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Emily's head was already about to burst, but that's what happened when you learned a shit ton of new information in less than thirty minutes.
"Got it?" Luke asked when he finished explaining about another thing she was to do.
"Sure," she nodded.
"That's not the answer I want to hear," he pointed out.
"Yes, sir?" she tried. He ground his jaw for the tenth time, wondering once again what he was doing.
"Repeat it back to me," he instructed.
"All of it?" she asked.
"The key points."
"All right," she nodded. To his surprise, she rhymed it all off with such ease that he trusted his gut about her all over again. She was watching him when she finished, and he cleared his throat.
"Good," he said. "Come on."
He led the way to the kitchen where Lucy and Tito were waiting for introductions and instructions. Emily felt overwhelmed, but she kept it together. This was still nothing compared to dealing with Miranda Priestly.
"Fresh blood," the man noted. Emily detected an accent. She guessed he was Mexican. He was a little bit portly but had muscled arms and legs. He was the only one allowed to wear shorts on the job, but Luke wouldn't explain why. Emily tugged on the collar of her shirt, disliking how scratchy it felt against her skin.
"Finally," the woman sighed. She was blonde, tall, and lanky. She reminded her of Serena almost, which made a lump come into her throat just thinking about her old friend.
"Tito. Lucy," Luke gestured. "This is Emily."
"It's about time you got some more help in here," Tito commented.
"Yes, so I've been told," Luke said, a bit irritated.
"You gotta get me some help back here too," Tito went on. "I mean, I appreciate your help, bro, but I need consistency. I can't keep turning around for help and find you gone out front dealing with some sort of crisis."
"Is that my new nickname now?" Lucy asked sarcastically.
"For now," Tito nodded.
"Duly noted," Luke replied, ignoring them both. He turned to Emily. "Are you good here? I have to unlock the door now."
"Go for it," Emily nodded, feeling not good at all.
"Don't worry," Lucy said when Luke was gone. "It's not at all hard work. You just have to be quick and good at multitasking."
"Right," Emily agreed. She could do that. She followed Lucy back to the front, and her first day of work began.
...
By noon, Emily was sweating. Badly. She kept her arms pinned to her sides as much as possible to avoid showing off the dark circles that were there. Lucy had none, which baffled her. Were they not working the same job?
"Okay," Lucy was saying. "That's Rita." Emily looked to see a short, stout woman come in with big hair that was blatantly dyed red. She had a florescent pink purse that looked as though it weighed a thousand pounds and could kill someone with an appropriately placed swing. The counter shook when she dropped it on the top.
"The usual," Rita declared.
"You got it," Lucy winked, hustling. She was teaching Emily about the regulars, and it was almost more complicated than learning the job itself. There was Gary, the fireman who thought he was all that. He'd tried to get Emily's number, but Lucy had firmly shoved him out the door while Emily was still stuttering, having been taken by surprise by his forwardness. Then there was Robin, the blue haired teenage girl who wore ear buds and chewed her gum like a horse. She only got a coffee and sat in the corner for an hour before leaving. There was a group of five men (Billy, Todd, Brent, Tyler, and Goose...Emily didn't want to know if that was his real name or not) who were a part of a construction crew. They were lively and jokey, and Brent very obviously had the hots for Lucy, who pretended not to notice while smiling right back at him. Now there was Rita, and Emily's eyes watered, even though she was a good two feet away from her. It was as though she had bathed in perfume.
"Here we are," Lucy said, handing Rita her order. Then she was gone, her perfume wake following her.
Emily coughed, and Lucy laughed.
"I know," she nodded. "It's a bit much."
Emily's feet were killing her, but she didn't want to complain. Thankfully, Lucy told her to take her 30 minute lunch break, assuring her that she could handle the big lunch rush of five people.
Emily went to her apartment and fell onto her bed, feet throbbing. She wondered how Nathan was doing in school. He was used to being plopped into a new environment, but she still felt bad about it.
She thought about her start to the morning. It had been rushed, and she had been given a shirt to wear for work by Luke, who had been waiting at the door for her. The collar was too hot on top of being scratchy, but she didn't say anything. At least it was navy. She could pull off navy. Her old fashion life was still in there. It just didn't show up as often anymore.
Then she thought about Luke. He didn't say much after he let Lucy have her. He spent most of his time helping Tito. Emily had seen a teenage Chinese girl leave for school, and she felt curious as to who she was. Was there a Chinese Mrs. Luke wandering around that she had missed?
A bang on her blocked off door to the diner indicated her lunch was over. She hadn't even eaten, not that she ever really ate anyway. She grabbed the half of banana she'd left that morning and wolfed it down as she walked around to the other door. The first thing she noticed was Luke leaning on the counter, his fingers hovering over a chess piece while an older man with glasses too big for his face sat there watching him, a grin on his lips.
"Gilbert," Lucy told her after catching her looking. "He comes every day for his game of chess. He's like a father figure to Luke. It's kind of sweet actually."
"Ha!" Gilbert crowed after Luke made his move. "You should not have done that." Emily watched as Gilbert took Luke's queen swiftly and expertly, depositing it among the pile of chess pieces by his left arm. "Check mate." Luke sighed.
"Better luck next time," he said, patting the counter while Gilbert rubbed his hands together gleefully.
"I think he lets him win," Lucy reasoned. Emily wasn't so sure, but she averted her eyes when Luke noticed her watching. She felt like she'd been caught spying on some private moment. He said nothing as he passed her and disappeared into the back, the door swinging with a creak every time it came towards them until it stopped moving.
