< December 2015 >
Griddy's Donuts was particularly busy that night, people were flooding in to the diner to escape the rain which was beating down outside. Agnes, the owner, was more than happy to see her diner full as it wasn't a regular occurrence and she enjoyed the company of the customers more than she wanted to admit. She brushed down her bright pink diner outfit and fixed the flimsy hat that lay on her slightly greying hair, it was her idea for this uniform and as much as she liked the way that her staff looked; she couldn't help but think that the bright pink was somewhat of an overkill. Every time a new customer entered the diner, the bell on top of the door rang and someone rushed forward to take them to their table. Most were families, in the middle of a road trip who were starving and found this as the nearest place to eat. It was worthwhile when seeing the kids' faces light up as they look in the large display of donuts that were arranged behind the counter, their parents bored of the trip and wanting them to pick quickly so that they could get home.
In the corner booths were the couples, lovesick and basically humping each other in public. Their donuts long forgotten as they groped each other where they thought no one was watching them, but the CCTV cameras were catching everything and felt more like a porn channel than a security one. On a night like this, coffee was a must and as the kids chose exactly what donut they wanted to try, the parents were calling for more coffee than normal as they were preparing for the sugar rush that would inevitably be coming their way. The whole place was buzzing, with 50's and 60's music blasting from the speakers and the waitresses basically skipping through the diner, smiles plastered on their faces as they maintained the look that Agnes wanted them desperately to portray.
For Kate it was another day at work and there was nothing special about this random December night. She had washed her hair before coming in for her shift but thanks to the endless hours in the kitchen, she could smell the grease and batter as she moved around the diner and knew that it would take several showers to get the smell out. Her uniform was slightly crinkled, she had told Agnes that she had forgotten to iron it before she left which wasn't a lie but it also wasn't helped by the impromptu make-out session that she had with one of the customers earlier that day. He had been part of a motorcycle gang, ordered a bunch of donuts and he was decked out in leather; she couldn't help it, she had a thing for guys in leather. She checked her wristwatch, a present from her sister when she first got her job at the diner, and counted down how long she had until her shift was finished. There were still four hours before the place would close and she didn't know if she could last much longer, with the screaming kids or the horny teenagers. This whole diner was a nightmare on this particular evening.
Then, it was as if the heavens had actually listened to her and brought her the exact thing that she needed on a night like this. The door opened, and the familiar bell rang throughout the diner but this customer wasn't a family with over-hyper kids and it wasn't a young couple on their first date; this customer was mysterious and exactly what Kate needed as a distraction. He kept his face down as he walked through the diner, thunder and lightning clapping in the distance which just made his appearance even more inviting; the whole place stopped to watch this mysterious figure make his way through the room. Everyone wondering who he was and what he was doing at the donut shop. His boots hit the tiled floor loudly, showing his dominance in this situation, he knew the whole room was staring at him and he enjoyed the attention. Even the waitresses had stopped mid-pour of their coffee jugs to take a look at this new customer, someone that they didn't recognise.
He made his way to the counter and sat firmly on one of the empty bar stools, clamping his hands together and resting them on the cool surface of the counter. Kate was the only waitress who was stood behind the counter, the others were either serving tables or helping Agnes in the kitchen; she had been so distracted with taking in this man that she had forgotten it was her job to serve him. All she could do was stare at his figure, completely covered in leather; she had a thing for guys in leather. And even though she was sure she was imagining it; she was certain that under the light of the diner there was a shiny tint of metal poking through; as if he was carrying weapons. But that wasn't possible, who would bring knives to a donut shop? Just when Kate was sure that she was ready to go into waitress mode and smile fondly at the customer, he lifted his head and she was certain that she forgot how to breathe.
She had never seen a man like this before. She was sure that a man like this didn't exist, at least not out of her head. But someone, somewhere had obviously heard her pleas for a man like this and had created him exactly as she had imagined him. His tanned skin matched perfectly with the dark leather that he was wearing and his hair was kept short; maybe it would have looked better longer but she wasn't going to criticise this good-looking man over his hair. Kate was mesmerised by how handsome he was, in a rugged sort of way and was so busy tracing her eyes over the scar that rested over his face; that she forgot she had a job to do. He smirked, obviously seeing the effect that he had on this waitress and cockily was proud of himself; he knew the effect that he had on everyone in the room. Kate didn't like the way he was smirking, as if he had won and she was the prey that had just been hunted; Kate was never the prey, she was always the hunter and quickly wiped her expression clean, holding up the jug of coffee.
"Coffee?" She asked and he nodded, the smirk slightly wavering as the handsome customer realised that he didn't quite have the effect over this waitress as he did with everyone else. He nodded, deciding not to talk to this woman, but wanting the coffee that she offered him and when she began pouring it, the rest of the diner continued with whatever they were doing before he entered.
