Thank you so, so much for all of the reviews, favorites and follows. I am so excited for this story and this chapter sort of just flew out of me this morning. I will be working on this one and From Afar. As for Not a Bad Thing, I am NOT abandoning that story. At the moment however, it is difficult for me to write the zombie stories so I'm going to focus on other things at the moment.
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Part Two.
T-Dog needs help with the dinner shift since he fired the last waitress – the one with the strategic holes in her jeans – and Beth's shift is from four until they close at ten. She had been a waitress in high school at a small restaurant like this in her hometown but she only worked there for two weeks and quit the instant a customer had grabbed her butt and the manager hadn't done anything about it.
She isn't sure what she is expecting but her first shift working at the Tree Top Café isn't too crazy. It's busy and she is the only waitress but that just means that all of the tips are for her. T is the cook for breakfast and lunch but there is a different cook in the kitchen for dinner and Caesar Martinez is a flirt but she sees the wedding ring on his finger and hears him talking in Spanish to his wife on the phone in a gentle tone and Beth knows he, like Axel, is perfectly harmless. His eyes are dark and kind.
She meets so many people that first night, all welcoming her to Evergreen and asking how long she is going to be staying and where she is originally from. She gets the feeling that not that many people show up in Evergreen unless they took a wrong turn somewhere and got horribly lost.
…
At nine-thirty, there hasn't been customers for the past hour and Beth is starting to sweep when the door opens and the bell tinkles and he walks in. He pauses and looks at her and Beth feels the breath catch in her throat as she looks back at him.
He goes to sit down at the far booth in the corner of the café and she quickly sets the broom aside to go to his table. Her heart is pounding in her chest and she forces herself to take a deep breath but just the idea of looking into those eyes again, she feels her stomach rolling over again and again.
"Hi," she smiles at him. She is holding the order pad and she pulls the pen from the small apron tied around her waist. "Do you know what you'd like?"
He looks at her for a moment and she feels her throat grow dry. "Thought Sasha was still handlin' the dinner shift," he said. He speaks in a low drawl, his voice rough and gruff and Beth can feel actual goose bumps break across her skin at the sound of it.
She would pay to listen to this man read the phonebook.
"Nope, sorry about that but you have me now," she gives him a smile. "I'm Beth."
He just keeps looking at her and doesn't say anything and she is suddenly relieved she hasn't stuck her hand out for him to shake like she nearly did.
"Just have Martinez make me a grilled cheese," he says.
"Is that going to be enough?" She hears herself blurt out and when he looks at her, she feels her cheeks warm. "I just mean… for a man like you, you need to eat more…" she clears her throat awkwardly. "Would you like fries with that?"
He just nods and doesn't say anything, his eyes still on her.
She hurries away as quickly as she can without tripping over her feet and she slips the ticket through the window towards Martinez. She does her best to not look towards the corner booth again, instead choosing to keep herself busy by wiping down the counter. She really has to stop blurting out whatever is on her mind. It's been a terrible habit she has had for her entire life no matter how many disapproving looks her mother or father would give her when she said something considered rude or wildly inappropriate. But what she said to Daryl Dixon, it hadn't been rude. Maybe inappropriate but most definitely embarrassing for her.
When Martinez hits the bell, she goes to fetch the plate of French fries and the grilled cheese sandwich and with a deep breath, she carries it to the table, placing it down in front of Daryl.
"There you go," she does her best to smile. "Anything else?"
"You never asked me what I wanted to drink," he grunted.
"Oh my gosh," her face instantly warms. "I am so, so sorry. What would you like to drink?" She asks.
"Coke," he answers, grabbing the bottle of ketchup.
She goes to fill a glass and brings it back to him as quickly as she can.
"I am so sorry about that," she says but he ignores her as he has already begun to eat and she slips away, returning back behind the counter.
"Kitchen's cleaned up and closed," Martinez says as he steps out, flashing her a grin. "If anyone else comes in, tell them tough shit."
Beth smiles a bit easier now. "I don't think I'll say that to them."
