"Harry Styles! How are you, honey? Come here!" Filomena exclaimed as she saw me walk into the restaurant.
I smoothed my hair that was styled upwards as I walked towards the older Italian woman, "Hi, Mrs. di Lorenzo. It's good to see you."
"Sweetie, how many times do I need to tell you that you can call me Filomena? Now look at you! You're all dressed nicely. Did Isabella convince you to serve tonight?" she held onto my arms as she looked at me.
"Yes she did. But it's no problem. I enjoy it," I flashed her a reassuring smile and she grinned.
"You are so sweet, Harry. I wish you and Isabella stayed together." She lowered her voice into a whisper as she looked around, "And between you and me, I like you a lot better than the new guy she had dated."
If only she knew that Izzy and I were never a couple. We only said that we were so her dad would let me work here. I'm pretty sure if Vincent knew Izzy and I used to be "friends with benefits," sometimes fucking in the back room here, there is no way he would've given me a job. Even Ronnie tried telling him to not give me the job because he knew what was going on between Izzy and I. But of course, Izzy, being the daddy's girl that she is, got her way.
I looked at Filomena and whispered back, "I'll keep that secret for you."
She laughed as I gave her a wink before walking into the restaurant office. I walked to the back near the employees' room and grabbed one of the small waist aprons. I stuffed the pockets with a pen and notepad, and pinned Marco's nametag on my shirt. Because I didn't actually work as a waiter, I didn't have my own nametag. Some people who came here often would comment on my use of different tags and tell me they thought I was entertaining. I suppose that's a compliment.
Walking towards the dining area, Isabella spotted me from her seat at the hostess's table.
"Damn, Styles! You clean up well," she smirked as she bit her lip. "I would just love to f-"
"Isabella! This is a nice restaurant! Shut your mouth!" I half scolded, half laughed.
"Hey, I'll say what I want," she said with a hint of sass in her voice.
"Whatever. Which tables do I have?"
"Hmm," she looked over the layout of the dining area on her laminated sheet of paper. "You have tables six through ten. Left side."
"Got it. Thanks," I turned on my heel and headed into the dining room towards my section.
I got to the first few tables and started taking orders, bringing the orders to the kitchen, serving their food, and keeping them entertained with my "charm," as one diner put it. Sometimes I enjoyed this job because it was easy for me to converse with all of the people that came in. I would consider myself to be pretty charismatic, so I enjoyed talking with everyone who came in. The friendlier I was, the higher the tip people would leave.
I walked in the back room for a quick break, grabbing a water bottle and sitting on the couch in the room. Before I was able to get remotely comfortable, Xander came waltzing in.
"What's up, bro?" he grinned as he sat down beside me.
"What are you doing back here?" I asked, watching him grab my water from me.
He shrugged his shoulders and took a sip, "I came to see Isabella, but she told me to come back here and see you."
"What? Weird."
"Yeah, whatever. Do you think I can get her to agree to come out with me tonight?"
"That depends what you have planned, tiger."
The two of us looked at Isabella who was standing at the doorway, watching us intently. Her short black dress hugged her curves and Xander couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Isabella walked into the room and sat down on his lap, playing with pieces of his hair.
"What did you want to do?" she seductively whispered in his ear.
Immediately, I stood up and walked towards the doorway.
"Awe, Styles, where are you going? You don't want to make this a party?" she smirked in my direction.
I laughed and shook my head, "No thanks. I will gladly pass on that."
"What? Why? You would've been all over this last week."
Xander had one hand on Isabella's thigh and his other around her waist, "He's hung up on some girl he just met."
Isabella snapped her head to me and her eyes grew a little bigger, "Seriously? Wow. When was the last time that happened? Middle school?"
I rolled my eyes and started to head out the door, "I'm going back to work."
"Good. You have new people at table eight, by the way."
Pulling out the notebook from the apron, I headed to the new table and got ready to take some orders.
"Hi, I'm-"
"Harry Styles. Or is your name Marco?"
My head immediately flung upwards to look at the two people sitting at the table. Two females sat down and stared at me, a blonde and a brunette. The blonde girl was staring at the brunette in confusion as the brunette was smiling at me.
"Summer?"
She nodded her head and her eyes lit up, "I didn't know you worked here. I love this place."
"I don't work here."
"That's a little hard to believe ... Marco," she giggled and I felt a smile creep onto my face.
"Well, I don't officially work here. I'm only filling in for a friend who is sick."
I couldn't believe that she was sitting here at the restaurant. I guess our social roles were being proven in this current situation. Here she was coming to dinner, and here I was serving her. Once again, below her in status. Probably how it should be.
"Um. How do you know him?" the blonde girl directed towards Summer.
She was tall and very skinny. She almost looked like she had the perfect figure to be a runway model. Her blonde hair was slicked back into a sophisticated ponytail, and she was wearing a tight black dress that was high at her neckline. She reminded me of a girl I had seen Xander date once. Although I knew it wasn't her because she had hazel eyes rather than blue ones.
Summer smiled at me before looking at her friend, "This is Harry, the guy I was telling you about."
She was talking about me? Oh god. She probably said bad things about our date last night and how cheap it was. All my chances of being with her are done.
"Oh. This is him? Wow," she looked me up and down, as if she was thinking to herself that I wasn't of high enough status. "I'm Cambria, by the way."
I made a quick wave and said hello, "Erm. Yeah, so can I get you anything to drink?"
"Ah yes. A glass of water please. Can you make sure it's from bottled water instead of tap? And then two lemon slices," Cambria requested.
I looked at Summer and she simply smiled, "I'll just have a diet coke, please."
