Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Rose POV

I was busy thinking about my next suburb destination with a very silent Luke sitting beside me when the door is pushed open. The manager enters the room with a tired-looking face and takes a quick look around the room. He fixes his gaze on me and Luke while walking towards us and stops at some 3 steps away from us. “Did you serve the table of Edwards?” he spoke without acknowledging the lack of others.

I turned to Luke with confusion swirling in my eyes but was greeted by an emotionless face “I’m talking to you, Miss Jones. Luke, here is a chef not a server.” The manager said while pointing towards Luke and also clearing my confusion.

I nodded and said “Umm, I actually served around 9 or 10 tables. So, I’m not sure if I served someone with that name.”

“Can you tell me the description of people you last served or better yet, tell me which table no.?” he queried.

“Table no. 9, near the glass wall. A couple with their son, I assume.” I said while remembering those eyes.

He gave me one of those ‘are you kidding me’ look and said “Yeah, I’m talking about them. Now, care to tell me why you asked Melinda to replace you in the middle of serving?”

I swallowed and said “Uh, I was having a really bad headache and my feet were aching from constantly running around. She was free so I asked her to cover up for me.”

The manager sighed and was about to say something when Luke interrupted him. “Is there a problem Mr. Mathews. I’m sure it’s common for new employees to get tired with the whole rush and I believe we had a policy for new employees, something in lines they get a week to adjust and are not allowed to directly work without a week’s training.” He paused to point at me while raising his brow and continued “I don’t see Miss Jones getting any training here nor the time to adjust. I am pretty much sure; she is not told about the strict policies either.”

I was looking at Luke in complete awe the whole time he talked to the manager. He was not only handsome but also someone who stood against everything wrong.

‘Ain’t it trouble in your wonderland?’

I closed my eyes at this and tried to control my increasing heartbeat. It just took me some seconds to get back to normal as I already mastered the art but soon my attention drifted to the two men who were now looking at me.

“I think you need the training too, Miss Jones. And I came here to appreciate her Luke.” He said while slightly turning towards Luke and continued “Edwards quite liked her and I thought it would be a good idea that she serves them. And her pay would be increased since she is on special demand list of the Edwards.”

Luke just nodded while I stood there dumbstruck, trying to comprehend what happened. Before I could dwell on the news or even understand the whole thing the manager spoke again “I would like to see you after your shift Miss Jones and for today you can observe how others work. Your official one-week training would start from tomorrow.”

Not able to utter a single word from the shock, I just nodded. Taking my nod as a confirmation Mr. Mathews left the room.

‘You finally know the name of the manager, quite an achievement.’

‘Would you just stop and let me have some peace for a while.’ I spoke in my head to the one and only inner voice.

Once done with my inner battle, my attention shifted to my surroundings. It was then I realized that I was alone with Luke the whole time. At this, I turned towards Luke and muttered. “Thanks for the help there. I was so sure that I’m fired.”

He chuckled and replied while shaking his head. “If you are going to thank me for every damn thing then I can suggest better ways to thank me.”

Not being used to conversing much with people I didn’t understand what he meant and decided to ask “Oh really! Like what?”

He didn’t answer my question right away but stared at me for few moments before inching closer to me. Before I know he was close enough that I could feel his breath fanning my neck and a shiver ran down my body, it was a good kind of shiver no doubt. But at the same time an indication that I only knew too well. I closed my eyes while fisting the black fabric of my skirt and waited for Luke’s next move. “You can kiss me every time you want to thank me, I won’t mind.” He whispered and in a split second everything was gone.

I opened my eyes and stared at Luke completely dumbfounded not understanding if he was serious or just playing around.