“I can’t believe junior year is almost over.” She clasped her fingers around the hot cup, hoping some of the heat would soak in. It was still March and the last few days had found the famously hot city in a bit of a cold snap.
“One more year until you run off to do great things without me.” Christian pushed out his bottom lip.
“Are you going to miss me?” Sam smiled broadly at that idea.
“About as much as I miss gum on the bottom of my shoe.” His lips slipped up into a bright smile. He couldn’t even be mean to her in a joke.
“Maybe I will stuff you in my suitcase and take you with me.”
“Maybe you should,” he added before he took another sip of his drink.
Sam smiled as she held in every emotion that threatened toburst out. Taking him with her was exactly what she wanted. Except, that’s not really what he wanted.
Christian had one more year left of business classes, andthen was planning on becoming some big time financial advisor somewhere far away.
“What’s that look for?” He reached out and laced their hands together as he spoke. She couldn't hide anything from him any more than she could hide it from Kristin.
“I do want to take you with me. I want to pack you up and stuff you in my carry-on so I can make you study with me every night while I bore you with minute details of the kidneys you don’t need to know.”
“I could never get bored of you.” He squeezed her fingers. “What if we make a deal?”
“We just made one”—she lifted up the cup in her hands—“and I won.”
Christian laughed.
“You go off and become Dr. Samantha Williams and, if you haven’t been snagged by some hot shot med student by the time you graduate, then you and I can get married for the tax benefits.” He laughed a little. “Then you can bore me with all the medical nonsense for the rest of our lives.”
She used her laugh to cover up the tears that sprang from her eyes. He thought they were tears coming from a place of pure hysterics and absurdities. Little did he know, that one sentence had broken her and then pieced her back together only to break her once more.
Chapter 9 - Callum
He was supposed to be on the floor making sure everything was as it should be. That's what good owners did. Good owners finished with the boring office work and walked the floor. Except Callum couldn’t do that. He had finished up that paperwork, made the new orders and confirmed the payroll and schedules for the following two weeks. He had also spent far too much time staring at her name on the lineup for that night.
Sam was in section eight. Mason had originally placed her in section fifteen, but those were small two-person tables near the back with no windows and he knew the tips would barely be anything to brag about. As soon as he was alone, and before the evening crew came bustling in, he grabbed the expo marker and switched her name with some guy named Kyle who he hadn’t even met yet. He wanted to feel bad for the poor sucker who got stuck with the worst spot for the night, but he felt nothing but excitement at the thought of her smile when she saw where she had been placed.
By the time he finally dragged himself out of that office, he had worked himself up into a ball of stress. His palms were clammy and his shirt felt too tight. He had taken a shot to calm himself before he walked out. Okay, maybe the shot was really to help him muster up the courage to apologize for his shitty behavior.
The shot was not doing its intended job.
Maybe he should have had two.
Or maybe he just shouldn’t worry about what Sam was doing, or where she was at, or if her hair was pulled into a ponytail or a bun.
He let out a ragged breath.
He walked the floor as he should and happened to notice the section he had placed her in was completely full. She came bursting around the corner without even noticing him as she ran from table to table, passing out food and filling up drinks. She would most definitely go home with a bragworthy amount tonight.
He smiled.
And then he cringed at the notion that she was literally moving nonstop; so rushed that she barely had a second to breathe. He eyed the tables and took note of the drinks and then ran behind the bar to grab the water and sweet tea pitchers and exhaled a frustrated sigh. He didn’t want her to be completely exhausted.She might have class the next day, and if she was exhausted then maybe she wouldn’t do well, and if she didn’t do well then she would probably be upset and then….He stopped that train of thought. There was absolutely no reason he needed to be worried about her class schedule, or her emotions, or anything else. He was her damn boss, not her boyfriend.
All night, he waited until she was back at the kiosk or inside the kitchen or kindly helping another section, and then quietly went up to each table, making sure their drinks were filled to the brim. He then checked her orders and put a rush on the ones he could tell were meant for the fussier tables.
He spent the entirety of the night making sure her section had everything they could need or want. When he overheard a table asking her for extra vinaigrette, he quickly grabbed one out of the kitchen and placed it at the waitress station before she even made it around the corner
He wanted to laugh when she abruptly halted as it came into view. He was sure she knew it hadn’t been there a minute ago, but he knew she wouldhave no explanation for how it had suddenly appeared.
Chapter 10 - Sam