I walked back to the kitchen to grab their drink orders. I had noticed Xander and Isabella were missing, and I didn't bother with it. Walking back to the table, I handed the girls their drinks and took their food orders. Before I turned to walk away, I felt a light grip on my wrist.
"Harry," Summer said as I had looked from her hand around my wrist back up to her. "Are you busy after you finish here?"
"Uh. N-no."
"Do you want to do something?"
I was caught off guard by her question. I wasn't quite expecting her to want to hang out with me, especially after I've been serving to her for dinner.
Cambria looked to Summer and scrunched her nose, "Um, hello? I thought it was a girl's night?"
"Well, just for dinner. We can do something later," Summer looked back up at me, her grip still on my wrist. "When do you get off?"
"Uh. Eleven-thirty."
"Cool! I'll come back here around then, and then we can do something," her smile was infectious.
I smiled excitedly at her and nodded my head, "Okay, sounds good."
She let go of my wrist and I walked back to the kitchen to place their orders. Summer and I were hanging out together for the second time. Second time! I was shocked and elated all at once.
The rest of my shift went by rather slowly as the crowd started to die down. I actually was able to leave a little bit early because the tables I covered were all empty. I hung up the apron and placed Marco's name tag in his bin. I smiled with satisfaction as I counted the money I had made in tips. I actually made $207.65. I guess that's what happens when you're extra friendly and serve nice customers in a semi-fancy restaurant.
I said goodbye to the rest of the guys who worked as waiters and to the kitchen staff before popping into the office.
"Bye, Filomena! Just wanted to let you know I'm leaving," I smiled at the older woman.
"Oh!" she got out of her chair and walked towards me, reaching for a hug. "Goodnight, Harry! I hope the shift was good to you."
"It was, thank you very much. I'll be here in the morning to clean."
"Harry, you are so sweet! I don't know what we'd do without you."
I smiled and grabbed my phone as I headed out to the front. I saw I had a new text from Xander telling me that he and Isabella were at the apartment and that she was a firecracker. I rolled my eyes at the text and shoved my phone back into my pocket. As I stepped outside, I saw Summer walking towards me.
"Hi," she smiled, wrapping her arms around me for a hug.
I returned the gesture as I took in her appearance. She was dressed so nicely, and her left wrist was clad in about ten really thin gold and pink bracelets that clinked together each time she moved. With the outfit I had to wear for the restaurant, I actually felt like I was dressed nice enough to be around her. It was kind of a weirdly happy feeling.
"How are you?" I asked as I took her hand in mine before we started to walk down the street.
"I'm really well. How about yourself, Marco?" she giggled and I rolled my eyes.
"You aren't going to drop that, are you?"
"Not yet."
I jokingly rolled my eyes at her as we continued to walk, "So, where do you want to go?"
"I don't know," she shrugged her shoulders.
"You ask me to hangout and you don't have anything in mind to do?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her as I tried to hide the smirk forming at my lips.
She blushed a pretty pink color before shyly looking at the ground, "Um. I just wanted to ... um. I like being around you."
My heart rate slightly increased at her words. She kept her vision on the ground for a moment longer before glancing up at me to see my reaction. Her eyes were filled with hope and embarrassment and nervousness. It was quite cute, actually.
I smiled at her and gave a slight nod, "Oh really? And why's that?"
Summer took in a breath and looked ahead, "You aren't like the people I meet around here. You're very down-to-earth and laidback. Most people I've met are uptight, divas, and superficial. I don't like it. But you ... you're different. You're kind and loving and you seem to care about others more than you do yourself. I just ... I really like you."
I was a little surprised by her confession. I had no idea she thought this about me. I really didn't even think she liked me that much. It was really nice to hear it from her. Her words gave me a sensation that ran through my body.
Who would've thought that a girl like her could like a guy like me? She's super rich, and I'm not. She's like royalty, and I'm just a peasant. Summer is like a pair of Alexander McQueen shoes, and I'm a pair of Sketchers. The comparisons could go on and on.
Somehow, someway, she was interested in me. It was good for me because I liked her as well, but I wouldn't be able to live up to her standards.
"I really like you, too," I smiled, looking down at her. Her eyes seemed to light up, and it was beautiful to see. I stopped the two of us from walking and turned her to face me. "I hope you don't mind this."
My free hand reached up to rest at the side of her face. She leaned into my palm before I brought our lips together. It was sweet and filled with passion. I could taste the mint from her lip balm as I kissed her. She smiled through the kiss as her small hand rested gently on my chest. The touch of her fingers sent a heat through my shirt that I could feel on the middle of my chest.
I slowly pulled away and opened my eyes to look at her. She was watching me carefully as I undid our intertwined hands. Summer brought both her hands to my chest and placed the palms against my shirt. I wrapped my arms around her small frame and she rested her head against my body.
"I didn't mind it at all," she softly spoke, responding to the last words I had said.
For a moment we just stood there together, ignoring all the people around us. It was just the two of us in our own world, and I loved it. I loved holding her against me. I loved that she rested herself at my chest. I really just loved everything about this.
Why was I falling so quick for this girl? It's not normal for me to do that. I don't think that's normal for anyone to do. Unusual. That's what this situation is.
Summer, a girl I ran into by accident, was all that seemed to be on my mind for the past twenty-four hours. It's a good thing, I think, because she had been thinking of me, too. Maybe not as often as I had been thinking of her, but she was talking about me to someone. That's a start.
"Do you want to go get some yogurt?" I asked as my arms were still around her.
She nodded her head and I let go of her. She reached for my hand and held on tightly as we maneuvered our way through the crowd. Just having her with me made this night at least fifty times better. I couldn't even comprehend how content she made me feel when she was within twenty feet of me. It was almost unreal. All I knew was that I really liked her, and I wasn't planning on getting away from her anytime soon.