Façade

Chapter Four - Esther

The pants I was wearing were far too big, and the shirt I had on wasn't even mine. I guess mine got lost during intake. Maybe I wasn't meant to have it in the first place.

I didn't have any family to pick me up, so I planned to walk to the nearest diner to get me some lunch with the few dollars they returned to me upon release. Thank goodness it was nice and sunny, but it felt weird to feel real breeze and not a janky, old fan in the window.

I tied a knot at the hem of the shirt to make it less baggy otherwise I'd get blown away. I needed to get some clothes. I needed a job first. Maybe the motel would let me work there if they had a place for me to sleep and I'd work for my stay. There was only one way to find out.

Now, to get there. Well, lunch first.

Oh it'll only be a few minutes, I kept reassuring myself. Yep. Only a few.

•

A couple hours later, the tinking sound that an old bell had let off when I walked through the heavy glass door comforted me. All I needed at the moment was a tall glass of cold sweet tea and a newspaper. I know, I sound old but I'd say I'm closer to twenty than I am thirty. I just need to know what's been going on around here all these years.

Going to bed was the most difficult thing I'd ever experienced in a place like that. Cold, hard mattresses and used sheets with stains I ain't even want to think of became my only comfort when I was used to plush comforters and feather-stuffed pillows. Now, well I could fall asleep standing up probably. Which is what I felt like doing once I found my seat at the bar.

I shuffled around uncomfortably until the pants I was wearing stopped digging into my stomach as I sat and smiled at the waitress. She took one glance at me and a look of understanding crossed her face. Maybe it was my hair? She grabbed a pot of hot coffee and a clean cup to serve me.

"You gonna tell me what you're doin' here or will you make me guess?"

She offered with a smile. I chuckled at her, she reminded me of some of my friends back at pen.

"What about you take a guess and we'll go from there."

She stopped pouring and locked eyes with me like she was debating on what to say. She set the pot down and put a hand to her hip, her tongue smoothing over her front teeth. Then with a slight squint to her eyes, "Hmm... I think you escaped a cult somewhere in Texas. No! You were kidnapped at birth and on the hunt for your biological family?"

I was holding a beaming close-lipped smile at her as I knew she was trying to lighten the mood.

"Any more guesses?"

The same bell sound filled my ears, was it really that loud when I entered?

Then there was a tall, handsome man that walked in. And suddenly, I wasn't paying attention to the waitress.

It had been so long since I'd seen a man in normal clothes without pepper spray or handcuffs. It was almost as if... I liked me a man out of uniform.

"— and I think you jumped on a bus and here you are."

I snapped my head away from the now sitting man, oblivious to how long I'd stared at him. The waitress served him the same as she did me but handed him a menu.

"Did I get it right?"

Huh?

"Get what right?"

She snorted when she laughed and the man looked at her in what I thought to be annoyance. He doesn't really seem happy.

"You silly woman, what's your name?"

My name? Not my last name, not my number, not a nickname. My first name.