FOUR
I closed the bedroom door behind me and let out a soft sigh. I had no idea what to do with the girl that was currently sitting on the couch. It still felt wrong to have another female in Stormy's apartment, but what choice did I have? Sunny was alone, lost and invisible to everyone but me. As I emptied my pockets, I once again found the card from the Gypsy Mummy. I sat on the edge of the bed as I stared at it. After the rain, the sun will smile. After several minutes of blankly staring, I tossed the card aside on the nightstand, then stood to shed my clothes.
I stared at the ceiling for what seemed like hours. I couldn't make sense of anything. I shook my head and whispered, "Stormy…what should I do?" I often spoke to Stormy. I didn't know if she could hear me, and I knew she couldn't respond, but I liked to tell myself that she was listening.
Sleep wouldn't didn't come easily, and I was quite sure that I hadn't slept at all until I heard the alarm clock starting to scream at me, telling me to get my ass out of bed for the day. I groaned and stared at the ceiling again for a while before finally dragging myself into the shower. I stood in there for a while too, letting the water pour over me until it was ice cold. Even in the desert heat, unless I had become particularly sweaty or dirty, I still preferred hot showers.
After finally dressing and preparing for the day, I took a deep breath and entered the living room, unsure if I even wanted to see Sunny. Of course I wanted to help her, but my life had been disrupted enough without me having to deal with this, too. I knew that was unfair of me. This girl had come to me for help. There had to have been a reason beyond just coincidence. And maybe, if I do well in this life, and help as many people as possible, I can be reunited with Stormy, which is what I want more than anything.
Sunny was sitting on the couch when I entered the room. It appeared that she hadn't moved at all, but I suppose at one point, she probably had. She turned to face me with a small smile, seemingly happy that I could see her. "Good morning, Odd." Her voice was so soft and musical that it made my hair stand up on end, and I'm not sure why. It was an incredibly pleasant sound.
"How was your night? Did you…?" I wanted to ask if she slept, but she had told me she didn't feel the need to sleep.
"Sleep? I'm not sure. I was awake for a long time, looking around at everything in here. I didn't want to make noise so I didn't do much. Then I say back down. I didn't realize anything had happened until I heard you get up and shower. I didn't dream or anything." She stood, straightening her clothes. Despite having possibly slept in them, her hair and clothes were still perfect, as though she had just gotten ready to go out somewhere. I know that the dead can change their appearance at will, but since this girl wasn't dead, I didn't think, I wasn't sure if she had that ability or not, and likely, neither did she.
"Well, I have to work today. You're welcome to come sit at the Grille again, in the same seat. If you get bored, you can go somewhere else."
"Alright. I'll come with you, at least for a little while. At least I know you can see me."
As I did each morning I left, I stopped and stared into the mirror in the hallway, waiting for Stormy to appear, and as always, she did not. I was startled and nearly jumped when a face did appear next to me. It was Sunny. She said nothing, just smiled, looking more like the lingering dead I'm used to seeing. I turned to look at her and she looked up at me with a small smile.
"I'd say you're as ready as you'll ever be." The sound of her voice still took me by surprise each time I heard it. There was something that was almost…familiar about it, though I couldn't honestly say I ever remember hearing it before. I feel like I would remember that. I gave her a nod and smiled back, then opened the door for her, following her outside.
Sunny and I walked side by side to the Grille. We kept our voices low and I tried my best to not gesticulate or call attention to myself. Everyone was paying even more attention to me now, and I didn't want them thinking I had really lost my mind and was now talking to myself.
I unlocked the door to the Grille and we went inside, immediately refreshed by the cool air. Since no one else was around yet, I was able to speak freely as I set up for the day.
"I've never seen anyone actually put their spatulas in a holster before. I don't think…" She smiled a bit, but I could sense her sadness at still being able to remember nothing.
