Sheer Terror of Desires(21+)

Missing

You and Jonah were inside the campus coffee shop drinking coffee and eating your freshly made hot sandwiches. Alternative music played inside, and students and professors were sitting down working on papers or other personal things.

"So, how's work?" Jonah asked, initiating the conversation.

"It's alright. Repetitive but fine."

He chuckled lightly, sipping his coffee. "You seem bored with the job. You work in the kitchen, right?"

You shrugged. "Yeah, working in the Back of The House can be boring."

"How can you be bored working in the kitchen when you don't' have to deal with customers?"

"I get your point but, I when you're doing the same thing over and over again, you get tired of it. I want something different. A challenge, like what you said earlier. I want to be challenged, Y/N! "you said, mocking him.

He does a finger gun gesture at you and winked at you. "Ooh, I see we're on the same page then. Whenever I come by to visit you at work, I'm always telling myself I should apply there, but I always get anxious. I still have my incomplete application on my laptop."

"You want to work at the shop with me, is that what you're saying?" You bite into your sandwich.

"Well, even if it is what I'm saying, would you refer me to your manager? I have an extensive resume and I'm getting tired working at Target."

"Sure, I'll spread the word to my manager! Why would you want to work at the shop with me though?"

Jonah's face goes pink at the question, and he laughs, hanging his head low. "You're fun to be around. You just seem fun to work with."

"Aww, that's sweet of you to say."

"And I'm kind of jealous of that guy I see, always coming out of the kitchen to take customer's orders."

You tilt your head at him, confused. "What guy?"

"That tall, muscled, dark skinned guy with smooth skin, with that neatly trimmed beard. Always cracking jokes and giving bedroom eyes to every customer that walks in."

"Oh, that's Terrence! He's a student at NYU too, finishing his master's degree. He's a cool guy, and he's not giving bedroom eyes to people. That's how his eyes are." You found his jealously to be cute.

"Well, I don't like the way he looks at you. And that other guy, with the dark orange hair and red beard. Always walking around with tomato stains on his apron. He just comes off as trying to play innocent. I don't like the way he looks at you either."

You didn't get why he was talking negatively about your coworkers, and it honestly upset you. "That's Ryan. Jonah why are you talking bad about my coworkers that you barely know?"

"You know what? I-I'm sorry, Y/N. I'm just stressed out and spewing nonsense. I didn't mean to upset you." You see his tense body relax, but the gloominess in his eyes were welcomed.

***

It's been quite between the two of you for the past fifteen minutes. Jonah had stopped eating his sandwich and had been looking at his phone every few minutes and had been staring into space. Seeing Jonah suddenly so quiet made you wonder if you had said something to make him upset. You also wondered why he keeps checking his phone and it worried you.

"Hey." You whispered at him, tapping his shoulder.

He blinked hard, turning his head to you. "Yeah?"

"You okay?"

A soft smile curves on his lips. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that you've been kind of quiet for a while. I don't mind it or anything, but you just been looking very gloomy."

He sighs, still with that soft smile on his face. "Sorry about that."

"No worries! It's just that what you said earlier kind of caught me off guard. You mind telling me what's going on? I can offer some help."

"Thanks. I've got a lot going on in my life and it's been complicated. My hours at my part time job keeps dropping. I had to drop several classes because of these strange headaches I've been getting. I have so many things going on and my head has been spinning. I'm waiting for a confirmation text about my prescription for these headaches. I was supposed to have them yesterday, but the pharmacy called and told me they would be ready before 8:30 this morning. I'm stressed out."

You felt sorry for him, and you offered him a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry you're going through all this. I wish there was something I can do to help."

He slouches at your touch and blows out a sigh. "No, it's okay. It's the calm before the storm." He gets up from his seat and stretches. What remained of his sandwich and coffee he had tossed them into the trash.

You had suspicions about him and how he felt about you. Out of curiosity you asked, "Jonah, I have to ask. Do you have fee-"

"You want anything else from the shop?" He said, cutting you off. "A pastry or another cup of coffee?"

"I can go for a Danish, but I can p-" You're about to get up but he stopped you.

"No, I got it, Y/N." Not giving you a second to say anything, he walks away and heads to the register where two people were on the line in front of him. He really didn't look like himself, standing in the lien with others around. He was fidgeting, scratching his head in an unusual way, and looking very gray.

You remained in your seat and go over the materials for the other papers that were due by the end of this week. But it was that one particular paper that has been on your mind for a while. You did manage to write out a few paragraphs last night, but it wasn't enough. Your mind was but a blur and the stress of coming up with a story that could land you an A made you want to tear your hair out. Plus, you haven't heard back from Ryan. You'd normally see someone's name appear on the document and see them type out or make corrections on a shared document, but in this case, Ryan hasn't given any feedback.

"Order for Y/N!" you hear your named being called. You get up to get your order. You got your order, but Jonah was nowhere to be found. He vanished without giving you a word. You assumed that his stress made him leave. You honestly don't blame him; college can be stressful.

You only have about twenty minutes until your 9am class started, but then your phone buzzed. Your phone was already on the table and on the screen was a text from your coworker, Ryan.

Hey, Y/N! I know this is a little inconvenient, but have you seen Terrence?

No, I haven't. Why do you ask?

He never showed up to work this morning. He was supposed to come in @ 6am. We tried calling and texting him, but he won't answer.

That's strange. He's usually on time. Maybe his phone service is acting up?

If it were acting up, it wouldn't be ringing, and his texts wouldn't say 'Delivered'. He has his phone with him at all times.

Did you contact anyone else to see where he is? Sharice, Hannah, Tony?

I did but they all said they haven't heard from him.

Is this another one of your pranks, Ryan? Because I'm not in the mood.

No, it's not, Y/N! I swear! I'll call him again. I'll let you know if I hear any news.

It's Halloween tonight, and hearing Terrence not coming to work worried you. You wondered if Ryan's prank on you was just a foreshadow. And with Jonah suddenly acting so strange, it was making you think about whether or not to skip your morning class and go home or pass it off as something minor to worry about and stay on campus to work on your paper.