Chapter 3 - Diana
Other than Friday nights, the diner wasn’t usually packed, but tonight, because of a bus of tourists that stopped on their way through town, we got more people to feed than hands to serve.
I’d gone back and forth between waiting tables and cashiering for hours and thirty minutes ago, after the bus left, was the first time I got the chance to sit down in hours.
Only a few locals were still minding their business at their tables, including three wolves from my pack.
When my stomach growled, I gritted my teeth and turned my back to the cash register. I swatted at strands of my hair dangling before my face and undid my ponytail to secure it again with all the pestering strands in place.
Everything was making me irritable, my hair, the loud cars and bikes outside, and the sizzle of the stove in the kitchen.
I hadn’t eaten all day since one of the waitresses called out, and I was left to take her place, never mind I’d been here since 5 am. The majority of the tourists had been friendly, but several seemed hell-bent on being a pain in my ass. Some changed their orders multiple times, complained about the food, and were outright disrespectful.
The other waitress that had been here, a human, had to leave six minutes ago because her son decided to stab his older brother with a pencil.
I wasn’t getting paid enough doing this job, that was for sure.
“Excuse me?”
Behind me, I found a Dryad, a tree or forest spirit, climbing onto the stool at the counter. “Does this diner cater to my species?”
His black hair was slicked back to stop at his neck, and if his leather jacket was anything to go by, I assumed the bike parked before the entrance outside belonged to him. Peeking out from beneath the collar of his shirt were green markings like tattoos that were continuously moving on the surface of his skin.
“We do,” I replied pleasantly and picked up a notepad. “I’ll take your order, and you can have a seat at one of the booths or here at the counter, if you’d rather stay seated.”
“I’ll stay here,” he replied, his bright green eyes twinkling with mischief while looking around the diner. “You seem a little lonely, so I’ll keep your company for a bit.”
“Right,” I drawled, and my smile faltered a little because I wasn’t in the mood for whatever game this man wanted to play. “Sure, so what will you be having tonight?”
The female human who’d been eating with her husband and toddler approached the counter, and the Dryad tilted his head a little to look at her. “Excuse me, we’re ready to pay.”
Her nails were painted green, and I caught the slight curve of the Dryad’s lips.
“Sure,” I told her. “Excuse me for just a minute,” I told the Dryad, and he nodded and turned his back to the counter with his elbows rested on the edge.
He smelt like the forest, and I frowned. When I got a whiff of his scent for a second there, it was like I was teleported back to the forest in Wolfcreek. I felt a wave of peace, and my tense shoulders relaxed.
I cashed out the humans, which left the wolves and the Dryad.
“My name’s Adrian,” the Dryad said when I returned to him. “What’s your name, or should I guess?”
“Ila,” I replied and picked up my notepad. “So, what’ll you have?”
He didn’t reply right away. Instead, he sat there, staring at me. My eyes slid to the side and found that the three wolves from my pack were watching us. The two males, Samuel and Adronus, were eyeing Adrian, and the female Marisa was staring at me, her mouth turned downward.
I wasn’t bothered by their staring, but I didn’t want them to start a fight with this man for speaking to me. Treating me like trash wasn’t enough for some pack members. They sometimes went out of their way to ensure I didn’t get kindness from anyone else.
“Nectar,” Adrian said after a few minutes. “I’ll have that.”
“Sure, hot or cold?” I asked, and he bent his head to stare at the wolves over his shoulder.
“Cold,” he answered, and one of the markings on his neck started to throb while I bent down to open the fridge beneath the counter.
When he faced me again, his green eyes had bled out into the white, but they reverted to normal when he blinked. The rising tension was starting to make me uneasy because the cook was still here, and if the wolves started a fight, I was the one that would have to deal with the consequences, like losing my job.
I slid Adrian’s drink across the counter that was sweet enough to give humans diabetes in seconds, and he took a large gulp before placing a hundred-dollar bill on the counter.
“The change is your tip,” he said with a smile. “You’re allowed to accept tips, right?”