Author's Note: I do not own the character of Mort Rainey (although I wish I did, lol) nor do I own Secret Window. All characters and/or incidents are purely fictional.
Chapter 1
It had been a long, hard day waitressing at 'Lucy's Diner' on this dreary Thursday evening. Finally, it was time to close up. Deja looked up at the clock and saw the time change to 10:00. Time to close up...finally. As she walked over to lock the door, she heard something fall to the ground towards the back of the diner. As she turned around she noticed a man sitting there, bent over picking up a spoon he'd obviously dropped. Had he been there this entire time? She had done so much work in the last 4 hours that she completely forgot there was still a customer left. She made her way over to him to let him know it was time to go home.
"Sir?" she inquired.
"Yes?" he was staring intently into his now empty coffee mug.
"It's 10 pm. Closing time."
"Oh," he looked up at Deja. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to linger. I know you must have some cleaning to do, so I'll be on my way."
"No problem," she said and winked at him. He was a very attractive man, and that's saying a lot because most of the men that passed through here were hardly that.
"Is the coffee all you've had?" she asked.
"Yeah, that's it," he replied.
"Your total comes out to be..."she began calculating in her mind "1.50."
He passed her a five dollar bill and told her to keep the change.
"Seriously?" she asked, shocked and pleasantly surprised.
"Yeah, you look like you've had a rough evening and I've already kept you here longer than you need to be. Thanks again," he hopped out of his booth and made his way out of the diner.
As soon as the man left the restaurant, Deja locked the door, turned over the "CLOSED" sign and began to clean the tables and countertops. After about 20 minutes she yelled to Mike in the back, the owner and cook, that she was leaving. He quickly ran to the front door and locked it behind her.
Deja could never go to bed unless she'd taken a hot shower. And tonight was no exception. Her life was a complete mess at the moment. Just thinking of all her worries gave her migraines.
She was only 26 years old, but her troubles weighed her down like she'd never imagined. She recently split from her boyfriend of 3 years. They had purchased a home together, against the advice of her mother. And now that Darrell was gone and the home was in Deja's name only, she was left to pay the mortgage...alone. The house wasn't anything too extravagent, but it cost enough for her to have to take on a second job waitressing (at Lucy's of course). Her full time job was as an office secretary for the local insurance agency. It didn't pay that well, but it allowed her to relax a little, and that was good considering 'Lucy's' kept her on her feet. Deja was working towards her bachelor's degree at the local university, but because of her financial obligations she had to drop out. Much to the dismay of her mother.
Growing up, Deja's best friend was her mother, Janice. Her father died when she was only 5, so Deja only knew her mother. But when Deja met Darrell at the age of 23 it caused a rift between her and her mother. Janice always wanted the best for her daughter and she knew Darrell was not it. At first he seemed okay, but Janice gradually noticed Deja's attitude changing. She began smoking, staying out late partying, sometimes not coming home at all. After about 3 months of this behavior, Janice gave Deja an ultimatum. She told her daughter that she needed to stop her 'wild' behavior or move out. To Deja, that was a simple decision. Within 2 weeks she was completely out of her mother's house and into Darrell's rundown apartment. They lived there for a good year when Darrell suggested they purchase a home. Because Darrell's credit wasn't the best he convinced Deja to put the house in her name. He was working full time, she was in school and working part time at the insurance agency. Life, she felt, couldn't get better. That was until she came home early one Friday afternoon.
Business had been slow, so her boss let her leave early. She came home to find Darrell in their bed with another woman. Too upset to do anything else, Deja ran out of the house crying, jumped in her car and drove to her mother's house. Her mother consoled her for the next few hours. Because Darrell was such a smooth character, he convinced Deja that it was a one time affair and that it would never happen again. Wanting to believe him, she returned home. The cheating continued. Once a player, always a player, Deja's mother would remind her. Deja grew tired of his ways, but she loved Darrell and was willing to endure his ways just to be with him. Her life came to an abrupt halt when he announced during dinner one night that he had fallen in love with someone else and would be leaving her. That seemed like the end for her, but somehow she managed to get through it and was finally starting to get her life together again.
Thinking of all she had gone through over the last few years was enough to tire anyone out. She quickly dozed off and began her routine again the next day.
