Club Angel's Kiss

I pressed my cheek against the cold car window, peering curiously out at all the passing buildings and people. The day was slightly warm, but my brother had all the windows rolled up anyway. Small water droplets fell from the gray sky and splattered on the windshield.

My eyes followed the different names of the clubs and stores; they were getting vaguely familiar. I put my hands on my knees and squeezed.

A bright green sign reading “Club Angel’s Kiss” appeared, and a nauseous feeling flared up in my stomach. The dark colored building with gigantic dungeon-like windows sat just down the street from Hawthorne Groceries, where I was unlucky enough to be a cashier, so it was an indication that my brother’s silver Mustang grew closer to my death.

Adam must have sensed it because he flicked off the radio.

“Everything alright?” he asked.

My head slowly moved left and right.

“I don’t want to go to work,” I muttered. “You have no idea how much I hate it over there.”

“I have a pretty good idea.” Adam gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white.

I glanced at him from the side. His hand was buried in his dark brown hair and his rugged features were set taut, revealing the anger that bubbled inside him.

“Adam, it’s okay. I’ll live,” I assured him.

Obviously, he didn’t believe me. His piercing green eyes remained in a hardened straight stare at the road before us.

My hand slipped off the steering wheel and landed in my lap with a crack.

I understood why Adam was so angry. Our father had a tendency to be slightly demanding like a prison warden when it came to Adam and me. (I blamed it on his schizophrenia.) It got on Adam’s nerves more than anybody else in the entire house.

“It’s just a few hours a week,” I whispered. My own eyes stared over the dashboard, watching the glass grocery store grow as we neared it. “It’s nothing terrible. And it’s not like I’ll be killed or something.”

Adam’s knuckles cracked as he squeezed the round object even tighter.

I decided against saying anything else, in fear that he might break his hands if anger got the best of him. Instead, I tapped my fingers on the car door to relieve my mind of its tension.

Adam eventually loosened up and pulled into the small parking lot beside the grocery store. I climbed out.

“Have fun. I’ll be here to pick you up later,” Adam called.

I waved to him over my shoulder as I entered through the side door. I didn’t move until his shining car was completely out of sight.

“Amber Harless, am I correct?”

Surprised, I whipped around to see a plump woman with the biggest blue eyes smiling at me. My lips slowly curved into a smile.

“Yes, that’s me.”

The woman held out her hand, that strange smile still plastered onto her face like it was drawn on. I cringed, but took her hand anyway. We shook.

“I’m Debra Benson,” the woman told me.

I nodded. “It’s nice to meet you.” I must say, I was doing fabulously at pretending to care. “Will you be doing the shift with me?”

“Yes, I will be. And so will the girl over there.” Her fat finger pointed to a back door, where a very skinny girl with long, platinum white-blonde hair stood.

My first thought as I looked to the girl was that she looked out of place, uncomfortable. I couldn’t get a perfect look at her face. Her head was turned slightly and her hair covered what little face could be exposed. I could see her lips moving, though, as if she were talking to someone unseen. She wore a black jacket and dark wash jeans. By the look of her hands, she had incredibly pale, perfect skin.

“Inez,” Debra called. “Come here and meet Miss Harless.”

The girl responded slowly. Her head turned just enough for me to see her hollowed cheeks. That’s when I saw the bottom extension of a black cell phone pressed close to her mouth.

“Inez,” Debra repeated.

This “Inez” mouthed the word bye, flipped the phone closed, and took a large step across the tiled floor.

The way she walked. It was an amazing thing. Her feet hit the ground, but it was silent, graceful, like she was floating. And then her face. She had to be the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Her skin was pale, shockingly pale, to the point where it appeared to be glowing. Her eyes were big and shining, and they shimmered three different colors under the big fluorescent lights. Her long hair cascaded down the tight black fabric.

I must have been gawking because I soon felt Debra’s hand on my forearm. She gave it a squeeze, bringing me back to reality inside the store.

“Hello,” the stranger whispered. “I am Inez Puckett.”

Her voice made me stop breathing. The simple sentence she spoke came out smoothly and calmly; it was as graceful as the way she walked.

“I’m Amber,” I choked out.

Inez extended her frail looking hand.

I looked down at it. It wasn’t exactly my first thought to take her hand and shake it. I felt that if I touched it, it would just crumble.

She reminded me of a porcelain doll.

Nonetheless, against every sane thought in my mind, I grabbed her hand and shook it slowly.

I almost pulled away at first because her skin was as cold as ice. And even though she looked breakable and gentle, she was strong. Her grip caused me to jerk my shoulder slightly.

