Quake Chapters Two & Three

We arrived at the Lonely Pelican right on time. I was ushered inside, thrown a notebook and a maroon colored apron and put to work. I was extremely rusty since it had been several years since I had waited tables at the Pelican though I still knew most of the customers by name. The locals were very curious as to why the owners son and now daughter were back working at the Pelican and asked no end of polite but probing questions. By lunch time my feet were swollen and my cheeks were sore from smiling so much. I caught a glimpse of Dirk lounging out back and headed towards him. Instead of tall, dark and handsome, Dirk was long, light and lean. He was tall like our mother with strikingly defined features, also like our mother. He had light blue eyes and pale blonde hair. His shoulders were not broad but they supported lean muscular arms. He looked quick and light on his feet. Whereas Dirk got his hard good looks from Mom, I must have gotten my features from my Dad though no one had ever told me so. I am average height with features that are rounded and soft. My lips are fuller and the only way you can find my cheekbones is by touching my face until you find them. My eyes are rounder and the blue of my eyes are dark turbulent waters compared to their sunlit ocean. I did get the trademark pale blonde hair but if I dyed my hair brown no one would ever guess I was related to the striking Maebell Glick or her achingly handsome son Dirk Littleton.

“Lunch break?” Dirk asked as I approached.

“Yes.” I said and let out a long sigh. “I am wore out already.”

Dirk laughed. “Been a while since you have done actual work huh?”

I made a face at him.

“So…when did your money run out?” He asked smirking at me.

Dirk was referring to the money our mysterious Uncle gave us at every visit. Our Mother always split the money down the middle and put them into separate accounts for us. She sure didn’t need it. When we turned eighteen she gave the money to us. Dirk got his three years before me but Mom still split the next three years down the middle since the amount was unchanged. Dirk took his money and moved to Atlanta. Mom paid for him to go to Georgia State so the rest was his to do whatever with. When I turned eighteen I went straight to Hollywood and went to acting school. The money was enough for us to live on without having to work much if any.

“About five months ago. I would say it was a major factor in Sean’s decision to split.” I said though really I had just worked that part out myself. “I had been looking for work, acting work, and couldn’t find any so I had to start relying on his paycheck because he had a dedicated role in a soap opera.”

“Wow.” Dirk exclaimed, impressed, “Mine ran out over two years ago.”

“Well Dirk, I wasn’t trying to live in penthouses.”

“Me either, it just kinda happened.”

“Riiiiiight.” I said rolling my eyes at him. “Want to go grab lunch with me?”

“I would but I have already had my lunch hour. This is my last break then I leave in an hour. You know you should really check out the new bakery across the street, Colossians, they have really good sandwiches and some pretty awesome bakery things too. Plus there is this really hot girl that works there that I have been, you know” He leaned over and winked at me. “trying to ask out.”

“Trying? I have never known you to have to try before.” I laughed.

“Well there is this guy that works there and he looks to be her age and I didn’t know if…….” He trailed off. “You know, if they are dating or not. They don’t seem to be. I go in there almost every time I am working and I have never seen them act all touchy feely or look at each other with that…..look.”

“So what makes you think they could be dating? Does she not respond to your…look?”

“You would just have to see him and she responds just fine. I just want to be sure. I don‘t want to have to fight the guy if I try to ask her out and she‘s his.”

“Ok.” I said, my curiosity peaked. “I will go scope it out over a rueben.”

“Thanks sis and their ruebens are tha bomb.”

I grimaced. “Aren’t you a bit old for slang?”

“Nope never too old.” He said and winked at me again. “Peace out, my sista.” He threw up two fingers at me and walked back into to Pelican.

I rolled my eyes. There was just something about my brother that made me roll my eyes more in five minutes that I usually did in a year.


