A Match Beyond Measure Pt 10

A Match Beyond Measure Pt 10

Sean opened the door and stuck his head out. A second or two later, he pulled it back in. Slowly, he turned to stare at Cecilia, gaping. 

“W-what….. Who….. that can’t be-” 

“Oh for fuck’s sakes, you’re being ridiculous” Maddie got up from behind the counter and marched over to the front door just as Sean had done. She peered through the glass door, “Holy shit” she exclaimed, turning and joined the other two staring at Cecilia, “That looks just like Garret. That’s fucking Garret!” 

Cecilia felt like a cornered animal, all three pairs of eyes bearing into her, waiting for her to speak. When she said nothing, Rebecca stepped forward, “Dear god Cecilia, tell us what is going on.” 

“I-” 

“Did you know about this? Is that why you wouldn’t tell us anything about last night?” 

“I-”  

“Because you never went on a date after you found out?” 

“I-”  

“Then what the hell is he doing here?”  

Cecilia hung her head, nowhere to run now. She couldn’t talk her way out of this, “That is Garret” she stated slowly, “I found out last night. When he came to meet up” she looked up at Rebecca, “That’s…. Why I called you.”

Sean and Maddie both looked at Rebecca, “She called you about this?” 

“All she said was that there was a giant outside the cafe. I thought it was just a late pickup or something, I don’t know. But then she hung up.”

“So you really had no idea until last night?” asked Sean. 

Cecilia nodded. 

“What did you do after you hung up? How’d you get out of there? And why is he here now?!” Rebecca gestured outside.

“I uh…. Well….. I uh sort of worked things out with him and-” 

“Didn’t know you were capable of that” said Maddie, “chatting with a giant. Almost every time one came to the cafe, I remember you always quickly making your way into the back. But why is he here? Was he mad after finding out?” 

“N-no, he wasn’t mad. He was…. Surprisingly cool about it.” 

“Then why is he here?” 

Cecilia fidgeted with her hands, “He….. after he found out, he still wanted to get dinner.” 

Everyone once again gaped at her, Rebecca looking the most shocked and even a bit angry, “Why the hell would he want to do that? And so what, he’s salty because you said no?” 

Cecilia averted her gaze, “I uh…… I didn't say no.” 

The whole cafe fell silent. Maddie’s and Sean’s eyes were so wide, they looked ready to pop out of their skulls. Rebecca stared for a moment, before she clenched her jaw and fists, eyes narrowing. 

“You’re telling me, he forced you into agreeing?!”  

“What? No! I-” 

But Rebecca no longer seemed to be listening, “That son of a bitch, piece of shit.” she quickly turned, and began marching towards the front door. As her hand reached to push open the door, Cecilia realized what she was planning to do. 

“Wait! Stop!” she bolted over to her, just as Rebecca had stepped outside. 

“Hey you!” she bellowed. Cecilia burst through the front doors. She tensed at the sight of Garret’s column-like legs standing in the very center of the parking lot, but her gaze soon flicked over to the comparatively laughably smaller Rebecca. She strained her neck upwards just as Garret looked down at the approaching human. 

“Hey, is my order done al-”  

“Listen here, asshole!” Yelled Rebecca. Cecilia’s insides squirmed when Garret recoiled, his eyebrows raised, “I don’t know what your deal is, but I swear, if you-” 

“Rebecca stop!” Cecilia had finally got up to her. She stepped out in front of her, holding out her arms and shaking her hands frantically, “Just listen to me.”  Rebecca looked at her, raising an eyebrow and still looking murderous, “He didn’t force me into anything.” 

“What’s uh…. What’s going on?” Cecilia looked up at Garret, cringing at the perplexed look on his face. 

“I-I’m sorry Garret. Uh…. This is my friend Rebecca. She works here as well and …..” she turned to Rebecca, “This is Garret.”  

Her friend looked at her like she had lobsters crawling out of her ears. She looked up at Garret, who suddenly bent down. Cecilia couldn’t stop herself from flinching as his hand approached the two of them, “It’s….. Nice to meet you.”  

Rebecca looked from his hand to his face, eyes narrowed, “Cecilia,” she jerked her head back towards the cafe. 

“Uh, G-Garret, would you give us a minute?” Before he could answer, Rebecca had grabbed her shoulder and was hastily leading her back to the cafe. 