Debra shifted uncomfortably on her feet.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I whispered, pulling my hand away quickly. I pressed it firmly into my thigh, trying to get the freakish cold feeling to go away.

Inez nodded her head.

“Well, I hope you girls will be quite alright working together,” Debra said.

We both looked over at her. That strange smile of hers had faded, and now only an awkward stare sat in her ocean colored eyes.

Inez smiled. “We will, Debra.”

The way she said it sent giant chills down my spine.

/-/-/-/

“No, Adam. No, really! I’m actually doing okay,” I repeated into the receiver.

“I don’t believe you,” Adam argued.

“God, you’re stubborn today,” I whined, tapping my fingers on the glass countertop.

“Shut up.”

I laughed. “Anyway, I’m getting off in about twenty minutes. Will you be out here by then?”

“Yes, why?”

“It’s dark outside,” I muttered. My voice lowered in fear that someone might hear my conversation. “I don’t like the dark, you know that.”

“Oh. Okay, Amber. I’ll start driving out there now. I’ll come inside to get you.”

“Thank you. Bye bye.”

“Bye.”

I flipped closed my phone.

The first day at Hawthorne Groceries had gone pretty well. Customers came in at a steady pace. Nothing too terrible or difficult. And Inez turned out to be quite helpful and not at all mean.

She was just a little creepy.

I slipped my phone into my front pocket and glanced around. Inez was sweeping the floor by the entrance; Debra sat in the back, eating something.

The outside of the window covered front showed the pitch black outside. From where I stood, I could see a few illuminated figures hanging around the front sidewalk. Inez seemed interested in them; she would ever so often glance over her shoulder to sneak a peek.

I pushed away from the counter and started toward the back where I had stored my jacket.

The bell above the door jingled, indicating someone was walking inside.

Quickly, I turned right back around and hopped over the counter to greet the customer. Who came walking through the door was not what I would have ever expected.

Throughout the rest of the day, the customers had been normal. Women with babies, men buying manly things or complaining about the list his wife had given him. Typical people whom walked the streets of Chicago daily.

But him...He was different.

He towered over the small candy shelves, and he had tattooed muscles bulging from his thin t-shirt. His jeans clung to his perfect lower body; his heavy boots hit the ground with a clunk a step, yet he walked in a way similar as Inez. His short, dark hair was slicked back.

I blinked rapidly, hoping that he was in fact a true person and not just a pigment of my imagination. I had never seen someone so beautiful, so gorgeous…So amazingly hot!

My breath hitched in my throat as he grew near, a bottle of something in his hand.

He came to a stop in front of the counter and stuck the bottle on the glass. I stared up at his sunglass-covered eyes.

“Hey,” he said, a smirk forming on his features.

My heart melted. He had such an adorable smirk.

“H-hi,” I said. My voice came out more high-pitched that I would have liked. “Is this all?” I gestured at the bottle of blue liquid.

“Yes,” he answered.

I rang it up slowly. As I ran it over the laser, I glanced sideways at Inez, who looked absolutely shocked. I wondered where she was looking, until I saw Mr. Handsome look over at her.

Inez wiggled her fingers at him, and he nodded in return.

My heart dropped into my stomach.

Okay. Lovely and perfect Inez Puckett or dorky and disgusting Amber Harless? If I was this guy, I would probably go with Inez, I thought with a grim expression.

All hope of this guy noticing me was squashed in an instant.

“That’ll be a dollar and fifty cents,” I whispered. “Would you like your drink in a bag?”

“No, that’s okay.” He handed me said amount of money and took his drink from the counter, but didn’t start toward the door.

When I saw that he did not move an inch, I looked up at him.

“What’s your name?” he asked me. He slipped his sunglasses off his face to reveal such beautiful eyes that glistened an odd color in the lights.

His features held an expectant expression. He actually expected me to tell him my name!

“Amber,” I answered without thinking.

The man nodded and walked away, not even telling me his own name. On his way out the door, Inez stopped him.

I focused intently, trying to read what she was saying.

“What are you doing here, King?” her lips read.

I raised an eyebrow. King? Did he really think that much of himself? I mentally checked him off the sexy list, but could not tear my eyes away from his delicious ass.

A sigh escaped my lips.

“King” shrugged a shoulder and I could have sworn I heard him say, “You’ll see soon enough, Noire.”

He left, and Inez watched him leave. Of course, so did I, because that ass of his was amazing.

Adam picked me up minutes after the strange event.

While in the car driving home, I told myself that I would tell my mother and Adam exactly what had happened…

And what a sight to behold it was.