Please give this story a chance! This is my first time writing on Wattpad. I promise it gets better :)
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"Everyone has to start somewhere," Anna chanted to herself. She confidently picked up a pen and grinned at the chef behind the counter. The gruff cook didn't offer a smile back but scoffed, shook his head and tossed some vegetables on the stove. Her smile faltered but not before ripping out the order off her wad of papers and smacking it on the stained silver counter.
"A hot dog, cheeseburger and milkshake!" She hollered over the sizzle in the kitchen.
Just as Anna turned around to face the seating area, a dim chime rang from a makeshift bell that was strung over the door. She waited a second for the customer to settle down in one of the vintage ice-cream parlor booths.
"Hi," She smiled at the man. Although dressed casually she could tell he was made of money. She couldn't pin point the reason - maybe material of the fabric or the cologne? - but it made her slightly on edge. Anna slid a checkered menu in front of him and asked for any drinks.
The brown-haired man turned to look at her and she could feel his gaze scrutinizing her. She felt the urge to cross her arms but suppressed it and instead flicked her pad of orders. But mid-flick, she was floored at the sight before her. Chestnut hair framed his chiseled face and sharp jaw line. A light stubble dusted across his chin and bright brown eyes looked at her expectantly from under his thick lashes.
"Hello?" He waved a hand in front of her face.
"Hmm? What?" Anna snapped back into reality. She could already feel a flush rising to her cheeks.
"I ordered a chocolate milkshake," He said. His mesmerizing eyes flickered gold and green.
"Oh yes," She said, a shaky hand scribbled down his order, "Anything else?"
A lazy smirk was drawn across his face, a clear sign that he knew what she was thinking,"Not at the moment."
"Alright, thank you," She left the table and smacked the order on the counter, "One chocolate milkshake!"
Business was always slow in the small sandwich deli but in Anna's eyes it seemed to get by. She had no idea what strings the owner had to pull in order to keep the deli up but the financial struggle was evident in the outdated kitchen appliances and the pad of old receipts that Anna had to use to jot down orders.
She settled down on a little rusty stool at the back of the deli. From her vantage point, she had a clear view of the front door and the entire restaurant. Checking to see that everything was taken care of, Anna ducked into the employee closet and pulled out her sketchbook from under a heap of her belongings.
Starting from the large windows, she started to sketch out the view in front of her. Before she could make much progress, an impatient hand waved at Anna from the edge of the deli. Anna used her pencil as bookmark and set her sketchbook aside.
"Double cheeseburger and fries," He said, his dark eyes glittered, "Oh and extra ketchup."
Anna nodded, scribbling it down on her paper, "It'll be done in a few." The man nodded and took out his phone as if he was silently dismissing her from his presence.
Anna sat back on her stool and resumed her sketching. If she wanted to become a better artist, and have a more art related job, she'd have to continue brushing up on her skills. Joe, the cook, wouldn't tell their boss she was slacking on the job. He knew how much she wanted to go big, do something else than waitress-ing a run-down deli hidden in the corners of New York.
A while later, when Anna realized that the man (she had yet to know his name) was almost finished with his meal, she placed a check on the corner of his table and gave him a gracious smile. Her friend liked to call it "tip fishing", where you drop a smile, a helpful hint that you would prefer a hefty-er tip. But it was true, she did depend on tips a lot. It was hard living in a city like New York and being tempted by all the high couture shops just a little away.
Within the few seconds that Anna was dreaming about fancy dresses, the guy had taken out his wallet and placed his credit card on the receipt.
"Thank you," Anna chirped and went back to the register. Much like the rest of the deli, the register looked like it was made in the 70's.
As she punched in the price, $15.38, and slid his card through, Anna became aware of how oddly heavy his card was. With once glance, she realized that it was a black card: the sort of cards she read about in those billionaire-CEO fantasy stories. On it in clear etched letters was the name Nathaniel J. Crawford.
Anna sucked in a breath. What was a guy like him doing in a deli like this? She quickly tried to shrug the thought off. Well there's no way I'm going to be with him anyways, he's way out of my league. Placing the credit card with a customer copy of the receipt, Anna returned them back to the owner.
"Thank you..." Nathaniel's eyes hovered to her simple name tag pinned over her breast, "Anna." She brushed off the butterflys taking flight in her stomach and gave him her best Steve's Sandwich Deli's smile.
"Thank you and come back next time!" Anna gave him her customary Steve's Sandwich Deli goodbye. Without a reply Nathaniel left with his head stuck next to his phone.
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"It's a hard life Joe," Anna muttered, wiping down the last of the tables in the deli. Although most of them went unused throughout the day, the owner didn't like to see them sitting there and collecting dust.
Joe's demeanor was much more different at the end of the day than during open hours.
"It is darling, it is," He drawled. At the end of the day Anna took care cleaning up the seating area while Joe mopped up the kitchen. As far as Anna knew, Joe has been working in the sandwich deli for a long time. Every single time Anna went to work her shift, Joe had always been there. But it wasn't like she had this job for long either.
"But that's what you get. You just have to deal with it," Joe sighed, his shoulders were slumped, "You just learn how to make the best of it over time."
"Or maybe I'll just date a rich guy," She joked, "I'll get you some money. Help the both of us out." Her mind immediately went to Nathaniel Crawford and immediately rejected the idea. He was hot, and way out of her league. There was no way they were ever going to be together even if she was looking for hot rich guys. On a second note, probably all hot rich guys were out of her league.
