World's are colliding

He hasn't called or sent me in text in four days, Andrea thought. It was strange, she was glad in some ways, because before they had been non-stop, incessant. Still, the silence was strange, she wondered if something was up. He could be a psycho, she thought, a ticking bomb waiting to blow. Isn't that what they usually said about serial killers? When the interviewed the neighbors? That they all seemed to normal, happy, well balanced? She had always hoped to see, just once, a neighbor say the exact opposite an obvious anti-social asshole who was bound to snap. Someone whose contempt and hatred for humanity was clear the moment he stepped through the door. There had to be a few cases like that, ones that were just clear cut and obvious. It had to be denial though, in some ways. After all, who would like to think that the seemingly normal person they had been living next to for years in fact had a massive stash of children bodies underneath his backyard? So they would blind themselves to the truth.

He'll be fine, she thought absently. There are plenty of seemingly normal people walking around who are, in fact, psychos. The thought came into her head, unbidden. Those who tow the line for years, show up to work on time, get married, have families, who just snap one day. Lose it, go on a rampage. She had always found it interesting how sometimes beneath ordinary simple facades their could live complex worlds. The hitman who does a job and then comes home to his wife and kids like any other 9 to 5 shmuck. Andrea checked the time on her phone, almost 11. Kevin would be over soon, she picked up a bud and put it in her bong, it always helped when dealing with Kevin. He was nice enough to her, and he seemed like a good guy,
but he always seemed to have a story, some kind of long complex reason why he didn't have any money, or something like that. The fact he didn't have any money didn't even bother her, it was just the complex explanation, the lie, that he felt the need to concoct that irked her.

She heard her phone ring just as she was considering giving up this going out business altogether. 'Hey, you ready?' She heard Kevin say. 'Yeah, give me a minute.' She ran and grabbed her weed and her bowl, as she was walking outside she heard a text. She looked at it briefly as she walked outside, 'Hey.' It said. That's were you've been, she thought..

I need to fire that man, Sam thought as he sat in the shed, looking outside to see if anything had happened. That corrupt, ineffectual, ruler who is currently bringing my country to the brink of ruin. I need to give a vote of no-confidence, a special election, or if need be topple that fool in a military coup. It had been a quiet nice for the most part, except that his co-worker had left a little before ten, saying he was going 'out for a smoke,' and then never returning. Normally, at a normal establishment, he would be assured that this person would be fired, terminated as soon as news of what they had done was reported. But this was the diner, and it would likely be a long time before anything was done. Sam put another bud in his corncob pipe, as he lit it up he heard his phone ding, 'Want to hang later :)'? the message said. It was her, perhaps the silence had worked, the absence had made the heart grow fonder. Maybe, still, it couldn't last much longer, he would hold onto it as long as he could.

Maybe it still had a chance, maybe I could turn things around. It was all possible of course, he knew. Like waking up early in the morning, going to the gym, not drinking all the time, such things were possible, but it was unlikely they would occur with him. If only I could switch characters, like in video games, play as someone else for a while. Have their strengths for a small amount of time, like feeling ok in your own skin. Have confidence, be able to talk to girls, get things done, wake up early in morning, things like that. To change the paradigm, Sam thought. He took another toke of the pipe, looking outside. The wind cried in the distance. He was also looking for Alex, that sneaky fucker. He liked to do the 'pop-in,' to stop by at random hours, to 'See how we were doing,' to 'Check up on us.' God I hate that man, Sam thought as he looked out onto the back door of the diner. His van was the only car parked out back, the waitress who was working likely to park in the front. It's like he's trying to catch us or something, Sam thought. Or that he wants to.

Sam looked at his phone, it was quarter past 11, less than an hour. I think I might grab a drink on the town when I get out, he thought. The Afterworks being the most obvious spot. They had the cheapest drinks, with one dollar shots. How long have I been out here? Time seemed to melt away in the shed sometimes. Between being high, and spacing out it good have been 5 minutes or 20. He put the pipe back into his backpack and headed outside. Sam put the backpack in his van, as he headed back inside he noticed the car. Blue, it was Alex's. Be cool, Sam thought as he headed back in.

As he put his apron on and walked back to the line he saw Alex standing there, wearing an apron. A couple of frybasket's were dropped, and two burgers were on the grill. 'Where were you?' Alex ask him as he walked back. 'I was out on a break.' Sam replied, already annoyed. 'What happened to Fred?' 'He walked outside for a break and never came back.' 'There needs to be one person on the line, at all times.' 'Ok.' Sam said. It was only two orders, which were simple and they put them out quickly. Alex said nothing but went out to the floor to talk to Sara, the waitress. He walked back over with a drink and sat down on the counter, he's going to be here for a while, Sam could see, he's just settling in. He had a few nips in the walk in freezer, just have to remember them. He walked through the kitchen door and looked around, it was empty. Alex didn't seemed to notice him, focusing instead on the waitress, Sara. She was young, 19, cute, maybe that will keep him distracted. When it came down to it, Alex didn't really want to do more work then he had to. Sam walked to the line and to the back to the freezer. He took the nip of whiskey he had in the freezer and took it down in one gulp. It burned, all the way down, into his core. It seemed to warm the whole body up.

Sam put the remaining little bottles in his pocket and walked back out onto the line, still no tickets. Alex was in the same place. He looked through the window at the clock, only ten minutes left. 3rd shift would be here soon and that would be a whole other distraction, he could slide out of here easily. He took another quick look around, still empty. He had had some day's when he worked where he had only done 6 tickets the whole night. This place is on the decline, Sam thought to himself. This business with the bar, it could be trouble, the police do watch that place. The best strategy would be to constrain himself to only a few, to not 'go too crazy.' He thought. That's the rationale talking. It will do anything to get you to bend to its will, and he usually did. Well it's going to be midnight anyway, how many drinks could I possibly drink in such a short amount of time?