The following Friday, Kiara waited for diners to fill Alonso's, one of the best Spanish restaurants in Orlando. Since she had worked there for five months, Kiara's section would be sat fourth. She had kept herself busy by wrapping silverware and cleaning menus; then she carried a large container to the host stand.
As she was walking back to the server station, she saw him—Miguel. He walked through the door with three other men and two women. All were dressed in suits and ties, the women in flawless evening gowns. They must have had somewhere fancy to go after dinner.
Kiara ducked behind the divider between the guests and the employees. She did not want to serve her boss. She did not want him to judge her performance at a completely different job.
Kiara doubted he saw her anyway. He seemed much too focused on the discussion at hand and did not glance her way. She sighed with relief and returned to the stacked white napkins and container of silverware. After two minutes passed, the host approached.
"Kiara, I just sat a six top at table fourteen." It was Kiara's luck. She sighed and grabbed six sets of silverware she had wrapped.
"Thank you," she said and walked out to the dining room with a smile. If she must serve her boss from her other job, she might as well do it well. "Good evening." She circled the table, placing gold-lined coasters to their right. "My name is Kiara. Would you like a few minutes to look at our drinks?"
"No, I think we're all ready to order." Miguel gave Kiara a steady look, pausing a moment before returning his attention to the woman next to him. "After you." He held out his hand.
When Kiara returned with their drinks, the men remained in heavy conversation. From the bits she picked up, they must have been talking about which cruise ship to upgrade first. Miguel kept shaking his head; then the other men would throw another idea at him. Again he shook his head. As Kiara set down the last glass of wine, a man sitting next to Miguel stopped her with his palm.
"What can I get for you?" She smiled at him.
The man glanced at Miguel. "We need you to settle a dispute on the better choice. Which would make more money—a casino, a waterpark or a carnival?"
Kiara thought for a second but saw the host look at her as another table was sat. "Let me think it over while you decide on an entree."
Another man at the table looked up before she left. "Sergio, why do you always involve strangers in our decisions? This is a closed discussion."
Sergio puffed. "Lighten up, Javier. Sometimes strangers bring ideas that Miguel didn't think of before."
"How much can she possibly know about the subject?" The woman sitting beside Miguel spoke up. "She's only a server."
Kiara smiled but resented the woman's remark. She probably would not lift a finger to save her life. Kiara also wondered what was with the blond hair. It annoyed her. Were men that attracted to blondes? Julian had cheated on her with a blonde.
Kiara watched the woman place her arm through Miguel's. It was a definite show that she was more important than Kiara, being able to touch the owner like that. It worked. Even though Miguel seemed uninterested in the gesture, he did not pull away. Kiara felt the sting of being inferior to the group and looked down at the floor.
"We'll be ready to order in a couple of minutes," said Miguel.
"And come back with an answer." Sergio laughed, triumphant at further irritating Javier.
Kiara attended her next customers, putting in their drink orders and entrees before going back to Miguel's table. As she set down wine for her new guests, she noticed the serious look on Miguel's face and returned to serve him. "Were you ready to order now?" she asked, hoping she did not keep them waiting too long.
He sighed, "Are we ready?" He looked around the table and everyone nodded. "Go ahead."
As Kiara took the orders, the men continued to talk among themselves. "I think a waterpark would be best. A place for the entire family."
"No, Gabriel," said Miguel. "I want numbers—what kind of profit it can bring, not opinions." Kiara finished with everyone but Miguel and asked him last.
"What would you like?"
He glanced down at the menu, closing it before he stated his choice. When she took the menu, he seemed to have a thought and gave into Sergio's idea to ask someone who was not involved. "You're in finance. Which do you think will bring the most profit?" The question caught her off guard.
"You know her, Miguel?" Sergio asked. He looked back at Kiara and winked.
"Well," she started but her cheeks became warm. She could not tell them she cleaned his building when she planned on serving them food. Kiara knew that the women in company would use the information to mock her.
Miguel answered instead. "She's an employee at the travel agency."
"Really?" said Sergio. "A working girl. Miguel likes hard workers." Miguel said nothing in return but Kiara noticed the forming scowl from the woman beside him. Her narrowed eyes directed to Kiara, making Kiara brace for the next jab at her lowly status.
"My guess is...if you came to work before five tonight, that you aren't one of his regular office workers. Does that make you the janitor?"
Kiara started to open her mouth but did not know how to respond. No response was needed anyway as the profuse reddening of her cheeks gave the truth away. Why was such a man as Miguel with a woman like her anyway? Kiara could not find a single good trait.
"Actually, Sara..." Miguel placed his hand on the table directly in front of her, muting his date. His eyes tapered as he contemplated a serious thought. It seemed as though he had something to say but decided to wait. He finally looked back at Kiara and pointed to the server station. "Go place our orders. When you come back, if you can answer Sergio's question to my liking, we will talk."
