A Piece of the Puzzle

Chapter One

You wake to the sound of your alarm blaring and let out an annoyed and over-exaggerated  groan. After moving to your new apartment you had to put twice as many hours in at work just to make ends meet. You reluctantly rolled out of your small bed and sat on the edge trying to wake yourself up. As you rubbed your tired eyes, you reached for your phone to check the time and went into a panic. You were already half an hour late. 

"Shit, Shit, shit, shit," you yelled as you threw on your uniform and made a run for the door. After locking your door, you spun around and made a b-line to the stairs. You rounded the corner and didn't stop running until you saw the familiar glow of the neon open signs of the diner. Before entering, you threw your hair into a ponytail and mentally hyped yourself up for the chewing out you knew would be coming from your boss. You knew you would never hear the end of this.

The door opened with a loud creak and the bell gave notice to your entry. you were greeted by the sounds of the annoyingly quiet music that played on loop throughout the entire shift. 

"Look who decided to grace us with her presence! You've got luck on your side doll, the boss took off early tonight." Charlie was the night shift cook. You and him always worked together and he was one of the reasons you found showing up to be any bit enjoyable. 

"It must be my lucky day, Charlie! I got to sleep in AND miss out on seeing the demon king." You both laughed and went back and worth between catching up and gossiping about various people you both strongly disliked. 

It took an hour before you saw your first customer. Normally you only get drunk partiers or old creeps with nowhere else to be at this hour, so you felt refreshed to see a new, younger customer coming in. After he walked in, you noticed he took a minute to pick where he wanted to sit as if he was scoping the place out. Once he finally sat down, Charlie made a snarky comment about if he was planning on eating in the doorway and you couldn't help but let out a loud laugh. At hearing your laughter, the man looked in your direction and you smiled.

"Hi, Hun, what can I get for ya?" You put on your sweet server voice and smiled brightly at the man. He seemed to almost shy away from you and went silent for a moment in thought. After a few seconds of thought, he gave you his order and you put it in for Charlie to prepare while you made his coffee. 

Before you went to bring him his cup, Charlie waved you over and made a motion for you to lean in to the expo window. 

"I don't know if you got something funky on you but that dude hasn't stopped staring at you since you turned your back. Must be undressing you with those needy lil eyes of his." 

"Ha! Well I hope he knows I charge the big bucks for that kind of service."

You both have your moment of laughter before you turned to bring the man his coffee. His eye contact breaking as soon as you turned around. He must be shy, you thought. 

"There you go, love. If you want cream or sugar, it's in that little tray to your left." He nodded, ignored your sentence, and began drinking his coffee. Not long after you bring his food and give him silverware, and he gives you another nod and a quiet "thank you." You smiled at him and tapped your hand on his as you left, giving an almost flirty "you're welcome" and wink. 

More people began piling in and you noticed the man growing more uncomfortable. He quickly finished his meal, left cash on the counter and left. When you went to pick up the money, you were shocked at how much he had left. He had left you a twenty dollar tip just for a coffee and a waffle. You pocketed the money and carried out your shift.

The next few weeks developed a routine for you that seemed to drag by. The quiet man became a regular face and he always got the same order of coffee and sometimes a waffle. He definitely didn't seem like a talker but you were determined to get to know him considering how often he came and how well he always tipped you. You prided yourself on being a people person, but he was different. He never seemed to play in to any of your normal scripts, or seemed persuaded to talk when you bat your eyes at him. It got to the point where Charlie would make fun of how attentive you became to the man. One night you found a perfect window to get him talking and you refused to not take it.