There was a familiarity that made my heart lurch forward, but I couldn’t pinpoint where I’d met him. Doubt crossed my mind.

Maybe I’ve served him before. You have to remain professional. Get to the staff room.

I continued walking, trying my best not to stare, but still stealing curious glances every few steps.

His eyes locked on me and didn’t look away, not once. Why was he staring? I hoped that I wasn’t wearing my shirt inside out, or that my hair wasn’t disheveled.

I pretended to fix my thick hair so that it would obscure my face from sideways glances from the staring man. I placed one foot in front of the other, concentrating hard on the ground ahead. But, as these things go, when you concentrate entirely on one thing, you lose sight of everything else.

Thud!

Something hard smacked my forehead. I grabbed my head and nearly toppled over but managed to regain my balance. The staff room door hung unapologetically closed in front of me.

Pivoting on my heels, I turned to face the patrons. I hoped that they hadn’t noticed my awkwardness, but the man who had been staring was now standing and looked as if he was about to come over to assist me. The woman next to him grabbed him by the arm and then whispered something that made him change his mind and sit back down.

I quickly ducked into the staff room, massaging my throbbing head. Seeing that no one else was around, I threw on my uniform as quickly as a wobbly person could.

“Hey, Ellis,” Martin Ross said. I jumped up, caught off guard. “Oh…” He smirked.

“How long have you been standing there?” I whispered.

“I didn’t see much.” He winked at me, seemingly amused by my discomfort.

Martin was what one would call a tattoo enthusiast. He had an athletic build and his arms were covered in tattoos, even sporting one on his neck. The only other thing he loved more was cooking. He was my first real and only friend.

“I just peeked out ‘cause I heard a noise,” he said. “What was that sound I heard a minute ago?”

“Oh that?” I looked away, feeling embarrassed. “Well, I sort of…”

“Ell.”

“What?”

“What happened to your forehead?”

“Huh?”

“See for yourself.” He tried to stifle his laughter and then held up one of his pots and faced it to me so that I could see my reflection. The red beginnings of a lump appeared in the middle of my forehead.

“You see that?” I pointed at the swelling. “My forehead met the door, that’s what happened.”

Martin burst out laughing, unable to contain himself. “Sorry, Ell—I can’t help it. By the way, are we still on for this afternoon to celebrate your birthday?” Martin asked.

“Of course.”

“We’ll go pick up Katie from the sitter’s, then head to Hemley Park. Is that cool?”

Rubbing my sore brow, I responded, “Sounds good to me.”

“Hey,” Martin paused for a second and took a step closer. He stood a good head taller than me. “Have you seen any visions lately?”

“No, I haven’t seen anything since Dr. Lin prescribed me the new meds.” Not wanting to continue the conversation, I grabbed the pad and pen that were on the counter. “I’ve got patrons waiting.”

“We’ll talk later,” he said.

I sighed and attempted to summon confidence before stepping out into the dining room. I may have looked like a fool a few minutes ago, but I had a job to do.

As soon as the door swung shut behind me, the three patrons at the table looked my way, but then quickly pretended as if they hadn’t noticed me—again, except for the brown-haired man. I resignedly walked over to them.

The brown-haired man spoke before I could. “Are you all right?” he asked.

His friends looked on with flabbergasted expressions and exchanged knowing glances.

“I… I’m fine.” I rubbed my forehead. All traces of confidence vanished at the thought of how ridiculous I looked with the reddening bump above my brow.

Now that I was close to the table, I could observe the three customers much more closely, though my focus didn’t leave the brown-haired man. I was drawn by his striking light-gray eyes. They showed happiness, warmth, and concern.

He returned my gaze amiably, as if I were an old friend.

“We’re ready to order now.” The blond woman interrupted the silence. She narrowed her eyes in annoyance.

“What would you like to order?” I glanced down at my notepad and fiddled with the pen to avoid the woman’s uninviting glare.

“Spaghetti,” the bald man said, with a very deep voice and a slightly languid drawl. I couldn’t recognize the accent.

“Okay.” My voice was small and timid. “What kind of sauce would you like to go on your spaghetti?”

“What?” His gargantuan voice boomed slightly more than before.

“We have different sauces: pesto, tomato…”

“Give us normal.” He squinted while reading his menu. His hands were so big it looked as if he could crumple the hardcover menu effortlessly.

“Okay. And your colleagues?”

“We will have the same.” The blond woman sounded rather agitated.

I noted the order on my pad.

“Have you been working here long?” the gray-eyed man asked.

“Um, no, actually.”

“What made you interested in working here?” he asked. Although his questions were somewhat invasive, his voice was very gentle, and it made me feel completely at ease, allowing me to answer freely.

“I needed a job.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Have to pay the bills somehow.”

“Where have you worked in the past?”

“I didn’t.” I stalled for a moment and then went on, “I had to go through some treatment, so I was in the hospital.”

“Are you better now?” His eyebrows furrowed. I knew that it wasn’t wise to answer random questions from a stranger, but somehow I felt that I could, or maybe even should.

“Yes. Much,” I replied.

“I’m glad to hear that, Ellis.” When he said my name, my heart stopped. Everything stopped.

He said my name. He knows who I am!