บท 578: An Impossible Desire

I was just slogging through the hours. 

It was just one of those days, y'know? Spending more time staring at the clock than actually serving customers. These kinds of days, I dread… where a single hour seems to just triple in length, and the vacant tables were your only source of company. 

Not even the regulars were in today. That lone detective always silently scribbling away at unending piles of papers was absent from her usual corner, and the lively blonde gal always squandering the seat closest to me was nowhere to be seen either… which just further exacerbated the feeling of monotony. 

I've taken inventory twice now, polished the coffee brewer to the point where its shine was almost hazardous to the eyes, and even had time to rearrange the books on the shelves to alphabetical order - yes, at this point, I'd even jam a fork in my eyes just to stave off the boredom.