Martinez just gives her a wink and she watches as he goes to the corner booth, sliding onto the bench seat across from Daryl. She pulls the bag from the trash can and heads out into the back alley to toss it into the dumpster. When she enters again, she can't help but hear their conversation, the rest of the diner so quiet.
"T that desperate for a waitress, he just hires the first girl from off the street?" She hears Daryl asking.
Before she can stop it, she feels her stomach drop at that.
"Beth's good. She handled the dinner crowd all by herself," Martinez replies. "Just probably thrown off by your sparkling personality," he then grins.
"What's she even doin' in Evergreen anyway?" Daryl asks.
She hides herself in the back hallway, fading into the darkness, and she sees Martinez shrug as he leans across the table, snatching a French fry and just grinning at the narrowed eyes Daryl shoots at him.
"Probably just running away from something," Martinez said. "Didn't ask. It's none of my business but why else would a girl like her wind up in a place like this?"
Daryl shakes his head at that. "Seems like the kind of girl who's never had to work a day in her life. Prob'ly just ran off 'cause her daddy stopped givin' her money."
Beth feels her fists clench at her sides and hot angry tears flood her eyes. Daryl Dixon has absolutely no idea what he's talking about. He doesn't even know her. Doesn't know the first thing about her. How dare he just makes assumptions about her while she hasn't done the same about him despite what Axel has told her!
She has a right to march right over there and give Daryl Dixon a piece of her mind.
But she doesn't do that. Something holds her back. Maybe it's because she's so new here and this is her first night and a part of her is a little nervous around him – not just because of his voice or how good looking he is but maybe it is somewhat because of what Axel had said the night before.
Instead, she walks to the table and looks Daryl straight in the face. He looks up at her and almost looks embarrassed because she knows that he knows she had heard.
"Anything else?" She asks, taking his empty plate.
Martinez is just grinning though, looking back and forth between Beth and Daryl. "Kitchen's closed, Dixon," he reminds him.
Daryl looks at her and doesn't say a word. He just shakes his head. Beth rips his ticket off and sets it on the table and without a word to him, she turns and goes into the kitchen to wash off his plate and put it on the rack to put it through the washer.
"Night, Beth!" Martinez shouts out a minute later and she hears the bell tinkle.
When she comes out, they are both gone. She walks over to the table and sees that for a bill of $5.75, Daryl has left her a ten dollar bill. Beth takes it and puts the entire thing in the cash register without taking the tip out for herself.
Daryl Dixon can just keep his money.
…
"Hi, Oscar," she smiles as she enters the office the next morning.
He just grunts and doesn't take his eyes from the television. He is watching a morning show cooking segment.
"Do you mind if I buy curtains for my room?" She asks. "The ones in there now aren't thick enough and I'm convinced anyone can see in even when I have them shut."
"No one's walking past your room," Oscar finally looks at her.
She gives him a smile. "I know but it'd make me feel a little better. Do you mind?"
Oscar shrugs, his eyes back to the television. "Do what you want. It's your room for the next few days."
Beth just smiles and thanks him and heads out into the warm Georgia sun with her new task for the day.
…
After finding some mint green curtains at the Dollar General store, she is walking back to the motel when she passes by a flower shop – beautiful flowers on display in the front window and she can't help but go inside.
There is a thin woman with long brown hair standing behind the counter. She smiles when she sees Beth. "Good morning," she greets. "You're Beth," she then says.
Beth smiles and nods. "Were you at the diner last night?" She tries to remember her.
"No," the woman smiles. "Very small town. I'm Lori Grimes. The Sherriff is my husband. I'm sure you'll see him around. He's a regular at the diner."
Beth smiles and shakes her extended hand, instantly liking this woman.
"Can I help you with something?" Lori asks.
"Yes," Beth says and then laughs a little. "Do you have cactus? I'm staying at the motel and I want to get something silly for-"
"Oscar," Lori finishes for her with a knowing nod and Beth nods, too, giggling a little. Lori smiles and steps out from behind the counter.
"I've made it my personal crusade to get him to smile more. He's so big, he's intimidating enough with the scowl," Beth says as she follows Lori to a table set up against the back wall – pots of cactus and succulents cover the entire surface.
