We’ve finally come to Sunday once again. It has been one of those long tiring weeks with very little progress in writing. But, never fear, your weekly excerpt is here.
Once again, we pick up where we left off. Sabrina has found her way to the B52 Diner, an old restaurant that helped define the term ‘greasy spoon’ in trucker lingo. She had just sat down to relax and eat while pondering the dreary, rainy weather.
Thoughts kept racing through her mind, chasing one another to catch her attention. So much had changed since she left the Claw and Fang to live her life with Felix. There were new faces in the old crowd. Older members were no longer there. What she had overheard in the hall, some policies changed as well; making it more difficult to leave.
New Urbania hadn’t changed all that much in itself, but the people and places she knew did. So much of the old city had been rebuilt.
Even she had changed while she was gone. Domestication has taken its toll on her, for she used to not hesitate when it came to anyone threatening her or a friend. Tonight, she did hesitate, and it almost cost her friend’s life.
Lucky for her, Dean is nothing more than a lackey for her adopted father, Gerin. Neither had changed very much. Only time was showing on the old man’s face.
So engrossed with her thoughts, she didn’t notice the three other patrons, or the waitress, glancing her way when a low growl slipped past her parted lips. Realizing she had done that aloud, she looked at each of them with a dark glare over the rim of her coffee cup.
One by one, they each dropped their eyes and returned to their own business. All of them except for one. A grizzled old male bull dog watched her for a few more seconds before coming to a decision. Casually, he stood and walked over to her table.
As he got closer, she could see the cleric band almost hidden by the short collar of his plain gray shirt, even though the dangling pendant of a cross picked up the ambient light rather well. For a heavyset canine, he seemed to almost glide over the floor and his dark eyes looked kindly.
Just what she didn’t need right then, a priest to pester her before Reyna arrived. Hoping he’d keep moving, Sabrina set her cup down and watched him through narrowed eyes. With all she had on her mind, she would not be able to appreciate his wisdom and kind words.
Noting the rather dark look, the preacher paused then put on a gentle smile. “Good morning, my child. What has a lovely young lady like you in such a foul mood?” Though soft, he held a slight accent that marked him as a foreigner.
“Just the rain, father,” she said with a look that dared him to say anything more to her. She really did not want to be bothered until she had a few things figured out and her life set back in order once again.
Smiling, the dog nodded. “Surely, that isn’t all. Something is bothering you, I can tell. You can confide in me, child. Anything you say won’t go any further than this table.” Without being invited, he sat down across from her.
The dark look she gave him spoke more than the what she had to say. “I would rather be left alone, right now, father. So…” she gave him a rather pointed look during her brief pause, “… if you don’t mind, please leave.”
Sometimes, being a priest was a good thing. But for this one, it wasn’t. He ignored her expression and the less than polite request for him to leave. He folded his hands on the table and maintained the gentle smile in hopes she’d give in. “Come now, child. My vows prevent me from telling anyone what you say to me.”
Finally losing her temper, Sabrina leaned over the table and grabbed the preacher by his collar then pulled him close so they met nose to nose in the middle of the table. His eyes flew wide with fear that she was able to pull him so easily from the seat. “Let me [put this as clearly as I possibly can, father. Leave. Me. Alone. Now!” She snarled at him, letting him see the flash of her teeth then shoved him back onto the seat. She remained half standing, hands planted firmly on the table, to make sure her point got across.
After that, the preacher finally caught the hint and scrambled to leave the table as fast as he could. As he made his retreat across the diner, she sat down and resumed sipping at her cold coffee. Softly, she grumbled under breath about the audacity some people have while she watched the rain fall. From that moment on, she was left alone except for the occasional visit from the waitress to refill her coffee.
For hours, Sabrina sat there watching the rain while drinking coffee and picking at the grease mass called a burger on her plate. She was hungry, but it just didn’t look all that appetizing, not even when it was first placed in front of her. At least the side dishes were decent, she thought, or her mood would have continued to deteriorate from hunger. She wished she was back at the Other Side Bar and Grill where a stiff drink would be in her hand instead of a cup of liquid caffeine. Perhaps, at this time of the night, she would be curled up in the arms of her ferret. She missed him so very much.
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