The Aeon Star

by Hart, Lauren T.

  These weren't her regular nightmares, where she was being hunted. The threat of being found was still there, but there was another much more haunting aspect to her dreams now.

  Just as sleep would find her, she would find herself standing in the same ballroom she had danced in with Xavier. The first couple of nights the room had been empty and then a long table with a coffin, surrounded by flowers, had appeared.

  A golden plaque adorned the top of the coffin, etched in unfamiliar markings. Just below it was an array of stars: one larger, eight-sided star in the center, surrounded by six smaller stars, three on each side. Similar patterns ran throughout the ballroom — on the ceiling, the doorknobs, even in some of the artwork on the walls.

  She ran her fingers across the symbols and stars hoping that if she did, they might change and she would be able to read the words, but they always stayed the same.

  Still, even though she never looked inside, she somehow knew it belonged to her uncle, Lewis Rion Xavier, who'd been murdered in an alleyway.

  She could hear people crying, weeping and wailing from other parts of the building, somewhere beyond the tall doors of the ballroom and the arched hallways that led off the balcony. She knew they mourned Xavier. She wanted to reach out to them, to comfort them, to apologize for Xavier dying because of her, as if such a thing could be apologized for. But she could never bring herself to venture outside of the ballroom. Some fear she couldn't quite explain would always stop her at the doors. And so she would sit at the doors, or near the coffin, and weep. She knew their pain; she felt it as if it was her own. She felt so lost, so alone. In many ways, she was.

  She blamed herself. Maybe if she had read the letter sooner things would have been different. She knew things would have been different — she would have been different. She wouldn't have taken the kindly stranger for granted if she had known he was her uncle, and maybe, just maybe, he would still be alive — still be with her — she corrected herself. Of course Xavier was still alive. It was only in her nightmares that he was dead.

  Her thoughts were heavy and confused when she awoke and she was grateful for the daylight, freed for a while from the torment of her dreams. She kept herself busy with the distractions of work and her new running shoes.

  She went running almost every morning just like she always had — except there was no treadmill when she ran now. She was outside, breathing in the fresh sea air, and admiring the continual change in scenery as she rushed past it.

  Work would not be a distraction for her today though. It was her day off. No matter, she'd needed to go shopping again anyway. She liked the forced sense of normalcy that came with shopping; it doesn't matter who you are, everybody shops.

  Mostly she was after some of the more basic necessities: food, shampoo, conditioner, assorted feminine hygiene products, toothpaste, socks, underwear — all of it lacy and colorful, a hairdryer, a smaller purse. It was all very mundane — except for maybe the underwear.

  She was trying to organize her new wares, in the small corner of the apartment that had been allotted to her until Emily moved out, when Emily and her fiancé Grant came home.

  They were making out pretty heavily as they stumbled their way into the front room — until they saw Jennifer.

  Grant promptly moved his hand off of Emily's breast.

  "I didn't know anyone was here." Emily smiled and pushed herself free from Grant.

  "Day off?" Grant added, straightening his tie.

  "Yeah," Jennifer nodded. "I was just about to head out again though," she lied. "So don't mind me."

  Grant smiled.

  "I'll go with you." Emily chirped.

  "Aww, C'mon." Grant whined.

  "You know I want to wait," Emily whispered, but Jennifer could still hear her. She busied herself with something immensely fascinating in the vicinity of her suitcase and pretended not to be listening.

  "I thought couples were supposed to stop having sex after they got married." Grant grumbled.

  "Not a chance. Besides, it'll be better this way." Emily cooed, sidling up against him. "I promise."

  "Better huh?" Grant argued his point with a kiss. "You sure about that?"

  "I'm sure." Emily said, pulling herself free from him. "You'll see." She smiled at him deviously and then showed him to the door. It was really more of an open-the-front-door-and-shove-him-out maneuver, but that doesn't sound nearly as gracious or romantic.

  "So where are we going?" Emily sighed as she persuaded her Grant-tussled locks back into place.

  "I don't know," Jennifer shook her head and shrugged.

