Chapter 106: Imaginary Man
Emily had always been what many people called cute. "As cute as a button," The elderly ladies used to say. But now she was pretty sure that she looked anything but...
Having nightmares on the regular, working night shifts, and night shifts only, was taking its toll on her. Her skin was too pale, even though she did not spend most of the day asleep as most nightshift workers did, she was often too tired to go outside. And the lack of sun was clear to see on her skin.
And that was before one took in the truly unfortunate purple work uniform that she had to wear. She often just pulled her hair into a messy ponytail and was out the door. The result being that she looked professional, but still a bit rough around the edges. The way she looked now, she would not have even been allowed to glance at the headquarters of Haven group, but Emily did not care about that. It was all in the past.
But something that she did care about, that had started two days prior, was the fact that she now seemed to be loosing her marbles. The lack of sleep in general was really not helping, but it was still a shock to realize that she was slipping into a paranoid state.
The first time that it had happened, Emily had looked around feeling as though she was being watched. When she had found no one there, she had brushed the feeling off and carried on about her night, performing her duties and serving customers. But then the following night, the feeling had come back. This time it had been so strong that Emily had nearly dropped the plate that she had been carrying.
After putting it down, she had looked around and upon finding no one there, she had not given up. Instead she had rushed to the door, wanting to see if there was someone hiding in the shadows. All that she had ended up seeing was a car driving off in the darkness. It had been too far by then to make out its colour and model. And the lights had been too dim for her to make out the licence plate numbers. She had gone back to her work.
But the next night, and the night after that, the feeling was back. To make matters worse. It did not come at a set time. If it occurred at fixed intervals, Emily could at least have tried to prepare herself in advance for it. What the preparation would have entailed, she had no idea, but she would have like to know either way. Instead the feeling of being watched, came randomly and each time it did. It left her looking around, feeling lost.
It never lasted long, just a few seconds at the most but it always left Emily feeling off balance. And it only ever seemed to come while she was at the diner. But she could not pinpoint the reason why. It was not a welcome feeling and she wanted it to end. But the only possible solution that she could think of, was to get enough sleep. And that just felt like an impossible task. She had been trying for years and precious little had worked.
Her sudden paranoia was not likely to miraculously lead her to a cure.