Cold Brew and Bullets (Part 1 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 2- Worse for Wear

I refilled the glasses for the table and apologized for the wait, but when I made it back to the kitchen to grab the orders that were up, it didn't take an expert to notice that my hands were shaking. I kept up with my work, hoping that it would all wear off with time, but it was almost getting worse. Once most of the dinner rush was over and all of my tables were taken care of for the moment, I stepped into the stock room and closed the door. I rubbed my hands up and down my arms, trying to get rid of the goosebumps and shivers. "Stop being ridiculous, Eliana. There is absolutely no reason to think that you'll ever run into them again, and even if you did, nothing would happen."

The door swung open and and I let out a little yelp as I jumped. Ezrah stuck his head inside, "Are you alright? I was looking for you, one of our regulars mentioned that you weren't looking too well and they wanted to make sure you were doing fine."

"No, I mean, yeah. I'm good." When I caught his disbelieving expression I sighed, "I thought I saw someone."

Ezrah knew that I was in a messy situation when we met, and he knew that he was getting me out of trouble. Even if he knew that much, he definitely didn't know any of the people, but he knew some of them made me very nervous. "That's the second time in the last month that you've had this happen. I think you need to take a couple of days off and relax. Take a vacation or something."

"First of all, I'm broke. Second of all, where would I go? Third of all, if I was to just stay home and relax, I would feel guilty for not working while there's nothing better to be done."

"At least take the night off. Go get some real sleep, if you can't even do that then you could catch up on some homework."

"Ezrah, I'm in the middle of a shift."

"It's a slow night, we've got an extra person on the floor, and I can cover your tables for you."

"I can't-"

"Yes, you can. As your boss, I'm momentarily firing you. Just for the night."

He and I had a stare down, but for once I wasn't in the fighting mood. Normally I would call him out and say that he was the one who needed to go home and get some rest so that he could regain his full health, but this time I didn't have the energy or will.

"Alright, I'll check on my tables one last time and then I'll clock out."

His shocked expression at having me agree willingly made it obvious that I didn't concede very often. "Thank you."

I nodded stiffly and left the room, trying to keep a cool head as I ran past my tables, then stripped my apron off for the walk home. It was windy and slightly foggy as the dark pressed around me and the streets felt more ominous than usual. Maybe it was because I had spooked myself earlier, or maybe it was my almost unnatural ability to understand when something out of the ordinary was going to happen soon, but I hurried home much faster than usual to escape the feelings of fear.

Once I was back in my ratty apartment, I locked the door behind myself, wishing that it didn't seem so loose and the lock didn't feel so weak. Honestly, there wasn't much to rob if someone did knock down the door- almost everything I owned was second hand, scavenged from resale shops and curbsides. It was a small studio styled thing, I didn't have friends my age really or company, so it wasn't like I needed a living room or all of the fixings. A mattress from Ezrah's old house was on the floor in the corner, he had it leftover from when his wife left him and he downsized without a guest room any more. Now it was laying in the corner pitifully with my threadbare sheets and a blanket that didn't really do enough to keep me warm this time of year.

Knowing I would be cold no matter what, I grabbed an old sweatshirt, fuzzy socks, and thermal leggings. For the walk to my apartment from the shop the next day, I would need to wear tights under my skirts for the rest of the winter. I curled up on my pathetic excuse for a couch and tightened my grip on my warmest blanket.