"Ah, well, its just part of the show. The customers like to watch me perform my short-order magic, so it adds to the effect. I tend to wield them like the cowboys in spaghetti westerns." I spun one around my finger and quickly holstered it with a small grin. Sunny squealed softly in delight, clapping a bit.
"That's very impressive, Odd. I think I can safely say that I've never met anyone like you. Even though I can't remember anything, I'm quite sure you're incredibly unique in this world."
I tipped my hat to her with a small smile and turned on the griddle so that it would be hot and ready for our first customer. I thought about asking her if she wanted a drink at least, but leaving a cup on the table would have been incredibly off-putting to the diner patrons. I hadn't realized I had been staring in her direction until Terri came up quite suddenly behind me.
"Is she sitting there?" The sound of Terri's voice made me jump a bit. Realizing what I was doing, I looked back at my boss and smiled.
"Yeah, she is."
"Is she going to stay all day?"
"I don't know. I told her she could leave if she felt like it."
"She'll probably get bored sitting alone all day."
"That's what I figured. But she said she wanted to watch me. She enjoyed my spatula demonstration."
Terri shook her head with a smile and went to start the day's opening procedure. Viola was on shift that morning, and she entered not too long after. I gave her a nod and asked her about her girls
"As spunky as ever. Catching the school bus at my sister's, just like always." Viola came in far earlier than her daughters got on the bus, so they always went to Viola's sister's house.
I glanced over at Sunny, who was watching my conversations with Terri and Viola with a small smile. She seemed to be interested in our day-to-day events, but then again, if I suddenly had no memory of anything else, I would probably also find mundane activities exciting. I had given Sunny a small smile which had quickly dissipated as I overheard Viola's comment to Terri.
"Can you believe it, Terri? Six whole months have passed since…"
"I still can't believe it happened in the first place."
I looked over to catch a sympathetic look from Sunny. She spoke again, and I smiled, keeping my back turned towards the other ladies. "I'm so sorry about all that pain and tragedy, Odd. I can't even imagine…" I knew she didn't expect a verbal reply. I gave her a simple nod and tried to keep my thoughts away from Stormy, but I simply couldn't.
The morning went as usual. We had the typical breakfast rush, I entertained with crowd with my skills. Sunny watched with interest, carefully hovering close, but being cautious not to bump into anyone, just in case. After a few hours, she was staring boredly at the table when she was joined by one of my favorite ghosts, the king himself.
Elvis sat across from her, and I watched her face light up as she began talking quite fervently. He was unable to answer with words, but she seemed to be able to understand everything he was saying, answering for him. My mind flashed back to my last few days with Stormy when I had done that with her, speaking for her, giving her the words she was unable to speak herself. I wondered if Sunny had realized she was doing this, but I couldn't ask her. When the buzz had died down momentarily, I moved away from the grill and stepped over to Terri, who was standing in the back, fussing over one of the machines.
"I wish you could see it, Terri. Elvis sat down across from Sunny, and she's been talking with him for hours. I bet she's learning more about him than even you know."
"Impossible. A few hours of conversation could never be enough to compete with my knowledge." Her tone at first was very serious, but I realized as her features softened that she was only joking. "You're right though, Odd. I do wish I could see."
It was then that I heard Viola's voice, louder than normal, summoning me back to my station. "Burn one, take it through the garden and pin a rose on it!" I briefly glanced at the ticket she had pinned up before returning to the griddle. Simple enough order. A burger with lettuce and onion. Sunny had been far too interested in Elvis to pay attention to me anymore.
It was about noon, just a few hours before my shift ended, when the king and Sunny decided to temporarily part company. She had been growing bored sitting in the diner all day, even though she had company. When there was a momentary lull, she stepped over to the counter and smiled at me.
"I'm going to go walk around for a while, see if anything triggers my memory. I'll come back when you're done. 3 o'clock, right?" I gave her a small nod, but said nothing, and watched out of the corner of my eye as she passed through the door. I was so focused on watching her that I failed to notice whether she had actually opened the door or just passed through it.