  Emily laughed. "Okay," she flashed a scheming smile. "I know exactly where we're going." Twenty minutes later they were in a shop called Body Art by Adriana and Emily was trying to decide just how intimate she wanted her new piece of body art to be. She'd settled on a tattoo, because a piercing wouldn't be healed enough in time for her big day, and now Adriana was trying to explain to her why name tattoos weren't a good idea.

  Jennifer's thoughts were on Davin and the wings across his back.

  "How about you?" asked a well-muscled and tattoo-laden hunk behind the front counter, with black hair and deep brown eyes. "See something you like?" He smiled and flexed.

  She wondered if he was flirting with her or just trying to drum up business. "Stars," she said. "Seven of them, on my back. If you've got paper and pencil I can sketch the design."

  "Yeah. Sure thing. I love it when somebody knows exactly what they want," he said. "My name's Jay, by the way."

  "Jennifer."

  It was a complete split second decision, but she did know exactly what she wanted. She'd always loved stars, but the design was the one she'd seen in the ballroom, when she danced with Xavier, and then again the many nights after as she mourned him in her dreams. She felt a little silly, being so affected by an image from her dreams, but then again, maybe that was the perfect reason to have it permanently etched upon her skin.

  A short time later she found herself topless, covering her front with her shirt, admiring the temporary drawing of what would be her first tattoo in a mirror.

  "So should we do this thing?" Jay smiled.

  "I like it." She smiled.

  "But you're nervous," Jay said. "I can tell."

  "It's my first time," she said, trying not to blush.

  "You never forget your first time." His deep brown eyes lifted at the corners when he smiled. "I'll be real gentle," he reassured

  Apparently real gentle to Jay meant: I'll tell you it's going to hurt, just before I hurt you. But when he was done she was happy with the spray of stars she had etched across her back in white ink. She liked how the white ink looked less like a stamp into her skin and more like the design was a part of her skin. Fitting, since it felt like it was a part of her somehow.

  Emily had decided to get several small hearts, strategically located on different parts of her body, that Grant could go looking for on their wedding night.

  That weekend was Emily's bachelorette party. Jennifer had never been to a bachelorette party. She'd been to plenty of bridal showers though, some in people's homes, some at the church. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but she definitely hadn't expected the stripper.

  Chapter 6

  The Familiarity of Strangers

  A few days later, Jennifer, wearing the CUPCAKE name-tag, was slicing lettuce when Erin, Jamie and Ashley – or as their name-tags claimed: MADONNA, LICORICE and SUGAR – all came bustling into the kitchen at once.

  "What's up?" asked Brett, coming out of the office.

  "They're back," said Erin.

  "Who's back?" Jennifer asked.

  The kitchen went silent. Jennifer looked up to see all eyes on her. Broad conspiratorial smiles splashed across their faces.

  "You haven't met the 'Star Souls' yet, have you Jennifer?" Jamie smirked.

  Jennifer felt a twinge across her back. "Star Souls? What's that? Are they a band? It sounds like a hippy cult," she joked.

&
nbsp; Jamie burst out laughing.

  Jennifer hadn't thought what she'd said had been that funny.

  "Shut up Jamie," ordered Brett.

  "What? Did I guess right?" Jennifer glanced around at the faces in the room; their present expressions suggested that the answer was a yes.

  "There's nothing wrong with them," interjected Brett. "They can be a little odd, sometimes, but they're fine," he reassured. "Besides, Nick's a friend."

  "Odd would be fine," Jamie started. "Odd is practically run-of-the-mill around here. These guys are... totally gonzo."

  "C'mon," said Jennifer. "How bad could they be?"

  "Well, Cupcake," Ashley said, "I think you should go and find out."

  Jennifer pulled off her gloves and Ashley handed over her order book with a smile.

  "I can't let you do this alone." Erin caved. "I'll back you up," she said bravely.

  Jennifer wasn't sure what to expect, but she'd worked here long enough to know how much they all liked a good practical joke.

  "Table thirteen," Erin said just above a whisper as they exited the kitchen.

