It's been about a month since I've started my new job at Levi's place. So far, I haven't dropped anything else, which was thanks to the trusty cart I've been using. Everyone else is really nice and helps me when I need it.
Today, I'm here for my regular shift and nothing was out of the ordinary until just a few seconds ago. The people I haven't seen in months have walked through the door: Jace, Victoria, and their four-month old baby. To make things even more awkward, they were seated in my section.
"Hey," I greeted them nonchalantly. "What can I get for you guys?"
Jace looked a little different, his dirty-blond hair cut a little shorter than the last time I saw him. Victoria still was beautiful with her long, wavy dark brown hair and blue-gray eyes. The only thing that was different was the baby, a little girl with brown wavy hair like her mother, that sat in the high chair, gurgling and trying to grab stuff off the table.
Once their order was taken and ready, I rolled the plates out to their table. Jace was gone, leaving me alone with Victoria and the baby. Not making eye contact, I just placed the plates onto the table silently.
"Nova," Victoria spoke suddenly. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
I looked at her. "Sure."
She looked at me, fidgeting in her seat. "I just wanted to apologize," she said. I raised an eyebrow, not expecting that. "When I think back to that day you came over to Jace's house, I can't help but cringe at the way I acted." Looking over to her baby, she ran her hand over her hair lovingly. "Having a child just made me realize how ridiculous I was being. So, I'm sorry for being a bitch, and also for sleeping with Jace while you two were together."
Not knowing how to react to this, I just nodded my head slowly and gave a small smile. "Thanks for apologizing, you didn't have to, really. It was a long time ago." I glanced at the baby. "She's really cute."
"Thank you." Victoria smiled brightly. "Both of us really adore her. Jace is an amazing father. I was worried about that, honestly, but he's surprised me."
As she said that, Jace came back over from the restrooms and sat in his seat across from her. He glanced at me. "What are you two talking about?" he asked Victoria.
"Nothing," she said.
I nodded my head. "Well, if there's anything else you guys need, don't hesitate to call me over. Enjoy your food."
Rolling my cart into the kitchen, I sighed as the door swung shut behind me. That was kind of weird, but also sort of relieving at the same time. To be honest, I haven't really thought about those two for months, but seeing them today made me somewhat happy that they seemed to be doing alright.
Later, after they paid, I watched as Victoria carried their daughter and walked out of the restaurant. Jace came up to me. "Nova, I didn't know you worked here," he told me. "I'm sorry, that must've been weird for you."
I shook my head. "It's fine, you don't need to apologize." I smiled. "You guys seem to be doing well."
He laughed. "Yeah, everything actually is going great, surprisingly. She's a great mother." Putting his hands into his pockets, he smiled at me. "Anyway, I've got to go. See you later, Nova."
I waved at him as he walked out of the building when Levi walked over. "Someone you know?" he asked me.
I looked at him. "That was my ex, the one I told you that cheated on me." I sighed. "I didn't say it before, but he got her pregnant. That was their baby."
"Wow," he said, shocked. "Sorry, Nova, I didn't mean to make you talk about it if you didn't want to."
"I'm fine, Levi," I told him and smiled. "I'm actually pretty happy for them, which I didn't expect myself to be."
He smiled at me. "You're amazing, Nova." Glancing at his watch, he sighed. "Well, it's time for us to get back to work. Come on."
That night, the place was empty after closing, mostly everyone else had gone home already. I was out on the main floor, wiping down tables and putting the chairs on top of the tables upside down. After finishing that up, I made my way to the kitchen to put away the rags I used.
"Finished?" Levi asked me, dunking his mop back into the bucket, rolling it towards the sink area.
I nodded my head, walking to the sinks to toss the rags in there to be cleaned in the morning. "Yeah, everything looks good out th-"
My words were cut off as I felt myself slip, my feet losing contact with the ground and my body flying forward.
Just as I braced myself to hit the ground, Levi stepped forward and caught me, my face crashing into his chest. His arms tightened around my waist to help steady me. "Whoa!" he exclaimed. "Are you alright? Did you twist your ankle?"
I shook my head, my heart racing from the adrenaline of almost falling. "No, I don't think so," I told him. "Thanks for catching me."
"No problem," he said.
As I looked up at him, I realized just how close we were, our bodies pressed up against each other. Even with our clothes on, I could still feel the presence of muscles underneath his shirt.
