Twisted Valentine

Lure

✽ Mandy ✽

When I stepped into Clover & Steel, the bell chimed, and I saw Jason at the dish station, sleeves rolled, stacking plates like he had always belonged there. Three weeks in, and I was still catching myself looking for him. Rosa leaned over the counter.

“You are early,” she said with a sickly sweet tone of voice.

“Don’t start,” I warned as I put on my apron around my waist. Rosa grinned in response.

“I am not starting. I am observing,”

“If you two are done, I need lemons!” Ben’s voice boomed from the kitchen. Rosa grabbed a knife with a dramatic sigh.

“Yes, sir,” she replied loudly. The first hour of my shift was pretty quiet. A few regulars. A youngish couple sharing a plate of fries. A family with two kids. I poured coffee, placed orders, and smiled. And yet, as always, I couldn’t stop myself from checking Jason every time I could. He had been quiet, helpful, and distant. Harmless. And consistent. Then, just after six, the bell chimed again, and cold air rushed in. A man I recognized walked in. He wore a dark coat, and his shoes were clean. Too clean. He looked around the diner as if he was measuring it. Then he stopped, and his gaze landed on Jason. I couldn’t help but look at him, too, and I was surprised. Jason had frozen, his hand hung over a stack of plates, and his entire body had tensed up. I watched as he seemed to shake himself out of it, and while his movements were slow, almost jerky, he ignored the man. The man slid into the back booth, and I forced myself to approach him.

“Evening,” I said. He smiled politely.

“Evening,”

“Coffee?” I asked.

“Black,” he said, but his gaze wasn’t on me. I got him his coffee quickly. When I returned, he looked at me. “You work here often?” he asked.

“Yes,”

“And the new guy?” he asked, like it was a normal question. My pulse kicked up a notch because it wasn’t a normal question.

“What about him?”

“The one clearing plates,” he said. “What is his name?” I hesitated, but I forced a smile.

“Jason,” I said. His smile sharpened.

“Jason,” he repeated softly, and I shuddered. I took a step back.

“Is there anything else I can get for you?” I asked.

“No,”

“Good…ok, I will check on you later,” I said before I hurried away from him. Behind the counter, Rosa grabbed my elbow.

“What did he want?”

“Jason,” I whispered.

“Jason?” Ben repeated with a frown. “Why?”

“I don’t know…” I answered. I watched as Jason moved to the far end of the diner and started wiping a table that was already clean. His face was blank, but his jaw looked tight. A few minutes later, Miss Suzy Clover appeared from the back hallway. She wasn’t in her coat, which meant she wasn’t leaving. She spotted the man in the back and headed straight toward him. I didn’t exactly follow her, but I moved close enough that I could overhear their conversation.

“Mr. Rook,” she said, her tone cold. But the man, Mr. Rook, smiled up at her.

“Miss Clover,”

“What are you doing in my diner?” she asked.

“Having coffee,” he replied.

“You are here for trouble,” she said. He leaned back, relaxed.

“I am here for him,” he stated, and I shivered.

“Not in my diner. Not on my watch,” she spat out. “Get out,”

“Fine,” he said as he got to his feet. He pulled out a few bills and tossed them on the table before he walked out. I breathed out a sigh of relief, and when Suzy turned around, she saw me.

“Mandy, if that man ever comes back in here, you chase him away. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I immediately answered. She nodded before she went over to Rosa for a cup of coffee. I joined them, and Suzy looked tired.

“I repeat…if anyone asks you about staff, you say nothing,” she said. “If anyone presses, you come to me. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I replied, and Rosa nodded. Her gaze stayed hard.

“Do not feed gossip,” she added. I wanted to ask who Mr. Rook was. I wanted to ask why he was so interested in Jason, but her expression warned me not to try. Coffee in hand, she turned away and walked back down the hall. Rosa approached Jason. It was such a bold move, but I tagged along anyway.

“So,” she said to him. “Do you always attract weird men, or is this new?” Jason didn’t look at her.

“Do you need help with tables?” he asked.

“That is not an answer,” Rosa said.

“I am answering what matters,” he replied, polite and flat. Rosa rolled her eyes and walked off. I waited for a moment, and then he glanced at me.

“Are you ok?” I asked softly. His eyes bored into mine, steady and unreadable.

“I am fine,” he said. Then his gaze dropped to my name tag before he moved on. Later, when the night dragged toward closing, I caught him rubbing his wrist once, quick and hidden. When he noticed me watching, his hand dropped, and his face went blank again. I left with my tips in my pocket and my thoughts too loud. I tried to tell myself it was nothing. A stranger who had asked one too many questions. Miss Suzy handled it. Jason kept working. That was all. Still, as I walked home, I kept thinking about the night I saw Jason slip into my building. I kept thinking about how Mr. Rook looked at him like he already knew every door Jason might hide behind. At my building, the front door was not fully latched. It sat a fraction open. I pushed it closed and climbed the stairs with my keys clenched in my fist. The second I stepped inside my apartment, I froze. Nothing was broken. Nothing was missing. But my chair was angled wrong, like someone had moved it. My class notebook was on the table, open to my laminated dough notes. I knew I had closed it before I had left for my shift. I stood very still, then checked the window latch with shaking fingers. Everything looked normal. Everything was locked up the way it should be. I shook my head.

“Paranoid,” I muttered to myself. I probably hadn’t closed the notebook, and I might have bumped the chair. I told myself to relax, that it was just the events of the evening that had spooked me. Right?

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