There was some kind of commotion in the kitchen. I couldn’t see anyone, but I could hear them.
“I’m leaving,” a woman’s voice said. “You can’t make me stay.”
“We’re already short-staffed!” a short man said as he wobbled after the woman.
She tore off her apron and threw it on the ground. “You’re an idiot.” She pointed at everyone, including Sam and me. “You’re all idiots.”
The woman shoved the door opened and ran across the parking lot. She was in her car in less than thirty seconds. Her headlights popped on as she sped onto the road away from the restaurant.
“Is everything okay?” Sam asked, placing her hands on the counter and leaning forward. Her head moved from side to side.
The man chuckled nervously. “Everything is fine. Your food will be up shortly. I’ll throw in two free frozen custards for the wait.”
“Oh, we weren’t here long,” I said, holding up my palm.
“It’s quite all right,” he said, grabbing two plastic cups from under the counter. He turned to the ice cream machine, and another employee ran to the door.
The man turned at the sound and cursed under his breath. His smile was shaky as he placed our food into a bag and put lids on the custard.
“You should take it to go. Seems I’m going to need to close early,” he said, wiping sweat beads away from his temples with the back of his hand. “Have a good night.”
I grabbed the bag of food, and Sam took the cups of custard. My eyes stayed on the man as he walked over to the table where the older couple sat. His hand rubbed the back of his neck as he talked to them. The outside lights turned off before we were even outside the door.
“Well, that was weird, right?” Sam asked over her shoulder.
I couldn’t respond because it felt as though my throat was closing. Several parking spots away from the our SUV there was a black truck that reminded me of my ex’s truck. It wasn’t just the truck that made me nervous, it was the face looking out at us.
“Sam?” I said as the truck’s lights popped on and the face disappeared into the shadows inside the truck. “Is that Elijah?”
She looked over, but the truck pulled out of its spot, squealing its tires as it turned out onto the road. “Of course, it’s not. We’re miles from home. Lots of people have that same black truck.”
“I know,” I said. “It just looked so much like him, and I swear he was watching us.”
“I’m sure it was someone that was going to get food until the lights turned off,” Sam said, pressing her lips together. “He’s really messed with your head. Your paranoia is so much worse.”
“That implies it wasn’t great before Elijah,” I said, walking around to the driver’s side door.
I sat down and closed the door before handing Sam the bag of food. I was tempted to lock the doors, but Elijah’s doppelganger was long gone.
“No comment,” Sam said, smirking. “You’ll feel better once we’re at your mom’s. Secluded. Safe. Far, far away from civilization.”
“You make it sound kind of scary,” I mumbled.
Sam laughed as she reached into the bag and pulled out her order of cheese curds. She popped one into her mouth and moaned as she slowly chewed.
“Yep. That’s one delicious greasy blob of heaven,” she said.
“Wonder why they didn’t name them that. That’s a much better name than cheese curds,” I said with a quick laugh.
Sam handed me my food from the bag. I didn’t mind eating while driving. It took all my attention to focus on the two tasks, so I didn’t think about Elijah and what a shitty person he was. I’d never be the same because of the man I spent only six months of my life with.
At first, he seemed normal. Everyone noticed what a creep he was before I did.
He’d follow me around town. He’d show up at school. Elijah had texted constantly and then didn’t believe I was where I said I was. He’d become obsessed, and I’d felt trapped.
Breaking up with him had been a nightmare. He didn’t understand and thought if he showed up everywhere with flowers and a smile, I’d take him back.
I couldn’t ever be with someone that didn’t trust me and thought I was lying. One time I’d been out with Sam and Olivia, I’d had him on speakerphone. They both heard him say that if I was lying to him about who I was with, he’d kill me, and he’d kill the bastard that was trying to steal his girl.
Elijah was psychotic. It took a restraining order for him to understand I was serious, and even after that, I caught him driving by on occasion.
Truthfully, I didn’t think he gave a crap about the restraining order. I believed he just got better at hiding in the shadows.
I’d probably never feel completely free of him. I’d always feel like he was lurking somewhere.
Elijah had no idea I was even leaving town. I shouldn’t have to be miles away and still feel the need to look over my shoulder for him. If anything, I should finally feel safe.
The rest of our drive was relatively quick. We were one of the few cars on the road.
“I’m going to fill up the tank and get a few things from inside,” I said as I pulled into a gas station.
“How much further is it?” Sam asked with a yawn.
“Not much,” I said, rubbing my neck. “Thirty minutes, give or take.”
Sam stepped out of the SUV and stood next to me as I filled the tank. She hugged herself, rubbing her hands
