2 Deja Blue by Julie Cassar

just felt too relaxed. Sure I was still a little jumpy, but at least I could go about my life feeling mostly normal. Boy, if they could b ottle that calming spell, they would make a fortune selling it to stressed-out people. I became so engrossed in my book that I didn’t hear Nick’s approach several minutes later .
    “Hey Ru b e s!” he reached down touched my shoulder. My heart took off pumping , and I jumped about a mile high, “ Gahhh !” I yelped, clutching my chest , su rprised at his sudden nearness. See? Jumpy!
    “Whoa! Sorry , I didn’t mean to scare ya ,” Nick smiled and slid into the booth across from me. I tried to wave it off, “Oh! Don’t worry about it, I was just so sucked into my book, I didn’t hear you,” I tried to coyly smile . “You guys look super- busy today, are you sure you have time to eat with me?” I asked.
    “Yeah, yeah. I’ve gotta eat. I am starving. But yeah, we’re swamped. You work today?”
    Nodding my head , I grumbled, “Three to close. Yuck.” I gave him my blah face and stuck my tongue out in disgust.
    Nick smiled and then asked, “Yeah, I’m here ‘til closing tonight too . Hey, does yer kid brother wanna make some extra cash today?”
    “Leo? Yeah. I guess. I mean, probably. He’s kinda lazy, but he doesn’t have a job so he’s pretty broke. Why, what’s up?”
    “We are just get tin ’ smoked back in the kitchen , and two people already called in sick today. We could use his help doin ’ prep , bussin ’ tables, cleanin ’ up… that kinda thing. He’d save my ass if he co uld come in. My dad thinks I’m S uperman or somethin ’ and has me runnin ’ all over the place.”
    “Oh, sure. Just call him. He probably just got outta bed, knowing him.” I answered wryly .
    Nick nodded, “ ‘Kay . You wanna just have subs today? We’ve got some made up already, so I can just go grab us a couple. I’ll call Leo when I go back to the kitchen.”
    “Sure, sure. That’s fine. Thanks!”
    “Coke?” He asked as he got up from the table to get our food. I nodded and smiled.
    Just then, t wo obviously drunk guys stumbled through the front door of Martino’s. Having spent just a few too many hours in the sun out on their boat fishing, drinking and doing G od knows what else, they must have decided to move their little party to Martino’s. Their loud, obnoxious behavior instantly drew attention , and one of the guys tripped and fell over a table, causing it to crash to the ground and knock into the patrons sitting nearby. A ll of a sudden, there w ere spilled drinks, splattered food, broken glass and a broken t able. I jumped back farther into the corner sanctity of my booth as all hell seemed to break loose. The small crowd of patrons began shouting, shoving and pushing as Nick and his dad came rushing out of the k itchen to see what was going on. Within a blink of an eye, Simon, my Fairy guard had already jumped into action. Almost too quick to see, he grabbed the two worst drunk-guy - offenders and ha uled them out of the restaurant in a swirling , misty dust of magic. I’m quite sure no one else in the place even saw him do it, or if they did, it would seem like that vague feeling of déjà vu. Quick, concise and most importantly, silent, Simon managed to remove the greatest threat to the patrons (and to me) before Nick and his dad even reached the angry crowd. With the two idiots gone , there was only a slightly disgruntled group of people left to be calmed down by Nick and his dad as they hurried over to them.
    Once they had settled down the guest s , Nick’s dad co mped all the meals for everyone and things seemed to return back to normal. Nick look flustered as he ran his hands through his hair, “See? What did I tell ya ? Things are just nuts around here to day ! Stupid drunk rednecks. Lemme go grab our food. ” He walked away, distracted and stressed but returned quickly with our lunch . Just as he set down our plates, I noticed Simon slip