Page 12 of Monster Diner

“Are you going to need help to get through this month?”

He glanced up at her. “Yes…?”

“Since we’re being honest with one another—My bank account is empty, I just got fired, and I abandoned my apartment to my loser ex. I’ve got nowhere to go and a car full of antiques and clothes. If you can pay me some sort of wage, enough to live off for the month, I’ll stay and help.” She picked up the schedule and showed it to him.

He looked at it, eyes widening. “You’d do that?”

“Yup!”

“You’re a lifesaver… There’s just one more thing, and I hate to ask…”

She braced herself for the other shoe to drop.

“My son and I have been staying at Frank’s place so we’re closer to the diner. Are you alright with staying with us?”

She blinked at him for a moment. And every fiber of her being was telling her “Girl, run.” But people-pleasing tendencies died hard.

“That’s great! I love kids!”

6

VICTOR

Victor left a handwritten note taped to the door declaring they were out of ice cream to deter anyone else who’d seen the free milkshake advert. It was an inelegant solution to their problem. But it was the best he could come up with until he could reorder more ice cream base. While Lizzy moved her car from the front of the diner to the house’s driveway, he ran inside ahead of her. The kitchen was spotless, but the rest of the rooms were covered with his and Brayden’s belongings. Had he known she was planning to stay here, he would have tidied up. Most people didn’t see this side of him—the chaotic, disorganized slob. But he was one man and could only keep up a business or a clean house, not both. As soon as he reached the living room, Igor swooped towards him, screeching for dinner.

“Not now, Igor.”

Igor was not pleased with this answer, and he decided landing on Victor’s shoulder and pecking at him was the best course of action. Lucky for Victor, he could simply turn off the feeling in that part of his skull. A convenient side effect of being reanimated was a heightened ability to control zones of his body, which allowed him to ignore the bird while he worked. Victor grabbed the pair of boxers flung over the arm of the couch and the socks discarded in front of the television and shoved them into his pocket, before running over to the primary bedroom, which he’d taken over and sometimes slept in. Brayden used the guest room/office. The primary bedroom was more a closet than a room for Victor. His clothes had exploded out of his suitcase and lay crumpled in piles scattered around the room. He grabbed the clothes haphazardly and stuffed them all into his suitcase along with what he’d found around the house.

The doorbell rang, and Igor cawed indignantly, flapping his wings in a way that couldn’t be ignored. She was here, and Victor’s heart was thumping loudly. He nearly tripped over his open suitcase in his rush to get to the door, and he stumbled before catching himself on the doorjamb. He took a calming breath and then walked to the front door, Igor squawking up a storm the entire time. When he opened the door, Lizzy burst into laughter. The sound was intoxicating, better than any stimulant. He was certain it could keep him awake to work two doubles in a row without any black coffee or energy drinks.

“Do you realize Igor is pecking at your head?” she asked.

“He’s hungry,” Victor explained.

“Doesn’t the pecking hurt?”

“I turn off the feeling in that part of my skull.”

“You can do that?”

“Mhmm.” He didn’t like discussing the “features” of his body, as his creator had referred to them.

Lizzy was hauling a suitcase and duffel bag, along with her purse. And he reached for them all.

“Let me carry these for you.” He grabbed her bags one-handed, and her eyes widened. It stroked his ego, and he lifted them higher, finally displacing Igor from his shoulder.

Igor flew into the kitchen with an indignant squawk.

“I can’t believe Igor is still alive. He was my grandfather’s.”

“I’m convinced he’s an eldritch creature. Did you know he likes chorizo and eggs?”

Lizzy snorted, and it was a delightful sound. “When I was a kid, he loved patty melts and BLTs. His palate has broadened.”

He carried her things to the other empty bedroom in the house, which he hadn’t given more than a cursory glance when they’d moved in. Victor shoved the door open with his shoulder and set the suitcase down on the single bed. The room was a faded lilac, with black-and-white frilled curtains, and there were posters of 2000s pop icons and figurines of their favorite Hero Club. An empty bookshelf and a desk were pushed against the wall.

Upon entering, Lizzy inhaled sharply.