~Dessa~

"Coffee," The man in the leather gloves snapped at her, without even bothering to look away from the book in his hand. "Have Colette bring it to me. Not you."

Dessa practically stumbled back a step, as he took a drag off of his cigarette. This was, by far, the rudest a patron had been to her, and she hated that tears stung her eyes as she squeaked out another apology and went to go give his order to Colette. She shouldn't let the man hurt her feelings - he was probably just having a bad day, or maybe he had a thing for the buxom blonde. She sucked it up as she made her way down the hallway, determined not to be a crybaby today. If she made a habit of crying at work everyday, she would never make friends here. She waited in the kitchen for a moment until Colette waltzed in.

"Colette?"

The waitress turned to her with a sneer twisting her pretty face. "What?"

"A man at Table 9 would like you to bring him a coffee," Dessa told her, careful to keep her bloody emotions from leaking into her words.

"He asked for me?" Colette's entire demeanor shifted - she looked like a blushing schoolgirl all of a sudden, her snide attitude evaporating.

Dessa nodded curtly, and Colette rushed to bring the man what he asked for, basically dancing away.

"Order up," Hans grunted as he placed a platter of steamed vegetables and sauteed shrimp on the pass.

Dessa shook off the last of her fragile little feelings, and took the order to the appropriate table. When she delivered the food, she noticed Colette sitting with the man. They were speaking in hushed tones, and Dessa was taken aback when he blew smoke in her face with an arrogant smirk. Dessa wanted to scoff at the sight. It would seem that Colette didn't mind how rude the man was, she was enamored with him. Dessa thought he was strikingly attractive at first glance when she had tried to ask him if she knew him, but now that she had seen firsthand what a dick he was, she wished that thought had never formed. An hour or so after the incident, it was time for her break, and she chose to eat a few nibbles in the hallway, rather than sit at a table. She was too nauseous to eat much anyway, and put the rest in a box for later. For the rest of the night, she refused to even look in his direction, and took the long way around the parlor room to avoid passing too close to his table. By the time her shift was over, she was extra exhausted just from trying so hard to pretend that the man no longer existed. Unlike the day before, he refused to disappear.

She was so ready to get the heavy dress off when she reunited with Penny in the dressing room, that she didn't have a single qualm about letting Penny help her. Once the corset was removed, she took a deep, satisfying breath, and another, when Penny assisted her with extricating herself from the dress. Once she was standing in only a petticoat, she realized that she had successfully made it through the day without fainting, and she could have done a happy dance.

"Thank you again, Penny. You're a life saver!" Dessa said, as she handed her the petticoat and began to put her regular clothes back on.

Penny giggled and shook her head. "It's my job. You don't have to thank me, Dessa."

Dessa squinted at her playfully, "I will thank you, and you will like it!"

The lady-in-waiting snorted, and rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine - you're welcome."

Dessa nodded in approval, and they both said their goodbyes. When Dessa had all her clothes back on, she retrieved her phone and charger. She never went back to the dressing rooms on her break to get it, because she had been too bothered by that damn guy. With a huff, she went back through the parlor room to get her leftovers from the kitchen. She accidentally bumped right into Hans on her way through the door.

"In a hurry, I see!" Hans actually laughed, and Dessa couldn't help but laugh, too.

"Sorry, Hans! I can't go home without that delicious food," Dessa told him with a grin, as he stepped aside for her to pass.

Hans grunted with satisfaction and she grabbed her to-go box from the fridge. She waved at him, and this time, he gave her a real wave back.

"Be safe!" He called after her, gruffly.

Dessa almost froze for a second, but forced herself to keep walking. Auntie used to say that every time she left the house - never goodbye, never have a good day. She only ever said be safe. Grief and anxiety crashed over her with those words. Again, she wanted to cry, but this was no place for it. She put one foot in front of the other, and kept her eyes trained on the archway that opened to the foyer, determined not to let her fears allow her to hallucinate the last patrons staring at her like the night before. She didn't look at any of them as she passed, not even the dashing cleaning crew men, and she didn't glance back over her shoulder. When she made it to the foyer, she was successful in her attempt to ignore every soul in the parlor room.

"Goodnight, Dessa," Lola said sweetly.

"Goodnight."

Dessa was glad that she sounded calm this time. When she stepped out on the sidewalk again into the dark night, she was anything but calm. She was every bit as scared as she was yesterday, maybe even more scared after Hans told her to be safe. She tried to tamp down her anxiety as she turned her GPS on, the full battery of her phone offering a fleeting relief. At least her phone wouldn't die halfway through her trek. She put it in her pocket, and took a deep breath. Her ribs were a little bit sore from wearing the corset for hours, but not too bad. It was almost a welcome soreness that helped to ground her in reality. She was not walking through one of her nightmares. No one had hurt anything but her feelings, and nothing bad was going to happen. She didn't throw up anymore once she got to work, even after eating a few bites, and that was a good sign that she might not stay sick for days. She didn't pass out. She didn't spill anything on anyone. She got a little more tips today. Everything was going just fine.

