Zoey's POV
On the way to work, Poppy and I have a small little party in her car. Neither of us can sing, but that doesn't mean we wont!
Sadly, our time comes to an end as we pull up to the restaurant. I'm happy she's on the same shift as me. Working with her helps time pass faster.
"Oh my God, Zoey! Is that their car?" Poppy elongates her arm, pointing to the expensive white car.
No, that can't be them. They have to be getting sick of me by now.
"Maybe someone just has the same car as Nik." I shrug.
She laughs and follows me to the doors to reveal a pale Doug waiting for us to enter.
"Great! You're finally here!" Doug quickly sighs.
I look at the clock on the wall and see that I'm ten minutes early.
"You have special guests that requested you." Doug says, looking directly at me.
"Special guests." Poppy's eyebrows bounce.
Is it really them?
As Doug moves away, I see all three of them sitting at one of my tables.
"Seems like they found a new toy." Tammy whispers loudly to Poppy.
Toy?
"Mind your business, Tammy." Poppy is quick to defend me.
Poppy and I speed walk to the back of the kitchen, passing the men without giving them a second glance.
My fingers shake as I tie the apron around my waist and my eyes brim with the familiar burn of tears threatening to spill.
"Poppy?" I call out to her.
As soon as she looks at me, her eyes soften. She leads me to the employee break room and sits me on a chair, pulling another one next to me.
"Don't listen to Tammy, she's a bitch sometimes." Poppy uses a light voice as she stops my hand from rubbing against my arm.
"What if she's right though? She knows them, they're her regulars, not mine."
Her hand squeezes mine, "Tammy is probably jealous that they requested you."
But am I just a new toy for them to play with?
"Stop. Shut down your thoughts, they're never nice to you." She wipes my hair out of my face.
"I don't want to be like the girls who hate men. I don't want to be taken advantage of." I admit.
She nods, knowing how that feels due to past experiences. "Just be careful then. Communication is everything. Before things go further, make sure you know what he, or they, want."
What if all they want is to take all the things that make me, me.
"Zoey! Where the hell are you?" I hear Doug's muffled yell coming from the kitchen.
"Just talk to them." Poppy pats my leg encouragingly.
I nod and dust myself off as I stand from the seat.
Opening the door, Doug is facing away from me, talking to one of the chefs. I quickly tip toe by without him seeing me and take a deep breath once I'm through the doors.
"Hey, doll." Wyatt says as I walk up to my only occupied table.
I give him a small wave, "what can I get you all to drink?" I ask, trying to keep it short.
Jett raises an eyebrow, looking directly at me. My eyes deflect to the table, trying to not think about how attractive he is.
"What's wrong, doll?" Wyatt tries to find my eyes.
I sigh, "I'm just trying to do my job, sir."
Nik scoffs, causing my eyes to dart to him. His lips are firmly pressed with a ticking jaw.
Why do I find his clenching jaw attractive?
I quickly look back to the table, waiting for them to order drinks.
"Sit." Nik orders.
"I don't think Doug-"
"I said to sit, Zoey." Nik repeats himself, voice oozing with authority.
My heart skips a beat as the fluttering in my stomach turns into what feels like popcorn popping.
My legs go against my will and force me to plop down in the booth next to him. I cross my arms at how easy I gave in.
"Tell us," his finger brushes my hair off my arm, "what is on your mind."
My skin shivers at the close contact.
It's so hard to think when they're this close.
Wyatt's dark blue eyes watch me like the deep sea, calm, but danger lurking underneath.
"It's nothing." I lie, hoping they'll buy it.
"Zoey." Jett warns with a gruffness in his voice.
My fingers find the skin on my arm as it begins to chafe away at my delicate epidermis.
"It-" I sigh at how ridiculous I'm probably about to sound, "Tammy said something, that's all."
Jett's eyes snap to behind me then set on me again.
"Don't worry about Tammy, she can be tactless at times." Jett's jaw tightens.
