Page 27 of Another Last Call
And then he thought I was the one being shallow because I thought his house would be nice? Like hehadn’theard me complain about tourists a thousand times before and didn’t realize he was one of them?
It was stupid of me to think he was different.
Stupid of me to fuck him.
Stupid of me to feel let down.
I couldn’t help it. His presence had injected some semblance of hope into my life. Hope for what, I didn’t know. Maybe just a hope for something interesting to happen. Or a hope that I wouldn’t be lonely for a while, that I could share my little slice of the world with someone who might make me smile. Hell, it might have just been hope to have an orgasm that wasn’t caused by a vibrating piece of silicone.
But with hope came pain, and the knowledge that Caleb and I were very different people. And I guess it was better to learn that sooner rather than later.
It would hurt less in the long run.
In the short term, though, it still hurt enough that I was grouchier than usual over the next few days. I didn’t pour beer over anyone’s heads, but Mom did have to comp two bills after I told someone to make up their fucking mind, it didn’t take all day to pick a burger.
“Goddamnit, Maggie!” She had pulled me into the office again, having seen me flip off a customer on the security camera. “What the fuck is going on with you?”
I sat on the old green couch, folding my arms as I glared at the wall. “I’m on my period.”
“Bullshit.”
“Fine. Mercury is in retrograde and I’m an agent of its chaos.”
She threw the bar towel that was hanging over her shoulder at me. “Don’t give me that crap. Mercury’s retrograde ended at the beginning of the month.”
“Maybe it’s a retro-retrograde.”
Mom leaned against the desk, putting her hands to her head and working her fingers beneath the silk scarf in her hair as she rubbed some sanity back into mind. “I cannot ask you again, Maggie. Please be nice to the customers. Please stop swearing at them. Please.” She looked up at me. “Go home for the day.”
“But—”
“I can’t just send you out there after you treated a customer like that. So leave. You can make it up to me by starting early tomorrow so I can walk around with the building inspectors.”
I frowned. “What building inspectors?”
“It’s just a routine inspection.” She held her hand out so I could pass her bar towel back to her. “Mags, I can’t afford to keep covering your ass. Next time I have to comp a bill because of your behaviour, it’s coming out of your tips.”
“You can’t do that. That’s illegal.”
“Watch me.” Mom’s eyes were hard, the kind of look that I knew meant she wasn’t joking.
So, in addition to being grouchy, I had that threat looming over my head when Caleb walked into the bar one slow afternoon a few days later.
Fifteen
Maggie
Itwaswindythatday.
Windy enough that I could hear it whistling through the kitchen and feel it shaking the building. We’d had to put rolls of silverware on top of the stacks of napkins and I’d taken the cardstock trifolds off the tables because every time someone opened the door, the gust of air sent all paper products flying.
It was only because of the wind that I saw Caleb before he saw me. It gusted through the restaurant and I glanced up to see him stepping through the front door. Turning on my heel, I ducked into the kitchen before he saw me, my heart pounding.
It had been nearly a week since I’d peeled out of his driveway, upset that he wasn’t the person I had wanted him to be, and not nearly long enough for my frustrations to fade.
It was mid-afternoon, which was the worst time for him to come in. Annie was washing dishes while Big Tim cooked, but I was the only server on duty. Mom usually watched the bar or took over when I needed a break, but she had some business meeting that afternoon, so I was stuck.
Fuck.