  Table thirteen was the most secluded seat in the J-shaped eatery — almost as secluded as the VIP booth. It was also a booth, located at the far back end of the restaurant, almost entirely hidden from view. This fact alone made Jennifer even more suspicious of the jokesters in the kitchen.

  Something sparked within her as she rounded the corner and table thirteen came into view. Something similar had happened before, she remembered, when she first met Xavier.

  Xavier.

  The images and sounds from her nightmares came rushing back to her — the shouting the gunshots, the hollow face. She felt off-kilter, almost dizzy. She froze, unable to move, mid-step. She couldn't help herself.

  Neither could Erin, unfortunately, who ran directly into the back of her. They stumbled forward together, but quickly righted themselves. The commotion caught more than a few eyes and she could hear the group in the kitchen's ill attempt at suppressing their laughter. It also had the affect of bringing Jennifer back to herself.

  "Are you chickening out already?" Erin whispered.

  "No," Jennifer said quickly. "I forgot a pen."

  Erin handed her one from her apron.

  "Thanks." Jennifer gave her a smile and a nod and tried to act normal. She wasn't going to fall for whatever this little prank was that they had planned for her. She took a deep breath, and put on her best smile.

  "Good afternoon gentlemen," she had meant to say — but didn't. As soon as she saw him, all she could do was stare. She couldn't help herself. Even more remarkable was the fact that he was staring back. They were all staring at her actually, but he — the gorgeous stranger with deep brown hair and exquisite grey-green eyes — was all she could see. He was sitting in the furthest back corner of the booth in jeans, a t-shirt and a hoodie. His hair was on the long side of short, long enough that a couple of unruly strands fell over one eye. His features were strong yet soft, his lips the most kissable shade of pink. Oh but his eyes — she'd never seen anything quite like them. She could fall into those grey-green jewels and happily become lost forever.

  He was not at all the kind of guy that Jenny Taylor would have been allowed to be interested in. Or the kind of guy who would have been interested in Jenny Taylor, she reminded herself. He could've been one of Davin's friends though...

  She saw herself standing half naked in front of a window overlooking the ocean at night, his tall, gorgeous form stepping in close behind her, tracing his hand over her back, her arms, kissing her shoulder, embracing her, kissing her neck.

  Erin elbowed her in the side, breaking her free from her fantasy.

  "Sorry," Jennifer said, feeling flush, she pulled her gaze away from Tall-Dark-and-Handsome and decided it was in her best interest to avoid looking directly at him — at least until she could manage to control her thoughts a little better.

  Jennifer did a quick assessment of the other the two. The blond's features were narrow and sharp, as was the rest of his look. The other was a light-haired brunette. He was heavyset and looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days, but he was put together well. "What can I get for you — you guys," she tripped over her words. "What can I get for you guys?"

  "Do I know you?" asked the one with light brown hair, sitting next to Gorgeous.

  She couldn't deny the odd sense of familiarity she had to the small group, but considering her decidedly sheltered history, she was sure she'd never met them before. Besides that, the gorgeous creature sitting in the corner and the reaction she was having to him was definitely not someone she was likely to forget — or have forgotten. "I don't... think so." Her focus switched to the unshaven guy, though she could still feel the pull of Sexy in the corner.

  There was something definitely familiar about this other guy. Like they did know each other — like they'd always known each other — except they didn't. He was a complete stranger.

  "She's new. Just moved here." Erin pitched in. "Still training. Brand new. That's why I'm here." It was odd the way Erin was talking. In. Short. Clipped. Sentences.

  "New girl huh?" The blond snorted and rolled his eyes.

  Erin laughed nervously. "Uh-huh."

  "I'll have the usual," the blond said.

  Familiar guy scoffed.

  Gorgeous shook his head.

  "Uh" Erin started nervously.

  "Okay," Jennifer cut her off — she could handle it. She pretended to write down what he'd said, with much thought. "And what about for you guys?"

  She glanced only briefly at Tall, Dark, and Handsome. He was so gorgeous; she couldn't help but gush, in the form of a huge smile. He was watching her pretty closely. He looked amused and sexy. She avoided direct eye contact as best she could.

