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April 28th
It was exactly two weeks after her birthday. It was also exactly two weeks since Amy had met the very mysterious enigma named Adam Copeland.
She hadn't seen him in a few days now. It was surprising because she knew he frequented the local diner, and she'd made sure to come in every day since the rockslide.
She chewed her lower lip as she pondered things. She knew the man had told her she needed to stay away from him, but she needed to see him. She had questions and wanted answers. Damn it, she was not some crazed stalker! She had every right to know what it was that Copeland seemed to know when disaster was going to strike before it actually happened - since it had involved her on two occasions.
Amy considered looking up or inquiring about Shawn Michaels' garage. She knew the mechanic was friends with the other man, so he was bound to be equipped to help her. On the other hand, she didn't want to accidentally run into Adam there, nor did she want Shawn to say anything to him about her visiting.
"How is everything?"
The redhead looked up at the sound of the voice, startled from her reverie.
Melina stood watching her from behind the counter, her hand on her hip and a small smile on her face.
Amy looked down at her nearly empty plate of dinner, then back up again. She'd been here during breakfast time but had come back at night as well, hoping to catch the tall blond man - with no such luck.
"Oh, delicious," she told the pretty brunette. "Thanks so much."
"Don't mention it." The woman reached behind herself, untying her apron as she came out from behind the counter. She made a beeline for the front door and turned the 'Open' sign the opposite way so that it now showed 'Closed' on the other side of the window. It was only then that Amy realized that she was the only customer left in the place, and that Melina was the only employee still there.
The Latina came back over, her apron in hand, she she checked her watch.
"I'm sorry if I'm holding you up."
"No, it's okay... Someone's meeting me here anyway," the waitress replied.
Amy finished the small bit of morsels still in her plate and sighed. She gratefully accepted the check Melina handed her and reached into her purse for her wallet.
"Melina, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, hun... Just hope I can answer it. What's on your mind?"
The redhead smiled, and the other woman eyed her warmly. She hesitated for the briefest moment, wondering how she should broach the subject. Then, she decided just doing so was all she could do.
"Well," Amy began, "it's about Adam Copeland... You know - the tall, good-looking blond man who comes in here sometimes but who hasn't been here recently?"
"Oh, yeah," Melina said, smiling even more brightly, and the redhead didn't know why, but she felt slightly uneasy because of that. "Of course I know Adam. Nice guy... We went out once."
Amy arched an eyebrow in surprise. At the same time, she'd noticed from the first moment Melina Perez had waited on them her first time here, how friendly she'd been with him.
"Really?"
"Yeah," the brunette said. "It was only once, about a year or so ago. We got along great, but we mutually realized that it was strictly a just-friends vibe between us."
"Oh."
"Yeah," Melina said. She met the other woman's hazel eyes, noting a hint of anxiety in them. "What do you want to know about him?"
Amy opened her mouth to speak but hesitated for a beat. What didn't she want to know about him?
"Well... I was just wondering," she said nervously. She tucked some red strands of hair behind one ear and straightened up on the stool at which she was sitting. "What do you know about him? I mean, other than that he's a nice guy and all..."
Melina made a slightly funny face, complete with her lips pursed as she thought about that.
"Hmm... Well, I know he graduated from the same high school as I did, only five or six years earlier... He's very private, you know?"
The redhead nodded vigorously at the question. She knew better than anyone that Copeland was private, to say the least.
"Oh... Right," Melina said, apparently recalling some important bit of information. She turned her back for a moment as she busied herself at the dessert display. A moment later, she turned forward again and placed a small plate with a slice of five-layer chocolate cake in front of Amy. "On the house," she said with a cordial wink.
"Mmm, thanks," Amy said.
Then, "Oh... His mother died when he was very young. There were rumors all through school about it. I never knew who the kids were talking about until I actually met Adam myself, but the story was that his mom was murdered."
The other woman looked up from the cake and met Melina's brown eyes. Horror coursed through her at the revelation. She wondered what exactly had happened to Adam's mother, and how old he'd been when it happened. How horrible that must have been for him!
"Oh, my God."
"Yeah, I couldn't imagine."
Melina's attention was suddenly diverted as a knock sounded on the door. A smile crossed her face, and she squealed with delight as she bounded out from behind the counter to the door.
Amy glanced over her shoulder as a young man stepped inside. The two kissed hello, and the brunette shut the door behind him and brought him over.
"Amy, meet my boyfriend, Johnny."
The redhead smiled at the handsome, dark-haired, tan young man. He was clad in jeans and a short-sleeved button-down workshirt with the emblem "Nitro" on the upper right-hand side of it.
"Nice to meet you."
"Likewise," Johnny said with a warm smile. He had one arm wrapped around his girlfriend's slender waist and shook her hand with his free one.
Shortly thereafter, Amy left as Melina and Nitro were heading out on their date. She mentally replayed
everything the brunette had told her and decided that, come morning, she would do some investigating.