Two weeks had passed since the boys came home and AJ was thoroughly enjoying his life of doing absolutely nothing. They had such jam packed schedules when they were on tour that he’d learned to appreciate his down time. It was so rare that no one needed anything from him and he wasn’t going to waste these moments.
After sleeping late into the afternoon, he called his mother to see if she wanted to grab dinner. He missed seeing his family, especially his mother, when he was out on the road. They didn’t get to see each other as much as when he was growing up so he tried to see her whenever they were home.
They made plans to go to his favorite diner. It was an out of the way place located near a small beach and was frequented by the locals; most tourists would drive by it without even realizing that it was there. The food was terrific and AJ always flirted with the older waitress who seemed to be the only employee other than the owner and chef. She’d laugh and tease him back but she always knew what his favorites were.
“Hey sweetie.” AJ joked as he sat down. “You didn’t go and get married while I was gone did you?”
Marjorie laughed and got him a soda. “I’m old enough to be your mother young man.”
“Nah, you don’t look a day over twenty.” he replied. “Besides, I’ve always had a thing for older women.”
She swatted him with her towel and made her way back to the kitchen. His mother arrived as Marjorie was setting out menus and they said hello. Denise was used to coming here and she always liked the waitress.
“Hi honey.” Denise said as she leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek. “How are you?”
“Exhausted. I couldn’t wait for this break.”
“I bet. Sometimes I think you guys work yourselves too hard. You need to relax and be able to enjoy life.”
“I do enjoy life Ma, just at a faster pace!”
Marjorie returned with iced tea for Denise and offered to take their orders. She told them that she was training a new waitress and was going to be bringing her around.
“It’s nice to see you finally got some help.” Denise responded. “How’s she doing so far?”
“Ok. She’s so quiet but she does the job.”
As the older woman vanished into the kitchen area, AJ noticed a young woman filling some of the salt and pepper shakers at the counter. She had jet black hair, cut in a pixie style which made her look similar to Kiera Knightley. Her face had a hard quality to it and AJ guessed that made her look older than she really was. He watched her for a few more minutes before she disappeared into the back.
Denise followed her son’s gaze and was able to catch a glimpse of the girl before she vanished.
“That must be the new girl.”
“Yeah.” AJ answered distracted.
“She’s pretty.”
“Uh-huh.” He was completely focused on the door, waiting for the woman to come back out.
“The diner is on fire.”
“Ok.”
Denise laughed. “That girl really caught your eye.”
“Huh?” AJ asked, finally snapping out of it.
“The new girl, she seems to have you captivated.”
“No, I just thought I recognized her from somewhere.” AJ deflected the question quickly.
“Well if she’s helping Marjorie, then we’ll get a chance to meet her.” Denise replied.
Although AJ wouldn’t admit it to his mother, he was hoping that she would be bringing the food out to them. He wanted to get a better look at her; a few minutes later, he got his wish.
The younger woman brought the food to their table and AJ was surprised when she looked at him with shock. He stared into her deep chocolate brown eyes and could swear that he’d seen her before. She didn’t say much as she handed them their plates and asked them quickly if they needed anything else; she dashed off when they said no.
“That’s so weird.” AJ said to his mother. “She looked panic stricken when she saw me.”
“I don’t think it was panic sweetie, I just think she recognized you.”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Denise said as she squeezed ketchup onto her plate. “Eat your burger before it gets cold.”
Fault Lines by Kyrie