I pushed the button on the street pole and waited for the light to change. I studied the deli/bakery with the funny name across the street. It used to be a souvenir shop with airbrushed t-shirts and gaudy knick knacks in the windows. Now the windows were devoid of the clutter but replaced with decals advertising their selection of meats, sandwich styles and baked goods. The little walking man appeared on the crosswalk sign and I crossed the street. A bell chimed overhead when I swung the door open. The intoxicating smell of deli meat and bakery bread assaulted my senses. My stomach groaned in anticipation. The shop was tastefully decorated with a few posters of old deli menus and pictures in black and white and sepia of old time delis and bakeries. They had a handful of round bistro style tables and chairs, now empty, and two long glass displays separated by a counter where the register sat. The left display held slabs of meat and cheeses while the right offered several different types of bread along with cannolis, doughnuts, cupcakes and other delightful baked goodies. I sidled up to the counter and looked up at the menu board.

A pretty dark haired girl emerged from a doorway to the right, behind the counter and smiled broadly at me. Her nametag declared her to be Robin and I could tell right away she was the girl Dirk was after. Dirk liked fragile flowers he could protect and treat like they were endangered species. He took the ‘southern gentleman’ cliché to the next level with women. Well all women with the exception of his sister. I liked it that way. I was no fragile flower and while some women liked being treaded like one, I was not one of them. Robin was short and petite, with long, thin brown hair that framed a face of small, delicate features. Her eyes were an odd shade of hazel that was almost green under long luxurious lashes. I could just picture her looking up mournfully at Dirk, batting those lashes and him rushing to get her anything she wanted.

“Hello, welcome.” She said in a distinctively northern accent. “What can I get for you today?”

I smiled back at her. “A rueben for sure. My brother says they are wonderful.”

She cocked an eyebrow at me. “Oh? We just opened a few weeks ago. I will probably remember him. What does he look like?”

“Tall, lean, blonde hair and blue eyes.”

“Works across the street?” She asked.

I nodded. “Yep, that’s him.”

“Oh yes he comes in quite regularly. He also likes the BBMT.”

Was that a slight blush coming to her cheeks, I wondered? I was pretty sure it was. That was a good sign. I glanced up at the menu to see what a BBMT was. Bacon, Basil, Mozzarella and Tomato. “Yum that does sound good but I will stick with the Ruben for today. What is the soup of the day?” I asked.

She gestured to a blackboard on the far left of the wall where “Minestrone” was written in pink chalk.

“I’ll take a small cup of that too.” I said.

“Would you like anything else?” She asked.


I walked over to the bakery section. “I am pretty sure I can’t leave without something in this case. It keeps calling me.” I grinned at her. She grinned back knowingly.

“Imagine working here.” She said.

I groaned longingly. “I would love it until I stepped on a scale. Baked goods are my weakness.” I confessed. “What is this little lovely here?” I asked pointing to a dusty white biscuit looking confection with a buttery cream on top.

“I really can’t help you with this side of store. I am not the baker.” She smiled at me. “But my cousin is and he will help you.” She walked to the doorway and yelled for Simon. I heard a gruff male voice call back that he would be right out. “I will go ahead and get your soup and sandwich going while you decide.”

I noted the word cousin and was bursting to tell Dirk he had nothing to fear after all. “Thank you.” I said and began looking at the pastries again. The front door chimed and a small group of old ladies came bustling in. They chattered happily, ohhhing and ahhhing over the meat case and Robin told them she would be right with them. I smiled at one of the ladies who I recognized from having served just that morning at the Pelican. Only then she was accompanied by her husband. She smiled back at me then her smile faltered and her face went a little slack as she looked at a point above my right shoulder. I turned to see what caused her distress and I am sure my face made the same maneuver has hers. Before me in the doorway to the backroom stood a man straight off the cover of a cheesy romance novel. Tall, maybe six foot one with broad shoulders, he wore a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up almost to his shoulders displaying arms with neither too much nor too little muscle. Soft hazel eyes surveyed the room. His full mouth wore a small half smile. His chiseled features were framed by a mane of dark almost wavy hair. He was pretty, too pretty to be real. All we needed was his shirt to be unbuttoned, showing his chest and a light wind to ruffle his hair and we’d be set. He was wiping two massive hands off on a white half apron tied around is waist. I tried so very hard not to dwell on those hands. Big and manly, they were a working man’s hands. They looked like they would be equally at home swinging a hammer or clamped around some evildoer’s neck. I found it hard to imagine those same hands in the backroom working dough and forming delicate confections. He was wearing light blue denim jeans that hugged muscled thighs. I couldn’t see his rear but if the rest of him was any indication then I was pretty sure it was a fine specimen as well.

