[hr][CENTER][color=silver][h1][b]Natalie Ellis[/b][/h1][/color][/CENTER][hr]

[color=silver][i]Location:[/i][/color] Freckles', Argyle Boulevard
[color=silver][i]Time of Day:[/i][/color] Late Afternoon


Natalie's day at work had been as busy and hectic as she'd feared. There was a massive lunchtime rush. The customers were impatient and rude. It was a warzone. Thankfully after 2pm, it calmed down to a regular, ordinary, manageable pace, and Natalie had time to think about things. She would very much like to see more of Archie, and not just hookups. Though was he too old for dates? She wanted to talk to him more, get drunk with him more, open up to him more. It wasn't love. At least not yet. But there was something. She felt comfortable around somebody with a secret like hers, and issues like hers. She was actually looking forward to unpacking two years of keeping everything secret with him. She could ask him about the whole lizard thing too. Was he born that way, or was he also a victim of H.A.T.?

She had to stop dwelling on Archie, however, when she was thinking back to last night, began to blush, and noticed that the handle of the knife she was using now had imprints of her fingers from where she was squeezing it, and was cracked. Dammit. she hadn't caused an accident as a result of accidental super strength for over a year! She suddenly felt ashamed of herself for losing control at work, and became terrified that anybody saw her, or would find the knife and ask questions. So when nobody was looking, she turned her back to the customer area, rolled the knife into a ball, and put it in the trash.

Mind free of everything except the task in hand, she carried on working until it was her shift at the cash registers and taking people's orders. Natalie used to hate this part of the job, but she's had over a year of practice getting that friendly and chill yet blatantly fake 'customer service' voice just right. It also didn't hurt that she was the exact right level of pretty that she'd never get asked out or harassed, but she'd often catch men staring at her, or a shy teenager, to whom she would be above his station, feeling intimidated by her. She didn't hate those moments.

It was in the late afternoon, less than an hour before she finished today's shift, that she saw a group of men come in. Before she could greet them, she recognised one of them and went cold. It was the man she had almost killed last night when she briefly lost control. She pulled her cap down to try to hide her face, which was quickly turning pale, in a effort of futility.


[@Lord Wraith]