late night
You looked over at the clock for what felt like the thousandth time that night, sighing when you read the time. It was almost 3 in the morning and you were stuck working at the Golden Diner.
You had always hated the notorious 'graveyard shift.' You thought it was incredibly stupid; who goes to a diner at 3 a.m? The diner was fairly quiet during your shift, which was nice, but the exhaustion from lack of sleep that followed wasn't fun in the slightest.
You looked up at the sound of the door opening, the small bell ringing to signal you of a new customer. A fairly tall man and a shorter man — about a foot shorter, actually — walked up to the counter.
"Good morning," you greeted in a joking manner.
"'Morning," the taller man greeted. "Table for two please?"
"Sure," you responded, grabbing two menus. "Follow me."
They followed you over to a nearby table where they sat down. The taller man looked over at you while the shorter man looked down at the menu.
"Since someone's taking over for me in the front right now, I'll be your server for today," you told them as you took your notepad out. "My name is (Your Name). Can I get you anything to drink to start?"
The two ordered before you walked back to the kitchen to get the orders in.
"That tall guy was totally eyeing you," (Coworker's Name) said as you walked by.
You rolled your eyes. She was always trying to get you a date. "He was not."
"He totally was!"
You ignored her as you continued to walk away from her. You didn't have to wait long to get the drinks before returning to their table.
"Here you two go," you said as you set their respective drinks down on the table in front of you. "Are you two ready to order or would you like more time to look?"
"I'm ready to order," the shorter man said. "What about you, Carlos?"
Mentally, you told yourself to remember his name.
"Yeah, I'm ready," Carlos said.
"Alright. What would you like, sir?"
Carlos ordered first before you moved on to take the other man's order. As you did so, you could see Carlos staring at you out of the corner of your eye. You finished writing down the orders before giving them a smile and walking back to the kitchen.
-
"Dude, you are totally into her," Jose claimed as he leaned over the table.
"I am not," Carlos denied as he took a sip of his soda.
"I've never seen you look at a girl like that," he argued.
"Shut up, Jose," he muttered, looking towards the kitchen in hopes to see (Your Name) there.
"See? I know you're looking for her!"
"I said, shut up, Jose."
"You're no fun!"
-
"You should give him your number," (Coworker's Name) suggested as you glanced over at the two men who seemed to be finishing their meal.
"Not a chance," you said, looking back at her in an attempt to stop yourself from staring.
"C'mon, you're into him, he's into you, it's perfect!"
"Isn't that kinda a low blow?" you questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Nah, I've done it a few times," she told you. You rolled your eyes before walking to Carlos' table.
"Are you two all set?" you questioned. They both nodded and you placed the check down before picking up their plates. "I will be back in a moment."
You brought the dishes into the kitchen before going back to the table to grab their money. One of them had put in their credit card and you brought it to the register to pay for their food. As you made sure everything was correct, you noticed a pen and paper next to the register. Making a split second decision, you took the pen and wrote down your name.
"Here you go," you said, placing the credit card and the note on the table. "Have a good day."
You walked away quickly, turning to see Carlos' reaction. You were just in time to see him open the note and look up at his friend, his mouth curving into a large smile.
04.23.17