Going Nowhere Fast

With a heavy sigh, Alexandra cleared the table, sweeping aside the array of half empty Coca-Cola cans; keeping one eye on the door, the other on her work. She had picked up some extra hours this week, and she'd spent every single one waiting for Hot Stuff to walk through the doorway. But he seemed to have walked out of her sorry excuse of an existence altogether instead. It was cruelly comical how much she'd hung her heart upon a complete stranger all because he showed her what amounted to merely a little common courtesy. But for those few minutes, she had felt valued; validated. So what exactly did she really want then? Attention or affection? Or was Hot Stuff just the canvas she projected her emotions onto, simply craving somebody to notice or care?

Shaking her head to herself, Alexandra straightened the salt, before glancing over at Mindy. The other girl had miraculously shown up for her shift tonight, albeit late, armed with yet another ridiculous excuse for her tardiness. This time the tale had revolved around her boyfriend's lizard falling sick, and how she'd had to drive them to the vet's, only to get caught up in an attempted car jacking that was thwarted by their attacker catching sight of the erstwhile lizard. Alexandra had just nodded gravely as she listened to Mindy's meanderings, curbing the insane desire to cackle in Mindy's heavily made-up face and scream LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE! But then again, maybe Mindy was telling the truth. It was LA after all.

Mindy was now leaning against the counter, texting on her hot pink cellphone, whilst mindlessly twirling the end of one of her cutesy-pie plaits as she did. The broom was propped up beside her, forgotten, just like the mess on the floor. Alexandra's jaw tightened, but she forced herself to move onto the next table, clearing up a spill with a quick swipe of her cloth. It had been a surprisingly busy night so far, and she supposed Mindy was better than no Mindy at all. But she was quickly becoming bored of covering for Mindy whenever she decided to take a little holiday or detour.

Stooping down, Alexandra stole another hopeful glance over her shoulder at the door, dumping a plate with a half eaten burger and fries onto her tray at the same time. But still Hot Stuff didn't sweep in, ready to take her away from her shitty life. At this thought, Alexandra winced, knowing she sounded like a third-rate romance novel. Yet here she was, still on tenterhooks, still waiting for him to walk through that goddamn door –

"Waiting for Godot?"

Alexandra glanced around, startled, only to see one of her regulars, whom she'd dubbed Poor Little Rich Girl, slide into the booth across the aisle, her immaculately plucked eyebrows raised in mocking question. The diner seen more than its fair share of kooks and cranks, and Poor Little Rich Girl was just another oddity washed up on its doorstep. She turned up every other evening to nurse a glass of iced mineral water, spinning it out until closing time. Alexandra saw all sorts, from old ladies in evening gowns to the one-armed guy with green dreadlocks who begged on the corner. But Poor Little Rich Girl was in a class of her own with her perfect hair and designer party dresses. She reeked of new money, with teeth too white and nails the wrong shade of now - for LA at least. Yet she couldn't seem to afford anything more than the cheapest drink on the menu. For all Poor Little Rich Girl's beauty and poise, Alexandra had detected the same desperation that stalked her own existence; that they were sisters under the skin, both going nowhere fast.

Poor Little Rich Girl snapped her crimson taloned fingers in front of Alexandra's face, making her blink. "Hello, Earth to Alexandra," she intoned deadpan, "are you receiving?"

"Uh - Waiting for Godot?" Alexandra reiterated, bewildered.

"Yeah, Waiting for Godot, it's like a play, y'know - I actually just auditioned for one of the leads - the production is like a feminist-avantgarde-neo-classical interpretation about waiting, like you're waiting..." Poor Little Rich Girl reeled off, only to suddenly stop at the sight of Alexandra's blank face. "Never mind," she then said under her breath, rolling her eyes as she picked up the menu. "We can't all have it."

Alexandra shook her head, trying to clear it. "Hey, wait up" - she began, only to realize the irony too late as Poor Little Rich Girl arched an eyebrow yet again. "How do you know my name?" she then finished weakly, seeing from the corner of her eye that Mindy was now watching them, her cellphone suddenly forgotten.

"Duh, name badge," Poor Little Rich Girl said, rolling her eyes again. "Not that I need it, I have excellent recall." She pointed proudly at herself with two fingers angled like arrows. "Future Oscar-winning-actress-in-the-making here. Sort of require that photographic memory kind of thing, y'know?"

