Written for Mandy, who is not only my amazing friend but my incredible beta. Thank you for everything. I hope you all enjoy! xx
Charlotte watched, brow furrowed, as Sophie came back to the bar carrying a tray full of empty glasses. Sophie dumped and stacked the glasses behind the bar before breezing past her manager to punch in yet another order into the computer.
"You're still here, Soph? I cut you about an hour ago." Her manager said, glancing at the clock on the wall to verify her words.
Sophie turned back around with a sympathetic smile on her face, "I know, I know. I just have one table left. I figured it would be best if I just stuck around and finished them off."
Charlotte scanned the restaurant as the younger girl began to load drinks from the bar onto her tray, "Is it table 18?"
Sophie hummed in agreement, focused on balancing the heavier tray in her hands before heading back to her table. As she neared the group of young men, weaving in between other customers, she plastered on her brightest smile. A loud cheer rose from the men as she started placing drinks in front of them. The six boys had been here for the past two hours and had been steadily working on making themselves drunk. Or, at least, five of them had been.
"And here's your Coke," She placed the soda carefully on the table and stood back, slightly raising an eyebrow, "And you're sure you don't need anything else to drink?"
The sandy-haired man smiled at her, green eyes crinkling, "No, thank you. Someone needs to watch after these fools." Her smile softened. Though Sophie had made it a rule, ages ago, not to let a pretty customer get to her, there was something about the man's crinkly-eyed smile that caught her attention.
"Hey, excuse me," One of the so-called fools called for her, "What's a guy gotta do to get you to give him your number, eh?"
She laughed, higher than she normally would, and could feel a flush creeping up the back of her neck. It wasn't like she was unaccustomed to being hit on; after all she worked in a bar and she was an attractive woman, even with the scar on her face. But there was something about this particular drunk and his slowed slurred speech reminded her of the customer who gave Sophie her scar.
Collecting the a few remaining empty glasses and bottles, Sophie hurried away, eager to distance herself between the table of drunks. Even over the music and chatter, she still heard the pretty one telling his friend to back off and leave her alone.
If she rejoined Charlotte and Tessa at the server's stand with a ghost of a smile on her lips, well...that was her business.
"So, how was Friday night?" Cecily asked, leaning against the bar. Tuesday mornings were notoriously slow at The Institute and were often used by the servers to catch up on any weekend gossip or drama that they had missed between shifts. "Tess told me that you were stuck here two hours after you had been cut? Was it just mental?"
Sophie smiled, "No, it wasn't any worse than a normal Friday. It ended up just being one table that lingered."
The other girl scrunched up her nose, "That's the worst. I'm sorry, Soph."
"It wasn't that bad, I promise."
"They tipped well, right? Please tell me they didn't stay for ages and not even tip you well." The younger girl demanded, ignoring her friends comments.
Sophie laughed loudly, "Yeah, they ended up tipping over 20%. I'm glad I stayed, it was worth it."
She didn't add that though the tip may have made her wallet just a little thicker, it was the green-eyed man who had made her evening. He lingered as the rest of his friends had begun to clear out and apologized for his friend's behavior.
"They're normally not this bad. I don't know what has gotten into them tonight," He had said, shaking his head slightly.
Sophie was surprised when her smile was genuine towards him, "It's fine, really. I've had worse things said to me in a poor attempt of hitting on me."
His jaw had tightened before he let out a small smile, "Still. Thank you for everything."
"Hey, Soph...Sophie?" Cecily poked her friend, jerking her back to reality. The shorter girl smirked as a flush settled on Sophie's face, "Well, I definitely want to hear about whatever was distracting you. But that will have to wait. Jessamine just sat you at Table 18."
Shaking her head, the server moved behind the bar, "Do you know how many?"
"Just one."
Sophie quickly poured a glass of water and headed to the table, briefly sticking her tongue out at Cecily. Her laughter was still echoing in her ears when Sophie got close enough to the table to recognize the customer examining the menu.
"Hello! Welcome to The Institute...or should I say, welcome back?" The man looked up from the menu; his smile was slightly sheepish but his eyes were bright and greener than she remembered. She continued on, her smile growing, "My name is Sophie. Can I get you anything to drink?"
And so it continued. Every Monday after, the man would come in like clockwork. Jessamine continued to seat him at Table 18, a small smirk on her lips as she breezed past the dozens of open tables and Sophie continued to wait on him.
"It's a little weird, Soph." Tessa commented one Monday as she dried a beer glass and put it with the others.
Cecily scoffed, passing the older girl another wet glass as she rinsed out a new one, "It is not. It's romantic, Tessa. Did dating my brother somehow take away your sense of romance?"
"Guys, stop!" Sophie interrupted the two, face heating up, "It's not that weird, Tess, and really Cecily? It's not romantic. He's just a normal regular who comes in for the burger special."
Tessa and Cecily exchanged a wary look before Cecily sighed and dried her hands on her jeans, "Soph, no one comes in for four weeks in a row for our burger special. I'm sorry but they don't." She grabbed a tray of drinks and sashayed off to one of her tables, throwing a wink back for good measure.