He grinned at me, flashing his perfect pearly whites and I had the mad urge to giggle like a schoolgirl. I was so glad Dirk wasn’t there and totally understood the basis for his concern. Dirk was handsome but this Simon was…….breathtaking. Not to mention he looked like he would be ruthless in a fight. I wouldn‘t want to tango with him either.

“What can I help you with?” He asked also with a north of the Mason Dixon lilt.

I pulled my actress face down like a mask and gave him a small, friendly, not giving any emotion away smile. I was certain this man was used to women drooling over him and I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me do the same. I asked about the buttery confection and he started to explain its name and what was in it but I must admit that while my face looked as if I were listening I heard not a word. I was marveling at how the light from the overhead pendants seemed to create a soft haze around his chiseled features and put an almost mischievous twinkle to his eyes. He looked at me and for a second our eyes locked and held. I held my breath and a knot formed in my chest. This man was mine. Why the word flashed in my head I will never know but looking into those twinkling eyes I thought “Mine”. I knew it with absolute certainty. For some reason I thought of how explorers used to sail around the world, claiming land for their home countries by sticking a flag into the ground. I desperately wanted to find a flag and suction cup it to his forehead. I looked around frantically, having temporarily lost my mind, for a napkin and a straw so I could fashion a flag and claim him for my own. My gaze fell on his again. His grin was stretched so wide I thought it would crack. Then it did just that. He doubled over laughing. I looked at him confused and horrified. Had I done something? This diatribe I had had in my head only lasted a few seconds what could I have possibly done that was so funny? The realization hit me.

“Did I just say that out loud?” I asked the room in general. Robin and the old ladies were looking at us quizzically. Simon laughed so hard he had to lean against the counter for support. After he regained a little composure he excused himself and retired to the backroom but I could still hear him sniggering.

Robin walked over to me grinning. “No, he’s a mind reader.” She said in a low voice so that only I heard her. “I must tell you that women have thought all sorts of things at him and he never breaks down laughing. He has conditioned himself to maintain control no matter how bad the thoughts are.”

I really wish I could have seen my own face at that moment. I couldn’t speak, I didn’t know what to say. She handed me a tray with my food on it. “On the house.” She said.


“Um, can I get it to go?“ There was no way I could eat in there.

She nodded sympathetically.





I don’t remember the walk back across the street. I sat down at the break table in the back of the Pelican and stared at the brown bag. It had a round stylized logo with Colossians Deli and Bakery written on it in bold black type. I thought for half a second about not eating it. I thought about driving home, curling up in my bed and never getting out again. Unfortunately I was more mortified by the fact Simon had read my mind instead of the fact that he could read my mind. Looking back I didn’t even see where it was that funny. I guess I got points for originality or total lunacy. I am sure of all the things he has heard women think they want to do to him, suction cupping a flag to his forehead wasn’t high on the list. And what was with that strange feeling of possession that came over me when our eyes met? It was unlike anything I had ever felt before. It was probably my actor side playing up the drama of the moment. He was so totally out of my league it wasn’t even funny. I am passable, he is fantastical.

“Mine.” My mind thought despite me.

I shook my head trying to clear it. The smell of the corned beef and minestrone was intoxicating. I caved and ate every bite.





Chapter 3


From that moment on my world totally and irrevocably changed. Through all my twenty odd years I have never met, known or heard of anyone else with powers like ours outside of Hollywood make believe. To say it rocked my world was putting it mildly. Sure I figured there were more of us but being confronted with one, possibly two counting Robin, was a different matter entirely.

I thought about telling Dirk but decided against it. I wanted to find some things out first. Like how they knew they could tell me Simon was a mind reader without fear of me not believing them. I also wanted to know if there was an anti mind reading trick I could learn and quick.

