Desiree woke up the next morning to the feeling of arms around her waist, she peeked to the left of her and saw Mark sleeping with a tight grip around her waist. She tried to carefully get out of his grip only to fail and wake him up, "Where are you going?" He asked as he tighter his hold on her smaller frame. She looked at him with a forced smile, "I have to pee." She whispered. He rolled over on his side and allowed her to get up from the bed, "Bring your ass right back, Desiree. I've got something I wanna give you." He told her.
Desiree nods her head once before walking to the bathroom and locking the bathroom door. She slid down the wall and let tears run down her face, "I'm sorry ma and pa, I want to leave but I can't. He loves me like no one else does." She spoke as she looked up at the ceiling as if she was speaking to her parents through the clouds.
She quickly wiped her tears and gathered herself together before walking back to the bedroom only to see Mark sat up against the headboard with a smirk on his face. She forced a smile and crawled into bed next to him. He immediately kissed her neck hungrily, "I need you, baby." He whispered as he slid his hand up her shorts.
She laid there blankly as her boyfriend satisfied his needs with her body. She was numb, she felt empty, but the only thing she thought about was the moment of weakness she exposed to Eddie the previous night. The way he gently held her, the gentle brushing of their lips sending shocks down her spine. The way that his touch was different from Mark's. Eddie touched Desiree with pure admiration and love while Mark touched Desiree with desire and hunger.
"I'm going to work, Desiree." Mark spoke, snapping Desiree from her thoughts as she looked over to see him putting his clothes on, the odd thing was, they weren't his work clothes. He dressed nicely and used his best cologne, "Mark, where are you going?" She asked while sitting up in her bed and grabbing the sheet to cover her body.
He turned around and finished tying his tie, "I just said I was going to work. Did you not hear me?" He snapped at her. She rolled her eyes and laid back in her bed, "I just asked a question." She replied before getting out of bed and grabbed her clothes from the floor to put them back on. He ran his hands over his face, "Don't start with all of your emotions and complaints, I really don't want to hear it today." He spoke in an annoyed manner.
Desiree shrugged her shoulders, "Good thing you don't have to worry about my emotions and complaints tonight because I'm working the overnight shift." She said as she pulled her work uniform on and pulled her hair through. Mark furrowed his eyebrows, "Whatever, I'll be home late tonight so if you get off early, don't wake me up by being loud. I got shit to do tomorrow, got it?" He said as he tied his shoes and walked out of the room. Desiree sat on the edge of their bed and looked down at her hands, "So much for a kiss goodbye." She mumbled as she continued to get ready and headed to work.
After waiting for her shift to come to an end, she found herself looking at the clock on the diner. She thought that since the diner was empty, she would get a head start on cleaning and restocking everything before the next shift came in to recover her. Desiree walks over to the jukebox in the diner and turns the music up loudly before she grabs a wet rag and wipes the booths down. She then grabs the broom, using it as a microphone as she dances. She sings along to Pat Benatar's Love Is A Battlefield. "Both of us knowing, love is a battlefield." She sings out into the broom.
She dances around the diner wildly as she cleans. The music was loud so she was oblivious to the fact that she wasn't alone. He leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest as he watched her sway her hips to the music. He thought she looked so cute seeing how goofy and clumsy she is due to the fact that she knocked over a chair while dancing with the broom.She began to fill up the syrup dispensers as she swayed her hips to the music, singing out passionately.
Suddenly, she was startled by the sound of slow claps behind her, causing her to jump up and spill a container of pancake syrup on the floor. "Shit!" She curses as she kneels down and grabs the plastic container from the floor, "Here, let me help." He says while walking to the counter and grabs the wet rag she was just cleaning with. He kneels down next to her, wiping the syrup from the floor. She looks up at him and he does the same, faces inches apart as he continues to clean up the syrup.
"I can take it from here." She says while placing her hand on the rag, she felt sparks as her pinky slightly overlapped his. Neither of them moving their hands, they silently stare at each other for what felt like forever to them. She finally broke eye contact by looking down at their hands. She stood up, wiping her hands on her apron. She walks over the stereo and turns the volume down, looking over at the guy who was a mere three feet away from her. "So, what can I do for you?" She finally speaks out as she walks behind the counter.
He pushed his hands in his front pockets and drug his feet as he walked over to a stool, "Me? Oh, I just came to take down one of your milkshakes." He said with a smile as he took a seat on the stool. "A milkshake," She says with her eyebrows furrowed, "at almost four in the morning?" She crossed her arms over her chest. He nods his head slowly, "Yup." he says while popping the 'p' as he taps on the counter rhythmically. "Coming right up." She says as she turns around, walking through the doors that lead to the kitchen.
