Post by Alonna Swanson on Oct 13, 2009 11:27:07 GMT -5
Alonna glanced at her watch - again - before she could catch herself, and looked up to find her friend and coworker, Summer, raising a knowing eyebrow at her from a nearby table. Alonna rolled her eyes and went back to wiping down the counter, and, as expected, she heard the other girl chuckling as she passed her by only moments later.
"Third time in ten minutes. You must be dying to get off shift."
Summer passed her order in to the kitchen and moved over to lean her elbows on the just-wiped counter. Alonna glanced up and rolled her eyes again pointedly, just in case her friend had missed it the first time.
"Well, maybe I am. It's been a slow day."
"Is he handsome?"
Summer had lived in this small town her whole life, but despite that... or perhaps because of it... she was an even bigger gossip than most of the tabloid writers Alonna had encountered back in LA. She was constantly inventing fantastic stories and great dramas to explain any little thing that was out of the ordinary, and generally Alonna loved spending time with her for exactly that reason. But when her fantasizing started to focus on Alonna, herself, she found the tendency less charming.
Especially now that she had discovered her gift, and started having something to hide.
She had paused too long, and now Summer's grin had faded into a look of concern.
"Unless... oh no, you're not going to see Brendan, are you? Please tell me you didn't break and decide to go back to that sad, sad boy because it's pretty obvious he just wants you for your 'if you go back to modeling' money."
Alonna dropped her rag and leaned against the counter as well.
"Come on, Summer. Every single time I'm excited to go somewhere or do something or just be not here does it have to be about a guy? What about all that 'Modern Empowered, Independent Woman' stuff or whatever? Isn't it possible that I'm just looking forward to going home, getting in a bubble bath and then settling down with a good book?"
Summer raised that eyebrow again. She did it well, and Alonna made a mental note to practice that, herself, in the mirror once she got home before reminding herself that she didn't need to school her expressions anymore.
"Lonni, I know how you love your books and look I'm right there with you... sort of. But this is not an, 'I want to wander home and have a quiet evening' energy I am sensing. This is an, 'I have an appointment that I absolutely do not want to be late for' energy. And it is an energy I have not sensed since you ditched the gold digger, so that leads me to believe: a boy."
A young couple entered the diner then, and Summer moved off to seat them. Alonna took the opportunity to escape to the kitchens, where, after a final consultation with her watch, she dumped her cleaning rag in the sink and continued on to the bathroom to change out of her uniform.
Summer was partly right, though Alonna wasn't about to admit that and set her imagination off flying again. She was happy that her shift was over, and she was going off to meet a boy. Since Chase had rescued her earlier that week, the pair had gotten together several times; once on that first day for coffee, and a second time for Alonna to give Chase a tour of the town, such as it was. And today they were meeting up for a late lunch.
And Summer was right about one more thing - Alonna was excited to be seeing him again. In a small town it wasn't long before everyone knew everything about you, and after her breakup with Brendan and the self-imposed seclusion she had thrown herself into after discovering her gift, almost everyone had been more or less tip-toeing around her. She didn't really blame them; by locking herself in her house for a week so soon after the breakup she had made herself look incredibly fragile, and she couldn't exactly come out and explain that she wasn't hiding because of a boy, but because she had discovered that she could turn invisible if she tried really hard.
In any case, Chase hadn't been around for that mess, and she could talk to him without the weight of any small town baggage. He was easy to hang out with - nice, interesting, and funny. She had known him less than a week, but she already felt sure that they were going to be very good friends.
Back in her street clothes, Alonna slipped out of the bathroom, called a quiet goodbye to the chef, and then ducked out the back door before she had to answer any more of Summer's prying questions.
"Third time in ten minutes. You must be dying to get off shift."
Summer passed her order in to the kitchen and moved over to lean her elbows on the just-wiped counter. Alonna glanced up and rolled her eyes again pointedly, just in case her friend had missed it the first time.
"Well, maybe I am. It's been a slow day."
"Is he handsome?"
Summer had lived in this small town her whole life, but despite that... or perhaps because of it... she was an even bigger gossip than most of the tabloid writers Alonna had encountered back in LA. She was constantly inventing fantastic stories and great dramas to explain any little thing that was out of the ordinary, and generally Alonna loved spending time with her for exactly that reason. But when her fantasizing started to focus on Alonna, herself, she found the tendency less charming.
Especially now that she had discovered her gift, and started having something to hide.
She had paused too long, and now Summer's grin had faded into a look of concern.
"Unless... oh no, you're not going to see Brendan, are you? Please tell me you didn't break and decide to go back to that sad, sad boy because it's pretty obvious he just wants you for your 'if you go back to modeling' money."
Alonna dropped her rag and leaned against the counter as well.
"Come on, Summer. Every single time I'm excited to go somewhere or do something or just be not here does it have to be about a guy? What about all that 'Modern Empowered, Independent Woman' stuff or whatever? Isn't it possible that I'm just looking forward to going home, getting in a bubble bath and then settling down with a good book?"
Summer raised that eyebrow again. She did it well, and Alonna made a mental note to practice that, herself, in the mirror once she got home before reminding herself that she didn't need to school her expressions anymore.
"Lonni, I know how you love your books and look I'm right there with you... sort of. But this is not an, 'I want to wander home and have a quiet evening' energy I am sensing. This is an, 'I have an appointment that I absolutely do not want to be late for' energy. And it is an energy I have not sensed since you ditched the gold digger, so that leads me to believe: a boy."
A young couple entered the diner then, and Summer moved off to seat them. Alonna took the opportunity to escape to the kitchens, where, after a final consultation with her watch, she dumped her cleaning rag in the sink and continued on to the bathroom to change out of her uniform.
Summer was partly right, though Alonna wasn't about to admit that and set her imagination off flying again. She was happy that her shift was over, and she was going off to meet a boy. Since Chase had rescued her earlier that week, the pair had gotten together several times; once on that first day for coffee, and a second time for Alonna to give Chase a tour of the town, such as it was. And today they were meeting up for a late lunch.
And Summer was right about one more thing - Alonna was excited to be seeing him again. In a small town it wasn't long before everyone knew everything about you, and after her breakup with Brendan and the self-imposed seclusion she had thrown herself into after discovering her gift, almost everyone had been more or less tip-toeing around her. She didn't really blame them; by locking herself in her house for a week so soon after the breakup she had made herself look incredibly fragile, and she couldn't exactly come out and explain that she wasn't hiding because of a boy, but because she had discovered that she could turn invisible if she tried really hard.
In any case, Chase hadn't been around for that mess, and she could talk to him without the weight of any small town baggage. He was easy to hang out with - nice, interesting, and funny. She had known him less than a week, but she already felt sure that they were going to be very good friends.
Back in her street clothes, Alonna slipped out of the bathroom, called a quiet goodbye to the chef, and then ducked out the back door before she had to answer any more of Summer's prying questions.