Identity Crisis

“Chicken Noodle and a Tuna on Rye!” I placed the food tray on the countertop and erased the completed order off the computer screen. For the first time in what seemed like hours the restaurant was finally quiet and I could take a breather. It had been non stop all day and I could feel the weariness of the rush taking over.

I washed my hands and continued into the kitchen, opening a bottle of spring water and chugging down its contents. Checking the main clock I could have cried as I realized I still had 3 more hours left of work.

“Hey Erin!”

I turned around in response to my name. One of my coworkers had called me.

A petite woman in a matching uniform motioned for me to come to her cash register and I obliged, putting down the remnants of my bottled water and walking over.

“What’s up Jane?” I leaned against the counter and faced her.

“There was a guy in here a minute ago, asked for some Sierra person. I told him there wasn’t anyone working here by that name and he insisted that there was and that you were her.”

She shook her head and chuckled at the thought of it. I however, could feel my face go pale at the mention of the name. But I collected my thoughts and played it off like it was nothing.

“He’s probably just some drunk. But then again I get mistaken for different people all the time.” I forced a smile and loosened my posture a bit.

“Too bad”, said Jane with a grin of her own. “He was pretty cute too. A young thing about your age.” She passed me a large manilla envelope. “He left me this envelope to give to you and left pretty quickly. I hate to think that it could be something important and this Sierra girl, whoever she is, isn’t going to get it.”

“Well, I’ll tell you what Jane. I’m gonna take my break now okay? I’ll see if I can find the man who gave you this and get it back to him”. I tucked the envelope into my skirt and hurried out the front door.

“How are you going to find him? You don’t even know what he looks like?” I heard Jane call after me but pretended not to. She would already have enough questions for me when I came back.

It was pouring rain as I exited the restaurant but I barely noticed. I was in too much shock. I ran to the street corner and looked left to right, seeing no one. Whoever had brought the letter had wasted no time leaving.

Feeling exhausted, I sat down on the curb and rested my Head on my arms. Strangely enough the rainfall felt good on my skin. I could tell that I was completely soaked but I didn’t care. There was something else bothering me. A more pressing issue.

No one in my new life knew my old name except for my parents. And that was the way I liked it. I had changed my identity for a reason and didn’t need some old ghost from my past coming back and upsetting things. I had worked hard to become anonymous and intended to stay that way.

A familiar voice interrupted my thoughts. “Long time no see.” I looked up to see the face of someone I had once known, but whose features had matured in the time since I had last seen him.

“Hello Dean”. Of course in a way I was surprised to see him. And yet something about this meeting seemed familiar, like Deja Vu. My body tired from the hard days work, I decided to stay sitting down and let him do the talking. He was definitely here for a reason. I knew that much.

He sat down beside me and muttered something that sounded like latin. Immediately a giant rainbow umbrella appeared out of nowhere, sheltering us both from the down pour.

“You know, you could just carry around an umbrella like normal people, instead of using magic.” I said in a huff, ringing out my ponytail.

Despite my rudeness, he smiled. “But I am not a normal person. And neither are you Sierra.”

I looked around quickly to make sure that we were alone, then pushed the umbrella away and stood up facing him.

“Listen Dean. It’s great to see you. But you have to realize that I have a new life now. My name is Erin, not Sierra. And honestly, I have to get back to my real job. You know. In the real world where people work hard and get things the old fashion way? You people can’t just be popping in and out whenever you feel like it giving me letters and confusing my coworkers.”

I had forgotten all about the letter. I could now feel its corners scratching against my skin. I took it out, holding it in front of me. I knew that if I didn’t get rid of it now, that I would regret it later. I held it out to him, but he waved it away.

“I don’t want anything to do with the magic world anymore. So whatever is in this envelope just please take it with you and go on your way”. I thrust it into Deans hands and folded my arms.

He looked down at the envelope, then back at me. His smile had changed to a frown.
“Don’t you remember the old days? Sure there were bad times”, he rested a gloved hand on my shoulder. “But there were so many more good times. Remember when the cat you gave Seamus for a present destroyed my favorite sweater? And the G.A.W.D.S?”

I smiled despite myself. It was true. There had been a lot of great memories. But the horrors I had seen associated with magic had made my decision for me. A decision that I had stopped questioning early on. Every now and then I would dream about my old friends and old memories in Hogwarts, but those dreams would often end in nightmares so horrible that I wouldn’t sleep for days.
There was however one person who popped up in my mind more than all the rest. And that person was Seamus.

“How is Seamus?” I tried to sound nonchalant. But if anyone could see past my charade, it was Dean.

“Why don’t you look in the envelope and see for yourself”. He handed it back and stood up. Once more holding the umbrella over me.

I was about to argue with him, but was brought back to reality by the sound of my manager hollering at me.

“Erin! Your break was over 10 minutes ago!” I turned and waved to her, and when I looked back Dean had completely disappeared.

‘Of course!’, I thought, heading back to the restaurant. ‘Wizards always have to show off’.

*******************

The rest of the work day was crazy. A sudden storm had brought everyone into the restaurant for our famous soups and coffee. It was so busy in fact that by the time I was finished I had completely forgotten about my encounter with Dean. I had also forgotten the letter that I had put in my bag after my encounter with him. And so it seemed, had my coworker Jane. The last thing I needed was more questions.

I left work physically drained. I fell asleep on the bus ride home but thankfully for me the bus driver, who was now used to me doing this on several occasions, woke me up at my stop. I thanked him and stumbled off of the bus and down the street towards my place.

The moment I got into my tiny apartment I dropped my bag and coat on the floor and threw myself onto my bed. You would think that for someone who worked around so much coffee that I would have no problem staying awake but lately I felt as if I was being drained of all of my energy. Most days I would get home around 4 pm and then be so exhausted that I would sleep for hours. It had gotten so bad that I had started setting the alarm after I got up in the morning just incase I got home after work that day and slept until the next morning.

I had been to all sorts of doctors. Non magical of course. And they hadn’t been able to see anything wrong with me. I had come to the conclusion that I had just been over worked lately and left it at that.

I turned on my T.V and got under the covers. Kicking off my shoes and getting comfortable. The local news channel flashed on and hundreds of owls filled the tv screen. A man with a microphone ducked as they swooped around him. I turned up the volume to hear what he was saying but his microphone had been disabled by all the commotion. The scene returned to the anchor people who had nervous smiles on their faces. I had seen this before on the news years back when Voldemort had returned. The very thought of “he-who-must-not-be-named” made me sit up in bed wide awake.

Only, he had been killed years back. So it couldn’t be him. None the less I could feel icy shivers racing up my spine. I wrapped myself in my duvet and spotted my bag on the floor. The large manilla envelope had slipped partially out of it and was in plain sight. Suddenly the meeting with Dean came back into my memory and I shuffled off the bed and over to my bag. I picked up the envelope and hopped back into my warm bed. I placed the mysterious letter on my side table and lay down once more. I couldn’t let it get to me. I had to be strong! I would not open the envelope.

I couldn’t help but stare, transfixed by the mystery of it. Self control had never been one of my stronger traits. But the sudden appearance of Dean, the number of owls on the news and the fact that the letter had something to do with Seamus kept me wondering.

I didn’t have too long to ponder the mysterious envelope however, as sleep overtook me and I drifted off into dreamland.