As they approached, Cecilia could see both Maddie and Sean pressed up against the glass, staring at them. They retreated as the two girls walked through the front door.  Rebecca grabbed both her shoulders and flipped her around to face her. 

“What the fuck is going on,” she said it much less as a question, but as a statement. “I must be dreaming, because there is no way you, you of all people, would agree to spend time with a giant.”  

“So you actually did willingly agree to dinner?” asked Sean. Cecilia nodded, “Wow uh….. How did it go? And actually tell us this time.” 

She shrugged, “It was…. Interesting. Like I said, he took me to a burger-” 

“Is no one going to talk about how a giant, a fucking giant, asked her out?” cried Rebecca. 

“Wait wait” said Maddie, “it wasn’t just dinner? It was meant to be a date?!”   

Cecilia glanced down at the ground, “I-I guess so.” 

“What do you mean you guess so?” said Maddie. She pressed a hand to her forehead, “I’m still trying to wrap my head around this.” 

“I sort of am too.” 

“Is he nice?” piped up Sean. 

“Yeah, I guess so. He’s-” 

Rebecca rounded on Sean, “How are you being so calm about this?” 

“Would you quit interrupting her, and I’m not calm, I’m just trying to actually listen. Besides, none of you acted like this when I began dating Jeffery,” 

“Yeah well we all saw that coming,” replied Maddie, “This however, is not only crazy, but completely out of left field.” 

“Thank you” exclaimed Rebecca before she turned to Cecilia, “Don’t you find it a little suspicious? That he asked you out? And this is nothing against you. Just…. Why would a giant ask out a human?” 

Cecilia sighed, “You think I haven’t already been asking that question myself?” she turned, and sat down at one of the tables against the window, “I barely have any idea of what’s going on. I mean, this is crazy, right?” 

All of them fell silent. 

“Yes I guess it is” said Sean, “But…. I think that’s just because it’s never really been heard of. A giant and a human.” he sat himself down at the other end of the table, “I mean, none of you have ever heard of such a thing, right?” 

“Yeah never,” said Maddie, “How would that even work?” 

“I- I really haven’t thought that far ahead at all” said Cecilia. She could hardly even picture such a thing.

“I mean really. How would that work? You know when it comes to-”  

Sean quickly held up his hand to stop her, “Do you…. Mind if we meet him?”   

Cecilia looked up at him, “What?” 

“Well, I get Becky’s concerns. I also am a bit suspicious of his true intentions… you know, since I’ve never heard of anything like this before. But, I’d rather meet the guy first before I jump to conclusions.”  

She looked from Sean, to Rebecca. She was glaring out the window, eyes trained on the truck sized sneakers. Cecilia looked down  “I….. I don’t know. It seems weird to suddenly introduce all of you. I don’t want to seem overbearing or- or anything.”   

Sean frowned, turning to Rebecca, “I heard you outside, you sort of met him. What do you think?” 

Rebecca turned away from the window to look at the two of them, her eyes softened as she did, “Look, I’m just worried about you being forced into a situation that clearly makes you uncomfortable. I also don’t want anyone taking advantage of you because you’re….. You.”  

Cecilia felt that oh so familiar pang of guilt drop into her stomach, “It’s not your job to worry about me and stepping out of your comfort zone once and a while is said to be a good thing.”

“I guess, but not if you're doing it just because someone else wants you to.” 

She thought for a moment. Garret hadn’t ever within her short time knowing him used the ‘It would make me happy if you did’ trick. He also so far had given her the chance to back out of it, but for some reason, there was a strange part of her that didn’t want to. That was…… curious. 

“I think I’m….. I’m honestly sort of interested in….. Whatever this is. I mean, I was interested enough to meet him in person in the first place.”  

Rebecca glanced out the window, “You sure? Because we’d all understand if-” 

The entire building shook. Cecilia yelped, grabbing onto the table along with Sean while Maddie and Rebecca failed their arms out for balance. The light room darkened as the light from the windows was seemingly blocked out. When everything settled, they all simultaneously looked outside. 

Garret’s face filled the front entrance windows, looking in on them. Cecilia put her head in her hands, mortified. What is he doing?! She peeked through her fingers. Everyone else had begun to recover from the shock. Rebecca shot a look that read what the hell? 

