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 Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:59 am
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Physically exhausted and in a fair share of pain, Jett had not lingered for long in Mirrorspace after discovering the damage he'd done to his hands. He mirrorwalked home—and then immediately powered down. A shower cleaned himself up, and when not in uniform he found it much easier to address his appearance in a mirror. For all the anger that he had felt earlier, he was numb to the mirrors now. Towards a lot of thing.
He was able to look into the mirror and assess what damage he'd taken earlier that night; a gash in his arm, he wrapped up. His sides were bruising badly, but he wrote it off. He'd been black and blue before, and it wasn't enough to concern him. His hands were moving slowly, partially because he was tired and partially because they were hurt. He took only a short amount of time to pluck at the remaining shards before he just slapped some Band-aids on the worst of the cuts.
Nothing in the house moved.
He laid in bed, in the still darkness, for half an hour. He stared at the ceiling, listening to his stomach growl.
He used the excuse of food—good, old fashioned fast food, comfort food—to get up, get dressed, and get in his car. He left his house because he didn't want to be alone.
There were closer fast food chains in the area, but he drove the extra distance to be at one he knew he enjoyed. He also knew they'd be open, and he could just go in and eat. Not that he necessarily wanted to be in public, but it beat sitting there, eating in his car. And might just give him the social interaction he was craving.
He wasn't dressed in anything fancy, and had he cared, he might have been ashamed to go out dressed in cargo pants and just a jacket thrown over the tank top he wore as pajamas. He looked a mess; dark circles under his red eyes, bruised and cut in places his jacket didn't fully cover. Even his hair was just sloppily tied up.
He just didn't care.
He knew the routine—go in, seat yourself, wait for a waitress to be with you.
He sat in the same booth as last time, trying to find a comfortable position between reclining and slouching that didn't agitate his ribs.
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Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 9:08 pm
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Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 9:22 pm
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Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 10:09 pm
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Cambria hesitated for a moment, teetering on the edge of asking him what was wrong and not asking him, though finally she decided against it, putting a cheerful smile on her face. “Right away. It should be out soon. Hang tight, okay?” Making her way back to the kitchen, Cambria put in the order and about ten minutes later she emerged, carrying a try that held a delicious looking peanut butter milkshake, a huge burger with an equally huge pile of cheese fries, and another smaller burger. “Here you go. I put cheese on the fries, you look like you could use it tonight.”
The girl hesitated again, then shrugged. “Do you mind if I join you? I brought out my dinner…and since you’re the only customer, I don’t know. I wouldn’t mind eating with you, if you wanted the company.”
And if you wanted to tell her everything that was wrong. That would be nice too. There would be nothing better right now than helping you. You were just so attractive. Cambria gave another little smile, trying to force all of the thoughts from her head. How embarrassing.
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Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 10:19 pm
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Jett had hardly moved during Cambria's absence; he had managed to pull his cell phone out of his pocket and was pretending to scroll through things; it was a mindless, somewhat painful action that served no real purpose. Usually when he was out and waiting he was busy checking stocks or texting Raven, and neither one seemed like they were going to be happening tonight.
He didn't put away his phone, instead opting to just brush it out of the way when the girl arrived. Her offer, while unexpected, was not unwelcome. "I could use the company," he finally decided; it wasn't worth it to say no and make things awkward. Especially after she had tried to do such a nice thing?
Though, there was always the matter of tip. She was probably just trying to earn money.
He didn't even care.
Raven would have, though. If she'd seen him sitting down, having a meal with another girl?
Jett didn't realize he was biting the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood; he had to force himself to inhale as he relaxed in the seat again.
"Make yourself comfortable. Aren't you supposed to have friends to visit and keep you company when you're working a shift this late?"
…Not that he knew anything about that, but now seemed like a great time to break into awkward conversation topics.
"How much longer do you have before you can go home?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:26 pm
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Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:58 pm
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And unamused, forced grin formed on his face and he scoffed. He shook his head and didn't immediately reply; his stomach was making decisions for him, so he took a rather large bite of his burger before offering a half hearted apology. "Sorry. I don't mean to be bitter. I think I'm still figuring it out. Had a fight with my fiancé," he attempted to explain, and while a part of him wanted to retain decency and common courtesy and refrain from gossiping, he hadn't told anyone and it was eating him up. Even if he had to fudge some of the details, he didn't care.
The words came too quickly, anyway. "Oh. Sorry, ex fiancé," he corrected with little enthusiasm. His eyes sank to his burger and he shrugged, taking another bite. He knew he was hungry, but the first bite reminded him just how hungry you could get. His second and third bite were quick. "I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not."
