Table 24 ~ Levi Jones

9

The following week I made sure I got to work slightly early so that I could go and discuss with the guys my evening with Levi.

I'd left not long after he'd rushed off last week, Austin asked me whether I'd had fun with a suggestive look in his eye but after I'd replied almost too quickly with a yes he let my grab my coat and head home after I had cleared the table.

When I bounded into work, Brenda was the first to comment about how happy I looked.

"Something's got you in a good mood" she laughed, flicking through her phone most likely on Twitter.

"Or rather someone" Rosie piped up from the kitchen, picking at the dinner Drew had made her in the corner before the shift started.

"Got it in one" I beamed, pulling up a chair that loitered at the back of the kitchen to sit where the three chefs and other waiters were. Everyone was silent for a few moments so all that could be heard was the sizzling concoction George had going in a pan not far off. This was of course, until I made eye contact with Drew and laughed,

"Go on then tell us all about it" he leant on the counter.

"Well first off, I can't believe you kept this a secret from me, especially you Brenda seeing as you hate surprises yourself" I began and she just shrugged "and secondly I had an amazing time, he was gentlemanly and funny and cute and I just felt so comfortable with him you know?"

I looked up to see their faces staring at me, slight hints of amusement spread across them and I blushed, realising I'd gone on a little "sorry" I laughed.

"It's okay, you're cute! Nate, why don't you look that passionate when you talk about me?" Brenda grinned, throwing an odd piece of food at him that he somehow managed to catch in his mouth.

Nate winked and opened his mouth to imply that he wanted more food. It was silly though because we all knew how close the two were.

"Well you've got some time to kill now before he shows up again this week"

"and then leaves again" I said, not bitterly but sadly that last week had to end, under my breath in the hope that no one would hear it.

"What?" George asked, the only one having heard me but now everyone was looking.

"Oh it was nothing, obviously he stayed for a good amount of time but when he found out it was late he said he needed to go and he practically ran out of the restaurant"

"Did you have bad breath?" Rosie asked and I rolled my eyes at her playfully before heading back out to the front of the restaurant to clean some tables and serve others hand and foot.

Levi arrived around half an hour later and I can't explain the feeling of excitement I had when I saw him walking towards the door as usual.

However, what I also can't explain is the feeling I got when he refused to look me in the eye as he walked to his table. It broke my heart quite frankly, where had the playful smile gone? And why was it replaced with a slight look of shame and sadness?

The fact he wasn't smiling this week worried me, surely it couldn't be because of something I'd done, I was sure, I mean I hoped, he'd had fun last week on our impromptu date. Levi however bumped his shoulder into me as he passed, seemingly ignoring my existence and I let him, the hurricane of emotion not making any sense in that moment.

When he sat down at the table, I made sure he wasn't looking and darted to the bathroom across the room, locking myself inside and staring myself down in the mirror. It didn't feel like I was looking at myself, my usual calm exterior had been replaced by a look of worry and it was all because of levi ignoring me.

That couldn't be healthy.

I took a few deep breaths and ran my wrists under cold water to lower my suddenly high temperature before leaving the bathroom and making the decision to go and talk to Levi, I needed to know if he was okay.

Feeling physically sick on the short walk over, I eventually pulled together the courage to place my hand on top of the table, which quickly moved to his own hand when he didn't look up.

"Levi, are you alright? You don't seem like, well... You"

He slowly moved his stray hand from underneath mine and nodded slowly before raising his head to look at me for the first time this evening.

It was almost as if I felt I had been punched instead, because sat in front of me was Levi with a huge black eye that looked about a week old.

But surprisingly that wasn't what hurt most because he simply replied, in a broken and cracked voice, with "I don't think I can talk to you anymore"

***

oops. ~megs