"All right," Kiara answered. She had no idea what he meant and was too busy trying not to let Sara get to her. So what if she cleaned at night and served in the day. She worked hard too. Why should her self-worth be dependent on what others thought?
Back at the computer, she punched in the orders and quickly scribbled down some words in her ticket book. Then the host sat another large table in her section. Kiara was unable to give her notes to Miguel. Having no more time to chat tonight, she chose to focus her attention on her guests instead of whatever it was Miguel wanted her to prove.
Only when she finished delivering meals and clearing empty plates did Kiara have a moment to breathe. She went back to Miguel's table, avoided eye contact with Sara and questioned the rest. "Will anybody be ordering dessert?"
Several heads shook, looking too uncomfortable to think about another bite. "No, we will take the check." Kiara took out a book with the bill and handed it to Miguel's open hand. "Hold on." He opened his wallet and took out a card. As he slipped it in the book's plastic slot, he looked over the sheets inside. One was his total. The other was her notes.
His eyes lingered over the black book for seconds with Sara becoming curious and trying to see as well. He pointed her prying eyes away, causing her to slouch; then he kept reading with quiet interest—nodding, stopping, thinking and nodding again.
"Well, what is it?" Sergio attempted to take it from his hands. "The bill can't be that interesting."
"You know better," Miguel warned his brother and continued his focus. What he was reading gained the attention of the entire table. Miguel pulled a pen from his pocket and jotted down a few words of his own. Afterwards, he handed it back to Kiara. "You can take care of it now."
"I'll be right back, Mr. Vega."
Kiara felt both anxious and dread to see what he wrote. She knew it had something to do with her notes. When she safely hid from their sight, Kiara opened the book and looked. There were two more questions involving her choice. Should he place the casino on the top deck or a lower deck and why? That was an easy question and Kiara quickly wrote down—a lower deck. Nobody wants to have a noisy casino above their head.
She swiped his credit card and returned with the receipt. "Thank you for coming. I hope you enjoy the rest of your night."
Miguel raised his finger, stopping her from leaving until he finished. He read her answer and nodded with approval, writing something in return; then he signed the receipt and stared at her for seconds before handing back the book.
"Aren't you going to let us in on your private discussion?" Javier swallowed the last of his wine, never taking his eyes off Miguel.
"No." Miguel stood and said no more. Annoyed with the answer, Javier walked towards the exit as Kiara quietly grabbed four of their empty glasses and disappeared from their sight. She placed three of the glasses into a tub but still held the fourth as she eagerly viewed his last thought. It will work.
Kiara smiled, pleased that he liked her ideas. As she started to set the fourth glass down, she caught a glimpse of her tip. The dollar amount caused her to miss the tub completely. The water glass crashed, echoing throughout the restaurant and sending broken shards sliding across the floor. Kiara could not focus on the disturbance and snagged a busser. "Will you please...please clean this up for me? I have to go find my last table."
"I've got it." The busser assured as Kiara ran out.
"Mr. Vega!" she shouted. If she did not hurry, she would miss him completely. "Mr. Vega!" Kiara needed to get closer. The running vehicles that waited for valet managed to drown out her voice with the roar. When she neared, she noticed Miguel and Sara having a private moment together. His hand wrapped around her waist with Sara's hand around his neck. They were sharing a kiss.
Kiara did not want to see them like that. She did not know why it bothered her, but it just seemed—cheap. Maybe Sara seemed cheap. Kiara ignored her thoughts and focused on the book in her hand. "Mr. Vega!" she said, finally gaining his attention, but his chauffeur blocked her way.
"Wait, I'm not trying...I work for him."
"And?" The man cared nothing of her explanation.
"It's okay, Isaac." Miguel raised his hand and the driver backed away. A second later, he looked at Sara and motioned with his chin to the open car door.
"You're interrupting my personal time." Sara cast a dirty look at Kiara, separating from Miguel and huffing out of sight.
"What do you need?" Miguel crossed his arms, annoyed with standing in the open for anyone to hear his business.
"There's a mistake on the receipt, Mr. Vega. I just came to ask you to fix it." She held out the book.
"I don't make mistakes. I paid you what I thought your service was worth."
"But I can't...accept this. I—can't."
"Fine." Taking the pen from Kiara, Miguel grabbed the book and crossed something out. Kiara could not stop looking at him as he handed it back to her. Why did he write such a large amount in the first place?
For moments, their gazes locked, but Sara still waited inside the car, refusing to let his attention focus on anyone but her. "Miguel, we're going to be late." She peeked out, scowling at Kiara when she did.
Miguel glanced at the door and then back at Kiara. "You came up with an acceptable idea. We'll talk about it later."
After their car sped away, Kiara opened her book to check the correction. It was more. "Why?" She blurted out and stared into the street. "I can't accept this."