Max had a brief conversation with the young woman at the counter, who seemed to be no older than her early twenties and explained his 'situation' of forgetting his card. As a result, he was permitted to make a phone transfer, but it was to the bank account of the woman at the counter. She offered to use her own money to cover the expense while he transferred the funds to her account.
The woman at the counter seemed quite keen to talk to Max, perhaps because of her youth and lack of seriousness or simply out of boredom, so their chat was more relaxed in nature.
Although everything appeared to be going smoothly, Max was aware that he had to speak with the woman at the counter for about ten minutes while enduring the increasing hunger pangs that arose whenever he caught a whiff of the delicious foods being sold and served to other patrons. Every time a waiter carried food past him, Max felt as if his energy was slowly ebbing away since he knew that he wouldn't be the one enjoying the food.
On top of all that was happening, there was still one thing that occurred repeatedly during Max's conversation with the lady at the counter.
Max noticed that the lady at the counter kept looking at his face, so he confronted her by saying, "You seem to be staring at my face as if there's something on it," causing her to quickly turn away from him
The lady at the counter denied that she was staring at Max's face, stuttering, "I-i'm not staring at your face. I'm just staring at you as any normal person would." Max retorted, "Well, people with normal intentions won't say that their intentions are normal. Don't you think so?" The lady chuckled in response to Max's remark.
Initially, Max believed it was just in his mind, but he became suspicious when he noticed that the woman kept staring at his face with a bewildered expression several times while they were talking. Max asked her if there was something on his face, but she denied it every time.
However, despite her assurances, Max couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else behind her curious behaviour, so Max didn't believe her. He knew he was attractive since even the best friend of a certain ex was interested in him, but he didn't think his looks were powerful enough to completely captivate a woman's attention in broad daylight. He wanted to believe that was the case, but he wasn't delusional.
He had other things on his mind and didn't really want to talk to anyone. He was only interacting with the lady at the counter to complete his transaction and get his food.
The wait felt truly unbearable.
*Ring ring
*Ring ring
Thankfully, Max didn't have to dwell on this issue for too long as the lady at the counter eventually processed his transaction and instructed him to take a seat at one of the vacant tables in the restaurant and wait for his food.
Even though Max might have seemed like he wanted to order a large or pricey item to the woman working at the counter, he actually only asked for a bowl of chicken noodle soup. Specifically, he opted for the version with egg, as it was more affordable, costing only $4, which was $3 less than the regular option. Luckily, the woman didn't react in a way that would have made the situation awkward, although Max didn't feel there was anything to be embarrassed about.
He was a poor man who couldn't even eat his bland noodles at home in peace and had to spend four dollars on a plate of noodles.
The challenging aspect of everything was that it cost around the same as a gallon of fuel for his car, and it was even more terrible that his car could not operate, but it's none of his business right now.
For one, he needed to eat to keep the hunger from killing him and then decide what to do next.
'Going home at this point is not an option,' Max thought as he couldn't exactly wait the rest of the day outdoors in case he was attacked again. Furthermore, nightfall would inevitably come, and if he managed to avoid another incident like the one earlier today, he still had to worry about the possibility of something similar happening again. As Max waited for his food to arrive, he observed his surroundings carefully or more specifically, he observed the people around him.
'I wonder if there's anyone here that is not as they seem on the surface'
Max began to entertain the possibility that someone in the gathering could possess the same abilities as the black-coated man, which made him feel paranoid. He couldn't tell who was "normal" and who wasn't, as there were no visible signs.
'Is the world I've been living in a lie?' Max thought as he wondered how much of what he had believed to be true was actually a facade.
As he considered this, Max looked at the hand that he had tried to harm earlier in the day, and although it looked perfectly normal, he knew that it was not. He began to wonder if he was not normal.
He also looked at a slightly dirty spot on his shoulder and recalled how this same shoulder had been dislocated before, but had somehow healed itself within minutes without any medical intervention. He had not taken any drugs, received any injections, or undergone any surgery, yet the shoulder had healed on its own.
'Am I even still a human?'
'Was I ever even a human?'
Max's mind was becoming muddled with thoughts when he was interrupted by the voice of a young male server who had arrived to serve him.
