Visionary and the Vampire Tracker

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Another day, another shift at Joe’s. I was bustling through my shift when Conrad caught my eye. Table 24. Again. He was really staking his claim. And just as my luck would have it, it was in my section.

I walked over cautiously. This was the first time I was seeing him since he told me everything. Since he saved my life the night before and then ruined it the next morning.

He looked up immediately, staring longingly into my eyes. I looked away quickly, his eyes were definitely my kryptonite and I couldn’t buy into the hope that he liked me. I was his burden, his job, his asset. I wasn’t anything more.

“Hi,” I whispered out.

“Hi,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

“Better than yesterday, I think,” I said.

He nodded understandably.

“Coffee please,” was all he said before I scampered away from his table. I knew what he was doing back here. He needed to keep me safe. But I hated that he had to come into the diner each time. It would be easier to hate him if he and his green eyes stayed away. It would be easier to forget he existed and how he made me feel.

I walked back over with his coffee in tow. I set it down before him before I asked, “Anything else?”

My eyes were looking down, I didn’t want to be trapped in his orbs again.

“Uh no,” he said, “I think this is it.”

I knew what that meant. He was going to stay for the rest of my shift, or close to it, but coffee was all he was having. Well, if he wanted to stay, that was fine, but he would get the cheque now. I wanted to get it over with. I handed him the cheque seamlessly as I moved to check on my other tables.

When I finally came back to him, the cheque was at the edge of his table, along with cash. I scooped it up wordlessly as I went back to the coffee station. Another 100 dollar tip. I marched over, annoyed and said, “You can’t keep tipping me like this, especially if you’re gonna be coming in each and everyday.”

“Why not?”

“Because…just because. What? Does your leader have unlimited funds to spend on Visionaries?” I spat out.

“This is all my money, Zoey,” he said, looking all innocent.

I huffed away from the table. It annoyed me, I can’t say why, but it did. The tip was a reminder to me that I was being kept happy by him and his people. It was also a stabbing reminder that what I feltfor Conrad was one-sided.