Lacking Visibility

She combed her hazelnut colored hair into a pony tail, making sure she hadn't missed a strand.

She took a step back and did a once over of herself in the mirror. Her yellow sun dress, purchased only yesterday, looked wonderfully upon her slim figure.

Her make-up was done in such a way that it accented her beautiful green eyes.

"Mommy! Look at me! I got dressed-ed all by myself!" Her four year old daughter came skipping into her room, her pigtails bouncing.

She was wearing a pink shirt featuring Dora the Explorer, with a small jean skirt askew, the front side hugging her left hip. She had one blue flip flop on her right foot, and a brown sandal on the other.

"Oh, honey. You did a splendid job, but let me fix you up a bit. Look nice for William?" She fixed Hayley's skirt, turning it the right way, and put on properly matching shoes. Just then, the doorbell rang, and Hayley ran to get the door. Too short for the peephole, she started jumping to see but to no avail.

"Who is it?! Who is it?!" she exclaimed as her mother looked through the peep hole.

Riley smiled and opened the door. There stood William , still dressed in his grey business suit, complete with a red tie.

"Hey Hayley! Hey Riley. Ready to go?" he said, eying the two year old who was now trying to squirm out the door to the car.

"Yes we are. Hmm... A little eager are we?" She pulled Hayley up upon her hip and locked the door.

They buckled Hayley up and did so themselves. They drove off in his silver Honda Civic, towards the place that would hold their dinning pleasure tonight.

The music in the car was one of Riley's favorite bands, Goodnight Neverland who had just released their EP. She sang along quietly to the words as she stared out the window.

She looked out the window and concentrated briefly on her reflection, noticing a strand of escaped hair and tucked it behind her ear. She let her eyes readjust to focus on the scenery, passing them by.

Though she had been in town for a month or so, she wasn’t entirely used to the area. She took note of a hair salon that looked promising as a small voice from the back seat sounded.

“Mommy, how much longer? I gotta go potty”, the small voice said.

Riley looked to William because she had no idea. “I’m not sure, love.” She raised a brow, “William?”

“Not too much longer, ladies”, said as he looked ahead and turned the steering wheel a little to the left to match the wind in the road. Surprised by the sudden jerk in the car, Riley’s hand raced up to the handle to the right of her head and squeezed it tightly. She took in a sudden silent breath and closed her eyes.

Her accident left many fears for her to deal with, including her extreme fear of cars.

*

As they waited to be seated, Riley sat on a bench with Hayley on her lap. She bounced the four year old on her knee as she looked around. Riley had always enjoyed people watching- well, that's what they told her; she wondered what they were thinking by the faces they wore, why they were here, what kind of lives they led.

One man stood out of all of them. He had light brown eyes that hung below his semi-bushy eyebrows. Dark brown hair covered his forehead, along with his ears, except for his lobes.

Something about him caught her eye, but she couldn't figure out what. He looked and dressed like the average man would. He had the look of impatience on his face, just like everyone else that had been waiting to be seated.

"Table's ready." said William, interrupting her stare.