"Keep that money for yourself. Karina and I are fine now," Joe grumbled, "Get yourself some designer shoes. You look awful in those jeans- is there seriously not any easy way to get oil paint off them?"
"What about the baby coming soon?" She tried to direct the conversation off of her, feeling slightly self-conscious of her tarnished denim, "And I'm just too lazy to wash the paint off."
Joe shook his head, "Don't worry about me, worry about yourself."
After wiping down the last table Anna threw the cleaning supplies into the closet and waved goodbye to Joe. Taking her things, she pushed open the door and stepped into the cold New York air.
~~
The morning after came soon enough, and so did the apartment bills. Money was tight so that meant no shopping sprees or expensive items. Sure Anna did splurge once in a while, but that was still heavily monitored by herself (and her limited bank account).
She had drawn more the day before, working on her new project for hours and finished just before midnight. They were going to be uploaded onto Deviantart and Etsy so she could hopefully sell prints and canvases.
"Birthdays suck," Anna groaned, staring at her purchase history on her debit card. She had spent a bit on her friend's birthday present, but she still allocated a good enough of money for rent fees. Even though birthdays did come around once a year, they were expensive depending on the recipient of the gift.
This time she was under the mark. Although it was only a thousand off, she didn't receive her paycheck for the week until Friday. But still, her pay was only under a thousand dollars a week.
What has she been spending her money on? Anna sighed, I guess ten dollar meals add up.
She dusted off her black jeans, picked up her bag and scooped her messy brown hair into a bun. There was a short walk to the nearest Metro station and she took the train to a few stops down at the edge of the city.
To say that she was surprised was an understatement. Standing in front of the dark sandwich deli was none other than Nathaniel J. Crawford. His height was obvious compared to hers and for once Anna felt small.
Her favorite worn flats were soundless against the dirty sidewalk and the only noise was the rhythmic thud thud of her bag.
"Good morning," She murmured when she was within talking distance of him. It seemed impolite if she didn't invite him in although it was still before opening hours.
She gripped the metal door handle, "Do you want to come in? Joe's usually here early everyday." Anna held the door open for him.
"I'm just here waiting for breakfast," He supplied.
"It's okay. You do know that we don't open for another half an hour right?" Anna asked, "You don't have to be here so early. If you need breakfast this early there's a donut shop around the corner."
He shrugged and gave her a small wink, "What if I don't want donuts?"
Anna sighed, "I would take a nice glazed donut any day." Nathaniel's eyes were bright gold from the morning sun.
The deli was dark except for a dim light in the back of the kitchen.
"Joe?" Anna yelled.
"I'm here!" A gruff voice replied. Sighing, Anna flicked on the lights for the main dining area and set her bag down in the back.
She started to lift the chairs off the tables and setting them on the floor.
Anna looked up to see Nathaniel awkwardly standing around the hostess station, "You know," she said dryly, "if you're here you could try helping."
Seemingly startled, he quickly said, "Of course." Taking a black chair from the corner he started to set them upright on the floor. He rolled the sleeves of his dress shirt up his arms and combed back his hair with his fingers.
"You don't have to stare at me like that," He grinned at her, "You can touch. Just ask."
"Sit down," Anna shook her head, ignoring his comment, "I'll get you some breakfast. What do you want?"
"Scrambled eggs and sausage," He replied, dusting off the table off with a napkin.
"Orange juice?" Anna asked, drumming the table with her nails. A sizzling sound came from the kitchen.
"Of course."
Anna hollered, "Did you hear that?" The only reply was the sound of egg shells breaking in the kitchen, "Cool, Joe's got it. Your breakfast will be out in a minute."
"Why don't you sit too?" Nathaniel asked, gesturing to the seat in front of him. Anna's breath caught in her throat and she could feel her blush rising to her cheeks.
"Um, um..." She stammered, "I need to do some things first."
Why are you so awkward? Anna internally cursed at herself.
With a grin, he submerged himself back into his phone as Anna dusted off the hostess podium. The smile on his face was confident and bright, a sign that he knew exactly how attractive he was. Within a few minutes a sharp ding came from the kitchen and Anna picked up the pristine white plate ready with Nathaniel's order.
"Here you go," She slid into the chair across of him.
After a few minutes of silence, she asked, "So... what brings you here this fine morning?"
He shrugged, "I just liked this place from last time."
She grinned, "Well, this is a pretty neat place. I actually genuinely like the food here," Anna leaned in, "Don't tell anyone, but Joe lets me eat some food for free. Bless his soul because his food is wonderful."
"Your secret is safe with me." His smile was infectious and Anna could feel a smile quickly spreading on her face.
After he cleaned his plate, he took out his wallet and held out his card.
"Oh, no no," Anna quickly shook her head, "You already helped out around a little today. It's on me." The familiar black card was in front of her, dangling from the tips of Nathaniel's fingers.
His lips were slightly pouted and a crease formed on his forehead, "Are you sure? I mean-"
"It's fine," Anna smiled at him, "I got it."
"If you insist," His voice sounded doubtful. He picked up his phone and stood up.
"Bye," She waved. He smiled but Nathaniel was already on his phone again. Some sort of business call, I suppose.
The door did it's constant chime and he left the deli. She started to clean up the leftover cups and under his plate was a neatly folded bill, enough to cover for the meal and a hefty tip. Anna had no idea when she would see him again.
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How was that? If there are any mistakes please point them out. :)
Audrey.