“I’ve missed you too,” I said.
“I can’t believe that asshole kicked you out like that. I stuck it to him, you know. I do every time I see him.”
“Well, that makes me feel better, but you don’t have to keep doing that. He’ll get his whenever karma comes around,” I said.
“That’s a pretty cheery mood you’re in. Found yourself another man?”
I tried to keep the blushing to a minimum. I wasn’t ready to talk to anyone about Grayson. All I wanted to do was sit down and talk with a dear friend of mine. Well, she wasn’t ‘dear’, but she was the only other friend I had in town. And she was a friend whose advice I could use to make sure I wasn’t losing myself in this thing with him.
“Could we talk?” I asked. “Do you have a break you can take soon?”
“Brad!”
“What, Cece?”
“I’m taking a break. Can you get two coffees to booth four in the corner?”
“What do I look like, your servant?”
“Since I’m taking a break, yes! You look like a fine one,” she said.
I shook my head as she dragged me over into the corner. Booth four was a wobbly one, and people hated sitting there. So the staff made it their designated place to sit when they were on their break. We ate there, gossiped there, and scrolled through our phones there. And I was relieved when two sodas were placed in front of us and Cecily tuned her attention to me.
“Did I not say coffee? Whatever. Okay, sugar tits. Talk to me.”
“Sugar tits?” I asked.
“A customer called me that earlier. Figured it was a good one to throw around,” she said. “What’s on your mind? Talk to Mama Cece.”
“I liked ‘sugar tits’ better,” Brad said.
“Butt out!” Cecily exclaimed.
“Hey there, Michy. We miss you around here.”
“Yeah well, if things don’t pan out I might be looking for a job,” I said.
“Then let me know! I’ll gladly stick you somewhere. It’s part-time, but it’ll get you some cash.”
It was a nice offer, but I knew working at the diner wouldn’t get me any farther than it had gotten me before. Which was part of the rent in a decrepit place with a man like Andy with almost no money for other bills.
“So where have you been? Where did you go when Andy let you loose?” she asked.
“I’ve been staying at Anton’s house,” I said.
“You’ve been staying in the house of a dead man?”
“He didn’t die in the house. But it’s been nice staying there. I knew how to get in, so I did.”
“Does the place even have the utilities on still?”
“It does,” I said.
“I hear his godson’s handing out things of Anton’s to people in the community. Maybe you should shake your money-maker and get him to hand that house over to you.”
“Right. But even if he did, I couldn’t afford it without a job.”
“Well working here isn’t gonna give you that kinda money,” she said.