“Sorry, I was just wondering if my drink was finished yet,” he was loud enough that they could hear him from indoors, his booming voice only slightly muffled. 

Rebecca crossed her arms, huffing, “Impatient much?”  

“He did order at least ten minutes ago,” Sean noted. Rebecca glared at him.

Cecilia went scarlet, quickly getting up from her seat, “I’ll uh- I can help you make it.” 

“But it’s your day off,” said Rebecca, but Cecilia was already heading for the back, quickly gesturing to Garret that she’d be right back.  

A Match Beyond Measure Pt 8

“You ready?” though her brain screamed no, she slowly nodded, “Okay, here we go.” 

Suddenly, Cecilia was being slammed down against Garret’s palm as it began to move upwards. He was moving at such an alarming speed, her stomach seemingly had been abandoned on the ground. She couldn’t move, sheer G force from his movements keeping her down. Her fingers frantically dug into the flesh beneath her for something, anything to hold onto. She squeezed her eyes shut to avoid watching as the sky grew closer and closer.  

Then, as soon as it had started, it had stopped. Cecilia’s heart pounded against her ribcage as she laid there, eyes still scrunched shut. 

“You okay?” she flinched at Garret’s voice, louder than ever. Slowly, she blinked open her eyes, immediately being met with his massive face looking down at her. Unable to speak, she forcibly nodded her head, “you sure?” 

“T-t-t-too….. Too f-fast” was all she could manage.   

Garret gave her a guilty look, “Slower, got it.” His eyes darted away for a second, as if he was pondering something or maybe to give her whatever space he could to process.

Cecilia, still splayed out on his palm, was still reeling from practically being launched over a hundred feet up. Trembling from head to toe, she heaved herself up until she was sitting upright. She closed her eyes, forcing her breathing to slow. It's okay, it’s okay, you’re fine. 

Opening her eyes, she turned back to look to see Garret’s attention was back solely on her, “Do you mind if….. This is gonna sound weird, but can I move closer? I…. I kinda want to see you… you know, up close.”   

Closer? Closer to his face? Cecilia couldn’t help but feel….touched by this. It had never occurred to her that he had never really been able to see much of her in person when from her view, it was quite the opposite problem. She seemed to be unable to look at anything but him whenever he was nearby whether she liked it or not. He just seemed to block out everything around her.  

She nodded and was instantly thrown forward as Garret’s hand moved. Regaining her balance, she looked up, only to freeze. Her entire vision was consumed by his face, only being held a few feet away from it. Her hair was blown back by the warm breeze that emitted from his large nose with every breath he took. She could make out almost every single strand of black hair atop his head and see all the specks and smudges of dirt from his day at work. His eyes, his bright blue eyes seemed to pin her in place with how intently they were looking at her. She couldn’t help but stare back into them, all the rippling details becoming so clear and her own reflected face staring back at her.  

A small smile appeared on Garret’s face. Cecilia tried to smile back but suddenly she felt like she was falling, air whipping past her and her stomach plummeted as the hand beneath her lowered away. Terrified, she frantically threw herself forward, grabbing onto and wrapping her arms around the closest thing. She let out a small whimper as she closed her eyes.  

She let out a small gasp of relief when everything around her stopped moving, “Oh, sorry, I forgot, slower” boomed Garret. Cecilia opened her eyes, all the color draining from her face at what she saw. Below her was the ground, at the very least fifty miles away. Her grip quickly tightened around whatever it was she had been holding on- wait. What was she holding onto?  

Turning her head, she looked and went red. Her arms were currently wrapped around Garret’s thumb, having been clinging to it for dear life a second ago. She instantly let go, throwing herself back and away from the large digit. Above her, she heard a thunderous chuckle.  

“Scared of heights?” she looked up and nodded, more like scared of falling. “Would it make you feel any better if I used both hands?” 

Cecilia felt a pang of guilt. Was she being a nuisance? She shook her head, “Y-you d-don’t have t-to do th-that.”  

“You sure?” 

“I-I d-don’t w-want to be a h-h-handful.” 

Again, Garret chuckled, “You’re definitely not that. Not even half” he smirked down at her, laughing at his own joke, “Well, if you’re sure. You okay if we get going?” Cecilia stared out at the city before her, before bracing herself and nodding, “Alright. Feel free to hold on.”  