...
Nathan and Mei entered the diner together after school. It had been discovered recently that he was the new tenant, and he was smart. Mei liked him. It was nice to be able to mentally spar off of someone with a similar intelligence level. Luke held his own for a bit, but Mei needed more.
"About time," Lucy complained after seeing her. "I'm toast."
"You say that every day," Mei pointed out as she went up the stairs to get changed and come back. She did the night shift until they closed at eight. It was usually just her and Luke because it wasn't very busy, unless it was a holiday of some sort.
"How did it go?" Emily asked Nathan, who shrugged.
"It was fine," he answered.
"You're not just saying that?" Emily inquired.
"Nope. I promise."
Mei returned, clattering down the last two steps. She had her textbook under her arm, which she studied while it was quiet. Lucy came from the staff room with her purse and coat over her shoulder.
"See you tomorrow," she smiled at Emily.
"Good night," Emily nodded.
"So," Mei said when they were alone, Nathan having gone to the apartment. "You're Emily."
"And you are?" Emily asked.
"Mei."
"Nice to meet you."
"Likewise," Mei smiled at her. She could totally see why Luke hired her. Emily was very pretty.
"Do you need me to stay?" Emily asked. She desperately wanted to ask if Luke was her father and if there was a wife in the picture, but she refrained. The curiosity was killing her, though.
"Oh, no. I'm good."
"Okay." Emily was beyond relieved. She was very much done with this day.
Luke stuck his head over the swinging door at this point.
"You good?" he asked Mei.
"Yup."
"See you tomorrow," Emily said. He gave a curt nod and disappeared again. Mei tucked herself into a corner, waiting for someone to arrive while Emily left.
...
"So," Mei said later that night once they were both up in their apartment and the diner had been closed for the day. She was sitting at the kitchen table while Luke stood and went over his books. He knew Mei could do it in an instant, but he didn't want to put more work on her plate than he already did. He also didn't like being shown up at math all the time. He wasn't useless.
"So what?" he asked, not looking at her.
"How did it go with the new helper?"
"Just fine."
Luke had to admit he was surprised at how fast Emily picked things up. Lucy had left her alone near the end of the day with no issues whatsoever. He recalled what Gilbert had said to him after catching sight of Emily and introducing himself before he left.
"She's a real looker," Gilbert had whispered loudly. Thankfully, Emily had been out of earshot.
"Gil," Luke had warned, shooting him a look. The old man was sometimes oblivious to hints/warnings, whether it was intentional or not, Luke wasn't sure.
"What? You work too hard, Luke. When do you ever take a break?"
"Don't need one," Luke had answered.
"Everyone needs a break. You'll crack if you don't," Gil had pointed out, his finger close to Luke's nose.
"I'll keep that in mind," Luke had said, flashing a grin before going back to work. He hoped Gil hadn't said anything to Emily to stir up trouble.
"She was able to hold her own?" Mei asked, bringing an end to his flashback.
"Yup."
Mei stopped talking at this point. When his answers became one word clips, she knew he was tired and trying to focus. She understood. They had a very good system after living together for three years. Most of the time, Luke was good, but every so often he'd grow dark and quiet, and Mei knew he was thinking about Annie. She'd never met the woman, but she knew Annie had meant a lot to Luke.
"Nathan seems nice," she said casually after Luke had finished his work and was getting a glass of water.
"That's good."
"He said he likes to cook," Mei said in a subtle way that was so not subtle. Luke finally looked at her, an eyebrow raised.
"What are you getting at?" he asked.
"He could help Tito," she shrugged.
"Uh huh."
"Just think about it," she said, standing up now and closing her books. "Good night."
"Night."
Luke didn't say another word as she went to bed, leaving him standing there in the semi darkness alone.
...
"Lights out," Emily called to Nathan down the hall. It was almost midnight.
"Yea, yea," he called back. Within five minutes, his light was off. Emily shut the apartment down for the night and crawled into her bed. Everything ached, if that was possible. Who knew how much standing all day could hurt? She tried to sleep. She was exhausted, but her brain kept running, which was not new. It ran over the usual thoughts, fears, and anxieties, and then it ran over the new things, like her job and Lucy. Luke.
Her mind always kept coming back to Luke. He always wore a ball cap, and his eyes were sometimes hidden in the shade from it, but she could tell when he was looking at her, which hadn't been a lot. When he was, it felt like he was reading her mind, and it unnerved her a little.
After hours of listening to her mind ramble, she finally fell asleep.
...
Luke looked up as Emily came in the next morning, frazzled. She'd thrown her hair up, but strands were falling out already.
"Sorry," she apologized. She was ten minutes late, but Luke had overheard some of the argument she'd had with Nathan through the walls before he left for school.
Luke said nothing as she hurried to her post behind the counter. She couldn't read his expression, and he was soon in the back anyway, so it didn't matter. Lucy shot her a look but didn't comment. Emily felt embarrassed.
She didn't normally fight with Nathan, but he had told her that he'd signed up for some programs that could lead to trips, and she panicked because if he got well known, then they wouldn't be safe. If he traveled somewhere alone with his class, she couldn't keep him safe. He had argued that they would be fine, he would be fine, and she'd lost it on him because she knew they wouldn't be fine, and had he already forgotten about Tennessee? In the end, he had compromised to picking just one program and not going on trips.
"You okay?" Lucy asked now. Emily blinked.
"Yes," she nodded. "I am."
For now, she thought.
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