Chapter Two
~
My day had been long and grueling. We were busy already when I got there for the lunch rush and I hit the ground running and didn’t stop. All of the worst customers, the ones that liked to make substitutions, the ones that liked to complain and the grabby old men that wanted to touch my butt had shown up, and to make it all worse, Aiden Scott hadn’t made a single appearance. I guess Rose and Myra were wrong; he didn’t come in every time I was on shift. I had looked towards the door every time it jangled, busy or not, expecting it to be him. I was hoping that it was him….It was silly. I knew there was no chance of Aiden Scott and I ever going anywhere except conversation and light flirting in the café, but I was okay with that. My life was so far from where I thought it would be and had hoped it would be at this stage. I work at a job that is going absolutely nowhere. I take care of a mother who loves to drink and is never going to stop. I don’t have much to look forward to, so I tell myself that looking forward to Aiden Scott walking in that door every day is no big deal. He’s more than nice to look at and he’s fun and interesting to talk to. It’s no big deal until days like today when he doesn’t.
I was on close-up duty tonight and was counting down the minutes. Everyone else was gone, even the cook. Joe said he had a football game to get to and all of the customers had left already. I’d closed up alone before, and I was okay with it. I hoped that was it for the night, but at least if anyone came in now it would be an easy coffee and pie. Everything was done and as soon as I turned that sign for the night, I would be out of here too. I had just over half an hour so I decided to go in the kitchen and check Joe’s supplies back there and see if there was anything I could help set up for him in the morning. Just as I walked into the back, the door jangled. Cursing under my breath I turned around and was looking into the dark chocolate eyes of Aiden Scott.
“Well hello,” I said. “I’m surprised to see you here so late.”
He smiled, God I love that smile… “I just finished up a long day and thought I’d see if you had any coffee left.”
“I do, but its mud. I’ll make you a fresh pot, have a seat.” Aiden sat down at the counter instead of his usual table.
“Long day for you too?” he asked, taking a seat on the vinyl stool.
“Yes, very,” I told him as I put a new pod in the coffee pot and pushed the brew button. “I am extremely happy that closing time is looming in the almost reachable distance.”
“Big plans for when you get out of here?” he asked.
I laughed, “Yes, I plan on taking a long soak in the tub, putting on my pajamas, making a cup of tea and reading my book.”
“That sounds like a perfect evening,” he said.
“Sure, I’ll bet you have gentleman clubs, fast cars and pretty girls in your near future.” I’m not sure why I said that. It wasn’t like me to be so direct.
Now he laughed, “I gave up the club life when I stopped being a child and became a man. As far as the pretty girls go, that’s why I come here.”
I felt my face go hot and I knew I was blushing. The coffee pot beeped and saved me, I was able to turn around, hopefully in time to keep him from seeing me turn red like a twelve year old.
“Coffee’s ready,” I sang out, sounding as nervous as I felt.
When I turned back towards him he was smiling. I flipped over his cup and filled it with the fragrant, steaming coffee. After I sat the pot back down he said, “You really
have no idea how pretty you are, do you?”
Now there was nowhere for me to turn. I knew my face was bright red, and worst of all, I didn’t know what to say. How do you answer that question? Before I had to he said, “I’m sorry, Holly, I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
I forced myself to smile and said, “Oh it’s fine, I’m just not used to such nice compliments. Thank you.”
“Why?” he said, tilting his head to one side like he was genuinely curious. I knew what he was asking, but I was stalling.
“Why what?”
“Why aren’t you used to it? It seems to me that people should be telling you at least once a day if not more often how pretty you are.”
Now he was the one being direct, and as nice as his praise was, I was exceedingly uncomfortable with it.
“Would you like a piece of pie to go with your coffee?” I asked him.
He threw his head back this time and laughed. “My sweet Holly,” he said, causing my stomach to do a somersault. “Again, I’m sorry for embarrassing you but it’s hard for me to come in here every day and not at least comment on your beauty. I’ve done that now, so let’s move on to safer ground. Tell me about yourself, Holly. What do you like to do when you’re not here at Joe’s café?”