new Dan Brown. I was thrilled with the book. Not so thrilled that it was Paul who had bought it. I felt like I owed him too much sometimes. He was always doing stuff for me.

By the end of the night, I was more than grateful when that it was over and life could return to normal once more. I hated my birthday. Why? Not telling. Something was missing, huh? Yeah, a little bit.

Finally, I was on my way to work the next day. Nobody really pushed birthday stuff on me there. In fact I was fairly certain no one knew it had been my birthday. Aside from three people anyway.

My boss, Mike Ramono, kept it simple with a birthday card and a gift card to Amazon for twenty dollars. The same thing he did for everyone else. Not a word said aloud by him. Smart man.

Then Neesa and Ryce- the party attendee’s. Neesa was the only person employed at Riads that I really talked to outside of work by choice. She and Ryce got me new art supplies. One of the more thoughtful presents as mine needed replacing pretty terribly.

Neesa and I worked at a Mediterranean restaurant named Riads. It was a very popular restaurant that served amazing food in a nice laid-back atmosphere.

Raw brick inside and out with exposed (and restored) oak rafters matched the wood floor. Simple square tables with stark white cloths covered the right side of the restaurant for romantic dinners and family gatherings.

The left were taller tables for casual diners and bar goers. A single red candle sat on each and every table in a small clear round holder.

The front of the restaurant was trimmed in tiny yellow lights around the awning and massive front windows. By each window was a platform. Once in a while we had acoustic musicians play. Usually it was filled with tables. They were the most popular tables in the house.

One of my favorite things about Riads was the dress code. As long as your shirt was either black or white and clean, boss man didn’t care what we wore.

Plus it was close to the loft. So unless a storm was brewing a hurricane or snow covered the ground to my knees, I walked almost everywhere. If it rained, I used an umbrella. If I had to go much farther than three miles anywhere, (a rarity) I took transit or got a ride. Riads is only about one mile from my loft apartments.

The employee entrance was around the back in what we called the pit. It’s where we kept all the smokers, wood and old crates. It’s also where most employees took their breaks.

As I came up the back I saw two of our cooks outside. Brayden Patrick, the grill guy and Ryce Dubri our house chef. “Hey guys.”

“Hey’dere, Anna!” Ryce called as Brayden gave a nod and a short wave while he took the last drags off his cigarette. Brayden was a quiet guy. We got along well.

“Neesa been lookin’ for ya, you know.” Ryce was from Barbados islands. His accent always had a way of making me smile. He was young for his position at age twenty-four but everyone who knew him also knew he was the best. Also worth noting, Ryce was one of the most gorgeous guys I had ever met.

Neesa Saleen was his girlfriend. They’re one of the strangest and prettiest couples I’ve ever met. If you didn’t know them, you hated them but if you knew them, you had to love ‘em both.

Clean-shaven head, Ryce is five foot ten. His skin was the color of rich hot coco and not to mention his twelve pack abs and arms bigger than my thighs. But Neesa always said it was his bronze colored eyes that sealed the deal for her. Funny how most people doubted that decree.

Then of course there was Neesa. Both of her parents were from Brazil. Giving her skin like warm caramel with coffee color hair hung to her hips. And a tiny petite frame with perfect tiny petite features to match. All but her lips and eyes of course. Her lips were full and naturally mocha colored. Her doe like eyes looked like big Brazil nuts. They’re both stunning basically.

I held up my cell phone to acknowledge she had been blowing it up for the last thirty minutes, just as it rang through with another text message. “Yeah I know.” Ryce chuckled.

We had become pretty good friends seeing as she had worked there almost as long as I had. Quickly checking the message, it read much like the last five: UR torturing me, hurry up!

A cloud of smoke waft through the air. It was a mixture of hickory from the two smoking metal boxes and Brayden’s cigarette smoke. I came through the door nearly plowing into Neesa who was on her way outside to greet me. The girl always seemed to know where to find me and when. Another reason I didn’t bother responding to the messages. Not to mention texting and walking with me, not a great idea. My gene pool did not gift me with coordination. I have the kind of luck where I could be walking down the street not paying attention and a piano would fall on my head.

