Chapter Six: "Romantic Dinner"

I get up heavily from the bed and sigh wearily. I have not been able to rest, for a change, and now I have to go to work. I notice how my muscles protest from the stress that I have put them through all summer and I can't help a wince from revealing itself on my face.

I need some vacation.

I dress in the Light's uniform and put on the shoes that I have especially for work. They are the most comfortable that I found and at a very good price.

It seems like a sixty-year-old lady is speaking * rolls her eyes *.

I make a high ponytail and go to the kitchen where I find a Diana with a smile on her face.

"How was your day, my love?" A tender smile is drawn on her face when she notices my presence.

I know she's treating me more lovingly to make up for this morning, but she's not going to fix it and she knows it.

"Good."

I look at the contents of the fridge for something to appease my hunger and wince when I can't find anything I want. I end up settling for orange juice. I take it and drink directly from the cardboard without even bothering to pour it into a glass, to which Diana berates me with her eyes. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and put it back where hers.

I notice the penetrating gaze of my friend, carefully following each of the movements that I carry out. I sigh heavily through her nose and turn around, fold her arms and look into her eyes, irritated and angry. I want her to see that I am still angry at her attitude.

"I know you're angry," she begins to say calmly, measuring every word that comes out of her mouth, "but put yourself in my place."

"No." I interrupt the beginning of her speech. Put yourself in mine."

Trust me they've been through this nonsense more times than I can count.

"Do you know what it feels like when your friends, whom you think of like sisters, hide things from you and whisper behind your back?"

She looks down and shakes her head slightly.

"You wouldn't understand," she whispers.

I do not know who has more patience if they following this nonsense story despite your shitty attitude or me enduring it for the thousandth time.

"The only thing I don't understand is so much secrecy, Diana."

"We do it to protect you."

"Protect me?" My tone of voice rises a decibel. "I know how to take care of myself."

Without waiting for any response, I stride out of the kitchen. I grab my belongings and, just like this morning, shut the door behind me with a bang.

***

The foot pain is excruciating. Tonight the establishment is packed, although that has contributed to momentarily forgetting the squabbles between Diana and me.

The entrance bell rings signaling the arrival of a new customer and I snort. I force a friendly smile as I head to the door to greet them. As I walk around the tables, I straighten the black apron that I have tied around my waist and prepare the welcome speech in my head.

When I look up and see those green eyes looking at me with amusement, I stop breathing for a moment, and my whole body freezes. I am left halfway without being able to put an order in my head.

"What are you doing here? "I ended up saying to him when I am finally in front of him."

A lopsided smile plays on his lips, drawing my attention and forgetting again what I wanted to say. His body slightly approaches mine and I am surprised by the fact that I had not stepped back. I look down into his penetrating gaze, trying to not look away.

"You look very sexy in that waitress uniform."

His comment so taken out of context throws me off my feet and I frown. As surprising as it may seem, his words end up affecting my mind and body and his smile widens when he sees my reaction.

What is wrong with him?

Another of the waiters bumps into me and makes me move even closer to him, my forehead bumping against his chest. In the distance, I hear my partner apologize and everything seems to disappear when his hands end up on my shoulders. He lowers his gaze, searching mine and I see his lips move, but I don't understand absolutely anything he is saying. The familiarity I feel when his hands came into contact with my body dislodges me, not knowing how to act next.

"You're still here?" Someone says behind Alex's back, making me part quickly from him.

"Well, the waitress just came," he says without taking his eyes off me, which is starting to make me nervous.

-Oh great. Let's go.

The girl behind Alex is stunning and I use all my willpower not to open my mouth and admire her beauty. She has blue pearls for her eyes, a beautiful brunette hair descends from her shoulders and full red lips smile at me kindly as I guide them to their table.

They sit down and I can't help but feel a bit envious of them. She doesn't take her eyes off him even when she sings her request to me and I end up smiling sweetly at seeing her so enraptured. Then I look at Alex and immediately my smile fades from my face when I notice that he is blatantly ignoring her.

He's a complete inconsiderate jerk.

"Whenever you want, you place your order, Alex." The words leave my mouth before processing and out of the corner of my eye, I see how the brunette's expression changes completely when I name him. Again, he doesn't seem to notice the looks she gives him.

