Ribs

Katrina

Arthur laid on the couch with a blissful smile on his lips, thump lazily rubbing Trina's lower back, his cigarette smoke swirling above them as rain tapped at the window. Trina's head laid directly on top of Arthur's chest, smiling as his heartbeat thumped against her ear. Her fingers tracing the large purple bruise left on Arthur's ribs, a frown settling on her face.

"Does it still hurt?"

He looked down at her, and then the bruise, "No, not really, not anymore."

She smiled as she buried her head into his chest, "Good."

They stayed like that all night, limbs tangled around each other with nothing but a thin blanket and their own combined body heat to keep them warm. The morning played out just as it did the morning before, Trina getting up before Arthur and kissing him goodbye, then rushing to the diner all the while trying to ignore all the trash that got into her path.

When she finally made it to the diner there were already guests sitting at the tables, most of the construction workers with a few businessmen sprinkled here and there. Trina took a deep breath has so looked over at the counter and saw him at the cash register, an annoyed look on his face. She hesitantly made her way over, praying to any being in the sky that he would just ignore her.

"Trina, you're late again," he grumbled without even looking at her.

She sighed, accepting her fate, "Yeah, sorry, the past couple of nights have been stressful."

"Family troubles?"

"No, not really," she mumbled as she made her way to the back, her boss following close behind.

"I hope that guy has nothing to do with it, you know, that guy who kept staring at you from the other side of the street?"

"Who, Arthur?" Trina laughed, "Why does it matter if Arthur has anything to do with it?"

He stared at her with a shocked expression, "Oh my god you named him."

Trina laughed as she placed her purse and long coat in her locker, "He's not a dog, Bill, he's another human being."

"Yeah, a human being who's a total creep," he grumbled with his arms crossed, "The guy is a total stalker."

"Arthur isn't a stalker, he may be a little odd but he can't help himself, he's-" she paused, "Not fully there, mentally."

"Oh god, so he's a mentally ill stalker."

"He's not a stalker, Bill," Trina sighed as she unfolded her apron, "Besides, it's none of your business what I do in my personal life."

"You're right, it's not, but it is my business when some psycho comes into my business and makes both my customers and staff feel uncomfortable."

Trina stopped trying to tie the apron around her waist, anger bubbling up in her gut, "Arthur isn't 'some psycho,' he's a man whose had nothing but shit handed to him his entire life, if people just stopped by one second to see them they'd know he's an actually very amazing person."

Bill shrugged while letting out a sigh, "Whatever you say, Trina, just be careful."

She frowned as she watched him leave, her mood officially souring. She took a deep breath, she needed to deal with this later, right now she had to take care of customers.

As the day went on, Trina slowly began to forget about her discussion with her boss about Arthur. Her anger didn't subside, however, only grew due to the customers. Screaming child, perfectionist customers, customers who just wanted free food, and perverted men all knew how to push her buttons. Thankfully the perverted men where the rarest to come across, most of them just playfully flirting and didn't expect much out of the conversation they would have with her.