I want to make myself look extra nice today, but I know that will only raise questions at work. Delilah will want to know why I’ve put in all the effort, who it’s for, and then I’ll have to start lying to her, and that’s the last thing I want to do while juggling all my other responsibilities.
So I put on my normal work clothes and start walking. I figure I’ll come back and change once my shift is done. I’m going to want another shower then anyway to get the smell of the diner off me.
I can’t stop thinking about Lyle the whole way there. He wasthisclose to kissing me last night, and I was totally ready to let him. His eyes had me hypnotized. The way he was slow-walking toward me, speaking slowly, charming like a prince…I would have let him do whatever he wanted to.
But when I think about how he held back, I can’t help but smile. A warm, fuzzy feeling fills me up inside.
“If I were to make a move on you right now, I’d be a cheater, and I don’t want you to think of me that way.”
Those were his words to me, and I realize just how right he was. If he had kissed me then, no doubt it would have been incredible. But I would have always had that thought in the back of my mind that if he was able to cheat on Delilah, he’d have been able to cheat on me.
So what if he wasn’t with her voluntarily? It still shows a lot of character for him to break up with her first.
The fact that he waited just means that when our lips finally meet, it’s going to be so much sweeter.
When I get to work, I don’t even have to go inside to know that something’s wrong; I can hear Delilah screaming at the back of house from outside.
“What are these dishes? These look clean to you? We’re servingpeoplehere, Nate! Not pigs! And Max, I thought I told you to have the soup ready an hour before lunch? Andy, you’re supposed to remind him of that, aren’t you? You’ve been here the longest.”
I take a deep breath.Oh, boy. And I decide to take the front door instead of the back today. If Delilah’s in a scary mood, I’d rather catch the tail end of it rather than get picked up and carried away by the full force.
Luckily, there are fresh aprons on the counter, so I grab one and quickly start setting up for breakfast service while Delilah continues to badger the boys out back.
What could be going on?I wonder.
Then a thought creeps into my mind.
What if…?
“No,” I whisper to myself. “Don’t even think it.”
If I think it, I’ll jinx it. Lyle said he would make it work, and it’s up to him to make it work. Their relationship is complicated to say the least. I can’t just go expecting things to happen overnight, and I’m not about to put that out there either. There are a million things Delilah could be upset about…especially with her personality.
The swinging door to the kitchen bursts open, and Delilah enters like a storm. Her eyes lock on to me like lasers, and I do my best not to flinch.
“Oh, you made it,” she snaps, acting like I’m not three minutes early. I don’t mention it.
“Yup.” I smile. “Made it.”
“Okay, get everything ready for the breakfast service,” she continues, which is precisely what I’m already doing. “And makesureall the plates are clean. Nate did a shit job with the dishes last night. Okay?”
“Yup, no problem.” I give her my best charm, not wanting any of the vitriol I heard earlier to land on me. For a moment, she looks like she wants to curse me out or something, but then she decides to pull her phone out of her pocket and check it. As I’m re-checking the coffee mugs, she goes into the back, and I’m pretty sure I hear her step outside.
The rest of the day goes pretty much the same. Delilah is short with the kitchen staff mostly, although I do catch a couple stray missiles from her toward the end of lunch during the rush when I’m completely swamped and on my own and don’t perfectly stack my dirty dishes in the back like they’re being set up for a photoshoot.
I can’t stop watching the clock throughout the afternoon either, thinking about Lyle and our dinner tonight that’s supposed to be happening, which of course just makes my shift feel twice as long. And when 4:30 rolls around, Delilah tells me she needs me to stick around and make sure Nate does the dishes right this time and doesn’t “fuck them up royally” like last night.
So of course I stay. What am I going to do? Tell her I’ve got a date with Lyle? Yeah, that would go overrealwell. But by the time I’m headed home, I’m practically sprinting back to the apartment.
I dive immediately into the shower and start to wash all the smell of coffee, bacon, burgers and everything else that comes with the diner off of me. If this happens tonight, I can’t remind Lyle of a discount diner where his girlfriend, or maybe ex-girlfriend, works that you can get a burger and fries and a drink for under ten dollars.
I’m just finishing doing my hair when I hear the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs – heavy, manly footsteps.
My heart starts to beat faster, and I try to relax and not burn off my ends or my fingertips on my flat iron. There’s a knock and I take a deep breath. “Come on in!” I call out.
I hear the door open and Lyle’s voice call out, “Yara?”
“Two seconds!” I call back.