Never Go Back

Chapter 3

I wake up around 8 AM. I quickly go to the bathroom and do my business. I get dressed and get ready to leave the house. I check the cabinets in the kitchen for food to make but there really is not much so I decide I will go grab breakfast at the diner in town. It is such a cliché, but this town has only one diner. If you want anything else to eat, you either must cook it or go out of town. I walk the couple blocks to the diner, and it looks busy. Great! Now it will take longer to get things done. I decide that after breakfast, I will go by the grocery store just to get groceries for the rest of the week so, I will not have to eat at the diner for every meal.

It takes about 5 minutes till there is a seat open at the bar. It is an old-fashioned burger joint so there are tables but also a bar to sit and eat at. I sit on the stool and look over the menu. This town really has not changed. The menu looks the same as it did before I left. I decide on an omelet with hash browns. The waitress comes by and it is the same old lady Ms. Willis that has worked here probably since the day this diner opened. I tell her I would like a coffee with creamer, and I order an omelet with hash browns. She looks at me and says, “Do you still want ketchup with your hash browns? I remember you could never eat them without it. It is nice seeing you back in town. I am so sorry about your mother. We will all miss her.”

I really wish she had not brought the loss of my mother, but I just politely say, “Yes, I still like ketchup with my hash browns. Thank you.”

She runs along to go put my order in and quickly brings my coffee. I take a sip and let the warmth from the coffee take over me. I do love a good cup of coffee. I pull my phone out going through emails from back home for work. I have been working from home for the last few years as a writer and make a decent living. I hear someone take a seat next to me and I decide to mind my own business and keep to myself. After a couple minutes, I hear the person next to me clear their throat. I look over and there he is. My ex-fiancé, Daniel King.

I decide not to say anything to him so he would get the idea that I am not interested in talking to him. I look away and go back to drinking my coffee. He clears his throat again and my irritation is rising. I look over at him and say, “I do not want to talk to you. I am only in town to plan my mother’s funeral then I am going back far away from here. Leave me alone!”

He looks as if I had insulted him and says, “Amanda, why you got to be like that. I was just trying to say hello and to say that I really am sorry for what happened five years ago.”

He put a sad face, but I know it is not genuine. He is just trying to make me feel sorry for him. I just try to keep quiet and not long after my food is put in front of me. I slowly dig in. Then I hear him chuckle and say, “Nice to know some things do not ever change. You still eat the same way.”

I take a deep breath and I know he is just trying to get a rise out of me. But I am not the same person I once was. I am not that shy people pleaser that I used to be. I need to stand up for myself. I look over at him and say, “I am not the same person I was five years ago. I am not going to fall for your stupid little tricks that got me back then. I am not interested in talking to you. I have learned my lesson. So why don’t you just leave me alone!”

He has an amused look on his face like he is happy that I am talking to him. He tries to talk to me some more throughout my meal, but I just ignore him. I go to pay for my meal but soon find out that Daniel has already paid for my meal. I go up to him and say, “I don’t need your money! I can pay for my own meal. Stop trying to make me forgive you! Just leave me alone!”

I turn to leave, and he grabs my arm and pulls me into him and whispers in my ear, “I gave you five years. You will be mine again. Just wait and see. You are mine. What happened five years ago was a mistake. Now I gave you your time to figure out that you need me and would come back. You are MINE!”