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NOW I UNDERSTOOD. HE was doing it for my grandmother. Not that it wasn’t a nice gesture. Part of me had hoped he’d volunteered to do it for other reasons. I had to admit, even though Chase was moody, he had a sweet side to him. Not to mention that when he smiled, he had the cutest dimple on the lower right side of his face, which I hadn’t noticed before.
Chase started the engine and backed out of the driveway.
“I have some bad news,” he said, sounding irritated. “You’re not going to like it.”
My stomach filled with dread. “What is it?”
He told me about his conversation with Bruce.
“So, now I can’t prove that I wasn’t the person who keyed your car?” I muttered angrily. “Great. Why does this not surprise me? I feel like everyone, and everything, is against me.””
“Don’t worry about it. I believe you.”
I was surprised and relieved. “You do?”
He nodded.
I relaxed. “Thank you.”
He turned on some music and both of us were quiet as we headed away from the cabin. A few minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot of Herschel’s and drove to the main entrance.
I picked up my skates. “Well, thanks again for driving me to work. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem. What time are you done?”
“Don’t worry about it. Since we’re not going to Sports Mania anyway, you don’t have pick me up. I’ll have my grandmother do it.”
“You’re going to make your sweet, little grandma drive out here when she’d probably much rather be watching Downton Abbey or Murder She Wrote?”
I laughed. “How in the world did you know she loves those shows?”
“She may have mentioned them to me once or twice,” he said, looking amused.
Grandma Rae was quite the talker and it didn’t surprise me one bit. I wished I had her easy-going nature. Every time Chase and I were alone, I seemed to be tongue-tied. “I guess when you put it that way, it would make me seem rather insensitive,” I joked.
“Exactly.”
“I just don’t want to be a pain in the ass.”
“It’s no problem. Really.”
I looked at my phone. I had to be in the diner in four minutes. “I’d better get in there. Thanks again, Chase.”
“Anytime.”
Before I got out, I asked him a question I’d been wondering about. “What exactly did the person key on your car?”
Chase looked embarrassed. “Just some... bullshit.”
It must have been pretty embarrassing. “Oh, okay. For the record—I’m truly sorry it happened. It was a really shitty thing for someone to do. I hope one day you’ll catch the person and they’ll pay for the damages.”
He smiled grimly. “Me too. Thanks.”
I got out of the car.
Chase nodded toward my skates. “Careful tonight.”
I smiled. “It should be interesting. I haven’t roller-skated in years.”
He chuckled. “Too bad I have to work. I’d love to see how this is going to play out.”
I winked. “Hopefully, you won’t be driving me to the E.R. tonight.”
“No doubt. See you later.”
“See you. I’ll let you know when I’m off.”
“Sounds good.”
––––––––
IT TURNED OUT THAT my first night was spent shadowing other waitresses and helping with beverages. Although roller-skating came back to me fairly quickly, delivering food to tables was far from easy. Fortunately, most of the drinks were delivered with covers, so I didn’t make too much of a mess.
At around seven-thirty, I was given a fifteen minute break, which included a free meal. As I was waiting for my cheeseburger, I sent Chase a text, telling him that I was off at ten. He replied back that he would definitely be there to pick me up and asked how I was doing.
Me: Pretty good.
Chase: No accidents?
Me: Not yet.
Chase: That’s a relief.
Me: LOL. The night is still young.
Chase: Don’t jinx yourself!
Afterward, I went back out to the dining area and Linda, one of the other waitresses, asked if I could bring out an appetizer to one of her tables.
“Sure. Of course.”
“Awesome. It’s the order of cheese curds for table seven. Thanks, Mackenzie.”
“No problem.” I grabbed the appetizer from the pickup station and was thinking I was getting good at this, when I noticed the group sitting at table seven.
Mattzilla and her posse.
Caught off guard, I somehow stumbled and crashed into a nearby wall, spilling the order of cheese curds everywhere. Laughter erupted at table seven. Swearing under my breath, I quickly got down on my knees and began cleaning up the mess.
“Are you okay?” Linda asked, coming up behind me.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The worst part about it was it happened in front of Mattie and her friends. “Yeah. Sorry about this.”
She shrugged. “Shit happens. Don’t let it get to you.”
