“I bet she’s been working up the nerve all this time. She’s been in the diner every morning for weeks.” Now that Ellis knew who the woman was, her memory cleared, and she could recall just how often she’d noticed her.
“I think she might’ve said that. I’m not sure. Anyway, it was so weird because once she said who she actually was, I could suddenly see it. Like, see the resemblance. It’s uncanny. I can’t believe I never noticed it before.”
“Yeah? I remember her hair, but it’s much lighter than yours.”
“It’s the eyes. She has my eyes. Er, rather, I have hers.” Cherry dropped her head back against the couch and groaned. “This is allso weird. And I’m so frustrated. God.”
“I have an idea,” Ellis said. She stood up and held a hand down to Cherry. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“Someplace where you can let go of some of your frustration.”
Cherry grasped her hand and let herself be pulled to her feet. “I’m all for that.”
A few minutes later, they were in Ellis’s car and pulling into the back alley behind Sunny Side Up. It was empty, just a strip of pavement with the brick side of buildings to the left and right, a large green dumpster tucked into a corner.
Cherry glanced at her. “Have you brought me here to murder me?”
“I thought it would be easier and less messy to do it here,” Ellis deadpanned. “I mean, the dumpster is hella convenient.”
Cherry blinked at her.
“Oh my God, stop it. No, you’re not about to become aDatelineepisode. I brought you here for another reason.” They got out of the car, and Ellis fished out her keys as they approached the back entrance of the diner. Keying the lock, she said, “We’re only open for breakfast and lunch, so there’s nobody here right now.”
She pulled the door open, punched her code into the alarm, and flicked on the light. They were in a back break room, and Ellis headed through the kitchen to a storage area on the other side.
“It’s weird being here when it’s closed,” Cherry said, her voice barely above a whisper. “A little creepy, actually, like being in your high school when it’s dark and empty.”
“It’d be a good place for a horror movie, yeah?”
“I’m tryingnotto think that, El,” Cherry said on a whine.
“Here we go.” Ellis picked up a rack of glasses and turned to head back the way they came.
“What is happening right now?” Cherry asked, clearly confused.
“These all have chips or cracks in them. They’re kinda cheap, so it happens often. I’m trying to get the owner to spring for better glasses. In the meantime, we put the bad ones here, and when it’s full, we give it to the recycling guys.”
“That’s nice. But what are we doing with them?”
“You’ll see.” She led them back out the door, set down the rack, and then went to the dumpster and leaned into it until it rolled several feet down the wall, leaving a big open space of solid brick. She could feel Cherry’s eyes on her as she popped back inside to grab a pushbroom and a dustpan, then handed Cherry one of two pairs of sunglasses she’d snagged from her car. “Put these on.”
“What is happening right now?” Cherry asked again, but this time, she was curious and even a little amused. Ellis could hear it.
“Okay.” Ellis looked at Cherry in the sunglasses, and she was both adorable and super sexy. “Those look great on you, by the way,” she said in an aside. Cleared her throat. Back to the task at hand, please. She pulled a glass from the rack and handed it to Cherry. “Go ahead.”
“Go ahead and what?”
Ellis pointed to the wall. “Throw it.”
Cherry’s eyes went wide with surprise which quickly shifted to delight. Ellis watched it happen and couldn’t contain her own joy. “Seriously?”
“In my experience, I have found that the feeling of throwing something hard combined with the sound of breaking glass to be very,verysatisfying when I’m frustrated.”
The smile slowly crept across Cherry’s face, and she turned toward the wall. Ellis slid the other pair of sunglasses over her eyes and jerked her chin at the wall.
“Ready when you are.”
