Chapter one Mirrors

The clock slowly ticked away the minutes and Sibonakaliso 'Naka' Burns was more than ready for the evening to end. She still had another pile of dishes to wash and put away. She struggled to keep her eyes open. The diner needed sweeping and mopping before she could wander off to bed. She had been up since four in the morning and now it was nearly ten pm. She'd worked all day, she could barely keep her eyes open.

"Go on to bed, Naka, I'll take care of this," a mesmerizing English accented voice told her..

Naka looked up to see the handsome Montmorency Atheyr looking back at her. He was tall, skinny and had the most magnificent chin she'd ever seen. His long brown hair flopped to one side and it only served to make him more adorable. She had laughed the first time he had put on his apron right over top his suit jacket. However, after a month of working with him, it became his normal appearance. No matter what he did he never seemed to be too hot nor too cold. He never got tired of the mundane duties the diner had in store for them and he was the most reliable employee she'd ever had. He always insisted on working the evening shifts and he always stayed until all the chores were done and all the other employees left. He also never complained about how much his check lacked in at the end of the month. He cared for Naka and always took over when she'd lost the energy to do what needed to be done. Naka never met any man as perfect as Montmorency.

"I can't leave all of this to you," she told him.

"'Course you can, now off to bed. I'll finish tidying, you go and get some rest," he insisted.

Naka knew she had no choice but to listen to him. For one she couldn't ever persuade him that she was 'fine'. And second she really couldn't resist him. It was a struggle. Naka gathered up her things, "Make sure," she started, but was a mistake. That man, he knew everything. Memorized the whole schedule after 30 seconds of hearing it the first time a month ago.

"Lock the doors, clean the windows, sweep the floor, mop the floor, clean the bar, wash the dishes, put away the dishes, clean the kitchen and floor. Tidy the bathroom, restock bathroom, restock the napkins, make sure the food is in the fridge, remove expired food. Place earnings and register change into the safe. Update money record and food record, turn the lights off and lock the doors before I leave. I got it. Now Naka, go to bed."

'I love you'. The thought jumped up unbidden and unexpectedly, at least Naka had enough self-control to shut her mouth tightly before she could utter such taboo words. Instead she said, "Thank you Montmorency, have a good night, I'll see you tomorrow."

"No problem, goodnight, Naka."

Naka could feel her heart skip a beat as he bade her goodnight. This was getting bad. Her crush was growing at too quick of a pace, she'd only met the guy a month ago and now all she wanted to do was press herself against his strong chest and kiss him. She quickly made herself scarce and went up stairs to the second level of the building.

Every time she stepped into her little apartment above her diner she gave a silent thank you to God and whispered a prayer of protection over Melody Malone. If it wasn't for Melody, she would have died, let alone never had such a wonderful apartment and her own Diner.

As soon as she closed her front door and locked it, she stripped off her diner uniform. She made her way to the bathroom, leaving a trail of clothing. She made it over to her tub and began to fill it with hot water. As soon as it was full, she turned off the bathroom light went over to her window and opened it just a tad. She had set up in place a special mirror system of about three mirrors, four if she included the one placed outside. She adjusted her mirrors accordingly before she allowed herself to submerge into the hot water of the tub. She picked up the mirror resting on the side of the tub and looked into it.

She shuddered at her own haggard appearance. Her chocolate brown skin looked purple-gray in the shadows and her black hair was still tangled in her hair net. She pulled it out and dropped it onto the bathroom floor. She quickly titled the mirror away from her face and towards the mirror sitting by the sink. From there it reflected the mirror by the window and that one reflected the one she had stuck onto the street lamp. She was surprised that one was still there, she was sure someone, like a police officer would have taken it down. Or one of the rowdy boys who lived nearby to smash to pieces, or a hobo to steal it. But after two weeks it was still in place and served her purposes. That last mirror reflected a perfect view of her diner. Naka smiled as she watched Montmorency clean the windows.

Yes, her obsession had reached new levels of absurdity. But she hoped that they could have some sort of relationship. She knew a lot of people would frown upon that. A black girl and a white man, not the proper thing to do. At least they were far enough north. Naka was lucky to be in New York, one of the few states that allowed interracial marriage. She frowned as she thought about Montmorency. On more than one occasion he had said that he enjoyed travelling and Naka had heard him talking to Amy about visiting Florida. If Naka and Montmorency became a couple, they couldn't travel as much. She would put him in danger. There were too many racists in the world, they wouldn't be safe if they were together. She winced as she thought about her other employees. Montmorency was the only white man. Not because Naka would have a problem with hiring white men, but because of all the white men and boys in this city looked to her like she was a dog. She tried not to think about it, but it was already affecting Montmorency's reputation. Naka had heard her own colored types whispering back and forth that there was something wrong with him. That he was retarded and other rude things.

Naka knew Montmorency didn't care about what others thought. He himself had told her that he didn't care what color her skin was. He told her she could have green skin and five eyes and they would still be friends. Why couldn't people be more like Montmorency? Even if Montmorency didn't care about his reputation, Naka would stand up for him any day. Even though she'd risk her life for him, she couldn't bring herself to risk his life.

"Goodnight," Naka whispered once more to herself as Montmorency turned off the lights and locked the diner. She sighed as he walked towards his home on 85th Street. She groaned as she put down the mirror and got up to switch the light back on. She finished her bath quickly and released the water and prepared for bed.

As she brushed her teeth, the lights in her bathroom flickered. She heard something that sounded like stone dragging on wood. Like the wood floors in her apartment. She quickly finished brushing her teeth. The lights flickered again. Naka rinsed her mouth and then looked into the mirror, it was a mistake. Where as a second before her small bathroom had been empty, now a stone face reflected in the mirror. Naka gasps in surprise and quickly turns around to face the stone angel in the doorway of her bathroom. The stone angel had her arm stretched out towards Naka.

Naka took a shaky breath as she reached out and touched the angel's hand.