Chapter 1
She wasn’t even supposed to be there.
Kirsten worked morning and day shifts, her nights being something sacred to her. Her time to unwind and spend quality time with herself. But after Annika, her favorite coworker and someone she considers a good friend asks her to cover her shift so she could go to a concert in New Jersey that night she couldn’t find a good enough reason to tell her no.
The shift went well, she looked through the photos Annika sent to her of the show and felt good that she was able to do this for her and by eleven a rush of college kids just leaving a small venue across the street came in and time flew by pretty quickly from there. By one she was left alone to close up the diner. It was easy enough, Jackie and Thomas already cleaned the bathroom, kitchen and floors, and only one table was left to clean once the kid writing furiously to finish a paper for school left, and after that she had to prepare for opening the next morning and take out the trash and she would be good to lock up and go.
Except it didn’t happen like that exactly.
Before she could tell the kid he had to leave a man in all black, wearing a black beanie and a blue disposable mask covering his mouth and nose. She was about to tell him they were closing but then there was a gun and it was pointed at her. The panic set in immediately like a giant wave coming over her and holding her under, unable to breath. She felt like throwing up almost immediately but instead of doing anything she stood completely still with her hands up, waiting for something to happen. She didn’t recognize the man but he seemed young, and even more, kind of nervous, the gun shaking in his hand. He didn’t speak, almost as if he forgot his lines from stage fright.
The kid with the paper scrambled, leaving his laptop and backpack at the table, and dashing out of the side door. The man didn’t react or try to stop him.
After what felt like an hour of both of them standing there, neither saying anything, Kirsten got up the nerve to say something. “I’m going to open up the register. Okay?”
“Just don’t do anything stupid!”
“I could say the same to you.” She said to herself, a little too loud.
The man waved the gun in the air. “Watch your mouth, bitch!” The word bitch came out forced, like he thought he needed to add a derogatory term to make himself more intimidating, like the gun pointed at her face wasn’t enough.
Not having anything to put the money in, Kirsten grabbed a to-go bag from an open shelf under the counter and started putting the money from the cash register into the bag, her hands clumsy, feeling almost unattached from the rest of her body. Before she could finish though, she heard the back door to the kitchen opening, her feeling of dread intensifying. Without even realizing it, tears started blurring her vision as she continued to place the cash into the bag.
But as she looked up to put the bag on the counter for him, he was gone.
She wiped her eyes, not really grasping what was happening, but as she scanned the room she saw it all.
Another man, also in all black except this other man had a mask covering the top half of his face, his eyes not visible, was punching the guy in the face. She watched in disbelief as the first man tried to hit back, the punch being dodged gracefully, the second man getting the upper hand again continued to hit him until the other man collapsed to the ground, he grabs the gun where it fell to the ground and unloads the clip.
When the man with the black mask covering his eyes finally addressed her, she was brought back to reality, this was real, and simultaneously happening fast and slow.
“Call 911.”
“Okay.” She struggled to get her phone out of her pocket but ultimately was able to call and tell them where to come, leaving out the bit with the vigilante coming in and saving her.
“What if he wakes up before they come?”
“I’ll know.”
“Will you stay here? Please?”
The man smiled, sympathetically. And though a lot was going through Kirsten’s mind at the moment, she couldn’t help but notice how nice the man’s mouth was. She pushed down the quick thought of ripping off his mask and making out with him right then and there. Totally not what she should be thinking about at this moment.
She was about to start asking him questions, but she didn’t even know how to start and as she tried to form them into a proper order she heard the blaring sound of the sirens coming closer. The man started to walk towards the back door where he came from.
“Wait!”
“I can’t stay any longer.”
She panicked, not wanting to leave before she could say something, anything. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He said before slipping out the back door. Just at that moment two cops barrelled through the front door and at that Kirsten was left there, still dumbfounded, to answer their questions and write a statement and then two hours later finally close up and head home.