3. Settling In
993 Words
Mary hired me. It turned out that the car needed a lot more that Mack originally though of, so he sat with me next afternoon and spoke very seriously about prices, damages and alternatives. The car was really broken and it required much more than I had to replace it. Mack thought it was a miracle it had run as far as it had. To me, it was the results of the prayers to all the gods to all known pantheons, but it seemed either I had run out of luck, or they stopped listening to me because the reparation took all I had and even more.
So, I found myself stranded in Paradise Mountains, with no money, no car but a job at hands and a roof over my head. Which was much more than I had anticipated some months before.
Sleeping was complicated for me. I couldn’t sleep more than two, maybe three hours at the most, without having nightmares of my past life. I had escaped Thomas’s clutches, but at night, when I was trying to sleep, he found me again and hurt me all over. I had marks in my body that no one knew of, and I would hide them to my dying day. No one would see the marks on pathetic little Nadine.
If sleeping was complicated, during the day it was by far easier. News that Mary had hired a new cook had spread throughout the little town, so we had more clients that ever. Either for breakfast or lunch, the diner was always full. Mary had a teenager helper during lunch, but since she really didn’t serve dinners, at night it would be only her. She dismissed me on the first day when lunch hour was over, saying that she would take care of the rest. And so I had the rest of the day off.
I started wandering around, getting to know the small town. They had no movie theaters, but had the most adorable little shops that lived for the tourist season only. They had a charm and a delight within themselves that cradled in my heart in a way no other city had ever.
They also had a few bars, but of those I chose to keep my distance. It was in an overly crowded place that I could hear Thomas’s voice all the clearer and I feared I would give myself away.
So, most of the times, I just went up to my room when I finished work.
Mary was a smart woman. The first few days, she left me wondering of my own. One day, however, when I had had a particularly bad night, she poured me some coffee and said casually:
"Usually, when someone has bags under their eyes like yours, it either means a man or a baby in our life."
I coughed up my coffee, and she raised an eyebrow, all the while pouring herself some coffee.
"Which one was is it?"
"I have no baby..."
I answered between coughs and she threw me an amused smile, while patting my back:
"That leaves option number one. As anyone caught your eye?"
I thought of Thomas and I felt shivers down my spine. Never again would I fall heads over heels for no man.
"Jesus, no."
Mary looked at me with eyes that seemed older and wiser than her age. She patted my hand while pouring me some more coffee and said casually:
"Do you know that in Winter we sometimes get cut off from the outside world? Snow blocks the ways and no one enters or leaves the town. Two more months and Summer will be a distant memory. This place is good for healing, y’a know?"
"Speaking from experience?"
That was harsh... My question came out of nowhere and I blinked when I saw pain enter her eyes. Mary was a beautiful woman, but she had some hurt hidden at her heart. Hurt that seemed to be somewhat healed but not entirely.
"Hush, child. Time to get to work."
I finished my coffee and I went to the kitchen. I had already hidden my brown hair behind a cook’s cap. Thomas used to say that my hair was my greatest richest. Luxuriant, full of life, long brown hair. In another life, I would have agreed to it. Of course, that was before he used to drag me around by it. Since he liked him long, I had just cut it below my shoulders. Less chance anyone could yank it out of my head in a mad frenzy. My eyes used to change colour when light changed. They could go from grey to brown depending of the quantity of light inciting in them. More often than not, I had found them black due to Thomas’s fists. They seemed to had rested in the hazel side of the rainbow, lately, but since they weren’t black, who cared?
I also used to have some curves, but since I fled, clothes had become larger and I knew I had lost some weight. Mary seemed to think I was too thin, but she didn’t make any questions. I was coming to the conclusion that she was the true control behind Mack’s, Herbies’ and everyone’s curiosity. Because in small towns, where everyone knows everyone, people talk. A lot. And I was still fresh news.
Being in the kitchen, I hadn’t made a lot of connections with the townies, although some had wanted to meet me. I found it weird in the beginning, but then I got used to. Some were just old ones satisfying their curiosity, others were younger ones – guess what? Satisfying their curiosity. It seemed my staying at Mary’s inn was the talk of the town lately so everyone found their way to the diner one time or another.
It was in one of those days that I met Alexander. It was also when I had one monstrous panick attack.
- Writer
