"What would you like to drink? We have Coke, and Pepsi products here." I asked my customers as I bobbed around to their table with a perky attitude and a wide smile. They looked down at their menus one last time, and it was a few seconds before their son answered.
"Do ya'll serve sweet tea here, ma'am?" Was the response he gave me, and I nodded as he smiled.
"Think that's what I'll have, miss." The boy couldn't have been more than the age of 16 but possibly older, with raven black hair and the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen in my life time. This kid reminded me of an old friend I had known back in the day, but dropped out of contact with so it tugged at my heart a little bit. The boy looked ordinary, I mean as plain as could be. He sported a nicely decorated tee-shirt and some casual jeans with a few rips in them. His parents looked up at me, and the mom ordered a cola, while the dad decided on a water. I would give them a few minutes to scour the menu while I went and prepped the drinks for them.
"Hey, Autumn! When you get a second, table four has an order up." Called the cook from back behind the kitchen window and I flashed a smile while gathering up the drinks and walking back to the table.
"One tea, one cola, and one water." I placed the drinks on the table, promptly placing a straw next to each of the glasses. "Are we ready to order?" I looked down at them, now grasping my pad and paper to take their order. The father looked up at me, and ordered our t-bone steak with mashed potatoes and gravy, and a side of corn. This man contradicted his son in every way possible in the manner of looks. He sported fancy jewelry and watches on his wrists, and a gold chained necklace. His hair was the color of smokey charcoal, his eyes flashing a color of was a murky blue. I jotted this down, and moved onto the mother, who still looked a little bit puzzled.
"What comes with your chicken fried gravy?" she asked a bit skeptical as if she didn't know that was what she wanted.
"Biscuit or corn bread, 2 sides, and the meal entree." I spoke confidently, as I had delivered this message across to several thousand curious, unknowing customers.
"Okay, I think that's what I will have then." The woman was in her mid to late 30's, dark auburn brown hair, and thick rimmed glasses that hid her brown eyes. Her hands were thin and bony but her nails were neatly decorated and fingers covered in jewelry, but something just seemed off about it. Quickly I shrugged it off, and moved on to the boy who had already folded his menu up and set it down on the table in front of him.
"I think I'll have the soup and salad bar; I'm not really too hungry." He spoke elegantly though, which put the ordinary out of bounds for the time being. I nodded with a quick smile, and scooped the menus' up under my arm, and the pen and pad into my apron pocket and bobbed off to place the order on the hook for my cook. I set the menus' down on the kiosk, and bounced back to get the order for table four. I held the tray up with one hand, and twirled it around to set it on a a fold out table.
"One home style burger with fries, and one chicken strip basket?" I asked to my customers, and they broke from their original conversation to look up at me.
"Hey, Autumn!" Spoke Jessica as she giggled a little bit, "I didn't know you shacked up a job in this place, I've been coming here for a few months now." I felt my face flush as she mentioned that, and my heart sped up as I felt the embarrassment rushed through me. As per usual, I brushed it off with a low laugh and a witty reply.
"Ya know, Jess... A girls gotta pay her tuition for college any way she can now..." And placed a hand on my hip, as I set her plate in front of her and she looked down on it.
"Oh come on now, you know I'm giving you a hard time. I understand, and having a job here isn't too bad. At least you're making an honest living." Jessica was always optimistic when it came to the future, which made her such a bright and cheery person. I had hardly noticed that she was with someone, when she pointed it out.
"Oh! You haven't met my boyfriend..." she casually interjected into our conversation. "Sam, this is Autumn. She's in a few of my classes at Stamford. Autumn, this is Sam Winchester." And that's when my night got completely turned up side down, and a hard lump welled in my throat. I slowly set his food in front of him as he looked up on me, and the expression that he wore made my stomach churn even more, but he suddenly straightened it up before Jessica noted it, and made an effort to seem friendly as if we had just met.
"Autumn, was it?" and I nodded as he said my name that I used as an alias to cover up who I really was, and what I used to do for a living. "Nice to meet a friendly face around these parts." Sam was trying his hardest to be polite to me.
"Indeed. Glad to know Jess finally has someone with a good head on their shoulders to keep her safe." I nudged Jessica, and she stuck her tongue out at me.
"All this chatter over here with fellow classmates makes me feel a little left out..." Said the boy I had just waited on over at table seven and Jessica looked up at him.
"Oh, hey Aiden." She greeted him on a first name basis, which means they had known each for a little while. Aiden, the boy who had the most captivating looks pulled up a chair and proceeded to sit down. "How's it going?" Jess picked up a fry, and began to crunch into it with a bite.
"It's going well, to be honest." Aiden ran a hand through the front of his hair, and looked up at me. "You must be Autumn, Jessica mentioned you a few times as her partner for a project. Nice to meet you, I'm Aiden Adair." He offered his hand out to me and I stared at it blankly for a second, before reaching mine out to casually clasp his with a firm shake.
"As in, Adair Industries?" Was all I could seem to muster out for a conversation starter, oh man, how lame was I?
"Yes, precisely." replied Aiden with a tone of cheer to his voice, seeming happy that someone knew his company and who he was.