This incredibly hot customer was not what Kate had been expecting when she started her shift, she definitely didn't think that she would serve two hot guys in leather that day. But this customer didn't have the same aura as the motorcycle gangster, he was different and somehow more mysterious. As interested as she was, she couldn't let him see that she was interested and decided to play off her interest in him. Little did she know that this man would become a regular customer and in doing so, would become a regular pain in the ass.
< March 2016 >
Kate and Diego had known each other for exactly three months, but their fondness of each other had not grown; in fact, it had taken the opposite effect. The two hated each other. Or so they thought they did. Agnes could see that what they thought was hatred was actually more complicated but didn't want to get on the bad side of either of them, and so left them to figure out their own feelings for each other. Tonight, was a regular occurrence for Griddy's Donuts as once again Diego had arrived at the shop with company. Whenever Kate was on shift, he had somehow found a date to bring with him and would spend the entire evening making out with her; just like the horny teenagers would, just to annoy the waitress. Kate hated it, every time he brought in a date, she knew how it was going to end and knew that she would have to watch the whole thing without making a fuss. It had been a horrible hour and a half since the couple had sat down, Kate was watching them from the comfort of the counter as she wiped the surface down; Agnes noticed that she had been doing the same spot for over ten minutes but decided not to say anything.
Diego wasn't enjoying the date, he never did, the only reason he did it was because he enjoyed seeing how pissed it made Kate. Every so often, he would look over at the counter to check that she was watching and when she was, he would kiss his date or feed her pieces of donut or whisper something that made her giggle loudly. Tonight, the diner was practically empty and they were the only customers left which meant that he was really putting on a show for his favourite waitress. Meanwhile, Kate's wipes were getting more aggressive as she watched the whole thing unfold, then when it was approaching a two-hour date, things got messy. Diego never wanted long-term with these dates, and only ever wanted to take them out once but the girls didn't know that when they agreed to go out. So, when he tried to end things, it always became messy.
"You dick!" The redhead screamed, slapping him before grabbing her purse and running out of the diner without looking back.
Kate sighed, moving herself so that she wasn't looking in his direction and emptying the coffee jug with the remains of the last batch she had made. Now that the date had ended, it was time to close up the shop and that meant she could go home. What she couldn't help, was to make a comment to Diego, who had moved from his booth seat in the corner, to sitting at the counter and wanting another round of coffee. She snarled under her breath, knowing that he only wanted coffee because she had just emptied the jug and now would have to make another batch, just for him. But she couldn't complain, because he was the customer and Agnes would kill her if she did anything but smile at him and get his coffee extra hot. "How many is that this week?" She asked as she prepped the coffee, her back to the customer and gaining more confidence to say more about his failed date. "The third? You've been on dates with three different girls this week and its only Thursday? I mean, what's going to happen on the weekend? Are you going to plough through the population of the city or give everyone a few days to recharge?"
"Aren't you a comedian." Diego muttered as she poured the coffee into his mug and he tipped the whole mug backwards; drinking every last drop in a matter of seconds.
"Comedians get paid for their work, I'm simply a funny person who likes charity work. You're the charity work, in case that wasn't clear." Kate smirked, glad that she could taunt him when Agnes wasn't around but when he started walking towards the exit, her anger finally boiled to breaking point. "Wait, where are you going? Coffee doesn't pay for itself you know."
"Put it on my tab."
"You've been putting things on your tab for the last three months, are you even thinking about paying it at some point?"
He sighed, turning back to the counter because he knew that he couldn't get away with this tonight; hating that Kate always seemed to be one step ahead of him. "I thought waitresses were supposed to be stupid?"
"I thought you were better than this, but obviously we're both wrong."
Diego sat at the counter, resting his hands on the cool surface and looking up at her; trying to ignore the way his heart fluttered when she looked directly at him. "What do you want?"
"I want you to pay the tab." Kate replied, crossing her arms over her chest and not backing down. If there was someone, she would always defend then it was her boss, the sweetest woman on the planet, who had been more than helpful to her over the past few years. "Agnes is a sweet old lady and she doesn't deserve to be walked all over by dicks like you."
"How much is it?" He questioned, taking out his wallet because in that moment, he felt bad about not paying for his tab and didn't want the waitress to hate him anymore than she already did.
"$300."
"What?" Diego's eyes almost flew out of his head, and he fumbled with his wallet because there was no way he had racked up that amount; this was only a donut shop. "That can't be right."
Kate rolled her eyes, preparing to explain just how expensive things can get over a matter of months, especially when Diego was the one to bring dates almost every night. "Every time you bring a date here, you order the same cup of coffee and two donuts for yourself. Then, like a gentleman, you offer to pay for whatever crap your date orders. You've been doing the same thing almost every day for three months straight. It catches up to you."
"Look, I don't have that kind of money right now...Is there some other way to pay off the tab?"