"It's okay if you like him," Tessa said quietly, gaze still on the younger girl, "There aren't any rules about leaving your number behind for him on the check or dating a customer."
"Not any written rules, at least," Sophie thought. She dropped her gaze down to wooden counter, "I don't like him. At least, not like that. I just don't think it is as weird as you two are making it out to be."
Tessa went to check in on one of her tables, but not before shooting her friend a "whatever-you-say-but-I-still-don't-believe-you" look.
Despite what she had claimed, the two girls' comments stayed with her for the rest of Sophie's shift. She knew that the customer's behavior was unusual, that Gideon Lightwood's behavior was unusual (she may have looked at his name and committed it to memory as she swiped his credit card). But she had rules, damn it. And she was not going to let another customer take advantage of her, even if she doubted that Gideon would ever do that. It was the principal of things.
Even so, she couldn't help but smile a little brighter whenever she saw him sitting at his table, waiting for her to come and take his order.
Sophie groaned as she woke up. Her entire body felt weak and sore and she could barely keep her eyes open after spending half the night coughing herself awake. A nasty cold had swept its way through The Institute and she had successfully avoided it until this morning. One panicked phone call later and she had convinced Cecily to take her shift.
"Soph, it's no big deal," She could hear the laugh in the younger girl's voice, "Really. I need the money anyway."
"Than-"
"But," Cecily cut her off, her voice sweet, "I think Table 18 is going to be a little upset that you're not his server today."
Sophie groaned and fell back onto her bed. "He'll live. Now let me get back to bed. I'm exhausted." Cecily had hung up the phone with a bright laugh. She glared at the phone, jealous of her friend's healthy state of being. Not that she would ever admit it to her friends, but there was a part of her that was disappointed that she wouldn't make it to work. She wasn't sure if it was before or after he properly introduced himself or if it around the time that he had accidentally called her 'Soph' and turned beet red but she found herself looking forward to Monday evenings.
Hours later, after sleeping the day away, she was woken, feeling sweaty and dehydrated, to her text tone. Squinting at the bright screen, her heart did a little leap in her chest.
Your table 18 is hereeeee. And, I gotta say, Soph, he looks good today. Like. Really good.
I don't want to go over now. He's going to be so upset that it's not you.
Sophie huffed before quickly typing out a response. Get off your phone and do your job!
She climbed out of bed and made her way to the bathroom to wash the dried drool off her face. She snorted when she saw her reflection. Even if Gideon was interested in her, there was no way he would stick around for long.
Sophie had accepted her scar years ago and wore it proudly, no longer trying to hide it behind her hair. But she still felt a stab of pain whenever she caught someone staring at it, or worse, flinching away from her. And though Gideon had never flinched away from her, or averted his eyes, or even let them linger on her scar, it all changed once (if, she reminded herself, if) they started to date.
It wasn't easy to date someone who was openly stared out when they went out in public. And while she had years to build resilience to it, he would be thrown into the spotlight as well. Her ex-boyfriend had broken up with her for this reason precisely.
She wandered back into her room, feeling both refreshed from the cool water and slightly put out from her train of thoughts. A small smile slipped onto her face when she saw three unread texts from Cecily.
SOPH YOU ARE NEVER ALLOWED TO BE SICK ON A MONDAY NIGHT AGAIN
Seriously, he looked crushed when I introduced myself.
I swear, if you don't give him your number soon, I will for you.
A full smile crept onto Sophie's face. She bit her lip, fingers hovering over the keypad. Don't you dare.
She hesitated before sending her next text, Just be patient.
Sophie's hands were only shaking a little bit as she walked to Table 18, ignoring Tessa and Charlotte's cheers from the server's stand. She clutched the checkbook, which not only contained his debit card but also the bill that she had scribbled her phone number on. She knew that she was breaking every rule that she made to herself, but her gut (and coworkers) were insisting that this time would be different. Whether it was the way he made her laugh in their small interactions, his kind smile, or just some sort of aura that he exuded, Sophie couldn't deny that she was drawn to him.
She smiled brightly as she placed the book carefully in front of him. She hesitated, not wanting to walk away just yet, "There you go, you're all set. Is there anything else I can get for you?"
"No. Wait, yes. Yes," Gideon's face reddened slightly, "I do have a question."
Sophie raised an eyebrow and tried to ignore her rapid heartbeat.
"I'm sure you've figured out by now that I'm not just here for the food. Hell, everyone probably knows that by now. But," He continued, rushing his words together and turning a rather endearing shade of red, "Not that the food isn't very good or anything but…..I was wondering you would maybe want to go out sometime. On a date."
Unable to help herself, Sophie let out a laugh. Gideon's face dropped, "You know what, nevermind. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to overstep. We can forget this ever happened and I'll just head on out."
"Open the book," Sophie said, still giggling. He stared at her, eyes wide. She nodded towards the checkbook. He opened it slowly, confusion still written on his face. It softened when he noticed the number written at the top.
"I wasn't laughing at you," She explained, "I just thought it was funny that we both decided to make a move on the same day."
Gideon grinned, "So it's a date?"
"It's a date."