ChickLit                        ... ChickLit WKLYPrompt ... Prompt #16 ... Picture Prompt  (see above pic) ... (500-2500 words) ... Due April 7th, 2018

It was ten to twelve (midnight) when I strolled into the 24 Hr Coffee Shop, walked pass the regulars (mostly summer university students), waved a hello at the night-shift cook, Anthony, and pushed the door open to head into the staff lounge in the back. The room was quiet this time of night.

I heaved a heavy sigh as I opened my little locker in the lounge, took out my apron and replaced it with my purse and cell phone. The job was getting old and maybe my hope was getting a little thin these days. An image of my sister's face flashed across my mind and I half smiled at the locker as I closed it. Who knew, tonight could be different.

I put my head through the apron's neck strap as I wound the ties around my waist and secured them snugly. I checked the large front pockets on the black heavy cotton apron and found my notepad and pen inside. Pulling them out I flipped the coiled notepad open to a new page and checked to see if the pen was still working. Everything was in order.

I slipped them both back in and then felt around for the 4x6 old, weathered photo I had of my older sister, Eclipse. Pulling it out, I lovingly smoothed its creases and wiped it clean of any lint from my apron pocket. The picture quality was a bit grainy because I'd taken it on my old cell phone but the smile on her face was obvious. That had been a good night, I thought with a little smile on my face. I missed her.

Slipping the picture back into my apron, I patted the pocket absently as I wondered for the millionth time where she was, if she was safe, if she'd ever find her way back here to the Coffee Shop. Of course, I didn't have any answers for myself. I just had hope or maybe it was more accurate to say 'wishful thinking'. Sometimes it was hard to tell the two apart.

Checking the time, I saw that it was a couple minutes to midnight now. Anthony would be anxious to leave. He had a hubby to get home to. I pushed open the door and greeted the athletic, slightly balding but still good looking, 50-something year old, dark complected cook with the prettiest pair of piercing black eyes I'd ever seen. His eyes were his nicest feature as far as I was concerned. They were kind.

Anthony gave me a big grin as he began to untie his apron. "Been quieter than usual tonight," he told me as he looked out at the shop one last time to see if there were any new customers. The shop door had a bell that rang whenever anyone came in or out. So, why Anthony always gave the shop one last look, as if someone might have slipped in unnoticed, was anyone's guess. As he left the front counter he pulled off his filthy apron and shook his head at me saying soberly, "I don't know how you can stand the overnight shift Celeste. It's got to be so boring," he complained.

I just smiled at him as I always did and let him give me a big bear hug before he moved on as he always did and passed through the door to the lounge. I felt a little depressed. A quiet night wasn't a promising night. I wasn't concerned about the lack of customers but rather the lack of chances I might see my sister coming through the door of the shop. Still, there was always hope, I told myself as I let out a sigh and got straight to cleaning up the kitchen.

I marveled a the mess Anthony left behind for such a "quiet" night. He could cook a mean breakfast meal and brew a great cup of coffee but he was not as adept at cleaning up. On busy nights this really irritated me and I wanted nothing more than to give him a piece of my mind but on slow nights, well, it was great to have something to keep my mind occupied so I didn't obsess about Eclipse.

It had been ten years since I'd last seen her. Ten long years since we'd shared a Monster Breakfast Special between us at 3AM in a corner booth here in this very shop. It was the night I snapped that picture of her - the one in my apron.

I caught her in the middle of a belly laugh when I snapped the shot. She'd been set off by something stupid I'd told her. I couldn't recall now what it was I'd said but once she got laughing she just couldn't stop. It was a good thing we were the only patrons in the shop at the time. Otherwise, we might have been kicked out for being drunk and disorderly.

That memory was sweet but the ones that came after it were guilt-ridden. So, I shook the memory from my mind for the moment as I concentrated on the disaster Anthony had left me in the kitchen.

Over the next 2 hours there was barely a customer in or out of the place. I was able to clean to my heart's content. The place was spotless by the time the clubs closed down and the after-hours crowd started rolling in. It was the middle of summer though and there just weren't many people around. I was feeling a little desperate for customers to help break up this quiet night. I needed the noise and the rush orders to help me keep my mind off other things - sad things.

In the next half hour the shop filled up with small groups of young adults in their early twenties. Among the little crowd of early morning revelers was a trio of young women, who'd just come fresh from the club where they'd been dancing and drinking all night. Shortly after placing an order, one of the girls got a bad case of the giggles.  This soon set the other two girls off and the whole shop was filled with the sounds of three mildly intoxicated women laughing uncontrollably over something probably quite ridiculous and easily forgotten. 

The entire scene struck a chord with me. Eclipse and I had been those three girls once. Just like them we'd stumbled into this place after a long night of drinking and dancing at a number of clubs and ordered up enough food to feed a truck driver with a handsome appetite. Then, Eclipse had taken to laughing uncontrollably over nothing at all.

"You gotta stop talking," she told me between laughs and gasps for breath. "I can't stop laughing if you don't stop talking!" She kept keeling over her legs and slapping the table. Each time she slapped the table she laughed harder. It was contagious. 

Thinking back on that night now, I remember being so amused that I'd done something to get her going. I've never been a particularly funny person and Eclipse never had much of a sense of humour. So, this was special. Even then, in my slightly inebriated state, I knew it was kind of like a bonding moment between us. We had so few in our rocky relationship that I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture. I wanted something to remember the moment by. It was the last picture I ever took of her.