Usually, Kate wouldn't have been so helpful. They've had problems before when people couldn't pay their tabs and they'd get reported to the police, but she knew that even if she really hated this guy, she couldn't do that to him. As much as she wanted to resent Diego, she couldn't, there was something about him that you couldn't hate. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to call the police and watch him pay for everything he had put her through with his God-awful dates but she knew that she couldn't do it. She knew that Agnes wouldn't want that, for some reason the old lady realty liked this guy; she wouldn't want her staff to call the police on him. She would find some other way of paying the tab, that was why Agnes was liked by so many people, she was the sweetest old lady.
"I can talk to Agnes." She explained, hating that she was giving in for him but also quietly admitting that she wasn't the only one with a soft spot for the mysterious customer. "She has a soft spot for you so she can probably let you off easy."
"Thanks..." Diego trailed off as his eyes darted to the pin on her uniform. He had never looked at it before, not knowing her name for months but now that he could see it, he smirked, liking the sound of it. "...Katherine."
Kate's eyes snapped to him and she looked as though she was about to reach across the counter and murder him, she hated people calling her Katherine, nobody did but Agnes insisted on her pin having her full name. "God, don't call me that."
"Then what should I call you?"
"Not interested."
Diego sighed again, hating how hard it was to have a civil conversation with this girl; but also enjoying how hard it was because there was something about a chase that every guy liked. "I have to call you something, even if it's just as a friend."
"Fine, if you must know, everyone calls me Kate." She told him quietly, emptying the rest of the coffee jug into the sink, just as she had before, only now she was preparing to close the diner for the night. She hated opening up to people, she didn't find it easy to trust but there was something about this man that was familiar and made her feel like opening up wasn't too bad.
Diego stuffed his wallet back into his pocket and walked towards the exit, but stopped before he left because he wanted to know that he was grateful for her help, even if he wasn't great at showing it. "Well, thanks for your help Kate."
⚔️⚔️⚔️
It was the first time in a long time that Kate was having the day off. She loved working in the diner so much that she rarely had time to herself but she had been preparing for this particular day for a while and was more than happy to spend some time away from the donuts. At first, she had got the job with Agnes just because it was an easy waitressing job and she needed the money; but then she was shown the kitchen and now does more baking than waitressing. Finding her love for the art and wanting nothing more than to possibly have her own bakery one day; hoping that it would become more successful than the donut shop. Today was a big day, not only was Kate having the day off but she was finally going to start something that she had wanted to do ever since her sister joined the police force. Dora was always telling her to learn to defend herself, working in New York isn't easy and she needed to know how to get creepy men away from her at all times; so today, Kate was going to a boxing club to learn exactly how to defend herself.
She pushed open the double doors and headed over to the front desk, where a bald man was checking the logbooks. Her gaze focused on a large ring in the middle of the space, where two men were fighting and it looked scary; but she was excited about this. The bald man called her over and she excitedly told him what she was there for. "I have twelve o'clock booked for Patch." Instead of checking the books or telling her where to go, the man just laughed. Kate wasn't expecting that, and frowned at his response. "What's so funny? I'm Kate Patch, I booked a session for twelve. I don't understand, what's the joke?"
"You're wasting my time, little girl, I have paying customers."
"I am a paying customer; I made an appointment." She tried to argue with him but he wasn't listening and now the entire boxing club had stopped what they were doing to listen to them.
"Whoever took the booking must have thought Patch was a nickname or something." He explained, leaning over the counter to intimidate her, his gaze menacing. "We don't train girls here. Get lost."
"No, that's not fair! I booked a session, I'll pay double. I just want an hour-"
Diego appeared, hearing the corruption and wondering what had happened, he pushed through the crowd and immediately recognised Kate from the diner. "What's going on over here?"
"Hargreeves, there you are. Remove her before things get ugly." Listening to his boss, Diego put his hands on her shoulders and began walking her outside the boxing club which just made her even angrier, worse than when he had been on dates to the diner.
"Get your hands off me!" She pushed him angrily. "I can walk myself out."
"Kate-"
"Piss off." She snapped, trying to walk away. "I really don't need you giving me a lecture right now."
Diego grabbed her arm gently and stopped her from leaving. "No, I want to help."
"What? Why on earth would you want to help me? Shouldn't you be laughing in my face right now?"
"Come back at eight." He whispered, and when he saw the confused look on her face, he explained further. "They close up early on a Sunday, I can organise a session for you when no one's around."
Kate was excited about boxing but pushed her emotions down so that he wouldn't see how excited she was. "Why would you do that?" He shrugged. "Think of it as paying off my tab."
a/n: first chapter! it's been so long since i updated a book but i'm back 🥳 i can't wait to start this journey with you all & i hope you enjoy reading this book 🥰 -lizzie ⭐️
date published: 03/11/21