This time, when his hand moved, she was prepared. What she was not prepared for was the rest of him beginning to move. As his hand moved up against his chest, Cecilia started as he began to walk, swaying with his gate and feeling his every step. Glancing at the edge of his palm, she whimpered and began scooting further away from the edge. She tensed when she backpedaled right up against Garret’s chest, but found she’d rather be up against it than any closer to where she could see how high up she was.  

Her heart had not stopped running like a freight train, beating profusely throughout this whole ordeal. She tried to slow it down, breathing in and out like she had been taught, but her body continued to tremble. Trying to relax, she allowed her head to fall back upon the massive wall of flesh behind her. Picking up the muffled booming of Garret’s heartbeat and his breathing, she focused on it. It reminded her of the ocean, the roar of his lungs very similar to the roar of waves crashing against the beach. She closed her eyes, picturing it. Picturing herself there, on the seashore. She imagined the warm soft surface beneath her was sand, and the wind blowing around her smelling like saltwater. 

“Everything alright?” 

She was jolted out of her daydream by Garret’s voice reverberating through his chest, loud and deep like approaching thunder. Looking up, she saw him smiling down at her. Her heart began to beat faster once more.  

“Y-yes.” She lied.   

“Okay good. We’re almost there.” 

That was fast. She strained her neck to peek over the tops of his fingers. This part of town seemed familiar, though that seemed odd since she’d never seen it from this vantage before. Her fear was outweighed by her curiosity and she continued to survey the scene below. 

Though on the giant designated side of the road, they seemed to be in a primarily human area. What with all the human businesses and all the traffic that luckily wasn’t underfoot. One stop in particular caught her attention, Best Bud’s Florals. She’d seen that shop before, passing it every commute to work. Wait a second. 

“W-what cafe a-are we headed to?”  

Garret glanced down at her, “Oh, well I’m not sure the place I usually go to serves humans, So I thought we’d head to one I know serves both.” 

“W-which is?” 

“That one you work at. What’s it called? Grounds and…… I don’t know.” 

A Match Beyond Measure Pt 6

The high pitch beeping rang in Cecilia’s ears. She groaned and rolled over in bed, glaring over at her phone which was admitting the loud alarm. Damn it, forgot to turn that off. Scooping up the device, she quickly turned the alarm off before tossing it to the end of her bed and collapsing back down into her pillowy nest. 

She was content to stay there the rest of the day, if it weren’t for her stomach, which churned in hunger. The night before, she had gone straight to bed and she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch that same day.  

Moaning with the weight of her limbs, she heaved herself up and slid out of the covers. She slowly waddled away from her bed and blindly made her way to the kitchen. Her apartment was small, even for big city apartment standards. It had three rooms, her bedroom, the mainroom which housed a tiny kitchenette along with a poor excuse for a living space, and a singular bathroom with a shower that barely knew how to be a shower. 

Shuffling onto the tiled floor, Cecilia gazed around for something to eat that she could just grab and not have to prepare. Her eyes landed on the far corner of the counter where a plate lay, on it were about half a dozen cookies. Guess they’ll have to do, she walked over and picked one up that she had decorated to look like a duck, one of the leftovers from that batch she made for Maggie for her birthday. Glancing down at her icing job, she understood slightly what her friends meant when they said they felt bad about eating her creations, but that was what they were for. 

She leaned herself up against the counter, taking a bite of the cookie and slowly chewing it. It was stupid of her to have not eaten anything last night, though she had made a lot of stupid decisions that night. She had already asked herself a million times the question: what was she thinking? Agreeing to the da- dinner, right dinner, with a giant. There was also the question of if she was even going to tell her friends. She didn’t want to make them feel guilty for putting her in this situation, but they were most definitely going to ask her about it. Though all of those were mere whispers in her head, while one voice shouted above the others: what’s wrong with you?! 

It had been a miracle she had been able to sleep at all. From the moment she had arrived home last night, her stomach had begun twisting itself into knots and her heart ached with what she had just done. She had just left him there, alone. Leaving without giving any sort of explanation or even a single word. Why had she done it?! Well, the answer was obvious, she was…. She was scared. But that was no reasonable excuse! That wasn’t his fault! He made it clear he didn’t want to scare her, he had even asked if there was anything he could do to help her! No, this was all entirely her fault. 

