Roses Are Red

Chapter 11

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Spring

May 29th, 1960

Samantha weaved her way through the tables, precariously balancing four plates of fish and chips on her hands and forearms. She forced a grin to her face as she made it to the table of four men, all of which had been whistling at her and flirting with her for the entirety of their time at the restaurant. It took everything in her not to tell them to take a long walk off a short cliff. "Ah, there's the beautiful birdie! Why don't you take a break and join us?" One of the men said with an extra toothy grin. She internally cringed at his face.

"Oh, no thanks sir, I've got to serve some other tables, but thanks for the offer!" She said sweetly. "Let me know if you need anything else!" She turned on her heel, pulling her skirt down slightly in fear that they were looking at her butt. She made her way back to the counter and grabbed a pitcher of water before circling the restaurant in search of empty glasses.

Eden leaned up against the counter with a pencil behind her ear, waiting for food for her tables to be set in front of her. She glared at her notepad where she was scrawling different words and scratching them out furiously. Samantha set the pitcher back down and leaned over to see what she was writing. "Fighting again?" Samantha asked.

"Fuckin' bastard," Eden muttered. "We're done for good this time, we are. George mentioned somethin' bout him snogging another girl again." Eden said as she scratched out another sentence she had been working on. She sighed and shoved her notebook back in her apron pocket. "It's no use. I don't know why I'm trying to write him something, he won't read it anyways."

Samantha had heard much about her 'arsehole cousin' in the past months, and Samantha couldn't exactly disagree with the name. He had apparently been cheating on Eden for months with a girl from art school. Paul and George had met her a couple times, and George had been the one to guiltily tell Eden what was happening after consulting with Samantha about what John had told him. As of now, Samantha was caught in the middle between her cousin and friend, and a balancing act that was weighing on her mental health was ensuing.

A cook placed a dish in front of them and Eden stayed silent in fury as she took it and walked towards her table. When she returned she blew a stray piece of hair out of her face and huffed. "What are ye doing tonight?"

"I think James is coming over," Samantha mused. "Either that or I go to visit Paul, maybe George if he's around. They got back from Scotland today, didn't they?"

"Yeah, that's what John said in his last letter," Eden grumbled.

The night went on as usual. People bustled in and out of the restaurant, some cheerful, others dreadfully mean. Samantha had gotten used to the bipolarity of the customers though, and continuously reminded herself of the tuition cost for school in California. She made enough tips and hourly wage to help her mother with groceries and save a good chunk of her paycheck. After some convincing from George, John, and Paul, she decided to take a gap year to save money. It was dark when the last customer left and they counted their tips the amount left in the register. Arm and arm they walked to the bus stop closest to the Chippy. Eden, who had refused to take the car her parents had offered her, took the bus back with Samantha every night and walked across the golf course from the Allerton stop. They chatted, Eden complained about John and pried her on details about her relationship with James. She never really said much about it because their wasn't much to say. They didn't fight often, and they rarely spoke about anything important. The biggest issue they were having right now was James irritating ability to bring up sex whenever they were alone, something that Samantha was unwilling to do at the moment. Though originally she was keen on the idea, she had accepted the fact that she just wasn't ready, and James became the one eager to go farther. He was beginning to grow frustrated with her, and she could tell. But James, despite this one downfall, was seemingly perfect. He made her the center of attention whenever they were together, he took her out frequently and held her hand always, he gave her kisses and told her he loved her. James gave her all the things she expected came from a healthy relationship, including happiness.