"Excuse me," the eighteen year old said. The woman behind the counter ignored Alice and continued what she was doing. Alice couldn't see what was keeping the woman so busy, but she didn't care. Nine times had Ms. Quinn said 'excuse me' to no avail. No one stopped to look at her, let alone help her. All she needed to do was pay her check at the counter! Oh, how she hated diners like this. Everyone was always moving and the noise level was abnormally high, which irritated her more than it should have. Maybe if someone would stop to help her she would be her happy, energetic self.
On the wall in front of her, the vintage clock read 8:30 A.M. on the dot. With a half hour to get to the dock that was twenty minutes away, Alice cleared her throat and raised her voice, finally fed up with being ignored.
"HEY BLONDIE. EXCUSE ME. YEAH, YOU. I'VE BEEN WAITING HER FOR TEN MINUTES TO PAY MY CHECK. NOW I'M LATE TO WHERE I HAVE TO GO. IF YOU DON'T MIND, YOU CAN TAKE THIS CHECK AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR--" before she could finish what she had to say, the doorbell to the entrance chimed, and her driver walked in. Trevor, a mid-thirty year old Caucasian male, walked in and cleared his throat. Every eye in the diner wandered from Alice to Trevor, and then back to Alice.
Trevor stepped forward, hands behind his back, and smiled politely. "Ms., if we do not go now, we will be late." As he spoke, his kind smile never faltered. His black suit was clean, like always, and his normally blue eyes appeared grey due to the lighting of the room.
When Alice turned her head to look at the women she had just hollered at, the women broke out into a simper, even though her eyes showed fear. Turning back to her driver, Alice Quinn smiled apologetically and nodded her head. Her tiny 5'4" frame walked awkwardly out of the building. Trevor opened up the door of the limousine and let Alice get in. When she was situated, she sighed. The door to the driver's side opened and Trevor got in. "How was it, Ms.?" The engine came to life and they took off down the road, heading for the dock.
Frowning to herself, she shrugged her shoulders,then spoke since he couldn't see her action. "It was okay. Good food and no one paid any attention to me, until...well...yeah.... I'm sure you heard me from outside. I didn't mean to yell at her, but I said excuse me ten times. Ten times and nothing! No one even glanced in my direction. How rude."
Trevor chuckled like always and shook his head. "You have to remember to be calm." They took a left, a right, went straight, and then another left. Alice put her head back against the smooth, black leather and exhaled.
"But it's difficult to be when others purposely ignore you," she responded. Of course, the workers hadn't purposely done it. They had just been too busy to hear the girl.
Trevor said nothing the rest of the way. Alice watched out the window while they drove to their destination. When they reached the dock her heart soared. Alice had to admit she had never been on a cruise before. It was her first time and she couldn't even imagine what sort of adventure she would experience. Maybe she would make a friend or two. She had never been the popular type, but it never really mattered to her in school. Being by herself most of the time was better than being spoken to, just to get talked about later.