I slipped my hand into my apron and touched the aged photo. I wished I knew what had gone wrong, where she'd gone, and why. Quiet nights really were the hardest on me and they were getting harder and harder as time passed on. I wondered, not for the first time, whether I should quit this place and just give up on her altogether. Maybe she was really gone for good. 

It was a possibility I had considered from the earliest days of her disappearance. However, I also knew she and I had some good memories here and if she ever came back, perhaps, this would be one of her first stops. It was that hope that kept me tied to this dead-end job for the past ten years and could keep me here for another ten. I sighed deeply, feeling the weight of years and years of guilt and uncertainty.

I lived with a boatload of unresolved guilt over that last night we spent in this 24 Hr Coffee Shop. That last night I thought she was a bit off - maybe even a bit high. However, everything was going so well between us that evening that I didn't bother to question her. I also never bothered to check up with her the following day. In fact, I went several days without trying to text or talk with her at all.

This wasn't unusual for me - for us. I was in university at the time. It was the first semester of my fourth and final year, and I was cramming for mid-term exams. I was just too busy to check in with her. When I finally did call, after several days of text messages went unanswered, her cellphone was in the hands of someone else. That girl said she hadn't seen Eclipse in 2 weeks. When I asked why she had Eclipse's phone she simply said it was payment for an old debt. I got worried then.

The trouble was, I knew she suffered from mental illness and didn't take proper care of herself. I knew that she hadn't been doing well for weeks leading up to that night at the club when we went drinking and dancing. I knew there was something off about her at the Coffee Shop while we were eating and laughing at nothing. I also knew she was an addict and used self-harm to cope with life.

So, I should have called her the following morning. I should have followed up on my instincts. I should have gone to all her usual haunts and looked for her until I found her the day after our late night out. Anything could have happened to her in the 2 weeks I'd had my head stuck in one academic book after another.

The door of the shop suddenly chimed and I turned to see who was coming in. I'd been so far gone in thought that I'd lost all track of time. The 2:30 rush had long come and gone and now it was nearly 5 AM. Where was my head?

I called out a cheery "Hello!" when I recognized the faces of the men piling in the shop. It was some of the boys from Safe Haven, which was a men's shelter just down the street. I walked over to them as they took up their regular seats. They had a young woman with them, which was unusual. I didn't recognize her face and guessed she was new to the streets or new to this area at least.

The oldest gentleman in the group, Mr. Gissel, ran Safe Haven. He often brought in a small group of men for a free meal here in the wee hours of the morning. "Will it be a 4 AM special?" I asked him with a grin. It was our secret code for breakfast-on-him.

He smiled gently at me and said, "Yes, that sounds great Celeste."

These hungry faces were another welcome distraction from my thoughts. I happily busied myself preparing their food and serving it up. After bringing the hot breakfast over and topping up their coffee cups, I asked "Is everyone happy?"

To my surprise, Mr. Gissel leaned toward me and asked, in a hushed tone, "Celeste dear, do you still have that picture of your sister on you?"

I nodded while I felt a rush of mixed emotions. Mr. Gissel knew I'd been working here seven nights a week every week for the last decade hoping to run into Eclipse again. In the early years, he had tried to discourage me from throwing my life away by waiting here for her every night. But now he just smiled at me kindly and asked from time to time if there was any news.

"This young woman here, who goes by the name Havva, has just arrived a few days ago from Calgary and has been living on the streets there for several years. I thought maybe she could have a look at your sister's picture and perhaps she could tell you if she's seen her?" He was looking at me with soft, understanding eyes.

He'd started doing this a few years ago, bringing in homeless women who'd been in the shelter circuit in other cities, to see if any of them might recognize Eclipse from the photo. Some pretended to but after a few more coffees, another plate of food, and some questions it became clear they were just saying yes to get another meal. Who could blame them?

Despite the fact that these sort of inquiries never worked out I still dipped my hand into my apron and produced the aged picture. I handed it to Mr. Gissel, who took it with care and handed it to the young woman.

She scrutinized it for a moment and then turned her pale blue eyes on me. "How long have you been looking for her?" she asked.

I smiled sadly and thought, all my life, but replied "Going on 10 years this autumn." I really had been chasing after my sister since the day I was born. I wondered if I'd ever stop chasing her.

Havva cast a strange look at Mr. Gissel for a moment before she looked back down at the picture in her hand.  She then turned her eyes back to me and said, "She's lucky to have a sister still looking for her after all this time." Then she handed the picture back to Mr. Gissel and shoveled the rest of her food into her mouth.

Mr. Gissel passed the picture back to me and I slid it into my apron pocket again. I didn't know what to make of the encounter and yet, I was touched deeply by what Havva had said. Maybe I could put up with another 10 years of waiting. I was suddenly feeling very affected. My throat felt constricted with emotion and the back of my eyes stung with tears. I blinked rapidly trying to keep them from falling as I cleared my throat.

Havva gave me the saddest frown. I didn't know what to make of it but asked, all the same, "If you ever see her, maybe you can tell her I'm still waiting."

Havva never responded.

This encounter would haunt me for years to come. I walked away feeling like Havva knew more than she was letting on but that could easily just have been wishful thinking on my part.

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