"Oscar and Axel served time at the penitentiary at the same time," Lori says. "Nothing violent," she then quickly adds. "Just stupid mistakes men make sometimes. Axel is from here and they became such good friends while locked up that when they got out, Oscar didn't have anywhere to go and Axel brought him home with him like some stray puppy. Oscar is harmless. He's just been through a lot." She then pauses before clearing her throat a little. "A lot of people in this town seem to have been through a lot."
Beth chooses a prickly pear cactus and promises Lori that she will stop by tomorrow so Lori can take her on an official tour of Evergreen – "which will take all of five minutes", Lori laughed – and when Beth gets back to the motel, she sets the cactus down on the front desk in the office in front of Oscar.
"Reminded me of you," is all she says.
And as she leaves the office, she swears she sees the corners of Oscar's mouth twitch. She practically skips her way back to her room.
…
She refuses to ask for help. She helped her mom hang curtains before and this is something she can certainly do on her own. She is not some spoiled brat who can't do anything. But the chair she's standing on is wobbling beneath her and the screws already in the wall aren't lining up right with the new curtain rod she had bought as well and this is becoming much harder than she thought it would be.
She can see herself falling off this chair and breaking her neck, dying in Evergreen, Georgia, smack dab in the middle of nowhere. Maggie will be so pissed.
"What the hell are you doin'?" A voice suddenly asks her and she nearly topples.
She presses her hands against the wall to steady herself and then looks towards the door, which she has left open to allow the night breeze into the room, and when she sees who it is, she can't help but narrow her eyes at him even though her heart instantly begins pounding faster.
"What are you doing here?" She can't help but ask.
"I'm stayin' here for a while now," Daryl answers, frowning at her. "Don't worry," he cuts in when she opens her mouth to reply. "Room six. Plenty of distance 'tween us."
She goes back to narrowing her eyes at him.
"Are you tryin' to kill yourself?" He then asks.
And she knows he has no idea – how could he possibly have any idea? – but the question makes her bristle and the inside of her left wrist always covered by bracelets begins to burn.
"I'm trying to hang these," she sighs at him.
"Failin' pretty miserably at it, too, from the looks of it," he says.
She sighs again. "Can you please just leave me alone?" She asks but no sooner has the request left her mouth that she shifts her weight and the chair begins wobbling again beneath her. She feels herself begin to fall and clenches her eyes shut, bracing her body for the impact on the floor.
But she never falls. Instead, she feels something warm and heavy on her hips and she opens her eyes to see Daryl Dixon steadying her, his hands on her hips. She looks at him and as if noticing what he's doing, his hands are instantly gone and all she can feel is the burning on her skin from his touch. Her heart is still pounding and she feels an instant ache between her thighs. She quickly looks away, hoping he can't read her thoughts.
"Get down," he orders gruffly. "Bad for business if a girl dies in one of the rooms."
She doesn't argue this time as she steps down as carefully as she can from the chair.
Daryl takes her place and she wonders how he is so much steadier than her on the same chair. He looks down at her and without her needing him to tell her, she hands him the screwdriver. She watches him as he works quickly and silently, easily hanging the curtain rod over the window and she can't help but smile as the curtains fall over the window, hanging seemingly weightlessly, dancing in the slight breeze.
"Thank you," she says to him genuinely with a soft smile. "I've helped my mom do it before but I guess she just made it look so much easier than I thought."
He nods and doesn't say anything as he hands her back the screwdriver.
"It's actually Axel's," she said. "I borrowed it from him."
"It's actually mine," he said. "Left it here once and Axel kept it for 'imself."
"Oh!" She's not sure why but she feels her cheeks flush. She holds the screwdriver back out to him. "Well, back to the rightful owner then. Thank you for letting me borrow it."
He stuffs his hands in his pockets without taking it. "Keep it," he grunts. "Never know when you'll need one again."
And without another word, he turns and leaves the room.
She turns away so she doesn't watch him go. She tries to remind herself that she is still angry with him for those things he said about her in the diner last night and she tries to ignore the way her hips are still burning from his all-too brief touch.
…
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