Needless to say I didn’t get much sleep that night. I wish I could say it was because the thought of there being others like me thrilled and terrified me at the same time and that is party true. But no, I was up mainly because of the mortification I felt every time I thought of Simon and unfortunately I thought of him often.



The bell chimed merrily over my head when I walked in the deli the next day. I was a little later than the day before owing to a huge lunch crowd I couldn’t get away from at the Pelican. It looked like they had all come to Colossians for dessert. The place was crowded with most of the patrons clamoring around the bakery side. It took me a second to realize why. The whole crowd consisted of ladies. Old ladies, young ladies and all ages in between ladies. All vying for Simon’s attention. It took a massive effort but I didn’t roll my eyes. It was becoming a habit.

As if drawn to each other like a magnet our eyes found each other and locked. Luckily for me I had put my acting face on before I came in. I saw Simon didn’t have an acting face. He grinned at me, a glint appearing in his hazel eye. My face remained unmoved and I began humming furiously in my head. I was trying to mask my thoughts. Either it was working or it was amusing him because his smile ticked up a notch.

I avoided all pretense and walked straight up to the counter and looked him straight in the eye.

“I need to speak with you. In private.” I said in my best business-like tone.

I was so frustrated by the devilish grin he gave me I was a heartbeat from southern girl arm waving.

“Certainly.” He said and gestured for me to join him behind the counter. “Robin, can you cover for me a moment?”

Her eyes were huge as she looked at us. “Ummm, I’m a little busy at the moment Simon.”

“Thanks ok, I will just wait in the back.” I said as I walked around the suddenly still and silent gaggle of women. They looked at me with evil eyes as I passes them. I had the unthinkable urge to bare my teeth at them and growl. I forgot to keep the humming up and I heard Simon laugh. I felt my face and neck grow hot. I felt heat flush my face and neck. I was a trained actor, meaning I had one hundred percent control over my emotions, meaning there was no way I was blushing! I stalked past him with my eyes looking anywhere but at his face.

It took about twenty five minutes for him to join me at the small table in the back. The small work areas were meticulously clean. There were trays of already made pastries and one tray of delicious looking chocolate and caramel drizzled doughnuts.

Simon strode in from the front, picked up a small sheet of pastry paper and swiped one of the doughnuts from the tray. He walked over to the table and placed it in front of me. I groaned. “Is the humming not working at all?” I asked him.

“Oh yes the humming works just fine. I can only read what is at the foremost in your mind. You were concentrating on that doughnut so hard I could have picked it up outside.”

He walked over to a counter and poured two cups of coffee. Do you take cream or sugar?” He asked.

“Do whales blow bubbles?” I asked.

“I believe so.” He said, smiling as he poured cream and sugar into my cup. He took his black.

He sat the coffees on the table and sat down across from me. “So who told you about the humming?” He asked.

“Nobody.” I replied. “Just a guess.”

He smiled. “I would have liked for you to have never found that out.”

I felt my face trying to go hot again. “Is Robin coming soon? I wanted to speak to both of you.”

“She should be along shortly.” He said.

“I only have an hour for lunch and I have used up forty minutes of it already. I don’t think it is going to be enough time for me to ask all the questions I want to ask you two.”

“We can meet you and your brother for dinner if you would like.” Robin said walking into the room. “I think we all have some questions.”

“Where do you want to meet?” I asked.

“Let’s go to Rivera’s.” Simon suggested.

Rivera’s was a high end restaurant on the square. It was a popular place to take a date or celebrate an anniversary. I gaped at him. He must be joking. Before I could protest Robin spoke.

“Let’s meet there at eight o’clock.”

“Sounds good to me. Would that be suitable for you Shia?”

I was momentarily awestruck by the sound of my name coming from his lips. “I have no problem with the time but wouldn’t you rather meet at the Burger King instead?”

“Not a chance.” He replied. “It’s a date then.”

“A double date.” Robin said and blushed a little.

“Um, I just have one question before I go.” I said.

“What is it?” asked Simon.

“How do you know my name?”

“Lets leave that for tonight.” Simon said and gave me a cryptic smile.

“Fine, whatever. See you all then.”