I could feel my face heating up as he smirked at me. "Well, just be more careful next time," he said, pulling away from me. "You don't want to get hurt, right?"
Nodding my head, I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Uh, yeah, right. I'll be more careful from now on."
After that, I left in a hurry and sat in my car, exhaling loudly. That was a bit dangerous. Levi didn't seem to mind how close we were. I mean, he is a twenty-nine year old guy, so he's probably used to physical contact with women. As for me, the only dating experience I have is Jace and some guy back in high school that lasted about a month.
Now, I headed over to Everett and Luka's place since Ava asked me to meet her there. Luka let me in when I knocked on the door. "Hey, Nova," he said and gave me a hug. "How was work?"
"It was good," I answered. "Is Ava here, yet?"
"She should be here soon," he told me, walking into the small kitchen that was attached to the living room in an open concept floor plan. "I'm about to make some food, do you want anything?" he asked, tossing a bag of bread onto the counter.
I shook my head. "No, thanks though," I said.
"Sure."
Walking towards the living area, I noticed the door to the room on my left was open. It was Everett's room, and it dawned on me that I hadn't seen the inside of it yet.
Poking my head into his room, I saw that it was clean with the blankets a little disheveled on the bed. His closet door was open, his shirts and pants hung neatly, which wasn't a surprise to me. I learned he was the neat type throughout our childhood. He used to get annoyed at me for making a mess and would either make me clean it or just do it himself.
I walked into the room, the plush carpet sinking beneath my feet. The room smelled like him, a clean light scent with the tinge of laundry detergent. I turned my head and saw his acoustic guitar propped up against the side of his desk. It was a little worn from how long he's had it, but otherwise still in good shape.
"What are you doing?"
The sound of Everett's voice cause me to whip my head towards the door in surprise. He had just gotten out of the shower, his hair a little damp still and he wore only a pair of form fitting jeans.
Although I tried not to, my eyes couldn't help but wander over his torso from being shirtless. His shoulders were broad and wide, and his chest strong leading down to a pair of abs. I didn't really pay attention at the beach the other day, so I was pretty surprised to see he had a nice body.
"Nova?" Everett asked, snapped me out of my thoughts.
"H-Huh?" I asked, a little too loud. "What?"
He stared at me, not seeming to notice that I was basically checking him out. "What are you doing?" he asked me again.
"Oh," I said, nodding my head, doing everything in my power to avoid looking anywhere else but his face. "I was curious what your room looked like, so I walked in."
"You thought it was okay to just come in?"
"Well, the door was open!" I exclaimed and he just sighed, tossing the towel in his hand onto his bed, and walked over to me.
I glanced at the guitar. "Do you still play?" I asked him.
"No."
"Why not?"
He crossed his arms, looking down at me. "I just stopped, I don't know why," he told me. "Maybe I got too busy with school to play."
I stared at him. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, to tell him he should start playing again, the sound of someone clearing their throat made the two of us turn our heads to the door.
Savannah stood there in the open doorway, her blonde hair hanging in loose curls and she wore a white floral romper. "Hey," she said to us. Though she didn't say anything else, the two of us didn't miss how her eyes flickered back and forth between us.
Everett and I looked back at each other, making me realize he was still shirtless and we were in close proximity. Stepping backwards quickly, I turned to look at Savannah. "Hey," I said, my head bobbing in awkwardness. I could feel Everett watching me still, but I ignored him and quickly walked towards the door. "We were just talking, I haven't seen him in a bit. Anyway, Ava should be here soon so I'll go wait out there and leave you two alone, see you!" I told her quickly and bolted towards the living room.
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Author's Note: I'm actually happy with how this chapter turned out :D what did you guys think?? Leave a comment or vote!!
Also, if it seems like Victoria was just pregnant and now suddenly she has a baby, I just wanted to say that in the book's time, a little over a year has passed. I started this book last summer, and kind of slowed with the updates, so I've been trying to get the story to catch up with the present day time. I did mention winter and Christmas in the past chapters so hopefully I transitioned the time in the story at least somewhat okay. If you read all this, thank you and I appreciate you!
OH, and if there is any mistakes you see while reading any of the chapters, in the older chapters and newer ones to come, please know I am just writing this as I go and once the story is finished, I will go through and fix anything I see. Thank you for understanding.