“Did they have tattoos?”Katy asked before Lola could answer Maddie.
“No and yes,” Lola replied, her gaze drifting towards the pizzeria windows.The sun was descending over the New York skyline, signaling the end of her shift.Lola had started an hour earlier than Maddie and Katy, meaning she would leave the restaurant ahead of them.Part of her contemplated staying, aware that those familiar, unseen eyes would likely follow her as she walked.Being alone heightened her sense of vulnerability.However, exhaustion prevailed, and she yearned to return to her apartment.
Do you want to make it there alive, or be the subject of an unsolved mystery documentary on television a year from now?Then again, if the person who’d been following her had not done anything yet, perhaps they had no intention of hurting her.Maybe, like Spiky, they were just interested in her.Normal people, who are simply interested, don’t have unhealthy stalking tendencies,she reminded herself.Dammit, why can’t a normal guy be interested in me?She internally sighed and then answered herself, becauseshewasn’t normal.Why would she ever expect anything normal to happen to her?You don’t want normal, said a small voice in her head.You want adventure and excitement.And apparently, I’m not too worried about becoming some strange person’s obsession.My feet hurt, I miss my mom, and I need to spend some quality time with my cat.Priorities, Lola.
“What’s with the huge tip?”Maddie asked, interrupting Lola’s inner dialogue.
“Lola’s totally a closet porn star,” Katy snickered.
“Laugh it up now,” Lola sang as she headed to clean her emptied tables.“When Kitty Katz is rolling in dough, you two will still be here taking orders.”
“Oh, you’ll be taking orders too,” Maddie said with a wink.“They’ll just be a little kinkier.”
Katy sighed.“I don’t know about that.The trucker I served a mushroom pizza to yesterday had some pretty interesting special orders he wanted me to accommodate.”She frowned as she looked at Lola.“How come you get crazy-hot dudes, but I get crazy-old, trucker dudes?”
Lola shrugged as she wiped down the table.“Crazy is crazy.”
Maddie helped clear another table.“Nope.”She shook her head.“Not true.Crazy and hot is acceptable.Crazy and passable, but with a good personality is also acceptable.But crazy and not in any way lick-able due to lack of looks and personality is unacceptable.”
“Totally,” Katy agreed.
Lola laughed.“You two need help.”The irony of the comment was not lost on her, considering she was the one seeing things that weren’t there.
“You going to wait on us when you get off work?”Maddie tossed the dirty silverware into a gray bin.
“I think I’m going to head home,” she said, having decided.Lola would make sure she kept her taser, aka Taz, out and stayed alert.Besides, there were still many people out on the streets.“I’m exhausted, and my mom is home by herself.Dad has to work late tonight.”
“Give your mom a hug for me,” Maddie told her.
“Me too,” Katy said.“And tell her you guys are almost out of cereal.”
Lola sighed.“You realize she just bought that box a couple of days ago, right?”
“What?”Katy asked innocently.“All I had was one bowl.”
“The popcorn bowl doesn’t count asonebowl, Kat.”
Katy was still attempting to look like she wasn’t guilty of eating half the box in one sitting.“It was the only bowl I could find.”
As she clocked out and hung her apron back in her locker, she called out to Sal, “I’m off, boss.”
“You sure you don’t want to wait on the girls before you head home?”Sal asked.
“No need.”A voice came from beyond the employee door a second before it opened and Antonio stepped through.“I’ll walk her home, Pops.”
Lola’s stomach churned with unease.It had been more than a week since she last laid eyes on Sal’s son, and a small part of her had held onto the hope that he might have forgotten about her.Yet, in light of the peculiar occurrences she had been experiencing, avoiding Antonio would be too good to be true.
“You look great, Kitten.”He grabbed her backpack and swung it over his shoulder.
Antonio had given her the nickname as soon as he’d discovered her last name.Lola despised it.Katy called her the same thing, and it served as a constant reminder of Antonio.The last thing Lola desired was to be associated with the Italian Charmer who had set his sights on marrying her.“Thanks,” she replied, maintaining a neutral tone.She strived to appear disinterested without coming across as unkind.After all, he was her boss’s son, and the last thing she needed was to anger Sal and jeopardize her job.
As she headed out into the main floor, Lola glanced at the counter where Maddie was lining up silverware and wrapping them in napkins.Katy stood directing her as if rolling up silverware was a difficult task and needed to be micromanaged.Both girls looked up at the same time.Katy opened her mouth, but Lola shook her head.Katy’s lips snapped closed, and she glared at the man walking beside Lola.Maddie pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes.No doubt the Psycho Duo would later be talking of all the ways they’d like to take Antonio out.Hopefully, that conversation would happen out of Sal’s earshot.
On the street, the summer air hit Lola in the face and the stink of garbage followed.New York in the winter could be stunning, but in the summer, especially where she lived, was just straight-up gross.Dumpsters filled with trash that sat between buildings sent their powerful stench wafting in all directions after baking in the concrete oven.Even though she got tired of the daily smell of pizza constantly saturating her clothes and hair, it was far better than this.
“You’re quiet this evening,” Antonio said as they walked down the busy street.People hustled quickly past them, always in a hurry, always somewhere else they’d rather be than where they were.“Just tired.I’ve worked ten days straight.”Lola helped her parents out with money, even though they never asked and often told her not to.They both had jobs, but neither had any more education than high school, and they had gotten married young.They’d constantly been trying to recover from the debt they’d incurred when they’d first married.Foolishly accepted the credit card offers in the mail, as if they’d been Christmas gifts instead of nooses designed to squeeze them out of their hard-earned money.The sad thing was, they’d never used the cards to buy extravagant things.They’d used them for groceries during months when the money they made wouldn’t stretch, or for emergencies because there was no health insurance.Her parents hadn’t considered using those cards would just mean another bill added to the ones they already had.
“You shouldn’t work so hard.”Antonio bumped her shoulder in a much too familiar way.“You’re too young to work so much.You should be having fun.Going out to clubs and shopping.”