My rudeness has no excuse but I can't help it, especially when the situation seems to be amusing him.

"What do you recommend to me?"

"The cheeseburger isn't bad," I say with a shrug, ready to jot down his order.

"Cool. Then give me a Caesar salad, ”he says with a playful smile and hands me the menu.

I want to hit him with the notebook, with the menu, with each of the utensils around me, but I hold back and it's a miracle. I remind myself that I'm at work, I can hit him later with all the utensils I can find.

I walk away from the table and put the order paper on the counter. The cook yells at his kitchen colleagues the order, and they all start. The entrance bell rings again and I roll my eyes. My fake smile kicks in and my legs walk toward the entrance. I acknowledge the couple for being classmates and I greet them in a friendly way, then lead them to their table.

When I finish with their order I make a signal to my partner indicating that I am taking a short break of five minutes. She glares at me, shakes her head, and gestures for me to see how busy the restaurant is. I apologize with my eyes and for a moment her cheeks are colored with fury. Before she walks up to me and murders me, I head for the back exit quickly.

Cold air crashes against my hot skin and I have to hug myself as a chill runs through me. I sigh, a cloud of mist comes out of my mouth and rises towards the sky, and I try to relax my body for a moment. I search the pockets of my apron and pick up my new packet of cigarettes. When I turn it on and blow out the first puff of smoke Alex comes to mind and what happened this morning. This motherfucker made me buy a new one when the other was almost full.

A fucking waste...

I notice how each muscle protests every time I move and I force myself not to do it, thus trying to reduce the discomfort it causes me. When the door behind me opens, I'm surprised to see him. I can see how his gaze travels first to my lips and then to the cigarette I hold between my fingers and quickly turns into one of rage.

I'm amazed at how easy it is for this guy to get mad.

"I took one from you this morning and you've already got another one," he says, shaking his head. "You're already dependent on that thing, girl."

"It is what it is. If you don't like it, don't look. ”I shrug.

I take another drag and notice how his jaw tightens, which makes me look at him incredulously and I lower my guard for a moment.

"Alex?" His companion leaves the premises and she hugs herself because of the cold weather.

"Oh, Megan." He turns his attention to her and she turns hers to me, "I'm sorry. I wanted to get some fresh air."

The discomfort that I feel is palpable and increases by the second.

"You could have warned me, you know." She says without looking away from me.

"Yeah, well." He turns his back on her." I said I was sorry."

Megan angrily goes inside and I see her stride taking her belongings and leaving seconds later, ignoring our presence. I stare in the direction in which Megan had disappeared for a moment and wonder, again, what fly has bitten this rude specimen next to me.

"You could have been nicer to her," I say shortly after.

"I didn't feel like having dinner with her anyway."

"You could have told her you didn't want to," I say the obvious, which to him doesn't seem to be.

"Trust me, she doesn't take no for an answer."

He looks at me and although he tries to look annoyed I see how he tries to hide a smile by biting his lower lip. In my head, I reproach myself that it is so easy for me to completely lose myself in things as insignificant as this.

Be a little stronger, please.

With my gaze fixed on his lips, I take one last drag and throw him away from me. It's not my fault that because of my height, his lips are closer than his eyes. It's his fault. I go in and lean my back against the door for a moment, letting out a great breath of air. My head also ends up leaning against the door and I close my eyes. My body no longer responds well, I must be fatigued because it cannot be true that this man dislodges me so much when I barely know him. I shake my head. It has to be from fatigue, yes.

Shortly after he comes in and I prepare the bill for him. He takes the wallet from his back pocket without taking his eyes off me which makes me even more nervous and when I give him the change, our hands' touch and I feel the most chilling chill I have ever felt. I hold my breath and another one of his damn smiles makes an appearance.

You can't feel anything for him. It is like wanting to live in the core of the Earth; impossible and stupid. And the only thing we don't share is this kind of stupid thing, Karla.

"See you, Karla Smith. Have a good night."

I nod, unable to respond, and he turns his back on me. When he reaches the door, he turns to catch me staring at him. Surprised and embarrassed, I quickly look away and return to my work, eager for this day to end.