She hung her head, continuing to berate herself. Now thanks to her, Garret was probably feeling horrible and guilty even though she was the only one who should be feeling that way. He was a nice guy! Human or not and shouldn’t have to go through that. Why couldn’t she have just sucked it up? Kept her cool? Not flown into a panic from just watching him eat?! Seriously, what was wrong with her? 

What am I supposed to do now? She wanted to do something, but what the hell could she do? She had thought about maybe texting him to explain herself, but no words she came up with seemed to suffice, and that just seemed so shallow. 

Finishing off her cookie, she reached over to grab another one when she stopped. An idea had popped into her head. She stared at the plate of cookies for a second more before she rounded on the fridge and yanked it open. 

“Damn it” she muttered, seeing only one egg left in the carton and also that there was hardly any butter left. For a moment, she felt like throwing the whole idea out the window until she slapped a hand to her forehead, just go to the store stupid!  

She straightened up and hurried back to her bedroom to get dressed. 

An hour later, she was pushing a cart through the dairy section of the grocery store. Usually she picked out one of the smaller carts, but this time she had opted for the full size one which was currently filled with flour, sugar, vanilla extract and a whole array of other items. She had also grabbed some extra food coloring in case she was running low and had found some new piping tips that she just couldn’t resist. 

Now all she needed was some eggs. She stopped in front of the many different brands and began looking for the carton with the newest date. When she had finally found one that was brought in yesterday, she paused to think. Would twelve eggs be enough? I mean it only took two eggs for one batch, but then again there was also the matter of the icing…… She ended up grabbing a second carton, just to be safe. 

Okay, that’s everything. She sighed before turning her cart around and heading for the checkout, though before she made it halfway, she suddenly remembered something. Box, I need a box. For a moment, she looked around aimlessly until her eyes landed upon the in-store bakery, where  an employee was just  finishing boxing up a cake for a middle aged woman. She quickly hurried over. 

“Excuse me” she called over to the employee moments away from leaving for the back. The young woman, dressed in an apron with her hair pulled back, instantly stopped and turned to greet her. 

“Good morning.” 

“Uh hi yes, good morning. I was wondering if I could possibly have one of your biggest cake boxes?” 

The woman raised a brow, “Do you want a cake or anything?” 

Cecilia went slightly red, “Uh no, but could I possibly just purchase a box? The same box that you would use for something like a sheet cake.” 

She waited anxiously as the woman thought for a moment before nodding, “Yeah sure, I think I can do that for you”  she glanced over at her cart, “And seeing as you’re already buying a good deal of items, I can just give it to you if you want.” 

“Really? Oh thank you so much.”  

“No problem. Let me go and grab you one.”   

Using her foot, Cecilia pushed open her apartment door with two overflowing grocery bags. Setting the two bags down on the countertop, she quickly began to unload them while also grabbing whisks and bowls out of her cupboards. 

“Alright” she breathed, looking over her countertop which was now covered in ingredients and cooking utensils. Pulling out and setting her phone down, she turned on some Frank Sinatra and nodded to herself. Let’s get to work.  

Adding the last dot of icing, Cecilia stepped back, sighing with relief. It had been a bit difficult, but she had managed it. She stepped back to look at her handiwork. Before her was a single cookie, a cookie the size of a car tire that was taking up much of her counterspace. Cutting out the shape had been harder than usual since she couldn’t use a cookie cutter, but she had managed to cut a decent circle with just her knife and some patience. The hardest part really had been the icing. She had ended up pulling out her stool so she could have a more overhead view and kept having to refill her piping bags as she meticulously iced the top of the cookie. For a base, she had used a very light blue and all around the edge she had done one continuous line of white loops with yellow dots peppered around it. In the center of the cookie, she had used  white icing to write in cursive the words I’m Sorry.  

She looked up at the clock on the microwave, two thirty. Okay she told herself. Picking up her phone, she logged into the dating app she and Garret had met on and pulled up a conversation from not too long ago. 

“Yeah, currently doing some demolition work just across the street from the human mall. Should be off by 3 though, boss has us starting work at 6 in the morning. I tell you, he is crazy”. Cecilia nodded, pocketing her phone and turning to the massive cookie.  