"She stated how I was your new toy." I dig my nails into my skin to feel pain over the overwhelming feeling of rejection.
"We need to talk," Nik says, "not here though, are you free tomorrow?"
I think about my schedule for a moment then nod my head. I'm happy to be off of work tomorrow.
"I'll pick you up at ten." Nik sighs, as if he had so much to say but is holding it all back.
I nod and remove myself from the seat, "drinks?" I ask with a smile.
They order the same exact thing as they did last time, that rare steak.
How can they eat it like that?
Doug has been breathing down my neck since my shift started, so as soon as I walk through the doors of the townhouse, I plop onto the couch with Poppy.
We watch TV with bags of chips, candy, and sodas. My stomach might ache later, but it'll be worth it.
"So, did you talk to them about what happened?" Poppy asks, stuffing chips into her mouth.
I smile, "no, but we are going to talk about it tomorrow."
As I think more about it, my stomach drops.
What if they tell me they don't feel the weird feelings I feel whenever we're together? Is this even normal? Are they going to make fun of me for liking them? Rich and poor don't usually mix, they never do.
"I'm sure everything will be fine. I don't know them, but I do know Tammy. She's a piece of work." She rolls her eyes just thinking about her.
Before today, I liked Tammy. She's never been mean to me, but it's like today...she threw a shot at me for no reason.
The night draws to an end, Poppy retreats to her bedroom, as do I.
My room is small, but comfortable. A twin bed with a pink comforter and white pillows, a dresser, and a small area where I can work on my upcycling projects.
My body tries to find a comfortable position in my bed, but I end up tossing and turning all night.
The warm glow peeking through my curtains tell me how I've only eaten chips and candy for dinner last night. My stomach roars for a meal.
Poppy is going to feel the same way when she wakes up.
Groggily sliding out of bed, I go into our small kitchen and pull out the ingredients to make cinnamon french toast.
After cooking the toast to perfection, I lather some syrup and powdered sugar on top.
It's still missing something.
Rummaging through the fridge, I find some strawberries that I wash and cut into slices and lay those on top of the french toast.
Next I prepare four strips of bacon. Two slices is a serving so hopefully this will fill her up.
"You are an angel." Poppy groans in relief as she swings into the kitchen, grabbing a plate.
I smile and sit next to her on the couch.
Hopefully one day, we will have a place big enough for a dining room table.
In my group home, we always had to eat at the table. If we were caught eating anywhere else in the house, we would lose what the adults called privileges. Those privileges could be going outside, calling friends, using the TV or other electronics, skipped meal, and sometimes, if you were bad enough, you'd be put somewhere called solitary. It was a terrifying room. Chill run down my spine thinking about the concrete floor and a room so dark, you couldn't see your hand if it were right in front of you.
Poppy moans as she bites into the fluffiness of the french toast. I'm not the best chef, but I can make a few decent items.
"Since it's going to be warm out today, I was thinking about going to Desmon's house. Would you be okay on your own for the night if I slept over?" Poppy asks.
Desmon is her boyfriend, they've only been dating for a month, but I can tell she is head over heels for him.
"Of course! Nik should be picking me up in about two hours so I have to start getting ready." I smile as I clear our plates and wash them.
A clean home, is a happy home.
After my shower, I blow dry my hair and let it fall naturally. I throw on a pretty short sleeve white shirt that has black cacti icons on it and crop it a little to accentuate my waist and pair it with a mauve skirt that stops at the middle of my thigh.
Noticing the fake gold bangles on my dresser, I slip a few over my wrist. The gold makes me feel pretty.
Looking at the clock, it reads nine fifty-five.
Finally finding the white sneakers I want to pair this with, I throw on white ankle socks and the shoes and run out the door while already hearing the rumble of Nik's car.
Nik steps out of his car as he sees me, opening the other side for me to slide in to.
A gentleman, just like my dad was with my mom.
"You look dashing, love."
I giggle at his choice of words. "Thank you. Where are we going?"
"My house."
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