Neesa launched herself at me and jettisoned us both into the office. “Anna! You won’t believe what my aunt sent me from New Mexico.” She released me to swing around and grab her purse (which I swear was big enough to hide a body in) and started to shuffle through it in search of whatever trinket she was referring to.

However it was not a trinket or anything like what I had expected. “They are just perfect. And really I know they can help you. Ya know, with the dreams and all?” My jaw tightened as I watched her pull out a pack of tarot cards. The world got smaller. Not really but it sure felt crowded in the big office suddenly.

Neesa had been telling me since the day we met that she was psychic. Of course, most people didn’t believe her. However, I was not one of those people. She’d proven it more than once. For example, I had not initially told her about my dreams. She just knew I had nightmares and bugged me until I told her everything.

This is just one example. Of course, I knew Neesa meant nothing but the best but that didn’t make it less creepy. “Nees, is this really such a good idea right now?” My brow wrinkled with worry as my stomach twisted in knots. I slowly backed to the door as a strange feeling of desperation came over me. Desperation to get away. I didn’t want to know what she saw. I didn’t want her to look.

“Oh Anna, don’t be so ridiculous! I wouldn’t give you a reading here! I’ll swing by your place after your shift and we’ll do it then.” My jaw dropped in protest but before I could speak, she landed a kiss on my cheek while hiding the cards in her apron and dashed out of the office. Shaking my head with a sigh, I finished getting ready for my shift.

Checking my black boots for mud, I scanned all the way up my dark blue denim clad hips. I wore a snug white lace embroidered tank top. Both hugged my figure perfectly, which would boost the night’s tips by a good sum. Yeah, I’m shameless. Finally topping off the ensemble with the blackest apron I could find out of a stack of faded ones, I was ready to go.

Mike knocked twice before opening the door. “Ah, Ryce said you were here. Good. Listen I have three big parties coming in but we’re supposed to be real busy tonight. Do you mind letting the new girls take them and you and Neesa watch the floor?” Mike leaned against the doorframe. His brow creased with stress, as usual.

Mike was not tall nor was he short. He was not skinny but was not heavy either. His hair was not black. It was not gray. It was both salt and pepper. He was not Italian, he was not Sicilian. He was both. Mike was a middleman. And if you pay attention to the usual clientele, he was a middleman in other ways too.

Although he wasn’t clean shaven, he didn’t have a beard either. He liked goatees and had worn one around his puckered mouth as long as I’d known him. When at work, he dressed impeccably but when at home it was cotton button ups and blue jeans. Mike wasn’t married but he wore a hefty ring on the ring man’s left phalange. It had been passed down through generations, he said. Solid gold with a big fat ruby held a square compass with a capital G in the center.

I tried to keep it quiet but he heard the sigh. Neither of us commented on that as I smiled up at him. The only downside of this deal is Carrie Lane, Hannah Costess and Rachel Moss had all worked at Riads under six months at best, that meant they may still need help with the parties. I’d make more money but I’d work a lot harder. “Yeah that’s fine. We got it.” Not like Neesa or I would mind the extra money anyways.

“Good. You gonna clock in now?” He looked at his Rolex with a narrow brow. Pondering the overtime no doubt.

“Not if it’s gonna make that vein pop out anymore.” Mike’s whole face scrunched up and he grunted as he walked out without an answer. Which meant, ‘No I’m not paying you an extra dollar just because you’re fifteen minutes early.’
Of course not Mike. Wouldn’t dream of asking
. My eyes rolled.

* * * * *

Mike was right about it being busy. It was Friday so we were filled to the max on reservations and the walk-ins were flooding the bar. Great for Neesa and me who could handle the rush without slacking on any of our tables. However the three newer girls looked ready to drop. I’d already banked a few hundred in tips. The down side- my face hurt from smiling.