"Your order, sir," said the waiter politely, snapping Max out of his reverie.
The female worker at the counter seemed to be no older than 23, while the male waiter in front of him couldn't have been more than 21. Although Max wasn't significantly older than them, he couldn't help but think that they were still quite young to be working a job like this.
Max assumed that either the lady at the counter and the waiter did not attend college or this job was a part-time gig for them to make some extra money. Regardless, Max had no interest in learning more or asking them, as he had his own problems to deal with. So, after taking the tray with the food, Max dismissed the waiter with a forced smile and a "thank you".
The waiter responded by saying it was his duty and asked if Max needed anything else and after Max declined, the waiter left promptly as he had other customers to attend to.
With the waiter out of sight, Max had some much-needed alone time, and his only desire was to devour the food that sat before him. All of the confusing thoughts that had been plaguing his mind were momentarily silenced as his hunger took over.
Without a second thought, he grabbed his fork and began to eat.
As the flavours exploded in his mouth, Max couldn't help but think to himself, "Well, at least it was worth the money I spent."
The serving was quite big, so Max was sure it should be able to relieve a little of his hunger. He had no intention of even spending a few pennies to get a bottle of water to sip after his lunch.
For one, even though it appeared as though Max had already adjusted to the situation and was less agitated than he had been in the morning since he had already acknowledged that something was wrong, there were just three things Max could say that would be helpful to him at this point.
The first was his phone, which he could use for a variety of purposes, including communication and money transfers. The second was close to the first because it was money from his account. One could say that the money was still connected to the first since he could only access it through his phone, and the last one was the mysterious voice.
Max ranked the importance of the mysterious voice that had spoken to him multiple times and saved him from the black-coated man as the topmost priority. In case of a similar situation, his phone or money would be of no use, as only the voice could offer assistance.
The voice had previously provided assurance to Max, and he had every reason to believe it would do the same again, but unfortunately, the voice seemed to have vanished.
'Hey' 'Hey' 'Hey' 'Hey'
Max made an effort to elicit a response from the voice in his head, but to no avail, just like on previous occasions. As a result, he was left alone with his thoughts.
Max contemplated that he could either wait for the voice to return on its own or try to communicate with it in an attempt to provoke a response, although this strategy appeared to be ineffective.
While consuming his meal, Max looked for alternative solutions to his issue.
He initially pondered going to the police to report, but he ultimately crossed that off his list.
For one thing, it would be a miracle if the cops even gave him a chance and didn't label him as neurotic, but Max was not willing to take the chance of alarming anyone who could be chasing him by doing this. Who was he to say that it wouldn't be the same everywhere he went for assistance if the man from this morning could fool him into thinking he was a delivery man and get to him?
Max was also afraid of being taken as a test subject if he showed anyone the changes in his body. Although this fear may have been influenced by the movies he saw in the past, Max would rather be overly cautious than regret it later.
'Then what do I do now!' Max thought angrily about what to do next, almost slamming his fist on the table before restraining himself.
He was aware that the changes in his body had made him stronger and could easily break the table with one hit, but he didn't want to draw attention to himself or explain anything to anyone. Thankfully he was able to stop himself in time.
Max intentionally chose an empty table in the restaurant when the lady at the counter told him to pick a spot, so he could avoid any interaction with others. He was alone at the table and believed that no one saw his actions.
'Then what can I do?' Max considered it again while gritting his teeth slightly due to his sense of helplessness. Suddenly, an idea came to him, and he grabbed his phone and opened his browser without any hesitation.
Max had been considering the mysterious voice when he suddenly remembered the bizarre dream he'd had about an odd monster, which was still very real in his mind.
He questioned whether there was any relation between the two and then inquired as to whether he could find any information about that creature online.
Max decided to follow through with this idea even though it was completely pointless to imagine that what he had dreamed could ever be a topic on the internet.
He won't lose anything by doing that, for one thing, and at least he had something to do now.
Max wondered, laughing at himself, "Why do I feel like I hope I don't find anything?" as he entered the details he could still recall about the monster in his dream.
He was obviously still having trouble accepting reality.