“Excuse me, but do you know how much longer our cheese curds are going to be?” Mattie called out from the table. “It’s getting late and we don’t have a lot of time left.”
I glanced over at her and our eyes met.
“Oh, my God... Mackenzie! I thought that was you,” she said with a little smirk. “I take it you must have left ‘klutz’ off of your resume.”
The other girls snickered.
“It’s your friend’s first day,” Linda said lightheartedly, not realizing how far off she was in her assumption that we actually liked each other. “She’s off the hook. Now, tomorrow might be another story.”
“I’m starting to think we’ll be here until tomorrow,” Audra said dryly.
“I’m so sorry for the wait. I’ll get another order of cheese curds for you going right away. On the house,” Linda said.
“Thank you,” Mattie replied sweetly.
Linda raced away to put in the order.
Gritting my teeth, I finished picking up the mess and then stood up.
“Excuse me, waitress?” Mattie said to me, holding up a water glass. “This smells... fishy. Could you please let our server know?”
Ignoring her, I turned and skated away.
“Bait Girl,” the others mocked in unison and then giggled.
It took every ounce of restraint not to go back there.
I had to remind myself that she wasn’t worth it. None of them were. As much as I wanted to grab the glass and pour it over her head, or hit her in the face with the food tray, I needed the job.
But, that didn’t mean I had to let it go completely.
There were other ways.
So, after Linda brought out their fresh plate of cheese curds, and they were three-quarters of the way done, I skated over to their table.
“How are they?” I asked with a wide smile.
“They’re... fine,” Mattie replied. Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“I just wanted to make sure. See, I seasoned them myself. Oh, and the dipping sauce... it’s great, right? I helped with that, too.”
The four girls suddenly all looked very uneasy.
“Is there anything else you need? Maybe some fresh water? You did get the fishy stuff replaced, right?” I asked.
Mattie dropped the cheese curd she was holding. “What the fuck did you do to our food?”
My eyes widened innocently. “Do to it? I don’t know what you mean. I was just checking to make sure you’re enjoying your food.”
She suddenly looked very pale.
“You okay? You don’t look very good. I don’t know about you, but cheese curds, being so greasy and all, sometimes upset my stomach. Maybe it’s just me. I might be lactose intolerant. Anyway, the bathrooms are in the back. Should any of you feel an intense need to use one.” I said and smiled again. “Enjoy the rest of your appetizer.”
“I don’t feel so good,” muttered Audra.
Oh, the power of suggestion...
I hadn’t done anything to their food or dipping sauce, as much as I would have loved to.
Amused, I turned around and skated away.
The girls didn’t finish their curds and left Linda a shitty tip. Noticing, I slipped a few extra dollars onto the table when she wasn’t looking. I didn’t want her to get stiffed because of the feud going on between me and Mattzilla.
“Well, what do you know?” Linda mused, after grabbing the money. “They finally left a decent tip.”
I raised my eyebrow. “They normally don’t?”
“No, and they’re always here. I thought for sure they’d skip the tip today. After the cheese curd accident.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry about that again.”
“No problem. It’s not easy rolling out food to tables. Anyway, you did very well today. Here.” She reached into her apron pocket and handed me some cash. “That’s your share of the tips from my tables.”
“You don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do. You were busting your ass helping me and deserve it. You working tomorrow?”
“No. Not until Sunday.”
“Okay, well, I’m sure you’ll be getting your own section. Sundays are pretty busy here. Especially after church service.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll do fine. Sometimes you just have to dive right on in.”
I smiled and nodded.
“By the way, we don’t season the cheese curds after they’re cooked. The batter is salty enough.”
I stared at her in confusion.
She smiled. “I overheard you talking to the girls. I was on the other side of the booth, cleaning another table.”
My cheeks turned red. “Oh.”
“So, you’re not exactly friends, huh?”
I sighed. “Not at all. They’re not very nice to people. Especially newbies.”
“Some of the other waitresses have complained about them too.”
That didn’t surprise me.
“Anyway, they were pretty quiet when they left. I have a feeling they won’t be back for a while.”
“If I could only be so lucky,” I replied.
She laughed. “God, I’m glad I’m older. Girls like that seem to top-out in high school and end up miserable and bitter later. What grade are you in?”
“I’m a senior.”
“Just get through this year and don’t let them bother you.”
I was already counting the days...
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