Daisy in a Meadow

19 - Closure

"I mean, I never know what to expect with the guy. He's a walking mystery. First he steals my brownies, and I think ugh what a jerk. Then he pays for me when I don't have enough money and I think hmm maybe the guy's not so bad after all. Then he insults me and I go wow he's such a douchebag. Then he apologizes to me, oh and let's not forget—"

"Daisy—"

"The brownies," I woefully clutched my heart.

"Is there a point to all this?" My fifty-something year old manager glared at me atop his half-mooned glasses.

"Well, I guess what I'm trying to say is, maybe I don't hate him nearly as much as I thought. In fact, I think we might even be friends now," I beamed.

"Right, because it's definitely normal to refer to a friend as fucking annoying," Bob gruffly replied, his tone laced in sarcasm.

"Actually, that would be a very Ellie thing to say to a friend."

"What kind of a man is named Ellie?"

"I don't know, what kind of a man is named Bob?"

"One more word and you're fired," Bob scowled at me. "Now go serve table 32."

My mouth dropped open. "But—"

"Go."

I huffed and grabbed my notepad before storming in the direction of table 32.

"Hi, could I get you something to start?" I asked the customer, flipping over to a fresh page on my notepad.

"I dunno, I've never been to this place before. What would you recommend?"

I froze and slowly lowered my notepad, recognizing the voice of my biggest nightmare.

My heart began to hammer as my voice became higher pitched. "Oh, um, the deluxe cheeseburger is our most popular meal, so I'd probably go with that..."

"Right, I'll just get that then," he handed me the menu, and his eyes narrowed. "Hey, do I recognize you from somewhere?"

"N-No, I don't think so," I quickly replied, glancing down.

"Are you sure? You look really familiar?"

With a sigh of disbelief, I dropped the charade and glanced back up at him. "Unbelievable. After all those years of torment, you don't even recognize me?

"Crazy Daisy!" Anthony Miller gasped in realization.

"It's just Daisy."

"Same thing," he dismissed. "What are you doing here?"

With irritation, I gestured down at my uniform. "I work here."

"Oh," he dumbly replied.

I skeptically analyzed Anthony up and down. His eyes were rimmed red, and I couldn't tell if he was high or just sleep deprived. I'd never seen his hair so shaggy before, and his face was rough with stubble. Goodness gracious, what had happened to him over the last few months?

"Wow, you look..."

"Horrible, I know," he sighed and buried his head in his hands.

I debated between comforting him or simply walking away. After all, this was the very same boy who'd bullied me for years. However, no matter how much I wanted to, I simply wasn't able to just up and leave.

"Curse my good conscience," I sighed before sitting down in the booth across from Anthony. "Are you alright?"

He rubbed his red eyes and looked up at me with a yawn. "Not really, no."