Days went by faster than Sorah Kavel imagined they could. Drae made that possible. Each day they became closer and more comfortable, yet each time their eyes smiled at the other, she felt more and more as if she was deceiving him; Lying to people wasn't something that came easy.
Several times she had tried to broach the subject of her past, to explain where Karla had come from, warn him that her past might come back and put them all in danger.
But the logical side of her screamed that with each passing day, the chances of her life of two years ago suddenly rising it's ugly head became slimmer and slimmer. Still, as this life became more concrete around her, the fear of her last one interfering became a bigger and bigger fear.
It didn't help her fears any when the man with the black hat came into the diner. He had dirty blond hair which stuck out from underneath the flat-crowned, wide brimmed hat and a worn brown leather jacket. Sorah hadn't seen him before, which wasn't unusual, but the hat was what stood out. It wasn't a style that she had seen anyone around here wearing, either on the streets or any of the local planetary news holos, which marked him as an off-worlder.
That wasn't strange by itself, except that the Stardust wasn't an eatery which beckoned to the intergalactic traveler. Most of her customers were regulars, or at least local.
He ordered a caf and the special.
"What do you think about the guy at table five, Drae?" Sorah asked when she went into the kitchen to put his order in.
Drae peeked out into the dining area. "Dumb hat," he said, and walked back to the grill.
"He gives me the creeps," Sorah said.
"Really? How come?"
She explained her theory about the hat and that it marked him as an off-worlder.
Drae shrugged. "So if it weren't for the hat, you wouldn't have given him a second look?"
Sorah nodded, starting to feel a little embarrassed. She turned pushed the swinging kitchen door open just a crack and watched the man in the hat. "It's not just the head gear, though. There's something about him that I can't put my finger on, and it's setting off all the warning klaxons in my head."
Drae walked over and put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm don't know why he has you spooked, and I really don't care, but I promise I'll keep an eye on him while he's in here."
The waitress reached up and squeezed Drae's hand and went back out to get the man's caf. It was nice that Drae was being protective, but she didn't have the heart to tell him that not only was she more than capable of looking out for herself, but that she could probably beat the both of them up... at the same time.
She smiled to herself as she righted the man's cup and poured his drink. "Your food should be up in a minute. Anything else I help help you with?" She asked him.
The man looked up out of the corner of his eye. "Sorah, is it?" he asked looking at her name tag.
"Excellent. You can read," she replied warily.
"Can I get some cream for the caf?"
She sighed internally. For whatever reason, she had expected something else from him. "Sure, just a second," she said with a smile she didn't feel.
A short while later, she handed the man in the hat his change and watched as he walked out the door and down the street without so much as a backward glance. She squeezed her hands into fists, feeling the nails digging into her palms, angry at herself for being so paranoid. She needed to relax. She couldn't live, jumping at every stranger who walked into the door.
She pushed the door to the kitchen open. "I want to go out after work, Drae. Take me somewhere I can get a drink and relax. You're not busy, are you?"
Drae looked up from the grill with a grimace. "Oh, man. I've got good news and bad news."
Sorah's shoulders sagged. "Give the the bad news."
"I'm going to be a bit busy tonight."
"And the good news?"
Drae grinned suddenly, "Good news is that I'm busy taking you out for a drink."
"Jerk," Sorah said with a chuckle and a grin, then ducked back out into the dining area. She had more tables to wait on.
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