I was in a state of serenity, as the car ride felt similar to an isolated commute. Down to the hushed sounds of the engine, the buzzing of the passing traffic lights and the flickering of his indicator when he turned a corner were amplified as the silence was so deafening you could hear a pin drop. Something about his car felt familiar but that could not be as I had not been in here before. I brushed it off and went back to my repose.

  There were moments where I caught him in the act of admiring my likeness. I didn't feel the need to point out his behavior. It would have been like the pot calling the kettle black because I was guilty of doing the same. Though time felt somewhat delayed because of our tranquility, we eventually pulled up to the company that paid me for my labour. A place with a manager who expected us to do life-changing things with the little resources we were given. Safe to say I gave the level of effort that $7.25 per hour buys.

  Exiting Peter's car felt like it was outside my tax bracket. I wanted to belong to him. To tell him that confession, like he was a priest in a reconciliation room but I wasn't able to then, and I'm not now. I closed his door behind me and thanked him for the ride. I walked away and pretended as if I didn't want to look back when he drove off, like they do in movies when the person leaving for the airport finally goes through the security checkpoint gate.

  "Why is the hottie eye-balling you and did you just leave his car?"

  "Wait, is that the guy from yesterday?" Alicia bombarded me with questions as she arrived the same time as me for our night shift.

  "You know you'd think good afternoon would be the first thing you'd greet me with on this pleasant day!" I snarked.

  "Oh I'm sorry, good afternoon, now did you fuck him?" Alicia never shied away from her cheekiness.

  "How are we friends?" We both burst out laughing as I said it. We were polar opposites: she was a rebel, and I was a book nerd who carried a novel everywhere I went, writing down my life as if it were a movie. My life included him even though he didn't know it yet. I would write about him. Every little moment and interaction we had together it was jotted down in the back of my notes somewhere. It gave rise to my imagination and I was all for it.

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  This place felt like just entering drained your energy but we both clocked in despite that fact. The dull hums from the lights and constant chatter from my other co-workers about how we're overworked but yet they would still conform to the system by finishing their tasks, made the time drag on like a dog scooting its behind after making a mess. The familiar presence of Alicia, someone who found the humor in the chaos, made being in this place more manageable.

  With each minute dragging slower than the last, it finally came to the point of the day where we had to lock our doors. Closing 8, just to be there after 9 felt ridiculous but we did it anyways because even if that extra hour was unfair and over our scheduled time, in a way it was a sacrifice now, for the sake of our financial freedom later. What really tested my sanity was having to turn a place upside down and breaking a sweat in the process; just for the morning staff to take a photo of a crumb you missed on the countertop or a footprint they dragged in themselves; that they would pin on you and post on the chat just because they fed off of the drama. If there was a crown for it, Bethany would be the queen to that throne.

  Relief came to me in waves when we eventually finished our tasks and locked the doors behind us. I felt like a PC computer being shut down after too much screen time. The candle in me had burned for far too long. The only downside was public transportation at this time of night. Usually, Alicia and I would travel together to run the risk of being kidnapped but her boyfriend, Julio Dominic, picked her up that night. We lived in opposite directions so they offered me a ride to the bus station and I accepted.

  After being dropped off, I watched hysterically as she frantically waved me goodbye like she wasn't going to see me the next day. I sat a few inches next to a dark skin man holding a blunt that was clearly on its last legs. Right beside him was a lady standing a great distance away from us. Anyone with eyes could have seen she was a germaphobe that was clearly out of her element. The time that the bus usually arrived had passed. A few minutes later, blasted over the intercom, was the raspy voice of a woman that sounded like she had smoked a pack a day throughout her adolescence as she announced,

  "Time of arrival, 30 minutes for Bus 4 going East, we are truly sorry for the delay!"

  The engine of a motorbike bouncing off the pavement captured the attention of everyone in the station. The growling sound increasing with the slightest press of the biker's pedal created a vibration that announced its power and speed. I didn't recognize who it was at first mainly because it was an unfamiliar bike but it pulled up right beside me, revealing Peter to be the owner of yet another dreadful vehicle. I didn't have to wait for him to take off his helmet as I knew his build. With his helmet now balancing on his upper left thigh and his right hand on the handlebars, he fixed his gaze on me and uttered the words in a soft undertone,

  "I can't seem to escape you "