Vantage Point

I stared at the figure, unsure whether it was human or not.

"This can't be real," I mumbled silently, closed my eyes, and inhaled deeply. I counted to three, not knowing why, I just did. And then, as I opened my eyes again, the figure was gone.

"I'm going insane..." I thought to myself and continued walking.

My mom and I owned our apartment in a new construction right by the canal. We live on the top floor of a ten-floor tower, viewing the vantage point on the mountain from the kitchen window. We used to live outside of town in a small house a few years back, but we moved into town when I started tenth grade.

My mom, Helen, travels a lot for her work, and she hated to leave me alone since our house was very far from civilization.

So when the opportunity came to buy a newly built apartment near my school, mom didn't hesitate. We sold out little house and moved.

Mom is a sales wrap for a company and is usually gone over the weeks, but she often comes home on the weekends. She does sales pitches on marketing programs and earns a ton of money whenever she brings in a new contract to the firm. Which she did every other week, and that workload often affected travel time, and she would often be gone on weekends now too.

I went into the little bakery, bought a badge of fresh bread, and walked back home. The rest of the day went by, and I began preparing myself for my shift at the pub, 'The Sailor.'

It was a popular pub where we served various seasonal foods and drinks, mostly beer and wine. My mom knows the owner, so this job was handed to me at her request. The work outfit was simple, black pants and a tailored black t-shirt with 'The Sailor' in blue fonts fronting it, long hair had to be put into a ponytail, and black, clean shoes only. My tasks were simple: take orders, serve, and clean up. But I would also be standing behind the bar and serving drinks on the weekends.

And this was exciting for me because I hadn't been working that much during high school. Most of my days were spent doing homework or hanging out with Leia whenever she was free. With one last look in the mirror, I grabbed my purse, left the apartment, and walked the four-minute distance to the pub.

"Hello, Mary, good to see, and the outfit fit you like a glove!" Thomas said when I entered the pub. "Hey, Thomas," I replied shyly, nervous for my first day. "Mary, this is Lisa, and she will teach you about our routines," Thomas gestured to the blonde girl standing beside him, and we smiled and shook hands.

"So nice to meet you; follow me, and I will get you started." Lisa started walking toward the kitchen.

We reviewed my role as a waitress and how to interact with customers appropriately by placing their plates on the table and which side to serve on. I always imagined being a waitress would be easy, but I didn't realize how much more it meant in practice.

The hours passed quickly, and I was exhausted by the time the clock passed eleven, and I was ready to end my shift and go home.

The guests got more drunk, and the atmosphere got louder and more intense after the older groups left the pub and the younger groups replaced them.

"Good job tonight, Mary!" Lisa cheered, "Thanks for the help; I couldn't have done it without you." I replied with a smile while I put the dishes in the washer. Thomas peeped through the door, "You can go home, Mary, and we will see you tomorrow!" He said, and I nodded, "Okay, thanks for tonight!" I replied and went to grab my purse and left the pub.

The air was chilly, and I passed groups of people hanging by the canal, drinking and smoking cigarettes.

"Mary, is that you?" I heard a masculine voice coming from behind, and I turned and saw David from my French class closing in.

"Hi, David," I replied, a little hesitant. David would be friendly with me when no one saw us, but as soon as people were around, he would diss me and act like he didn't know me, at least back in school.

"So you are working at The Sailor?" David said when he approached me and nodded at my shirt. "Yeah. I am," I replied and smoothed the shirt with my palms.

"How are you doing?" He continued and looked at me with intense eyes, "Just fine, and you?" I answered, starting to feel a little uncomfortable by this interaction.

David chuckled, "I'm fine, Mary, thanks. You look good," He continued without letting his eyes off me, and I felt the alcohol on his breath as he leaned in, "I always had a thing for you, back in high school," He murmured in my ear, and I felt his hands on my waist.

"Get off of me," I voiced shaky and pushed him away, and I began to walk off with quick steps. "What the fuck, Mary?" I heard David call behind my back, which caused me to run the rest of the way home.

I locked the door behind me and quickly chained in. Finally. Safe, at last.

My thoughts were running wild within. David had a thing for me?

No, he must have been joking. Nothing he said could be trusted.

I poured myself a glass of soda on the counter in the kitchen, but I winced when I saw a reflection in the window and spilled the soda all over the countertop. I felt the hair on my neck rise and slowly turned my head to look at what it was that caused it. And there he was. The dark silhouette from before stood on the vantage point, staring directly at me through the window.