My eyebrows knit together. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, don’t get all bent out of shape,” she sighs. “You always sound like you’re two seconds away from completely breaking down. And it doesn’t help that you look twelve.”
“Are you not happy with my work?” I ask bluntly.
Ruby meets my gaze. “You’re a hard worker, Emily,” she says. “And I hired you because you were determined, confident and honestly, a little desperate. But you need to take a fucking break.”
I bite down on my bottom lip. “If I do, will I have a job here when I get back?”
Ruby hesitates. “You’ll have a baby.”
“I can still work.”
“And who’s gonna take care of your baby?”
It’s a really good question. One that I can’t answer just yet.
But that won’t stop me from trying my best to salvage this situation.
“I have family,” I blurt out in desperation. “They’ll take care of the baby while I’m at work.”
“Oh, yeah?” Ruby says, with raised eyebrows. “Who?”
“My… uh… great aunt and uncle,” I say. “Tío Charlie.”
“You’ve never mentioned them before.”
I shrug. “Don’t bring your personal life into the workplace, right?” It’s a lame lie but it’s the best I’ve got.
Ruby sighs, obviously onto the fact that I’m just blatantly making shit up. “I won’t tolerate a baby at work, Emily,” she says. “Got it?”
“Got it,” I note. “But if it’s all the same to you, I’d still like to keep working.”
Ruby groans. “Jesus! Fine. Just go deal with the mess on table three.”
Sighing with relief, I head over to table three just as Sara, the other waitress working today, swings by.
“You okay?” she mutters to me over her shoulder.
She has beautiful blue eyes that remind me of someone I knew in my old life. The life I ran from. I have to focus hard every day not to be distracted by them.
“Fine.” I brush a flyaway bang out of my face. “Ruby’s just trying to get rid of me.”
“She’s brusque,” Sara acknowledges. “But her heart’s in the right place.”
“I know, and I get it. But I really need this job.”
Before Sara can respond, the door to the diner opens. A small group of four men walks in.
I’m immediately on high alert.
They are dressed in dark sunglasses and dark coats. All of them are stony-faced, tattooed, and intimidating as hell.
Please don’t pick my section, I pray silently. Anywhere but my section.
Which means that they of course head directly for my section.
I sigh with frustration as they take the table I’ve just cleaned up. Shitty luck.