Buried Truths

Chapter 3

During her lunch break, Mac sat in an empty booth with her regular turkey sandwich. It sat forgotten as her attention was otherwise engaged, particularly on the stack of bills that flanked it.

Fourteen dollars.

The guy had left her fourteen dollars as a tip. In the five years that she had lived in this tiny town, she had never been left such a large tip. The prices were not that high, and most of the townspeople were middle or lower class. More often she was given 20%, the higher standard in serving. But even doing the math in her head made her even more confused. It was over 200%.

What was this guy's angle? To act like a complete jerk one minute then some kind of Good Samaritan the next?

She chewed on her bottom lip as she ruminated on her thoughts.

The slamming of the front door broke her out of her musings as Rae sauntered in. Her hips swayed and a giant smile overtook her face once she spotted Mac.

Thirty minutes late, as per usual.

Mac moved to grab the money before Rae spotted it. Although she would say that Rae was the closest friend she had here, it wasn't saying much. They were the only girls around the same age, which would bond even the strongest of enemies when social prospects were few and far between. Though they were on friendly terms, Mac knew when to be cautious, avoiding any unnecessary drama when it came to Rae, particularly when it was something that would make her potentially envious.

She was not fast enough however, as Rae focused on Mac's quick movement.

"Whatcha hiding there, girl?" She made a grab for Mac's hand before it could descend to cover the cash as she slid into the opposite side of the booth. She let out a low whistle.

"Thats all you made this morning? Tough luck, maybe tomorrow will be better." She reached for one half of Mac's sandwich.

Mac laughed it off nervously. "Ya, slow crowd this morning,"

Rae chewed around a large bite before swallowing. "Tell me about it, that creep from last night totally stiffed me." Mac grabbed the other half of the sandwich before Rae could steal it and was just about to take a bite but paused at her words.

"The guy that stayed all night?"

Mac couldn't think of any other person that could have been labeled as a "creep" according to Rae but wanted to be sure.

"Yup. I served that guy for over five hours, and what do I have to show for it?" She made a circle with her thumb and pointer finger. "Zip. I would have confronted him about it, but he left the cash and dashed. Cheapskate," She let out a few colorful words that left nothing to the imagination at exactly how she felt about him.

As Rae worked on the sandwich, Mac was left feel more puzzled. Why would he have left her with such a large tip when he had left nothing for Rae yesterday? He obviously wasn't worried about the money like Rae had thought, so why would he have stiffed her?

"Anyway, enough about him. Notice anything different?" Rae beamed in front of her, an expectant smile suggesting there was definitely something new Mac should have noticed. She skimmed through Rae's pretty features, her tight reddish-brown curls and copper skin tone. She wore a bright red dress that hugged her curves, which could have been new, though Mac wouldn't have paid enough attention to know if she had ever worn it before. Not having anything else to offer she took a guess, "New dress?"

Rae's smile confirmed that was the correct answer, much to Mac's relief.

"Isn't it great? I feel like a million bucks."