Twisted Valentine

Tethered

✽ Mandy ✽

A week had passed since Jason started working at Clover & Steel, and nothing terrible had happened. No sudden appearances outside my door. No eerie moments in the alley behind my building. Just shifts, plates, coffee refills, and the steady rhythm of the diner doing what it always did. I kept telling myself I had been paranoid. Blackthorne City did that to people. It made you suspicious of silence. It made you read meaning into every pause. I had been tired, stressed about school, and embarrassed about missing classes. I had let my mind run ahead of reality. Tonight, the diner was quiet enough that even Ben was relaxed. The neon sign washed the windows. The booths were mostly empty. A single couple shared fries near the front, and an older man sat with a bowl of soup, staring at a game show on the television. Rosa leaned on the counter, twirling a straw wrapper between her fingers.

“If one more person orders water and then asks for lemon, I will start charging extra with my eyes,” she said. Ben chuckled from the kitchen doorway.

“You already do that,” he remarked, and Rosa scoffed.

“I do not,” she lied, then glanced at me. “Mandy, tell him I am sweet,”

“You are sweet,” I said. “Like vinegar,” Rosa gasped dramatically and pressed a hand to her chest.

“Betrayal,” she shot back, and I smiled. Evan was off tonight, which meant the server station belonged to us. We talked about small things. Rosa complained about her neighbor’s music. Ben told us he had tried a new marinade, and it had nearly ruined a batch of chicken. I shared a quick update about my pastry class, leaving out the parts that still made me cringe. Through it all, Jason moved in the background, wiping tables and stacking clean mugs. He did his work neatly, almost quietly, like he was trying not to be noticed. He didn’t hover near us, but he was close enough that I could see him whenever I turned my head. When I carried a tray of empty plates toward the dish station, it tilted as I adjusted my grip. Jason appeared beside me like he had been there all along. He took two plates off the top, steadying the stack, and set them in the tub without a word. His touch didn’t brush mine. He didn’t look at my face. He simply helped, then moved away.

“Thanks,” I said anyway. He gave a small nod and kept walking. Rosa noticed everything, and she leaned forward eagerly. I caught the mischief in her eyes, and I groaned softly.

“Hey, Jason!” she called out. He paused near the pie case and looked over. My heart jumped, and I hated that it did. Rosa hooked her thumb toward the counter. “Come sit for a second. It is dead in here,” Jason hesitated, but then walked over like he was doing us a favor. He leaned against the customer side of the counter instead of taking a stool. His face looked calm, but his eyes looked tired, the kind of tired that didn’t come from long shifts. He looked almost bored, like the room and all of us were a mild inconvenience. Ben wiped his hands on his towel and joined us, resting his elbow on the counter.

“You settling in?” he asked.

“I am here,” Jason replied. Rosa grinned like she had been waiting all week for this opening.

“Okay, since you are here, I am going to ask what everyone is thinking,” she said, and Jason lifted his gaze.

“Are you?”

“Yes,” Rosa said cheerfully. “I am brave!” I pretended to check the sugar packets, but I listened. “Well, what’s your story, Jason?”

“You have to be more specific, Rosa,” Jason replied.

“I mean…where are you from?” she asked.

“Earth,” he said, and Ben snickered.

“Hmm, ok…where did you go to school?”

“The city,” he replied, and Rosa huffed.

“Why can’t you just answer the question?”

“I did,”

“Well, yeah, but why can’t you answer the question with some detail?” Rosa crossed her arms across her chest as she eyed Jason. I held my breath as I waited to hear what he would say.

“I’m from Blackthorne City. I went to Blackthorne Academy, and now I’m here. Just looking for a job to pass the time and to gain some experience,” he said, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with his answer. In truth, he had answered Rosa before like he was handing out coins. One at a time, with no extra shine. It wasn’t that he was rude. It was just strange. Almost as if the conversation was a bore to him. Or maybe he just didn’t like to talk about himself.

“Blackthorne Academy, huh?” Ben remarked softly. “That is a serious place,”

“It’s a school,” Jason said, almost dismissively.

“Right, and what about your family?” Rosa asked.

“What about them?”

“Well, tell us about them?”

“Why?” he asked her. Rosa shrugged as she shot me a quick glance. She was definitely pushing her luck. Clearly, Jason didn’t like talking about himself.

“I’m merely curious,”

“Fine. I have a mother and a father, and I am an only child,” he answered. It was factual without emotion. Rosa nodded and turned her attention to the menus she had been wiping down earlier. Even Ben walked away. Jason didn’t hover either. He went back to work without looking at me. It should have annoyed me. The fact that I wasn’t on his radar. But it didn’t. It made me feel better. Safer. Like I wasn’t a part of his attention at all.

“He is a d**k,” Rosa whispered, and I sighed softly.

“Or he is just private,” I said. “He does his job, and that’s that…”

“He doesn’t have to be so…cold, though,” she argued. Rosa had a point, but I just didn’t think it mattered. Jason was here, just like the rest of us, to do a job. We didn’t have to be friends, and maybe Jason just didn’t care. “He is a bit weird,” Rosa then remarked, and I sighed as I glanced around to make sure Jason wasn’t within hearing distance. I spotted him on the other side of the diner, wiping down a table.

“Why? Is it because he doesn’t flirt with you?” Rosa’s eyes went wide, and then she laughed.

“Maybe,”

“Right,” I said with a wink. Rosa was really pretty, and a lot of men flirted with her to get her number. Jason hadn’t done that. Not once. It just wasn’t our business. I got back to work and thought about the little bit of information Jason had shared. It wasn’t much. It was actually nothing. And despite my own curiosity, I just felt so much better. There was no reason for me to be paranoid. Right?

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