Staring at the Stars

I've always felt comforted staring up at the night sky, looking at the endless number of stars. It reminds me how vast the universe is, and how small this world is in comparison. a meer pebble in a huge lake. How truly small and insignificant we are, nothing really matters. Of course, the sky in the city is much less magical than the sky out in the desert. Here, there are only a few stubborn stars that reveal themselves through the smog and reflective lights of the night life. I still choose to attempt to look up at them as I take my all too short break, finishing up my cigarette before I get called back to the hellscape that is my current job for the month. Eddie's diner is like every stereotypical dump open 24 hours to serve greasy food to the equally stereotypical drunk patrons that stumble in as the bars and low quality clubs around the area close. The owner, who is NOT named Eddie but infact Carl, is the exact kind of person you would expect to run the place. Grossly overweight, balding, greasy man who has a particular love for stained old wife-beater tops loves to hire young, broke females like me and tries his hardest to get the uniforms as close to Hooters quality as one could without being sued. The huge metal door banged open smashing against the crumbling brick. "Jesus Christ Iris, your break was up 5 minutes ago! Get in here and get those coffees refilled, I'm not paying you to sit out here and chain smoke all night!" he gruffly yelled at me, sweat trickling down the sides of his face like the meer effort of talking caused his body great effort. "Chill out Carl, you'll give yourself a heart attack" I roll my eyes at him as I respond by slowly walking in to the thick heat of the kitchen. I'm half way through this shift and my brunette curly hair is already falling out of my ponytail and sticking to the back of my neck. It'll be frizz city by the end of the night from the sheer humidity of the kitchen. I walk through the swinging door into the dining area of the diner behind the bar, grabbing the hours old pot of coffee on my way to fill the mugs of those in various states of sobering up. I've only been working here for a few weeks but slowly noticing who would be categorized as regulars. One of which of course had to be the sleezy middle-age man who went by Bill. He had set his eyes on me early on, making sure to always wink and not so subtly hit on me each chance he got. Tonight was no different. "Hey there sweetheart, how you doin' tonight? You finally gonna let me buy you breakfast?" He smiles at me with his yellowed teeth from years of drinking straight black coffee. "For such a successful business man Bill, you sure hang out here pretty late, or early depending on how you view.. 3 O'clock in the morning?" I raise an eyebrow toward the worn clock on the wall behind me. He gives a chuckle that makes me roll my eyes yet again as I walk away from him, mentally noting to myself it's about time I look in the classifieds for a new job ASAP. I catch a glance at myself in the reflection of the large window, hair a mess, skin covered in what I could only describe as a film of sweat and grease just walking around here, despite the dark circles under my eyes from still not adjusting my sleep to this schedule my green eyes still held a brightness against my olive toned skin. I was told they were the same as my mother's eyes but I was too young when she was around to really know myself. Maybe I could be pretty, if I'd put some effort into myself. If it meant getting more fans like Bill, I'd prefer to remain invisible. After an hour and a half of serving more coffee and questionable food I was able to let out a sigh of relief when Cherry, the morning shift waitress walked in. Bright and cheery Cherry with her blonde hair pulled up in a perfect messy bun, tight white T shirt clean and cut low guaranteeing her breasts would encourage larger tips and her bright red Apron stain free. I constantly wonder if I'm the only accident prone waitress or if she just has a ridiculous amount of the uniform to look brand new each morning. I quickly undo my own now ketchup and coffee stained apron as I walk up "I've never been more happy to see you. Good luck, oh and that homeless guy is back and sleeping in the corner booth again." "Oh Damn it Iris, I thought Carl told you to kick him out the next time he walked in?" she wrinkled her nose up as if she could smell him over the various strong aromas coming from the kitchen. I shrug, "He had the dollar fifty for a cup of coffee, who am I to turn away a paying customer. Anyway its been cold as hell outside, he isn't hurting anyone". She scoffed at me in response but I was already heading out the door to see whether or not she was going to approach him. The winter air hit me so suddenly, instantly cooling me down and making me quickly hug my jacket to me as I started to speed walk towards my apartment just down the street. I don't know if I was too tired from working all night or just too distracted by the cold but I somehow completely missed the fact that there was someone standing right in the middle of the sidewalk till I walked full force into the back of a very solid man causing me to fall hard right on my ass.