4
The morning winds were ferocious, pulling at the nicer clothes I had put on to apply for jobs. The plastic folder with copies of my resume trembled in my hand from the breeze, threatening to fly away if I didn’t hold on tightly. Cars honked as they fought through traffic on their morning commute down the two-lane road. I pressed past the ocean of pedestrians on the sidewalk and made my way toward the Good Morning Café located on the corner of a busy intersection. Once inside the establishment, I pushed the door against the whistling wind. Finally closed, I patted down my hair and straightened my posture before glancing at the half empty diner and catching the eye of a young man in jeans and a freshly pressed white shirt. He studied me with amusement on his face and what seemed like interest. The badge on his chest said his name was Jack.
Then he strode closer. “Hi, there. Seat for one?” he asked with a fake smile I knew too well.
“I’d like to speak to your manager, please.”
He shook his head. “Not in, sorry. Can I help you?”
Chewing on my lower lip, I pulled out my one-page resume from the plastic folder and handed it to him. “I’m wondering if you were hiring?”
I handed him my resume, but he didn’t take it. “I have several years’ experience in waitressing, ordering supplies, and even stepping in as the cook.” I said quickly. My voice sounded nervous even to me, and heat crawled up my neck at the thought of another rejection.
“Look,” he began, and already my gut clenched. I’d heard the tone he used at the last five diners I visited, and I knew what came next. An excuse of them not hiring at the moment, the place was downsizing, or I wasn’t the right fit... whatever that meant.
I lowered my unaccepted resume and turned to leave. I stopped mid-turn when Jack surprised me by saying, “The manager will be in in about a half an hour, so how about you give him your resume then?”
I glanced up at his kind smile and grinned, my mouth tugging into a smile at the first positive response I had received today. “Thank you.”
“Follow me.” He waved me into the café, and I saw the spark of recognition in his eyes, the understanding of how hard it was to find a job. “I’ll get you a coffee on the house until he arrives.”
I was already in love with this place, not to mention, having someone treat me like a human and with respect.
The aroma of coffee filled the air, immediately making me feel a bit better. A shiny orange color adorned the corners of the small round tables and the napkins were the same hue. Everything else had a rustic wooden look that seemed like it would make a customer feel right at home. Light jazz music played from the speakers, and customers chatted over their breakfast and coffee. I loved it here. The door opened behind me as someone else walked in, bringing with it a cold breeze. I shivered slightly.
Jack pulled out a chair at a small table near the window, overlooking the hustle and bustle outside. “Won’t be long,” he said with a gentle smile.
I took a seat, and Jack went to attend to a customer waving him down.
It was about thirty minutes before the bell on the door rang again, signaling that someone had just walked in. Looking up, I expected to see a stranger strolling through the door. Instead I saw Him. It was the green-eyed god from the night at the club. The one whose compelling voice had made me want to curl up in his arms forever. The one who called me his “pet.”
He wore tailed black pants, and a blue, long-sleeved shirt, looking like he belonged in a boardroom. Except, I’d never seen a man look this good in business attire. I suspected he wore only the best brands considering how perfectly the clothes flowed over his strong form, emphasizing the broadness of his chest and shoulders...the way his waist tapered in. I lifted my gaze before he caught me staring.
What was he doing here, anyway?
He strolled into the café as if he had been here a million times before, except he wasn’t looking for the host so he could be sat at a table, he was looking right at me. Almost as if he knew I’d be here.
I was standing up from the table as he sat down across from me.
“Sit down, pet,” he told me with a grin. I immediately sat, almost as if I couldn’t help but bend to the authority in his voice. That intangible quality that threaded around his words made me want to listen to everything he had to say.
A couple tables down, Jack sent me an inquisitive glance. I averted my gaze so he wouldn’t feel like he needed to come over to my rescue.
“Why are you following me?” I finally asked after we had sat there just staring at each other for what seemed like ten minutes.
“Who said I was following you?” he replied with a grin. “Maybe I just felt like an omelet from this charming establishment.”
“Look, I’m not interesting, I promise. There are a million other girls who I’m sure would amuse you much more than me. Please, just leave me alone. And tell your friend that he needs to stop following me as well,” I added as an afterthought, thinking about the black car. I assumed that they had to be friends of some sort since they had been talking at the club.
“How do you know what I’m looking for?” he asked.
I just stared at him, moving my lips dumbly but not knowing what to say.
“Ella, let me be perfectly clear that you are what I’m looking for. And that’s not going to change.”
Every inch of me froze over. “How do you know my name?”
He glanced down at my resume sitting face up on the table. My name was on full display, along with my address. Fuck.