Eat Me

ChapterFive

Showering was the hardest part. The water scorched my beaten skin, leaving pink tinged water swirling down the plug. I could honestly say I’d rather have someone pour shampoo continuously in my eyes than wash my hair with it. The golf ball growing out the back of my scalp was making my knees buckle at even the smallest of touches.

The girl in the mirror was so pale, I could have easily missed her.

I looked sick.

Two tiny puncture marks came into view on the side of my neck as I brushed my hair, the surrounding bruising a purple/green. Instinctively my fingers went to them, wincing as I slowly ran them over the now sealed holes. What in the-

Thud

A bang from the living room tore me from my thoughts. Inside my chest, my heart beat a beat that could rival any drum and bass tune. I was sure to lock the door when I got home. From now on I had promised myself to be more careful.

No time for the cliché ‘is anyone there?’ to let the possible serial killer know where I was hiding.

No, I grabbed the first thing I could find that might do even a little bit of damage. Lucky for me, the only thing to hand was the plunger.

Running out to the living room, towel tightly held against me, I shouted.

I’d hoped I’d have scared whoever it was off.

And my attempt seemed to have worked as I was met by no one.

The room was almost as empty as I left it. However, after following the trail of destruction from the tiny opening in my window to the sofa, I discovered the curled up body of the black cat from earlier.

How something so small could manage to knock over a picture frame and my plant pot – not that the plant pot mattered, whatever was growing in there had been dead for some time.

I decided against shooing him back out the door. He looked too cosy and nowhere near feral.

I moved to the bedroom to finish getting ready for work. I had an hour until my manager would be at the restaurant to open up, so I was hoping to catch him before any of the other girls turned up for their shifts.

I left my hair in a loose ponytail so not to stress the lump on my head. It was one thing to see myself look this messed up, but to have to go to work like this needed a lot of covering up. I did my best to cover the dark circles and bruising with make-up but there was only so much it could do.

I dressed in my oversize hoodie with my work shirt hidden underneath and quietly entered the living room ready to be met with a sleeping fluff ball on the sofa. Although, to my surprise, he was already up and pacing by the front door.

Guess he had somewhere to be too.

***

The mouthwatering scent of sausages graced my nostrils, leaving me salivating as I walked through the door. The downside: my groveling to my boss would have at least one witness. At least it was only one of the chefs here and not any of the waitresses. I cringed at the thought of whose day I messed up by not showing up for my shift.

“Morning Daz,” I leaned over the counter with a view into the kitchen. Ash brown hair framed his face as he glanced up in the direction of my voice. I gave him a small wave and smile, which he happily returned.

“Am I in deep sh*t or little sh*t?”

Daz placed the knife down on the chopping board in front of him and shrugged his shoulders, “nah, you’re not that f*cked. Lana covered you, so she’s the one you’re gonna wanna steer clear of.”

Great.

“Why the no show though? That’s not like you. Hungover?” He laughed.

I wished it was merely a hangover that had me feeling like a bus had run me over, but I couldn’t explain to him what happened, especially when I didn’t know for sure myself.

“Something like that,” I replied, shrugging.

Daz simply nodded, continuing chopping mushrooms. He didn’t press further, something I loved about him.

I stole a bite of his sausage sandwich he had made, running off before he could beast me for it. I’d make sure to buy him an energy drink before my next shift as payback.

The office door was slightly ajar, only a warm orange glow seeping out the crack. My clammy hands reached for the door, giving a soft knock.

“Come in.”

The small lamp on the desk was the only lighting in his office, casting a shadow of Ian, my manager, on the blinds behind him. Deep frown lines etched his chubby face, stubble prickling his chin. For as long as I’d worked here, he’d been single and if you’d spent more than a minute talking to him, you’d understand why.

With his index finger, he pushed his glasses up his nose and set down the papers in front of him.

“You missed your shift, Cassy. You didn’t think to call in or did you purposely want to piss me off?”

What a prick.

“I’m so sorry, Ian. I promise it won’t ever happen again,” I hated groveling, but I really did need this job. “I would have called, but my phone died, and I was really sick. I slept for, like, a whole day. I-” My rambling was cut short.

With his hand out to silence me, his beady eyes pierced through me as he frowned even harder.

“Save the b*llshit. Consider this your final and only warning.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

“Sammy went and got herself pregnant and gave her notice yesterday.”

“Aww, good for her. Right?” At least someone will get away from this place.

“If you say so. Well, now she’s moving up North to live with her parents, and that leaves me a man down. You get the pleasure of picking up her extra shifts as a personal apology for your no-show.”

I spent pretty much all my time here as it was, so-what was adding on a few more mind-numbing hours to kill me quicker.

“Great. Well, I mean great that I get to help out and cover her shifts, not great that she’s leaving and-” I backed towards the door, “I’ll go get set up for breakfast. Thanks again, Ian.”

Thanks again. The guy basically butchered me in there and, of course, I went and said thanks.

From there, time went relatively fast. I breezed through the morning shift and by the time my half hour lunch break came around, I was so jittery from the four coffee’s I’d drank that my nerves were shot. So out of it and in my own world, I’d sat at one of the empty tables near the back of the restaurant to finish my break in peace. That was until a large hand landed on my shoulder and I felt my skeleton try to escape me.

“Jesus, Cass, should have guessed the only way to get a hold of you would be coming here.”

Nervously, I c****d my head up from the table towards a smiling Warren. In an instant, his face changed from care-free and warm to a man trying not to startle a stray dog.

“You look like sh*t,” he said with worry-laced words, cautiously, sitting down opposite me at the table, dragging the empty coffee cup towards him.

“Hello to you too,” I sat up in the chair, conscious of how scatty I must look.

“How many of these,” his finger tapped the handle of the cup, “have you had today?”

“Four, but one of the girls quit, and I’m picking up her shifts, so I think me looking like death and drinking my weight in coffee is justified.” The corners of my lips forced their way in to a smile. “I’m not young anymore, Warr. It takes me a couple of days to recover from a night out, y’know.”

“You sure that’s all that's going on?” He didn’t buy it, but I knew he wasn’t going to push for more. “You left the other night without so much as a goodbye. Bev said you probably left with some guy she saw you flirting with. You had me worried.”

I could be wrong, but his face screamed disappointment. Something I wasn’t happy with. He had random hook-ups all the time, and I wasn’t calling him out for being a man wh*re. But when he reached over the table for my hand and began circling his thumb over my palm, I lost my ability to argue.

I wasn’t going to go into what happened, especially when I didn’t have a clear picture in my head of what that even was. Besides, I didn’t need to be scolded like a child for getting in to that mess.

“I was way too f*cked up to say bye. I managed to call a taxi and went home alone.”

And just like that, his features softened.

The end of my break was nearing, and I wanted nothing more than to end this slightly uncomfortable conversation we were having. As I motioned to my watch and stood from the table, he stood too. His arms circled my waist and I winced at the light touch against my bruised skin.

“What time do you get off? I’m heading back home tomorrow night, so I was thinking we could get a take-away and chill round yours tonight. Like old times.”