'Three's a Crowd'
[Rin]
The bathroom mirror looked like shite. Perhaps it was just the person standing inside it. I pressed a pill bottle to my cheek, still cold from the medicine cabinet, exhaling slowly through my nose in a way only someone with a hangover would.
One little white pill, then another. The aftertaste lingered on my tongue moments after, chalky and bitter, a reminder of everything I was trying to forget.
Routine.
Resignation.
Resentment.
Take your pick.
I splashed cold water on my face, waking me up, then rubbed it with my palms like I was trying to scrub the static out of my brain.
It didn't help. It never does. I tried anyway.
[Phone vibrates]
The buzz took me out of my little bubble of melancholy. I grabbed my phone off the counter, expecting a weather alert or spam or something else completely trivial.
Haruka.
Day's off to a great start, I see.
"Fffh..." I inhaled through clenched teeth, thumbing the answer button with the resigned energy of a cat being dropped into a bathtub. "Heyyyy, boss... sorry if I'm running late at the moment."
Her voice came through smooth and syrupy, like honey over poisoned ice cream.
"Heyya, hun! So like, listen, Molly just called in sick a few minutes ago and I need you to cover for her for the night with me. Would that be alright?"
Ah, right.
Molly.
I bit back the groan, but it slipped and came out anyway. "Again...?" I sighed. "Don't you have other employees you can call?"
"Oh, c'mon, you and Molly are kind of my pride and joy in the café," she said. "I trust you both more than I even trust myself~ Please? I do believe you owe Molly a solid too~"
"Fine," I muttered, defeated, already feeling the velvet noose of obligation tightening around my neck. "I'll do it. Not like I've got anything better planned for tonight anyway." Except perhaps wallow in self-pity.
"Great! I mean, hey! If it's compensation you want, I'll be sure to throw a gift your way, 'mkay?"
I glanced at the time: 8:01 AM. My day hadn't even started yet and I'm already wanting to fast-forward to unconsciousness.
"Sure, sure," I replied dryly. "Long as it isn't you trying to squeeze me into some bondage gear again, I'll take it~"
She laughed. That laugh. Too cheerful. Too practiced. Probably does it in the bathroom like I do. "Great to hear. Love ya! See ya!"
[End Call]
The silence afterward was deafening. I let my phone hang limply in my hand, staring down at the sink in front like it had answers.
Come to think of it, Haruka hadn't pulled anything overt in a while--no wandering hands, no loaded stares, no sudden closeness in the employee's room. I told myself it was because she'd finally moved on. Found a new girl-toy to play with.
Molly, probably. I've seen the way Haruka would leer at her.
And honestly? Good. Let them have each other. And knowing Haruka, let the weird predator-prey thing they've probably got going on implode in peace, too. Maybe if I stayed boring enough, quiet enough, she'd stop looking at me like I was a piece of eclair she was dying to devour.
I tossed my phone into my purse, then wiped the fog off the mirror, avoiding the gaze of my own eyes. "Let's just get this over with," I muttered to no one, then left my apartment.
Day shift ended. I dragged my ass back home through the late afternoon haze, promptly collapsing into bed once I got back. Head was still cloudy, partially from last night's vodka and partially from my meds trying to duct-tape my brain back together.
I lay there, face buried in a pillow, groaning softly from exhaustion. Silence blanketed the room. No TV. No phone noise. Just the low, quiet hum of the ceiling fan, and the occasional car rolling by outside. The silence had a weight to it--like it was pressing down on my spine.
Then a thought slipped in.
Molly
.
The kind of thought you don't invite in, but one that kicks the door down anyway.
I sighed, rolled over, and grabbed my phone off the nightstand. The screen lit up. It stung my eyes.
Rin:
Hey, Molly
Rin:
You okay? Haruka told me about you earlier.
Sent. Then I just stared at the screen. Blankly. Watched the message sit there, unread, the dots never dancing. The screen dimmed, then went black again. I didn't try waking it back up.
Minutes passed--or perhaps more. I wasn't really present enough to care. I must've drifted off, just barely, because the buzz from my phone jolted me awake like I had been caught dreaming.
Three new messages.
Molly:
dw abt it
Molly:
just show up for night shift
Molly:
thanks in advance
I blinked at them. Read them again. Then once more for good measure.
Three messages. Cold. Dismissive. None of the usual flair Molly had whenever we'd chat. Maybe she really was sick.
Or maybe something was off.
I stared until the words blurred, then locked my phone without typing a single thing back.
"You're welcome, I guess," I whispered to myself. Couldn't bother typing it out.
I peeled myself off the bed, then shuffled to the bathroom. I tried to fix myself up enough to look alive, tossed on a hoodie and shorts didn't smell too awful over a shirt, scraped a comb through my hair and called it good enough.
Outside, the sky had started to turn a shade of azure. Streetlights were flickering on, headlights began littering the roads. Somewhere in the distance, a siren wailed, then faded.
I zipped up, slid my phone into my pocket, and stepped out into the night.
The café was waiting.
I arrived at the place... and stopped in my tracks.
It was closed.
"What?"
The front lights were still on--dim, humming softly like always--but there were no signs of life inside. No sounds. No shadows behind the dark windows. No Haruka being annoyingly chipper about me being late. Only stillness.
I frowned and checked the time on my phone.
8:57 PM. Three minutes before my night shift was supposed to start.
This doesn't make sense.
I rubbed my eyes, then pressed my fingers against the bridge of my nose with an exhausted groan. Was this payback for screwing up that guy's order the other day? That latte with the heart-shaped foam that came out looking more like a pair of testicles?
Before I could spiral deeper into conspiracy theories, I heard footsteps.