I could hear him moving from the doorway. He stopped right behind me and said in a small voice.
“I can explain this .”
I pretend not to hear him as I’m more interested in seeing this more than anything he’s got to say. I’m not even open to trying to accept whatever excuses he’ll come up with.
Isn’t this an invasion of privacy? I keep on staring into the screen like a hypnotized viewer. I clicked on the play button.
I can see the miniature me hugging myself, my eyes round in surprise (and fear, it’s very distinct from this angle). It's last night’s CCTV footage in the dining area. I can feel my eyebrows lift in acknowledgement.
Even from the small computer window, I can notice how pale I look, and how my hair is stuck out in one direction, and how stiff my body is. I didn’t even remember having my arms crossed tightly against my chest, but I can see myself doing it on the screen.
I was in defense mode, like a cornered scared cat.
But my face says it all. I, someone who can see unusual phenomena and indescribable creatures on a daily basis, looks terrified beyond limit. Of all things, a random man made me feel this way.
So that’s how bad I looked. No wonder…
“Lira.” I can hear Fred trying to speak to me.
I followed the space where I was gaping at. I am expecting to see a dark-haired man standing there, pointing at something. Maybe this time, now that I am more calm and collected, I can finally see where or what he’s pointing at. What all this mess means once and for all.
Nothing.
Only me, all this time yesterday. I was gaping at nothing in particular and talking to nobody. The space covered by the CCTV camera of the dining area is wide enough that he should be somewhere there.
It feels like I swallowed a brick. My throat tightened and it made me breathe faster, as if I’m suddenly not getting enough of it.
I was alone the whole time in the dining hall.
How did that happen?
“I–he, where is he?” I said in a small voice; it feels like making everything, about him being non-existent and me being terrified for nothing, real by speaking it out loud.
“Who?” Fred asked gently, finally seeing an opening for him to talk. I can feel that he’s trying not to put any more weight into the situation.
“The man…Fred, I was speaking to a man right here at this very moment!” I pointed, jabbing at the monitor, fighting so hardly against what I’m seeing on the CCTV footage. My simmering anger and suspicion towards Fred was immediately put out like someone throwing a bucket of ice-cold water on it.
I turned towards him. I want him to believe me.
I want somebody on my side.
“Who, exactly?” He asked, looking at the screen behind me, scanning for something (or someone) that he’d missed. He let out a sigh and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Lira, about yesterday. I heard you from the kitchen, speaking to somebody. That’s why I went out to the dining hall to see what’s happening. If you need help with a customer…” He stopped, unable to continue. Even he can’t say it out loud.
“That’s why I extracted the CCTV footage from yesterday. I want to see what exactly happened.”
“I’m telling the truth.” I don’t have anything to show him or to myself. One thing that I’m certain about is I know that I saw him. That sinister feeling about that encounter would never come out of my imagination. How could I even fake it in the first place?
“I believe you…I promise.” He said, his round spectacles glimmering. I can see the bright screen reflected on it. “The way you looked last night, I saw it, and I could tell that it was a genuine fear on your part. Whatever that was, it took a toll on you.”
He let go of my shoulder, and moved towards the computer.
“It’s just that, we hope he comes back again.” He said as he’s looking at the monitor.
That, I do not hope at all.
—
I looked around the restaurant; the lunch rush has just ended and the influx of people is slowing down. The furry creature that’s in front of me now with multiple, bright multi-colored eyes didn’t even bother me; my mind and attention was focused on somewhere, or rather, on somebody .
“Also, can I get banana fritters for dessert? The ones with the cinnamon and rum glaze from the local sugarcane farm.” He looks like a tourist; he keeps on glancing around and making sure that what he’s seeing on his phone is the exact restaurant where he’s at.
The furry, cat-shaped black creature snuggling beside him is sniffing on the remaining meat on his plate, its small, pink nose is like a sore spot in the middle of a fur of blinking eyes. It looked almost cute to pet until it tried to pounce my hand while I’m placing down the man’s order.
“I visited there earlier and they told me that this restaurant uses their rum and molasses.” He wondered, still looking at his phone for recommendations.
I nodded in acknowledgement, still eyeing the creature. Its eyes are looking in several directions all at once; with the amount of eyes that covers its body, I feel that it can see everything around us.
It reminds me of a CCTV camera.
Fred promised me that he’ll scourge the rest of the footage this week, looking out for a hint of a dark-haired, pale man. Which is honestly like an equivalent of looking for a needle in a field of haystacks with that kind of limited information. He’ll go through them when he has extra time in-between managing customers and the staff, doing admin work, inventory, finances, and the preparations for the upcoming food festival.
The comforting thing for me is that he is at least trying to believe me and not completely passing it off as a non-sense.
I can’t thank him enough.
I smiled at the customer and the furry creature (all of its eyes are now looking at me). Its eyes could be useful in finding him. I mused, imagining this fluffy creature hunting down that creepy guy. I repeated the customer’s order:
“Okay, one order of Frieda’s Banana Flambe. Do you want to serve it now or after you finish your meal?” I added it on the table order notepad that I have along with the extra note on when to serve it.
“Did you know, a body was found today. I just saw it posted earlier.” I heard the woman across the table tell her companion while they’re eating. “Where do you think it was found? It’s been years since something like this happened.” The man in front of her replied. She took a bite of the bread as she opened her phone, seemingly looking for the article for details.
“Wait, it’s said here that it was at…”
I went back into the hallway and rang the bell on the receiving table for the additional order.
Since it was posted and flashed on the local news, it’s been the hot topic of the customers and Frederick’s staff alike. Yvonne's been talking about it non-stop since this morning.
That one too. A lot of things happened that I forgot to message Leon how he’s doing. According to what I pieced together from Yvonne and the customers, the body was found by the edge of the town, near the town’s main road for entry and leaving, and that they are still identifying who it was. The rest was speculation and guesses. One of the wild guesses of Yvonne is that it must be someone important since they don’t want to confirm who it was.
“All it should take is one good look and you’ll know who it was. Obviously. ” She said loudly earlier, invoking laughs from me, Fred, and some other customers. “Unless, it was someone that cannot be mentioned casually by the press. Ohhhh!” It still makes me laugh now, remembering how funny she sounded that time.
It must be a bustling day at the police station today.
His grinning visage flashed in my mind again. A tinge of doubt and recognition are starting to form on my mind.
I’ll have a good, long talk with Leon later on what really happened out there.
I looked on the left and saw the furry creature had followed me, its short legs taking small, bouncy steps towards me. I shooed it away back to the dining hall.
—