Hunter Hayes Imgaines

Waitress

The bell jingles overhead. I peer over the counter and see a young man with spiked blond hair and bright blue eyes enter the restaurant with a tall, skinny woman. She's probably size zero, and I can practically see her ribs poking out of her dress. Her hair is dyed blonde and cascades to her waist. I immediately feel jealous and a little self-conscious. I look down at my curvy figure and my short brown hair.

I take a deep breath before making my way over to the couple. "Good evening, welcome to Greg's Steakhouse. What's your reservation?"

"It should be under Hayes," the man says.

I scroll through the list until I spot it. I give them both a smile. "Here it is. If you'd follow me, I'll show you two to a lovely table." I lead the two to a table for two. I start to set down their menus, but the woman stops me.

"Ma'am," the woman says, "it's our anniversary. Do you think we could get that seat over there?" She points to the booth next to the window, displaying a grand view of the New York night. There are dirty cups and plates on the table, however. In fact, the couple who last occupied it were still leaving.

The man says, "This will do, Heather. It's still dirty."

The look on the woman's face makes me say, "If you don't mind waiting a minute, I'll get that seat cleaned right up for you."

The woman's eyes bright up. The man, however, says, "That's okay, we wouldn't want to-"

"Hunter," the woman hushes him, gently thumping him on the chest. "Thank you."

I nod, smiling. I quickly get the table cleaned before I place their menus on the surface for them. Hunter thanks me, but the woman immediately picks up her menu to read.

"I'll give you two a minute to decide what y'all-I mean, what you two- would like. My name's (y/n) if you have any issues or problems."

I walk away and tend to my other tables. As I am serving them, though, I can't keep my eyes off of the dashing couple.

I return to their table at last. I hear the woman mumble under her breath, "About time."

"Sorry for the wait, it's been a hectic day. So, are you two ready to order, or would you like some more time?"

Heather says, placing the menu on the table, "I'll take a strawberry salad, no dressing."

I jot it down and turn to Hunter.

"I'll have the steak, thank you," he says politely. I write it down. "Your order will come as soon as possible. While you wait, would you like some refreshments?"

Hunter looks at Heather. "Water." Hunter adds, "And I'll have the whiskey."

I give him a sympathetic smile. "I'm really sorry Mr. Hayes, but we're actually out of whiskey. Could I get you anything else?"

He lines his menu up with Heather's. "What would you recommend?"

I give a little chuckle and snort on accident and say, "Well, personally, I would have probably gotten a chocolate milkshake, but not everybody prefers having ice cream as a beverage with their fancy steaks."

Hunter looks over at Heather. "I'll take a chocolate shake, then. What about you, H? It won't hurt to break your diet just one-"

"I'll stick with water."

Hunter mouths to me, "Two milkshakes."

I smile and write this down. "I'll be right out with your drinks."

As I work with other tables, I can't help but eavesdrop on Hunter and Heater's conversation.

"You barely have any time for me anymore."

"Heather, you know how it is when I'm in writing mode. My manager wants the new album out as soon as possible and writing, producing, and recording songs is a long process."

"I know, but I thought that you'd at least take me out more often than you do."

"This is the third time I've taken you out this week-"

"Yeah, but you always seem like you're in a different world!"

"Heather, look, I've been stressed out-"

"And you don't think I have?"

"I never said-" he pauses. "Heather, I don't think I can deal with this anymore."

"Excuse me?"

"I think we should see different people."

A loud smack! cracks through the restaurant. I turn my head and watch as Hunter, a shocked look on his face, stays seated to his chair as Heather storms out of the restaurant. I hesitantly walk up to Hunter and set the food down on the table. He looks up at me, his face red, embarrassment written all over his features.

"Well," I say, motioning to the food, "more for you, am I right?"

Hunter sighs and sets his head in his hand.

I sigh, too. "Sorry. I've never been too good with these kinds of things. One time-" I cut myself off, remembering the lecture my boss gave me last time for telling personal stories to customers.

Hunter looks up at me. "One time...?"

I wave my hand in the air, dismissing it. "Nothing. I'm not really supposed to tell stories to customers because they 'don't want to hear about my boring personal life,' as my boss puts it."

He cracks a smirk. "Actually, I would like to hear something to keep my head clear, you know?"

My eyes light up. "Okay, so, one time, my sister got into this heated argument with her boyfriend and they broke up. She came home, all mopey (I called her Mopey Mary), and my dad, who is terrified of female emotions, basically forced me to talk to her so she'd stop eating all of his Rocky Road ice cream. So, I go into Mary's room, and sat beside her while she cried. She looked over at me and I got nervous and said, 'at least you two didn't pull a Romeo and Juliet.'"

Hunter chuckles a little to himself. "Really? How old were you?"

My cheeks flush as I look to the ground. "It was only last week."

He chuckles again. I look up and see him eyeing the food. "Well," he says, "I'm sorry about wasting your time or ruining your evening. Perhaps you could share this dinner with me to make up for it?"

I grin. "Really? Thanks! My shift just ended, so why not?" I sit down in Heather's spot and look down at the salad. I scrunch my nose up and pick out all of the lettuce. I start to eat the other parts and drink my milkshake.

"So," I say, "you and that Heather chick. How did you two meet? You seem like complete opposites."

Hunter sighs. "Well, it was my manager's idea to get a girlfriend. She thought that it would boost my popularity, especially if she was a model. So, I asked Heather out. I guess from the beginning I knew we weren't meant to be. She would never eat ice cream with me or have a hot dog from baseball games."

"Well," I say, "models are models for a reason. She had to make money some way." I pause. "So, what do you do? You said you've got a manager?"

Hunter laughs. "Yeah, I, um, I'm a country singer. Hunter Hayes?"

"The name sounds familiar, now that you point it out."

He grins.

We continue our conversation and don't end it until long after our milkshakes and meals are gone. I pay for half of the bill, and Hunter pays for the other half. We exchange numbers at the end of the night.

"Well, (y/n) , it was nice meeting you. Thank you for the great service."

I smile. "No problem, I had fun. Don't forget to come back, even if it's just to use our bathroom."

He gives me another grin, his dimples showing. "See you around."

"Bye."