The Saturday traffic was awful, even on bike. Cecilia found herself several times swerving to miss cars and opting for alleyway detours. The whole time she was trying to ride as smoothly as possible, hoping to keep the huge cake box strapped to the back of her bike from falling off or the contents being damaged in any way.   

After a long ride, she stopped on the sidewalk in front of the mall’s east entrance. She pulled out her phone, it read three o two. She tensed, quickly dismounting her bike and wheeled it over to one of the bike racks to chain it up. Having to use both her hands, she picked up the box and hurried over to the crosswalk to cross the street. 

Sure enough, in front of her was a massive tarped barrier with several cones that looked more like stretched out pyramids scattered around it. She tensed as she walked past one of these cones, its orange tinted shadow casting over her. Focus, stay calm, but that was getting harder and harder since as she approached, she could feel the ground vibrating beneath her feet. 

 After a bit of a walk, an opening in the barrier could be seen. Cecilia, slightly trembling, saw a lone human stone bench up against the street. She hurried over to it and sat down, setting the box down in her lap.  

Her leg bounced as she sat there, waiting. Periodically, she checked her phone, watching the minutes tick by. Maybe she had missed him? Maybe he had already left? She didn’t want to admit it, but there was a small sense of relief that came with that thought. That would give her more time to possibly prepare herself, come up with what to say, piece together a better-  

She let out a small yelp when her ears were assaulted with several voices admitting the loudest laughs she had ever heard. The trembling of the ground had remained constant ever since she had approached, but now it began to become more violent. Clutching onto the box like a lifeline, Cecilia whipped her head around only for her stomach to drop. 

A group of half a dozen giants, all men and all dressed in construction worker attire, had appeared. They all continued to laugh loudly, so loud that even a couple humans across the street shot glances up at them. 

Cecilia closed her eyes, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. You’re okay, everything is fine.   

The group began to walk off, all their combined footsteps literally causing Cecilia to bounce off her seat. She just held onto the box tighter, continuing to breathe. Okay, where’s Garret? Is he with them?  

As if to answer her question, one of the giants turned and shouted, “Hey! you coming?” Cecilia tensed as she saw (and felt) a somewhat familiar massive form step out from behind the barrier, confirming his identity when he removed his hard hat and ran a hand through his messy black hair. Garret.

“Nah, you guys go without me. Imma grab a bite to eat.”   

Cecilia up to this point managed to do nothing but stare, but suddenly was snapped back to reality by the massive quakes caused by Garret’s footsteps as he turned to leave. 

Say something! Now! 

Standing up on wobbly legs, she took a big deep breath and shouted as loudly as she could, “Hey!”  no reaction, “H-hey Garret!” 

I feel targeted lol

My Mood Currently Be Like:

Thanks Bestie

I've been OBSESSED with my friend @okminer07 g/t story "A Match Beyond Measure" so I decided to draw some art for it!

This is from when Garrett and Cecelia meet at the resturaunt. It was briefly inspired my this scene:

And another scene from which I cannot disclose to you yet...

Anyways, that's all. Go check out @okminer07 her writing is amazing!

A Match Beyond Measure Pt 5

“Can I get you another burger?” she asked. 

Cecilia shook her head, “T-that’s alright. I think I’ll just get some d-dessert if that’s ok?”   

Their waitress nodded, “Sure, what’ll you have?” 

“Oh uh… I’m sorry, I didn’t get a good look at the menu” more like she hadn’t been given one at all that she could read. 

“Oh, I’d recommend their cookies and cream pie, it's amazing” chimed in Garret.   

That sounded a lot more filling than what she had planned on, but how rude would it be for her to not take his suggestion, “Uh sure, I’ll have that.”  

“Great, all get that out for you in just a little bit.” flashing both of them a charming smile, she turned on her heel and pranced back on over to the back. Now it was just the two of them…. Alone…. With each other….again.  

After several long minutes of silence, Garret finally cleared his throat “Hey uh…. I’m real sorry about that whole ketchup ordeal, and for ruining your meal.” 

“Oh, it’s alright” she smiled up at him, fidgeting with the end of her skirt which still smelled and had a rather large stain, “You’re fine.” 

Garret nodded halfheartedly, looking from her to his plate of food, “Would you be ok if I go ahead and start? I’m cool with holding off if you want to wait until your food comes out.” 

