What's in your (he)art

Chapter 10

  The night was quiet. Kiah sat behind the counter, counting the hours until she would finally be free. Night shifts were usually easy for her, since she chronically stayed up past 4 am either way, but this time she just could not wait to get home and surrender herself to sleep. Her phone had fallen quiet hours ago. Cate was probably asleep by now, Lonnie too, and Kiah was left absolutely alone and bored out of her mind. The bright (way too bright, in Kiah's opinion) lights in the store flickered every now and then, serving as a kind of alarm for Kiah's tired mind. She glanced at her pocket where a small flask resided. She had recently realized that having booze on her made her want to drink less, so she was making it a habit to carry some whenever she could. Usually... This dead shift was tempting her a bit too much. 
  A bell's jingle startled Kiah out of a light nap. Someone had entered the store. Kiah tried to shake the sleep off of her and straightened up behind the counter. The person had walked straight to the sweets section, which was beyond Kiah's field of view. Her heart sped up a little for whatever reason and she tried to get a better look at the person. On her tippy toes, she could only make out that they had long brown hair. Fairly common, she decided. Couldn't be a murderer....surely. 
 Then the person walked up to her and they turned out to be worse than a murderer. It was her.
She smiled, so sweetly, so innocently. Kiah felt lightheaded, ears ringing and vision slowing down to a blur... that face... that cursed smile. With trembling hands Kiah began to scan the woman's items - one ice cream, a can of coke, a pack of camels and a bottle of pink gin. She remained silent, daring not to speak. There was no guarantee her voice would even work at that moment. 

"Hey, don't you remember me?"

 She asked, feigning confusion. Kiah's blood ran cold, she did not want that confrontation. The woman before her knew perfectly well that Kiah remembers, that she could never, ever forget. She just liked to play games, liked to torture and bully and then somehow come out the innocent one. 

"That will be $48,75."

 She looked so pleased with herself when Kiah's voice wavered the tiniest bit. A pristine $50 note landed on the counter as she threw it carelessly.

"Keep the change, babe. I'll see you around."

 With a wink and a smirk she walked out of the store, the bottle of gin left behind. Kiah let out a breath so big she felt her head spin. Her body had been so tense that her muscles ached, though her heart ached worse. She wanted to be angry, it was her turn to be mean and cold now, but she could not. All she could do was slide down behind the counter and wait out the panic attack that inevitably came.
   By the time the shift ended, Kiah was exhausted in every way possible. Seeing her again was draining. She knew what she was doing, coming here and disrupting the little peace Kiah had managed to build up for herself. How had she even found her? Kiah had tried so hard to escape her past and hide away somewhere. It was not fair. She held the bottle of pink gin in her hands, looking at the liquid inside. It might as well have been poison, though that would have been mercy. Kiah zipped the bottle in her backpack. Cate had texted her something, but she hadn't really opened the notification, couldn't bring herself to do it. Lonnie came to take over and tried to make conversation, but Kiah simply couldn't. She walked home and succumbed to the weariness. 

  

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Well, here is another chapter....literal years after the last lmao. I have no excuse, really, but...hey at least it came. Next one will be longer.