Free Twisted Little Things and Other Stories by Amy Cross Page B

nine a very wide berth. Everyone just seemed to pretend that it wasn't there at all.
    Taking a deep breath and telling herself to stay focused, she checked her hair again before heading back out into the noise and bustle of the restaurant. Within seconds, she had three tables calling for her attention, and all thoughts of table nine slipped from her mind.

Five
     
    “Not even a tip,” Donna muttered with a sigh as she wandered over to help Lisa clear table eight. “Can you believe that? After everything we put up with, the bitch didn't even leave a tip. She even made a point of telling me to make sure I gave her the right change, like she thought I'd try to short her or something. Some people just do my head in!”
    “I feel sorry for the little girl,” Lisa said, thinking about the fear in Elizabeth's eyes. “She seemed...”
    Her voice trailed off. For a moment, she considered telling Donna about Elizabeth's strange claims, but finally she realized she didn't want to open that particular can of worms. She figured the girl had simply overheard someone mentioning something, and had then let her imagination run riot, and the last thing she wanted was to add any more fire to the flames. Still, she couldn't help glancing toward table nine in the corner. There was clearly no-one there, and no sign of anyone reflected in the window either.
    “I have to get home early tonight, girls,” Annette said suddenly, already slipping into her coat as she hurried to the door. “You can hold the fort, can't you? There should only be one more sitting before closing time.”
    “Oh sure,” Donna replied, watching as Annette headed outside, “don't mind us. It's not like we're not run off our feet already. What the actual...”
    Muttering a few inventive obscenities under her breath, she balanced a couple more plates.
    “Did she just leave us alone?” Lisa asked, genuinely shocked. “There's no way the two of us can serve all these tables without anyone to help us!”
    “Oh, it's only one more sitting,” Donna grumbled, rolling her eyes. “Sure, Annette, go home and put your feet up. Leave the hard work to your understaffed minimum wage underlings, Annette. We won't mind, Annette.” As the door opened and a fresh party of diners entered, she glanced at Lisa. “The next two hours are gonna be fun. Real fun. Trust me, you won't even have time to think!”
     
    ***
     
    “Table four's ready!” Clyde yelled. “Table three comin' at you in two minutes!”
    Grabbing the warm plates from the shelf, Lisa turned to take them to table four, only to spot at the last moment that there was chocolate drizzled all over both slices of cheesecake. She froze, running through the order in her mind, before turning and setting the plates back on the shelf.
    “One of these has to be without chocolate!” she called back. “Clyde! I wrote on the tab, one of them has to be without -”
    “Fine!” he hissed, grabbing one of the plates. “Just give me a moment.”
    Sighing, she stepped back and tried to get her thoughts straight. Donna had been absolutely right, the final sitting had been chaotic and busy, and when she checked her watch she saw that they still had ninety minutes to go before closing time. She'd already developed the early warning signs of a major headache, and things weren't helped by the fact that her phone buzzed every half hour with another message from her over-protective mother, fussing about how the first shift was going. All things considered, she was starting to feel a migraine brewing in the back of her head.
    “Just stay calm,” she muttered under her breath, before suddenly feeling once again as if someone was trying to get her attention.
    Turning, she glanced back across the restaurant, but there was no sign of anyone looking her way. She deliberately avoided looking directly at table nine, preferring to focus on the rest of the diners, although after a moment she realized the sensation of being watched was