Cecilia waved him off, “Oh no, go ahead.”  

He grinned down at her before turning all his attention to his plate. She flinched ever so slightly when his hand came forward and wrapped itself around the massive burger and lifted it off the plate with ease, only bringing up his second to stop the toppings from slipping out. She watched as he dipped it into the puddle of ketchup and smiled to herself, seems like she wasn’t the only weirdo who liked to dip their burgers.  

Then, he raised it up and opened his mouth, and all the color drained from Cecilia’s face. For a moment, she got a clear view of the cavernous maw, lined with pearly white teeth bigger than her own head. Before she got the chance to look away, she watched as those massive teeth came crashing down, sinking into the pounds of bread, meat, and vegetables before ripping off a chunk twice her size.   

Cecilia quickly looked away before she had to watch it disappear past his lips, though that was of little use because a second later, she began to hear him begin to chew. A shiver ran down her spine, being able to hear nothing else other than the amplified sound of all that food being pulverized into mush. It was so loud, it felt as if she was right next to his- 

No! No, don’t go there. Everything is fine, you’re fine. She had no choice but to continue to listen, her stomach churning more and more violently. Her hands gripped the edge of her table so hard her knuckles began to turn white. As she squeezed her eyes shut, her imagination got the best of her and started bombarding her with images: the burger being replaced with her, his teeth morphing into fangs, the sounds of chewing being accompanied by the sound of bones being- 

Stop! Stop it! But it wouldn’t stop, even when the chewing ceased, the images kept coming, and with it the feeling that something was wrong. Like she was a rabbit, being cornered by a wolf. Like she was in danger. Like she had to get out of here! 

She abruptly stood up, clasping her hands over her ears. Garret glanced over at her, making her tense, “Everything alright?” his voice seemed louder than ever. 

Without a second thought, she ran. Ran towards the stairs leading up to the platforms.  

“Hey wait!” but she kept on running, turning right and booking it along the perimeter of the restaurant. She set her sights on the back and a minute later, she was stumbling down the stairs that ended right in front of the human bathrooms.  

She burst through the door to the womens, quickly slamming her back against the door and holding it shut as if to stop someone from breaking it down. Her chest was heaving, breathes coming out in short and shallow bursts, her heart pounding from both running and her nerves.  

Screwing her eyes shut, she gasped for ear, forcing herself to take it in and let it out slowly. She began sliding down to the floor, landing in a disheveled heap, her hands coming up to cradle her head. 

Why had she agreed to this? Why had she gone in knowing this might happen?! Why did this have to happen?! Why did she have to act like this?! Why?! Why?! Why?! 

Cecilia let out a disgruntled gasp when she felt the door behind her budge and bump into her. 

“Ah, what the hell? Hello?” called an annoyed voice. Cecilia quickly crawled away from the door before it swung open, revealing a human woman, dressed in a waitress’s uniform. She started when her eyes fell upon the mess of a girl on the floor, “Oh, shit. Uh, is everything alright ms?”  

Cecilia couldn’t manage anything other than a shake of the head. 

“Is there uh…. Anything I can do to help?” 

Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. She quickly got to her feet and began to dig in her pocket, pulling out her wallet. 

“How much is your guy’s cheeseburger and cookies and cream pie?” 

The waitress looked startled and confused, “Uh….. together I think about forty bucks?” 

She pulled out six ten-dollar bills and held it out to the woman, “There is a table with a….. Larger gentlemen that ordered those, could you please give this to his waitress? You two can split the change.” 

The waitress stared at her for a moment before tentatively taking the money from her, “Sure” she replied slowly, “Is everything alright? Did something-” 

“Is there another exit?” 

“Uh yeah, just take a right when leaving the bathrooms and it should be right there, but seriously, do I need to call someone?” 

Cecilia quickly shook her head, “No no, it’s fine. Thank you. Thank you so much.” She began making her way over to the door, thanking the waitress over and over until she slipped out. 

Spotting the exit the woman had mentioned, she turned and began to scurry towards it. The door opened up into an alleyway. Cecilia hurried her way back over to the front of the building and after a few minutes of awkwardly jogging, she was unchaining and mounting her bike.  

With one final look at the restaurant, she sighed and pedaled off.