Table 24 ~ Levi Jones

13

As the text implied, Levi was back at 7:30 that Saturday, as he would be normally.

It didn't feel as awkward as I'd expected though and it put a smile on my face to see that he didn't have the usual rucksack with him this week.

Maybe he'd found a way out like he was hoping to. As a result, I took it upon myself to go and talk to him when I saw him arrive.

"Hey" I said, not directly meeting his eyes as I still wasn't 100% sure on what was happening with us.

"Hey Amber" he smiled and I handed him the menu that was acting as my excuse to stop working and come talk to him.

"So what's the situation?"

"I'm working on it" he forced a quick smile and proceeded to ask me about my week. After a couple of minutes I looked over my shoulder and noticed Corini's had suddenly got considerably busier and Austin gestured for me to leave Levi and get back to work. Fair enough.

An hour later I was red faced and marginally out of breath from rushing around so frantically. As I walked into the kitchen carrying plates up my arms Brenda called out "heard you snogged Levi then!"

I swore and almost dropped the plates on the side near the sink. Turning round slowly to face my friends and muttering a harsh "Rosie" under my breath as I assumed she told everyone, I took a deep breath.

They too looked tired, a busy shift and a relatively small kitchen must've meant they were walking all over each other but the food still seemed to be going out relatively quickly.

It also got me thinking whether Rosie had told them anything else, even I'd left out the more serious part of the whole situation. Like, you know, the imminent threat of a pissed off angry gang of drug dealers.

Yeah, I decided that was something she didn't need on her plate and I figured that the fewer people that knew about it, the safer it would be.

"And why might you think that?" I asked cautiously, popping a chip into my mouth as innocently as I could muster.

"Unless Rosie was lying, I'm pretty sure you and Levi got off behind the restaurant" George exclaimed, wiping his forehead with the back of his arm.

"You're all so nosey and I have tables to serve bye guys love you yeah bye" I spoke over their protests and sauntered away, it was none of their business anyway.

***

When I reached the second half of the restaurant where Levi sat, my mind flickered back to the time he'd gone behind my back to set up a date.

We talked for hours then and everything had seemed so normal, so right, he hadn't mentioned anything about his situation though.

I trusted that Levi only started dealing for the money, I didn't believe he was a different person, just one that I didn't know entirely before last week which meant that my feelings for him hadn't changed.

I served a couple of lemonades and looked up at Levi. He didn't seem as small sat on the four person table today as he would usually, though I couldn't explain why.

He was on the phone actually, a small, black brick people would describe it, probably because he had no money to spare on the newest models. He bit his lip, the other hand in his hair.

I was curious and used wiping down the adjacent table as an excuse to listen in, catching his half of the conversation;

"I told you, I'm out, I'm not doing this anymore-"

"No? Why would it be for someone else, what do you mean?-

"I want out because what I'm doing is wrong and I'm moving on with my life, you'll find another guy easy and I'm not going to snitch, we can both move on with our lives, we never knew each other-"

"I said I'm not leaving because someone told me to, I don't understand-"

I looked behind me at that point, what was the person on the other line talking about?

Levi's eyes were already searching for mine but the blue was duller, his pupils seeming almost frantic as he stared at me, phone still held to his ear.

He frowned and screwed his eyes shut briefly, opening them revealed a cocktail of sadness and worry. It was almost as if they were uttering an apology, he spoke into the phone, voice riddled with regret, now fully aware that I was listening.

"What about her? Because I'll tell you one thing, if you dare hurt her I swear to God I will find you and make your life hell"

Levi slammed the phone on the table, receiving a couple of looks before the restaurant continued as normal.

My own heart however had stopped, I knew they were talking about me.

The gang knew about me and it wasn't sounding good.

***
Been a while lol, sorry people xo