Roman stood across the street and stared at Sunset. Channing was in there working and he was hungry and needed lunch. He also needed to talk to her one on one. He had stuck around the party for another hour yesterday but she never returned. She had gone home. Something Dean had been sour about for a while until he found someone else to keep him warm for the night.
He crossed the street and looked in through the window. He had gone there early on purpose to make sure the place wouldn't be crowded. He was in luck. No one was there except for Channing behind the counter and most likely someone else in the back. He entered and she looked over at him. He smiled but she didn't smile back.
"Hi, Channing," he said.
"What can I get for you today?" She asked.
"A greeting would be nice," he said.
"Hi, Roman," she said. "What can I get for you today?"
"That's it? All business and no talk?" He asked.
"I'm working," she said.
"No one's here," he said.
He felt frustrated. The Channing he remembered and loved would have smiled at him and started talking to him. She would have kept the conversation going for as long as she could. This new version of her clearly wanted him out of the shop as fast as possible.
"What happened to you?" He asked.
"Nothing," she shrugged. "So what do you want?"
He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
"I want you to talk to me!" He raised his voice. "I don't recognize you. You've been ignoring me for months. You never pick up the phone anymore. You hardly even text me back. Last night you couldn't get away from me fast enough, and I'm sure you would kick me out of here right now if you could. What the fuck happened, Channing? What did I do wrong for you to suddenly hate me?"
"I don't hate you," she said.
"It sure feels like it," he said.
He could see it in her eyes. She wanted to disappear but she was stuck.
"And you were with Dean," he continued. "I can't fucking believe it. It's like a bad dream but it was real. You never fucking liked Dean and now you're fucking around with him. I don't understand what the fuck is wrong with you."
Her eyes shifted and she looked angry.
"What's wrong with me?" She yelled. "You of all people know how things were. I never fucking fit in. No one cared about me but you. You were the only reason I kept hanging around those people. When you left, I had no one else. I was so fucking lonely, Roman. I was losing my mind to a point where I nearly killed myself."
"What?" He asked scared.
"I took a razorblade and placed it on my arm. I sat there knowing I had two options. Dying or surviving. Living wasn't an option but I chose to survive. I changed everything about me. I turned into a person I never wanted to be because that's how I can get them to like me. It's all an act. I disappeared and created this version that I fucking hate. All because I have to survive somehow," she said.
"Channing," he said lowly.
"Old Channing is dead! I killed her! Nobody accepted me! Nobody fucking saw me!" She yelled.
"I saw you!" He yelled back.
"But you left!" She screamed.
Her manager Grayson came running out from the back, clearly confused at all the screaming.
"What's going on here?" Grayson asked.
"Nothing," Roman said.
"Why aren't you serving the customer?" Grayson asked.
"I quit," Channing said.
Channing pulled off her apron and threw it on the table before storming out of there. Roman ran after her and stopped her.
"Leave me alone!" She snarled.
"You can't fucking quit. You need this job. Go back in there and apologize," he said.
"Why don't you do what you do best and run away? Don't act like you care about me now," she said.
"I do care. I've always fucking cared. You know that," he said.
"I don't need you anymore, Roman. I'm doing fine with you," she said.
"Fine? You just said it yourself. You're not living. You're only surviving," he said.
She turned right and started running. He knew he could catch her if he wanted to but he also knew how it would look to people passing by so he let her run. It wasn't the end of the conversation though. He would make sure of it. He had finally figured out what was going on and he wasn't going to let it continue. She needed him. That was for sure. And he was not going to ignore it.