She made her way down the street, willing herself to focus on positive thoughts, but whether it was her own footsteps echoing on the sidewalk again, or because of Skinhead earlier that day, she felt paranoid that someone was following her. Just like she did on her way through the parlor room, she refused to look back over her shoulder. No one was following her, no one.

. . .

This time, when she made it to her doorstep, she ignored her sore muscles and sat the to-go box down so she could use her phone's flashlight to see where she was inserting the damn key. Once the door was open, a scuffling sound made her scream and whirl around. Her heart was pounding as she scanned the front yard that was bathed in darkness. A fucking cat  jumped out of her garbage bin and sauntered off.

"You scared me, evil thing!" Dessa glared after it, clutching her heart as if she had been about to have a heart attack.

A part of her wanted to laugh, and another part wanted to cry. A cat had made her fear for her life? Of all the things in this world, a cat was her undoing? She felt foolish, and as she bent to pick up her to-go box, she hoped that none of her neighbors had been woken up by her shriek. She glanced around her yard one more time with a sigh. Then, she finally went inside to the equally-dark house. She sat on the couch and ate a little bit more food, deciding that she had enough battery to research bicycles, finally. Oh, come on!  They were more expensive than she thought. She would have to find someone who was selling a used one, if she planned to get one anytime soon. She muttered some expletives and decided to listen to some music to relax a little bit while she took careful bites, chewing each one thoroughly. For a second, she thought she might have been feeling a little sick, but luckily it passed. Still, she decided to put the food away. Much like she expected, the refrigerator was even warmer, but it was better than leaving it out on the counter. If it was winter already, she could probably set the box outside, if the stray cat didn't decide to nab it. She went to her room to change out of her clothes. She pulled the dollar bills out of her pockets, and retrieved the ones from the pockets of her jeans that she had discarded on the floor the night before. She tucked the money into her sock drawer, sat her charger and phone on the nightstand, and picked a soft, loose T-shirt to wear for bed, instead of sleeping in her bra and panties again like she had angrily done yesterday. 

https://youtu.be/Uu6NtmEkdto

She played one last song on her phone, humming along to the lyrics in the dark, before she finally shut the music off and made sure her alarm was set. When Dessa finally laid down, she felt uncomfortably awake, despite her exhaustion. Fortunately for her, when midnight came, a notification chimed on her phone - one that she couldn't miss. When she picked her phone up to check what it was, she could have hucked it at the wall. If she didn't pay the phone bill in a week, her phone would be shut off.

"I just can't catch a break," Dessa whined to herself, plaintively.

She didn't even know if her new job would pay her weekly, or bi-weekly. If she wasn't getting paid at the end of the week, she'd better hope that she memorized the way there by then, because her GPS wouldn't work without service. Instead of hucking the thing at the wall, she gingerly sat her stupid phone back down on the nightstand. First electricity, now the phone! If she lost her water and heat next, she might as well live on the street, for all the good this house would do her in that situation. As if it could hear her ungrateful thoughts, the house settled, making a creepy noise.

"Stop,"  Dessa pleaded, shuddering and pulling the blankets tighter around her, as if they could protect her from ghosts and monsters. "I'm sorry - I take it back."

She was apologizing to Auntie's house for thinking badly of it. If she needed one more reason to believe she was just as crazy as her aunt was - well, there it was. Maybe she should have told the principal why she had freaked out in P.E. - she probably belonged in the whacky shack. Now, she was wide awake, staring into the dark corners of her bedroom ceiling.

The strangest feeling came over her, after a few minutes of staring into the shadows. The urge to go back outside niggled at her, and she had no plausible reason for wanting to do that. It was scary inside the house, but it was scarier out there. Why would she do it? But then again, it wasn't like she was getting any sleep just yet. Why not? Remind yourself why it's safer in here, and you'll be running back to bed in five seconds.

Dessa crawled out of bed, and went to the door. She unlocked it and stepped outside, almost like she wasn't in control of her own limbs. It made no fucking sense to step out into the cold in her night shirt, but she did. She stood on her front porch, peering out in the yard. She could see her breath in the chilly air. Goosebumps rose on her skin. She went down the steps so she could feel the grass under her bare feet. The moon was shining down on her, bathing her in its eerie glow. She had never done anything like this. She had always heeded Auntie's warnings. She had never gone out at night until recently, for her job. But that was terrifying, yet necessary. This felt like her own choice, something she could have refused, but she didn't. Something had drawn her out into the moonlight. She was surprised that she felt less afraid in the dark than she ever had before. There was a strange sense of peace that settled over her, that breezed over her skin.

Maybe the night didn't have  to be scary. Maybe in some way, it could be magical.

"I don't want to be afraid of you," Dessa whispered to the darkness.