I carefully looked her over taking in her cheerful attitude. She gave off a totally different vibe than the first time I had seen her.
"Yeah sure," I replied, unsure of how to act around her. "Everyone has a bad day once in a while." I smiled small and twisted a finger in my hair. “Thank you.”
She gave me a satisfied smile before leaning in and wrapping her arms around me. I instantly stiffened up feeling uncomfortable. "It's okay." She laughed, and something in her laugh told me that she was used to that reaction. "You will get used to me soon enough." She dropped her arms away from my stiff body and walked away with a small smile. "Follow me."
An hour later, I took on my first table, which happened to be an elderly couple that could barely move without my assistance. I was terrified of accidentally hurting them. However, they didn’t mind when I made a few mistakes and understood that it was my first day. I had to admit that I got lucky to get them. They helped to ease me in and relax me before taking on the busy day.
Three plates dropped, and six hours later, I somehow managed to make $68.38. It wasn’t the hundreds of dollars that I was used to but the business was a lot better than my last job. I had managed to make it through the whole day without some pervert trying to grope me. I could get used to that.
I leaned into the last dirty booth with a smile as I calmly washed off the table. The clock above me read 4:28 p.m. The hours at the diner were Sunday: seven o'clock a.m. to four o'clock p.m. and Monday-Saturday: 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. It seemed reasonable enough for me. I could actually get back to my old sleeping habits or at least try.
Jace strolled over from out of nowhere, grabbing the towel from out of my hand. I jumped, unaware that he was even close by. He smiled sweetly before bending over and wiping off the table, taking over my job. "How was your first day," he questioned. "Did you do well on tips?"
I clumsily reached into my apron and pulled out my bundle of cash, hoping that he wouldn't laugh. I had no idea what a good waitress made. "I made around $69.00. Is that good?" I questioned.
Jace looked up and over at Stacy as she gathered up her things and headed for the door. "Thanks Stacy," he said smoothly. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Stacy shoved her keys into her mouth while juggling her belongings. She was quite talented. “Sure,” She mumbled. "Bye, guys."
Jace stood up, reaching out a hand. “Do you want help?”
Stacy nodded her head and pushed the door open with her foot. “Um…no. I got it.” She smiled and headed out the door.
Jace watched as Stacy disappeared before turning back to face me. “Stacy only made $63.00. You must have something special." He grinned and then motioned for me to follow him to the break room. He bent down, picking up a wrinkled up food order, and tossed it into the trash. "You did a wonderful job. I had a lot of regulars tell me how much they liked you," he said, tone professional. “I am very impressed.”
I felt my cheeks redden as I turned my head away in embarrassment. I reached out the hand with the money in it. "Here's some money for rent. I know that it's not much, but it's a start."
Jace placed his hands on mine and pushed the money away, his hands lingered for a moment before he pulled them away. "Nope," he said. "I don't want any of that. You don't owe anything until next month. I already paid rent this month." He walked over and turned off the light switches. Then he pointed toward the door and waited for me to follow.
I walked in silence not knowing how to thank him. All that my parents ever did was take from me. I wasn't use to someone giving. The feeling was...different.
He walked in front of me, holding the door open for me as I followed behind him. He locked the door, checking it twice before turning around and smiling. “I am starving.” He threw his keys in his pocket and reached for his car keys. “What shall we eat today? It’s ladies choice. I would think hard about this because you might not get this opportunity again," he teased.
I laughed softly as I followed him through the gravel and to his car. It was getting dark outside and the cool wind gave me the chills. “Well… let me think here. It sounds like a huge life decision,” I teased. “I haven’t eaten all day so I guess I should make it count.”
Jace smiled and stopped in front of the car. “What is your favorite food? What do you like," he questioned. "I know nothing about you yet. All except for the fact that you like to sleep in your underwear," he grinned, obviously teasing me.
I felt my face flush when remembering thinking that I saw him while going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. It was dark and I couldn’t quite be sure if it was him or just my eyes playing tricks on me. Clearly, it wasn't just my eyes. I cleared my throat and jumped into the car. I waited for him to get in and shut the door. "Chicken," I mumbled, trying to change the subject. "I love chicken."
He gave me a cocky grin and then shifted the car into drive. "Great choice. We'll stop at the video store, grab a movie and then pick up some fried chicken," he said confidently. "We'll just have a chill night and I can get to know my new roommate."
I smiled at the thought of just having a normal night, with movies and food. Just two people hanging out. I’d never had a night with anyone that didn't involve sex, bars or dancing. I liked that idea.
"Sounds good, but I get to pick the movie," I said playfully.
"Okay, but nothing too girly. I'm a manly man," he said, nudging me in the side as we pulled into the video store.
What he didn’t know about me yet was that I didn’t have a sensitive side. Girly love movies would do nothing for someone like me.
After spending a good ten minutes searching for a movie, we ended up leaving the video store with an action movie. The man on the cover looked entertaining enough to catch my eye and really, I just wanted to get out of there. There were too many people watching us as if we were some kind of happy couple. It was creepy.
After arriving back to Jace’s house we sat down at the kitchen table, dished out the chicken, and mashed potatoes and started eating.
Jace looked over while taking a bite of his chicken and smiled as I played with my food. “So Avery, do you have any family close by?”
My whole body stiffened, hand shaking, as I fought to keep in control. No one had ever asked me about my family and I wasn’t prepared to talk about them. “No,” I blurted. “I mean…I haven’t seen them in over a year.” My gaze set down on my plate of food as I spooned my mashed potatoes. Why is he doing this?