I Have Been Chosen

Cody 8

Sunday 18th January

The lunch rush had officially ended, and Cody was enjoying the break of incoming customers and orders, catching up on any cleaning and other duties.

"You want to have your smoke break?" Cody suggested to one of his colleagues on shift, Heather.

"Vape," Heather corrected him.

Cody rolled his eyes. "Still bad for you, but somehow you get breaks for the addiction," he teased.

"Yeah, sure, I'll-" Heather paused, face stiff as the door opened with the chime of a bell.

"It's okay; you go on ahead," said Cody. "I'll serve..." He then saw who the customer was:

Colene.

His ex-girlfriend.

She had visited him at work many times before, but she now looked so lost and uncomfortable being in the building, shoulders and back stiff, arms folded around herself, hugging her handbag. Colene's eyes glanced all over the place, then finally stopped avoiding Cody, briefly registering him before looking to the ground, her hand pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Maybe you should go for a smoke break," Heather whispered to Cody.

"I don't smoke," said Cody.

"You know what I meant, boss-man." Heather patted him on his back. "Stay within the security cameras in case her brother comes along."

Cody swallowed, straightening as Colene approached the counter, almost knocking over a stool nearby with her bag. He folded his arms, attempting to maintain some semblance of indifference but seeing her now... the last time they saw each other was the breakup. Cody was the one who instigated it, even though he had to keep on reminding himself of the fact what with how much it messed him up; it made him clean his whole apartment like a crazy person; it looked like no one had lived in it now with how spotless it was.

Colene eventually glanced back up at him, and Cody almost held his breath, seeing those eyes of hers bore into him, her lip quivering as she mumbled something.

"Huh?" Cody frowned. "Sorry, what was that?"

Colene scowled, though it was not in anger, but more frustration, perhaps embarrassment from her meagerness. "Can we talk, please?"

Cody glanced behind at Heather, who was pretending to look busy whilst in earshot. She gave a quick nod and a supportive smile. Cody turned back and said with a low sigh, "yeah, let's go outside."

He took off his apron and chef headwrap, then guided Colene to the outside eating area, which was just a glorified handful of picnic tables. Due to the cold January weather, no one else was outside, making it the perfect place for a private conversation, though Cody ensured that their table was in perfect view of the security camera, following Heather's advice just in case Colene's brother did make a surprise visit and beat him up again.

They both sat down, Colene huddled in her winter coat, shivering, whilst Cody remained mostly undisturbed in his chef's whites, sleeves neatly rolled up.

"Aren't you cold?" Colene asked, teeth nattering, as a gust of wind blew her hair in front of her face. She swore under her breath as she attempted to tame it.

"I'll be fine," said Cody. "What did you want to talk about?"

Colene was silent for a long moment, staring at him, not staring at his face, where he had covered the bruises with Heather's foundation he had borrowed, though it could not hide the cut on his lip. "My brother," Colene began, clearing her throat, glancing away, unable to meet Cody again. "He told me what he and his friends did to you on Friday night."