A smile never left her face as she made the chocolate milkshake that Eddie had asked for. She walked out into the dining section and smiled as she set down the glass, "Extra cherries, just how you like it." She said with a wink before wiping down menus and rolling silverware as Eddie sat there in silence, being the perfect company that Desiree could want during slow hours. Eddie bit the cherry off of the stem, "I thought Lily worked tonight, you usually are off on the weekends." He said.
Desiree shrugged, "She asked me to cover her shift because she had to go out of town for the weekend." She answered as she sat in the seat next to him. He furrowed his eyebrows, "The same Lily that was just at the bar hitting on me and trying to take me home with her?" He asked as he pulled a paper out of his wallet with Lily's number written on it and her lipstick mark on there with a little note on the bottom saying, 'When you're done playing games with me, I'll be waiting by the phone for you.'
Desiree would be lying if she said she wasn't upset that Lily lied to her about why she couldn't work the overnight shift. Something else also bothered her about Lily's behavior towards Eddie but Desire couldn't quite put her finger on why seeing the note gave her a sense of anger towards Lily.
Desiree rolled her eyes and handed the note back to Eddie, "I didn't know you and her were close like that." She coldly spoke as she got up from the seat next to him and got back behind the counter to clean anything she could get her hands on. Eddie smiled smugly, causing Desiree to furrow her eyebrows and roll her eyes, "What?" She asked with an ounce of attitude towards him. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head as he held his hands up in defense, "Nothing, nothing at all, princess." He answered as he took a sip of his milkshake.
She wasn't buying it, "Tell me." She demanded as she tossed the towel to the side and rested her hands on her hips. Eddie licked his lips and leaned on his elbows against the counter, "You almost sound," He paused as a smirk came into his lips, "Des, are you jealous that Lily gave me her number?" He asked.
She scoffed and crossed her arms, "I have a boyfriend." She blankly responded to his allegation. He shook his head, "That's not what I asked." He replied as the same smug smirk never left his face. She leaned closer to his face and squinted her eyes, "I could care less." She whispered as she looked at his lips before looking back up to his eyes. He nodded his head, "Okay, so, you wouldn't mind if I took pretty little Lily on a date?" He asked.
She scoffed, "Go for it, and while you're at it why don't you wipe that shit-eating smirk off of your face as if you accomplished something here." She shot back before looking over at the door and seeing a couple walk into the diner hand in hand. She gave Eddie a fake smile before walking over to the couple and attending to them. She fought every urge to look at Eddie and prove to him that the sliver of hope he has that she had feelings for him wasn't a one sided thing.
Eddie let out a small chuckle as he got up from his seat and made his way over to the phone that was right by the booth where Desiree was attending to the couple. He looked at the paper and dialed the number in. Desiree heard the sound of the dial and looked over at Eddie. He smiled as he kept his stare on Desiree, "Hi, is this Lily?" He asked. Desiree rolled her eyes as she looked back at her customers and took their order.
"Sounds perfect, see you then." Eddie concluded the call before he hung up and walked back over to his milkshake. He chugged the drink and set the money to pay on the counter just in time for Desiree to stand before him, "Keep the change, Desiree." He said before turning around and leaving the diner. Desiree groaned and walked to the back to tell Louie the order. She leaned against the grill as she watched him put down pancakes and hash rows for the order. Louie looked over at Desiree and laughed, "What's the matter chica?" He asked as he put his gaze back onto the food he was cooking. Desiree furrowed her eyebrows, "What do you mean?" She asked.
Louie laughed again, "There's nothing wrong with being confused about your feelings, Teeny." He said while flipping pancakes. Desiree shook her head, "I am not confused about my feelings for Eddie. He's just a friend of mine and there's nothing more to us. I have Mark and he's all I need." She argued. Louie nodded his head as he dusted his hands off and rested the back of his hand on her forehead, "Mhm, yep. Just what I thought." He said as he took his hand off of her forehead. She scrunched her face, "What?" She asked as she flipped the hash browns for him. He chuckled and looked over at her, "I've got a diagnosis for you, doll." He said as he plated the food.
Desiree squinted her eyes, "What is it?" She asked as she stacked the plates on her arms. He looked at her and rested his hands on his waist, "You're full of shit. You like the guy and you're in denial because of your stupid ass boyfriend." He answered. Desiree smacked her teeth and walked off, "You're an asshole, Louie." She grumbled. He laughed loudly, "And yet, you still love me." He fired back.