5 Late Again

Completely immersed in water, Amanda woke up seeing the sun shining brightly from the upper window of her bathroom. She was resting herself in her bathtub when she opened her eyes.

"Fuck!" She realized by how the sun had gleamed, she was late for work once again. She got up, grabbed a towel, and took a proper shower. Her hands still stunk of the dead.

Getting to her bedroom, she cursed once more, "Fuck! Dammit!"

She saw her bed burned in the center, her favorite blanket now gone with it, and a fire extinguisher was right next to where she often took her slumber. It was her third mattress for nearly a year. She knew she might as well buy a bigger bathtub and make it her bed.

Amanda recalled how she ended up falling on her bed, while still on fire. It was thanks to Abasi, constantly not giving her clear landing.

She frantically got dressed, and while getting her bike up on the road, she called Andrew, asking for an apology. She rarely brought a mobile with her, let alone turn it on, but that day, a phone call was in order.

"Amanda! It's almost lunchtime! You can't always do this!" Yelled Andrew.

"I'm sorry! I'll work the night shifts for free! Huhu! I'm so sorry. I had an emergency at dawn and only slept at five in the morning," she explained.

"What emergency?! You don't have any family here - anyway, just get over here, Amanda. Someone has been waiting for you," said Andrew, trying his best to control his frustration over the unusually busy late morning they had.

How Amanda wished she could fly her way to the restaurant. She could only speed up with the two-wheeled vehicle she had. She never wanted to get a car. She had previously burned two of them four years ago. A bike was a lot more affordable to re-purchase.

She pedaled her way for miles that her face sweat halfway through the route. From a distance, she saw that the Southern Deli had several customers. It was a shock to her. She mumbled, "No wonder he is so mad."

After getting inside the locker area, she promptly got changed and as always, she wore her gloves that covered up to her arms. Entering the service area, Andrew saw her immediately and gave orders, "Take this to Chris's table over there."

"Chris?" She had a question mark on her face, wondering how he was casually calling one of the customers by name.

"Yeah, Chris told me you met the other day when he came by. He brought his entire household, his neighbors, and some of his friends who visited the town," Andrew explained while serving up the french fries on one plate.

Amanda looked at the distant tables and confirmed nearly half of the restaurant was occupied. She saw Christopher staring at her with a smile. She looked away and asked Andrew, "You - you know him?"

Andrew glanced in Christopher's direction before saying, "Yes. We were classmates up until middle-school, then his family left town. Their house up on Mount Rou still remained well kept by housekeepers." He then fixed his eyes on her, saying, "He said, you prayed that he could help bring in more customers and so, here he is."

She pursed her lips, recognizing that it was her doing. Just before bringing the food over, she took the chance to apologize, "Andrew. I'm really sorry, but I always make up for it. I - I really need this job."

Andrew gave a heavy sigh before surrendering to her plea, "Okay, Amanda, just - just try your best not to be late. I'll probably move you to a later shift starting tomorrow. How about starting at eleven in the morning instead?"

She smiled and nodded her head. She thought it was also better since most of her missions happen during the night. She said, "That sounds good to me. Thank you."

With both her hands holding up two plates of sandwiches and fries, she walked towards Christopher's table and greeted them. "Good morning, here is your order. Clubhouse sandwich and the Southern Deli burger."

"You mean good afternoon?" said one of Christopher's colleagues. "It's nearly lunchtime!"

"Amanda, pardon my friend," Christopher said. "Good morning. It's nice to see you again. Let me introduce you to them."

He pointed out to each one saying, "This is Kyle. This is Zack and this my sister, Cassy."

"Hi! It's nice to meet you," said Cassy, while extending her hand to Amanda. "I've heard so much about you. You look really pretty."

She gave a fainted smile and gulped at the thought of holding her hand, but her gloves had a thin layer of carbon fiber by her palms. It was generally safe, so long as she made it quick.

Amanda quickly shook Cassy's hand, but her warmth did not miss Cassy's senses. "Wow, you are warm. Are you feeling okay?"

"Um… I just came from my house, biking under the sun the entire ride… That's - that's probably why," she reasoned without delay.

"Really?" Asked Christopher. He quickly stood up and placed a hand on Amanda's neck.

Amanda was caught off guard. She was about to take a step back, but she was suddenly reminded that Christopher could touch her. Strange enough, he could touch her and not feel the heat of her skin.

"She's she's not warm to me," he said with a frown.

Amanda quickly held away Christopher's hand, saying, "I'm fine. Really. Thank you for your concern."

Before she could leave, Christopher pointed out to the other four tables saying, "Those over there are our caretakers, and those over there are our neighbors. I invited them here to have a welcome party for my return… and also, to make your wish come true. We can have lunch here every time."

Cassy and his friends laughed at his lines, but she merely grinned, saying, "Thanks… that's very nice of you. I'm sure Andrew would appreciate it."

Amanda resumed her work after excusing herself. After an hour, Christopher's party was still inside the restaurant, ordering beer this time around.

Andrew had asked her to take out the trash and so she went to the back. Just as she was about to return, she heard Christopher call out from a distance, "Hey Amanda! Do you have a lighter that I can borrow?"

She doubted what kind of smoker would not bring a lighter? Still, she said, "I'll get it. Wait here."

It took only a minute for her to return. Having rushed back, she did not think properly and just raised her hand to him and lit the lighter.

"Woah! What the fuck!" A small ball of flame appeared in front of Christopher's face, burning the entire stick of cigarette he had earlier held up to his lips.

Amanda's mouth fell open, looking at the completely ashed cigarette on the ground. She scolded herself, 'Stupid Amanda!'

"Oh, my god. I'm so sorry. I brought the wrong lighter - this is the one we used to give steaks a little caramelized color," she reasoned with all her might.

Pointing out to the small lighter in her hand, he said, "That?! That little thing?"

"Excuse me. I have to go back to work." She nodded before leaving him behind.