"Oh. Well. It's a pleasure to meet you." I sort of stammered on my words a bit, as a heated flush crossed my face. The waiter had already called up the order, but Sandy had already taken care of serving the people whom Aiden was with. I realized I had spaced out a little bit, because Jessica and Aiden were deep in conversation. I began to walk a little bit to go back up to the counter when Sam pulled me aside.
"Autumn, eh?" He cocked his eye brow at me, and I sighed as I finally let up my charade. "Not ready to quite let the world know who you are?"
"If they knew who I was, and the stuff I had done, and still do; they'd severely disapprove. I wouldn't have quite the on going hard working school girl reputation I obtained while being here." My voice grew low, and the knots in my stomach loosened.
"Terra." Sam sounded slightly annoyed now, "You can't go on living a double life forever, it's gonna catch up to you eventually, and it will all come crumbling down."
"It already unraveled, Sam." I pointed out quite bluntly. "Fawne continued on in the direction I chose to forget ever existed. We went our own ways, and didn't part on good terms. She let me have it before I came out here." I sighed heavily. "I just need you to play along with my charade, and not blow the cover I've worked so hard to make here." Sam seemed pretty understanding of what I was doing, even if lying about who I was, was making it possible.
"Fair enough." Was all he seemed to say, as if my words were a sharp edged knife.
"How's Dean?" I asked, hoping to hear something refreshing about his brother.
"Still hunting with our dad." Sam pursed his lips and let out a slight exhale of breath, "Haven't really spoke with him much since I left for Stanford." And right there was all I really needed to hear; they were just as estranged as Fawne and I were. This was the life of a hunter was like when they wanted out and no one approved.
"Fawne and I haven't talked for a while; I headed out here hoping for a new turn in my future, but so far it just seems ordinary and bleak... Not quite as adventurous as going after a vampire." I chuckled a little bit.
"It's ordinary, Terra." Sam sounded a bit sympathetic with me, "That's what it's gonna be like from here on out."
"I know, I just hoped the realization wouldn't have hit so soon." I sighed with a heavy groan, and noted Jess and Aiden looking at us a bit puzzled. Sam made his way back to the table with Jess and took his seat across from her. I followed right behind him, and flipped a chair around and took a seat.
"So I haven't seen you around campus much." Aiden turned his attention to me, and I raised an eyebrow at him with a smile.
"You wouldn't see me much unless you were in the medical field." The blush had came back and butterflies grew in the pit of my stomach. Aiden laughed lightly at how cocky I seemed, and shrugged.
"This is true as well, seeing as to how I'm a business major." I had just met this man, and I was already quite intrigued by the elegance in the way he spoke, and the gestures he made; they flowed quite fluidly with how he carried himself.
'Business major...' I thought to myself, and nodded. It was fitting, seeing as to how he was the next head of Adair industries after his uncle.
"What are you planning to do in the medical field, if you don't mind me asking...?" asked Aiden curiously and I responded quite quickly.
"Psychology." It was a confident, and bold choice for someone like me, but I found it intriguing to understand the ways that the human mind worked. Aiden also seemed fascinated with my choice of career after my degree. The look on his face said everything I'd ever need to know about him; Talented, beautiful, charismatic, charming, and dangerous. I could read a person like the back of my hand, and the empathizing came almost as naturally as taking a breath. Was this what Sam meant by ordinary? Things would settle and play out as if the life of the Supernatural never existed? Would the instincts and reflexes of being a hunter still be there? I had unanswered questions I refused to think about because it was all overwhelming.
"Great career choice for a young woman like yourself." Aiden chipped in to interrupt my thought process, and make me blush a little brighter. "You seem fit enough to handle it."
"Aiden, don't make the girl faint over there." Jessica pushed on his shoulder a bit as if she were teasing him, and I laughed a bit; part of me rushed with the feeling of nervousness.
"But she's too cute when she turns red." Aiden chuckled as did Jessica and my heart seemed to skip a few beats when he mentioned me being cute.
"Alright lover boy..." Jessica rolled her eyes, "She's gonna die over there if you keep coming on too strong."
"Oh no, it's quite alright." I replied as I caught myself, and breathed deeply. "I mean, it's nice."
"Don't encourage him, Autumn." Jessica gave him a dirty look. "It makes his already inflated ego bloated." And with this, I felt Aiden's' hand on my shoulder as I looked at the looks exchanged between the two.
"Well, I really hate to cut the conversation short, but I have to excuse myself with take-out of my food, as my company is ready to leave." I looked up at him and sighed heavily and smiled.
"Well, maybe I'll see you around on campus?" I cocked my head to the side, and played with my hair subconsciously. "Maybe?" Aiden nodded in approval and took a step back.
"I'll have to make an effort to walk across your path, so just maybe..." He winked at me as he then turned his back to me as him and his guests walked out the diner door. My breath exhaled and my focus then turned back to Jessica and Sam.
"Girl, you have seriously got the hots for one of the biggest players in the game." She laughed at me and my school girl crush. "If you land him, you'll be the envy of a lot of women..." Jessica usually wasn't wrong about these kinds of things, and it made me feel a little less hopeful than usual about a successful relationship building between Aiden and I.
"I don't think I have to win him..." I observed, recalling his fascination with me in between our flirty conversations and meet and greet. I put my hands in my apron pockets and turned to look at the door. "I think it's bound to be inevitable that our paths will cross one day..."