New Girl In Town

Chapter 14

It was about 4:30 when Toni and I arrived. She introduced me to her boss, explaining where I was from and that I was looking for a job. He asked me if I was currently wanted by the police for anything illegal, to which I truthfully replied 'no', and with that, he gave me a rag and told me to start wiping tables down. I thanked him and smiled at Toni. That was the easiest job interview ever.

Toni showed me around, gave me a small waitress's apron, and began training me. Thankfully, the bar wasn't too crowded, so that helped make training go faster. I picked up on it relatively quickly, learning the basics in about an hour and a half. I met the bartender and the other waitress, and they were both very friendly and welcoming despite their slightly intimidating looks.

It was approaching 6:00, and it was starting to get more crowded as people began flooding in for dinner rush. Surprisingly, most people were only there for drinking and playing pool, so not many people ordered food, which made it easy for me. I was actually quite impressed with myself for how quickly I had picked it up and how well it was going.

It wasn't until I walked out from the behind the bar with two freshly made drinks in my hands that I saw him. Sweet Pea. He was sitting at the same table that we had sat at the first time he brought me here. He must have just gotten here because he hadn't noticed me yet.

I took a deep breath and continued forward, when suddenly, a large man who had been playing pool stumbled back and ran into me, causing the drink to spill and drench my shirt. Timing could not have been worse.

"Party foul, bro!" I heard someone yell, causing all of the heads in the room, including Sweet Pea's, to whip around and see what all of the commotion was about.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I didn't see you there" said the man who had bumped into me. I reassured him that it was fine and crouched down, fumbling to pick up the two cups that I had dropped. I looked up and made eye contact with Sweet Pea, who was wearing an empathetic look. More embarrassed than I had ever been in my life, I quickly got up and ran to the kitchen to clean myself up.

Upon entering, I immediately tossed the cups into the dirty dish pile, grabbed a dish rag, and started scrubbing my tshirt, desperately trying to get the stench of liquor out of it. That literally could not have been more humiliating; and of course, Sweet Pea had to be there to witness all of it. I just wanted to shrivel up and disappear.

"Hey, you alright kid?" I turned around to see none other than Sweet Pea stepping through the doorway.

"Yeah, I'm okay" I replied sheepishly, looking up at him as I gave up on cleaning my shirt. I just stood there staring at him for a moment, and he stared back, sighing heavily as he did so. I finally decided to break the silence.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about earlier, Sweet Pea. I can explain—"

"Don't worry about it right now" he interrupted with a small smile. "You can explain everything after your shift. Besides, there are some people out there expecting some drinks. You don't want to keep them waiting". I laughed at his reference to my little incident, and after a moment, he joined in and let out a hearty chuckle. I loved his laugh. It was so soft and happy sounding, and it only made me smile harder. Maybe explaining things wouldn't be as bad as I'd thought.

* * *

"So, when did you start working here?" Sweet Pea questioned, placing a water in front of me and taking a seat. My shift was over, so now Sweet Pea and I were seated at our table, both understanding that we needed to talk things out.

"Tonight" I replied quietly, taking a sip from my water. He just nodded and continued to look at me. The silence was beginning to grow, causing an awkwardness to build up between us. I didn't even know where to begin, but I just needed to get it over with.