She beamed at Alexandra, showcasing her dazzling dentistry, but the smile didn't quite meet her expertly made-up eyes. Alexandra just stared at her, suddenly seeing herself from three years ago, refusing to face reality. Once she too had wanted to be a star, the next Lauren Bacall. But refusing to put out had put paid to that, and even if she had, there had always been a younger, prettier pretender ready to take her place, and another and another and so on, a row of Russian dolls, matryoshka-

At this twisting train of thought, Alexandra forced herself to focus, brow furrowing further. "The usual, then?" she then said abruptly, glancing at the door again.

Poor Little Rich Girl sank back in her seat. "Yeah, if you don't mind, thanks!" she chirped, but her slumped shoulders belied her bounce.

Alexandra ignored her, picking up the tray again instead, Mindy resuming her texting, just as suddenly losing interest. She walked away, feeling oddly uneasy. Interactions with Poor Little Rich Girl were usually limited to asking for her order; sometimes a strained smile at a stretch or a 'have a nice night' at most, gestures and words that held no weight. Now and again, out of perhaps misplaced pity, Alexandra slipped her a slightly stale cookie or a free refill. Other than this though, they were just ships passing in the night. So to have Poor Little Rich Girl suddenly talk to her like a real person and address Alexandra by name was strangely disorientating.

Even as Hot Stuff spoke to her on occasion, it was different and she hated to admit it. Despite his beautiful manners, he was always politely distracted when dealing with her. He just simply didn't see her when he took up Alexandra's whole line of vision. She wove whole worlds around the moment their hands would brush when she handed over his black coffee. And usually Alexandra was happy to float along alone in her little fantasy. It numbed the cruel edges of her monotonous existence. In her imagination, anything was possible. But now Poor Little Rich Girl had inadvertently taken the shine off Alexandra's illusions.

Alexandra stalked over to the counter, suddenly impossibly and irrationally angry at Poor Little Rich Girl for jolting her jar of dreams. They were all she had now. She dumped the tray down, sending the cans, cups and plates sideways, the clatter making Mindy start violently. But one look at Alexandra's furious face made Mindy uncharacteristically hold her tongue. Unbidden, she hurriedly shoved her cellphone into her apron pocket before snatching up her broom, sweeping with alarming industry whilst scattering crumbs everywhere.

Exhaling sharply, Alexandra ran her hand down her face, before taking the broom from Mindy, fighting the urge to just snatch it from her. "Clear that tray," she said instead, jerking her head at it, "and then clean the back booths - the tables need a wipe-down and also refill 25 and 27's condiments while you're at it."

Mindy just gawped at Alexandra before recovering herself. "Don't let them get to you," she blurted out, startling Alexandra this time, who had been expecting Mindy to tell her to shove it. "You're as good as them, if not better." Her gaze slid sideways to Poor Little Rich Girl who was now trying to check her elaborate eye-makeup in the back of a teaspoon. "I mean, we might not have Daddy's deep pockets to dip into, but we still have our self-respect, right?" she then said, tossing her plaits back, suddenly looking awkward.

Alexandra stood there, also feeling awkward, not sure why Mindy was suddenly acting moderately human. Mindy didn't really talk to her either beyond asking Alexandra to cover for her or if Alexandra minded if she left twenty minutes early, before leaving anyways, not caring if Alexandra minded or not. Sometimes Mindy lied about getting a tip so she didn't have to hand it over to Delilah like Alexandra and the others had to. Then there was the tall tales she liked to spin. But as Mindy continued to glare at Poor Little Rich Girl, Alexandra suddenly noticed the jealousy in Mindy's heavily kohled blue eyes, making her tiredly realize Mindy was just wanting somebody to bitch with, Alexandra being as good an audience as any. "It's okay," she then said stiffly, "she was just a little... intense."

"Those ego-centrics always are," Mindy scoffed, tossing her head again. "Like totally self-absorbed, right?"

Alexandra mulled this over, before nodding in reluctant agreement. She was thinking more along the lines of 'eccentric' to describe Poor Little Rich Girl, but 'ego-centric' and 'self-absorbed' fit the bill as well. "I'll deal with Miss World," she then said, unable to stop getting a dig in at Poor Little Rich Girl herself, "if you get cracking on the tables. Deal?"

"Deal!" Mindy chirped, before sashaying off, leaving Alexandra alone with her turmoil.

The more that you have
The more that they take…