  "Roast beef on wheat, and a Coke," said Familiar guy.

  "Have you had the sweet potato fries with that?" she asked. "They're so yummy."

  "Mmmm," he considered. "No thanks, Cupcake."

  "I'll have the same on sourdough, with an iced tea," said the Hot Babe in the corner.

  She really should stop objectifying him like that. "You want lemon?"

  "Yeah," he smiled and she smiled back as she imagined herself climbing across the table and kissing him full on the lips — his soft, sweet lips.

  Stop it; she scolded herself. He had been saying something, but she hadn't caught it because she had been fantasizing. "I'm sorry, my brain just... Could you say that last bit again?" she grinned sheepishly.

  "Sweet potato fries," he repeated.

  Sweet potato fries, his voice was so yummy it sent intense, tingly, butterfly sensations coursing through her. She grinned, hopefully not too much like and idiot, turned abruptly, sidestepped around Erin who looked unreasonably concerned, and hurried back to the kitchen. Erin followed a short distance behind.

  "Any idea what that guy's usual is?" she asked Erin.

  "He doesn't have one," Erin frowned. "That's what I was trying to tell you."

  "Okay," Jennifer thought for a moment. "Two roast beef's one on wheat, one on sourdough with an order of sweet fries and a turkey sandwich on white," she announced.

  Caleb laughed, "You got it."

  "But that wasn't the order." Erin protested.

  Jennifer flashed her an unconcerned smirk as she started the drinks. "Hey Caleb, what would you say is Sammie's most popular sandwich?"

  Everyone in the kitchen already knew the answer. "That would be turkey on white."

  "I'd say that classifies as 'the usual' wouldn't you?" Jennifer smiled.

  The reaction of the staff was mixed. Jamie looked worried, Brett concerned, Caleb was perfectly content, and everyone else looked at least mildly amused, except for Sam and Ashley who were enjoying a good laugh.

  "I didn't order this," said the blond, as she placed the Coke and a straw in front of him.

  "Sure you did," Jennifer countered, playing dumb. "I wrote it down and everything." She hurried back to the kitchen ignoring
any further protests, but she thought she heard a guffaw or two as she went.

  The kitchen crowd looked expectant at her return. "What?" She looked around at them. "I think you guys were over-reacting. Seriously."

  "Maybe they're going easy on you because you're new," said Jamie.

  "They didn't go easy on me," Erin piped in.

  "Who are they anyway?" Jennifer asked. "Regulars?"

  "Typically, they're in here once or twice a week" Jamie offered. "But they haven't been in since you started working. I was hoping that the two were connected, but I guess not." She frowned.

  "The cute one is Marcus" Erin informed her, "He's kind of a prick. The one with the lighter brown hair is Paul and the quiet one is Nick."

  "Wait, I'm confused," Jennifer said. "Which one is Marcus?"

  "The cute, blond, prick." Erin clarified.

  "You think he's the cute one?" Jennifer was aghast. "Eew."

  "He's totally cute." Erin asserted.

  Jennifer shrugged. "He kind of reminds me of my ex-boyfriend's boyfriend. Except for the prick part... sort of. Never mind."

  "Your ex-boyfriend's boyfriend?" Ashley echoed with a devious grin.

  "Shut up, Ashley," Brett said.

  "What?" Ashley defended.

  Jennifer picked up the sandwiches and hurried out of the kitchen. "You know there are other customers out here," she reminded them.

  Erin and Ashley scuttled out the door after her.

  "What is this?" Marcus sneered.

  "That's the usual. Just like you ordered."

  "I meant my usual," he glared.

  "But you don't have a usual," she countered, in a consoling tone. "I checked. Turkey on white with a Coke, is our most-ordered meal, which by default makes it the usual." She smiled.

  "I'll have the usual," she heard a customer at Ashley's table say much louder than he needed too.

  She was pretty sure that guy was getting a free lunch today.

  "Turkey sandwich and a Coke coming right up." Ashley said back, with the same louder than necessary tone.

  Jennifer suppressed a laugh. But not the gorgeous stranger – Nick – he laughed jovially at Marcus's predicament.