He went for the milkshake. The whole topic was awkward. On one hand, he didn't want to discuss his problems with anyone. He just wanted to go back to living his perfect life, where everything was always okay and every problem worked itself out. On the other hand, it felt like there was acid in his stomach, just burning, waiting for a way out. If he didn't want to talk to someone about something, why had he come out in the first place.
He wanted to add more—to clarify or explain or change the topic.
He went for the burger instead.
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Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 12:13 am
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Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 12:27 am
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Once, Jett would have taken her number without really questioning it. And he probably would have flirted and charmed his way close to her, and used her for something as silly as a discount on burgers.
Now, the thought just seemed tiresome. He didn't want to be involved with girls on any level. He was still at least partly convinced that Raven was going to come to terms with her emotions, calm down, contact him—fix everything. But this conversation had been awkward enough already and he wasn't going to add to that by saying no. If worst came to worst, he could always just take her phone number and delete it and never show his face around here again.
She didn't count as a girl if she was a friend, right? Could you even be friends with girls without something catastrophic happening?
Ah, what the hell. What did he have to lose?
He glanced at his phone and then just nudged it, sliding it across the table. "Go ahead and put your number in, then." He was too tired to focus, and on top of that wasn't even sure his fingers were going to cooperate with him. "…But don't think you have to act on sympathy or anything. You asked what was wrong, I told you." He shrugged. "I didn't come here for a pity party. I just came for a burger."
His burger was almost gone; he'd been quick to scarf it down. He took another bite and added as an afterthought, "I mean, sorry if that came across as rude. It's been a long night, all around. What I mean is thanks. I appreciate it."
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Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 12:40 am
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Cambria reached over and took Jett’s phone, punching in her number, then adding her name. It was simple. Cambria, for the first name, and Burger Girl for the last name. Grinning, she slid the phone back over to him and shrugged. “I’m not acting out of sympathy, but if you don’t want me to, then fine. I’m going to charge you double and just pocket it all.”
She finished her burger and grinned stretching. “But, you’re welcome. Maybe I’ll be nice to myself and charge you triple now. Since you’ve been so rude.” She went so far as to wink at him, then cleared her throat, laughing. “Anyway. I should get back to work, I think. You know. I’m so busy rolling silverware. It’s a tough job. Very tough indeed.”
Who was she kidding. It was boring as hell. But she didn’t want to stay here and continue to flirt with a guy who just lost a fiancé. That was just bad mojo and karma and was just plain slutty all around. And hey. She didn’t need or want that image.
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Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 6:42 pm
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Jett scoffed again; the banter was a bit refreshing though he didn't imagine he was going to be in anything but a foul mood for a long time. Taking his phone back, he pocketed it and fished around for a few loose bills. "How about I'll give you a twenty and you keep the change. I'll finish up here and let you be on with your," he glanced around the restaurant again, "busy evening. I'll finish up here, and try not to make a mess."
Maybe just go home. He'd successfully talked to one human being, so that was definitely enough social interaction, right? It hadn't been a miracle cure like he'd been hoping, and while Cambria had been nothing but charming, his mind kept flickering back to Raven.
He didn't know what he was going to have to do to get her out of his head, but even this wasn't quite working. He still wanted to check his phone every few seconds for a text message, or look over his shoulder to make sure she wasn't standing there, judging him. Or he could hear her laugh, or see her smile. Or hear her yelling obscenities at him and banishing him from her life.
His mood soured again but he wasn't about to take it out on Cambria. He pulled a twenty out of his pocket and placed it on the table. He had eaten most of his burger and some of the fries, though there was by no means a small portion left. He didn't ask for a to-go box, but lifted the Styrofoam cup. The idea of food repulsed him, but a milkshake? Maybe he could stomach that.
"Thanks for the company," he said, sounding more tired than before. He flashed a smile for good measure, but there wasn't much effort in it. "I'll see you around again sometime."
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Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 8:26 pm
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Cambria blinked, then smiled, taking the money. “Thanks. I’ll see you around, I’m sure I will.” She gave a small wave, then winked, and finally slipped away, hiding somewhere back by the soda machine, watching Jett until he finally left the restaurant, and only then did she ring up the bill, sighing slightly.
Well. She sure did hope things worked out for him. That must suck more than anything…losing the person that you loved.
Maybe she could bake him a cake or something. That would be good.
She had texted herself his number, after all. Maybe she could do something nice for him indeed.
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