Free Awakening by Karice Bolton Page A

Pepsi.” He replied as his gaze lifted to meet mine, and a flood of uncertainty ran through me. His eyes were the coldest, darkest eyes I had ever encountered. There was no sense of light in them whatsoever. I tried my absolute best to hide my fear but worried he would see through it. I figured I had better spin around and get his order in.

    “ Certainly.” I was pretty positive with all of the different types of characters that I had seen come in throughout the years that he didn’t fit the mold for any of them. Maybe, he was a sociopath. All I knew was that I wanted to steer clear of him on my way out tonight. Hopefully he would be long gone. Running into someone like that really brought to light the glorious feelings I got from Athen and his family only a few nights prior. Things really can change quickly. It reminded me to pay attention to instincts, especially with the missing hikers and all.

    I went up to the bar and placed the guy’s order.

    “ Hey, is everything ok, Ana?” Tim asked genuinely concerned.

    “ I think so. Actually, it’s that guy at table six. He is a bit creepy. I’m sure it’s fine, but there is something off with him.”

    “ Alright. I’ll let the other girls know too.”

    “ Thanks.” That, I thought to myself, was one of the many reasons I enjoy working here. It was a very protective place to work. I felt very cared for, as much as workers can anyway.

    I scurried from table to table as the evening picked up, and nothing too eventful happened at the table with the man, but the feeling did not go away. Every time I approached the table, the feeling actually got worse than the last time. His guest finally showed up, and it was a woman, who seemed pretty harmless, but it didn’t lessen my fears any. I made a mental note to check everywhere before I left for home. Maybe I would even call Athen to meet me. No, that would be overkill and would probably completely scare him off.

    I went to the back to take a quick five-minute break when Karen came back.

    “ Hey, what’s up with the guy at table 6?” She asked.

    “ You noticed?”

    “ Heck yah I noticed. He has been following you with his stare all night.”

    Hearing her say that sent shivers up my spine. I thought I noticed that but talked myself out of it.

    “ Well, the scary part is his eyes, Karen. It is like they are dead – entirely black. There is no light reflecting from them.”

    “ Wow. I haven’t been close enough to see that, but I think we should walk home together for sure.”

    “ Thanks, Karen. I appreciate it. I guess it’s back to the grind, huh?”

    I went over to the kitchen and grabbed the couple of plates that had come up while I had been in the back and delivered them to their respective homes, all the while trying to sneak a peek at the creepy guy. To my disappointment, he was looking right back at me. At that very moment, a blast of icy cold air entered the room, which sent electricity right through me - exactly like Friday night. I began to get almost giddy with hope that it might possibly be Athen. I turned quickly to look at the front door, my body filling up with great disappointment as I saw he was nowhere to be found. Curse my imagination.

    “ Hey.” I heard the most lyrical melody in the world enter my space and became exhilarated at the thought of Athen being somewhere around. I didn’t look in the right place. I didn’t imagine it. Thank God! I quickly scanned to see where his voice was coming from and saw him at the far end of the bar by the flatscreen. How he got there without me seeing I had no idea, but nothing with these people surprised me. He waved with his typical ease, which made me want to run over and jump in his arms, but I knew I had to compose myself. It was far too early in the relationship to do that. Plus, I was at work.

    I knew I couldn’t hide my grin so I waved back at him and found myself jumping up a little bit, which caught the attention of Karen, of