Marissa blinked a few more times as her eyes adjusted. The clock on the nightstand glowed with green numbers. It was twelve nineteen in the morning. She had to be at her new job in two hours.

She rolled over and looked at the muscular figure sleeping next to her. Marissa shook her head and slowly slipped out of bed. After blindly feeing for her clothes, she was pretty sure she had everything she came with. She didn't have to turn on the light to find her way out. She memorized the way to the door just so she wouldn't have to stumble around in the dark, possibly waking the sleeping man in the bed.

Once she was outside his house, Marissa let out a long sigh and walked to her car. She couldn't really explain why she did it. It didn't make sense, even to her.

When she got home, Marissa quickly showered and crawled into bed. She felt the tears behind her eyes, but she wasn't going to cry. This was the life she chose so she was going to deal with it the best she could.

Her alarm blared at one forty-five. Marissa let out a long breath and quickly got dressed in some jeans and a white shirt. She cranked up her music on her headphones and took the short walk to her new job just a few blocks down the street.

At that moment she wasn't sure why she moved to LA. Why she decided to skip out on college and try her hand at modeling. It had been six months and she was already sick of it. She was sick of the small budget photo shoots. She was sick of the crappy jobs she had to take up to cover the cost of living while trying to make it. She was sick of her joke of an agent who only managed to get her shoots for foreign commercials that didn't pay hardly anything.

She was also disturbed by the thoughts that went though her head during the day. While she was driving to her other job, she'd think how easy it would be just to let go of the wheel and run into a building or an oncoming bus. Right then she looked at the bridge in the distance. It'd be so easy to jump off.

Marissa expelled a breath as she walked into the diner.

"Hey," the older woman behind the counter smiled at her, "You're just in time."

Marissa forced a smile, "Great."

After showing Marissa everything she needed to know, the waitress grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder, "This is the best shift for tips. There's a few people from the bars coming in but around three, a huge group comes in from the club down the street. They tip very well."

"Thanks," Marissa told her.

"Have fun," she waved to Marissa.

Marissa walked over to the pass-through and looked at Toby, the cook, in the back, "Do I need to do anything right now?"

He smiled, "Not right now. I'm going to start on the order for the group coming in."

"They order the same thing ever night?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah," he smirked and started cracking eggs.

Marissa shrugged and walked toward the jukebox in the back of the diner, "Does this thing work?"

"Yeah," Toby called, "There's some change in the cabinet under the register."

"Cool," Marissa nodded. She grabbed some change from under the register as the front door opened. There were a few voices calling "Hey Toby," and then the large group sat down at a table in the middle of the diner.

Marissa put on one of the few songs she recognized and walked to the pass-through to the beat of "Wonderwall". Toby put up the food and Marissa put it on a tray.

Marissa approached the group and set the tray down on an adjacent table, while the whole group burst out laughing.

The guy closest to Marissa looked up at her, "Hey, you must be new. I'm Brad."

"Marissa," Marissa replied and forced another smile.

"This is Tina, Rachel, Tim, and George," Brad introduced everyone.

"Nice to meet you," Marissa said. She asked everyone what they got and passed out the orders with one left on the tray.

"Uh, just put that here," the girl introduced as Rachel pointed to the empty seat next to her, "She's always late."

As Marissa set it down on the table, the front door opened again.

"Hey," Tina smiled, "What took you so long?"

"There were some guys that wouldn't leave," a voice said from behind Marissa.

Marissa thought she recognized it, but quickly dismissed the idea. "Let me know if you guys need anything."

"Marissa?" the familiar voice asked.

Marissa looked up and caught the dazzling blue eyes she knew so well. Alex had a stunned look on her face and was in a sort of the trance.

Marissa was searching for something interesting to say back, but only managed to come up with a "Hey."

"I see you've already met Alex," Brad told Marisa.

"Wait," Rachel looked at Alex, "That's Marissa?"

Alex immediately looked down at her plate and nodded.

"Hmm," Rachel looked Marissa up and down.

"Um…I'll just be at the counter if you need me," Marissa managed to get out awkwardly before walking back to the counter.

"That was graceful," Toby smirked from the pass-through.

"Yeah," Marissa rolled her eyes.

"You know Al?" Toby asked.

Marissa nodded, "She's my ex."

"Ooh," Toby smiled, "That's why Rachel was sizing you up."

"Why did she do that?" Marissa asked.

"They're dating, Alex and Rachel," Toby explained, "Have been for three or four months now."

"Oh," Marissa felt her stomach sink even though she didn't know why. She should be happy for Alex right?

"Hey Toby," Tina called from the jukebox, "When are you going to change the songs in this thing?"

"When Alex does it for me," Toby smiled and called back.

Alex took a drink of her water and then looked at Toby, "How much are you going to pay me?"

"Everything I've got in my pocket," Toby answered.

Alex laughed, "You forget that I was here when you did that to George. I'm not falling for that."

"Alright," Toby leaned on the pass-through, "Fifty bucks."

"What do you want me to put in there?" Alex asked.

"You have a million CDs," Toby replied, "Use them."

Alex thought it over, "Alright. I'll be right back." She stood up and walked out the door.

"Can I get some coffee?" Tina called.

Marissa nodded and grabbed the coffee and a coffee cup. When she got to the table, the eyes on her were almost palpable.

"Can I get you guys anything else?" Marissa asked.

Rachel looked Marissa over, "Why are you waiting tables?"

Marissa raised an eyebrow, "Because rent doesn't pay itself."

"Haven't I seen you somewhere else?" George asked.

"I also work at the coffee shop down the street," Marissa motioned with her hand.

"Oh yeah," George smiled.

The front door opened as Brad asked another question, "You work two jobs?"

Marissa nodded.

Alex walked past them without a word. She set her armful of CDs down by the jukebox. "Hey Toby, I need the key."

"Here Marissa," Toby held the keys out of the pass-through.

Marissa walked over and took them. She briefly hesitated before walking over to Alex. When she got to Alex, she waited for Alex to look up at her before offering the keys.

"Thanks," Alex sort of smiled.

"No problem," Marissa sort of smiled back. Marissa held Alex's cautious gaze before she heard the front door open again.

Marissa sighed and went back to work while Alex changed out the music in the jukebox.

When Alex finished, she walked over to Toby and handed him the old CDs and the keys. He handed her a fifty and smiled, "Don't spend that all in one place."

Alex smirked, "I plan to."

Just as Marissa took the food to the people who just came in, Alex's group stood up.

"We're leaving Toby," Brad called, "Put it on our tab."

"Already did," Toby called back, "See you kids tomorrow."

There were a few extra 'bye's and then the group walked out. Marissa watched them disappear down the sidewalk before going to clear off the table.

When she got to the table she saw a random tips sitting out from various places. She pocketed the tips as she cleaned off the table, but paused when she got to Alex's place. There was a single bill sticking out from under Alex's plate. Marissa lifted up the plate and pulled out a fifty. The same fifty Toby had given Alex earlier.

Marissa smiled wistfully and pocketed the money.

"You wouldn't happen to know where they all work do you?" Marissa asked Toby a few minutes later.

Toby smiled, "There's a club down the street. Moonlight Shadow. It opens at eight and there's a ten dollar cover."

Marissa raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you know. Just in case you ever wanted to go," Toby winked.

"Thanks," Marissa answered.

After her shift was over, Marissa went to her apartment and fell on her bed. She was so exhausted. She stared at the ceiling for a few minutes wondering about Alex's life. She looked the same, but was she happy? Was she doing okay? Did she really like that Rachel girl?

Marissa rolled over and sighed it doesn't matter… It shouldn't matter.