Chapter 7

The next day

Alexis sat in the back waiting for George to open the diner. She had gotten there a little earlier than she usually did, but she had a lot on her mind. She couldn't sleep knowing that Jeff wasn't too far away. She couldn't get Jeff's laugh out of her head. She hadn't heard it in such a long time, but she had never forgotten it. She was also happy that he looked like he did before Courtney. She didn't want it any other way.

"Ally, there is a group here for you now."

"All right, thanks George." She walked out to the front only to come face to face with Shannon, Jeff, Matt, and Amy. She paused for a second and then realizing they were staring continued.

"Welcome back to Jade's. Are there only four today?" Matt nodded. "All right, if you just want to take a seat right over there, I will be with you in a minute." She walked over to George who just sat there smirking. "You knew!"

"I'm sorry Ally, but it is kind of funny." He said between chuckles.

"Yea, yea, laugh it up chuckles." She walked back out with glasses of water. "Here you go." She said as she placed the glasses next to each person.

"Thank you" Jeff said as she set his down. She smiled and turned to Shannon who was grinning ear to ear.

"All right, what can I get ya'll today?" She said trying not to stare at Jeff, who was staring directly at her.

"I'll have a ham and cheese omelet with hash browns, bacon, and….um. Do you have grapefruit juice?" Matt asked looking up from the menu

"Yes we do."

"All right, I'll have one of those."

"I will have a bacon, egg, and cheese croissant and hash browns. And I would like an orange juice."

"Oh, that sounds really good Amy, but I'll have that on a, um."
"On like a muffin type of thing?"

"Yea, that's it, but I want a Sprite instead of an orange juice."

"Shannon! That's disgusting. It is 8:00 in the morning and you want pop?"

"And what can I get for you?" Alexis asked looking directly into Jeff's eyes. They both sat there until Alexis turned her head.

"I will have scrambled eggs, sausage, toast with grape jelly, and grape juice."

"All right, I'll go put your order in and it will be ready in about 20 minutes." She walked away. A couple minutes later, as she was standing behind the counter, Jeff walked over and leaned against it.

"Excuse me, Ally…I was wondering if you aren't too busy if you wouldn't mind sitting with my friends and I."

"Um, well, I am work…"
"Ally, you're fired." Alexis turned around to see George staring at her.

"George? Are you serious?"

"No, but there's no one here and Melanie is here this morning. So, go take the day off. You are not working anymore today." Alexis looked over to Jeff and shook her head.

"Sure, I can sit with ya'll. I will be over when your food…"
"Ally, you are not working right now. I will bring the food over for them and I will bring you something also."

"All right, if you insist." She followed Jeff back to the table. He pulled her chair out for her and waited until she sat down. She couldn't believe he was doing this. It was just as she remembered. "Well, you are quite the southern gentlemen." Jeff just sat there blushing. He didn't know why this girl could make him blush. He was very comfortable around her and he wanted to get to know her.

"Let me introduce you to everyone." Jeff said when she sat down. "Well, my name is Jeff, this is my older brother Matt, his girlfriend Amy, and that is my best friend Shannon."

"It's nice to meet ya'll."

"So, tell us a little bit about yourself Ally." Matt said breaking the short silence.

"Um, well, let's see. I was born in North Carolina and I moved up here about 4 years ago. I have a 2 ½ year old daughter named Nicole."

"Why did you move up here?" Amy asked looking at her suspiciously.

"There were difficulties with my family and so I decided to take control of my own life. I'm not sure why I chose Wisconsin, but that is where I drove."

"That works. So, you have a daughter. You and your husband…"

"I'm not married." Alexis said interrupting Jeff. She didn't want him to think nothing could happen.

"Oh, I see."

"Hey Ally, we were wondering if you would like to come to the show tonight."

"I would love to Shannon, but I can't."

"Why not?" Shannon was not going to take no for an answer. He knew that Ally needed to spend time with Jeff if they were ever going to find out who she really was.

"I can't find a babysitter this late. My friends are going out of town this afternoon and I have no one else."

"Just bring her with. We all like little kids. It would be a lot of fun." Matt said trying to persuade Ally. He knew that Jeff liked her; he could see it in his eyes. Alexis sat there thinking.

"All right, I will come with ya'll. I like watching wrestling and it should be fun." They all smiled. Shannon was grinning from ear to ear that didn't go unnoticed by Alexis. She knew what he was doing and she just prayed that he hadn't said anything. They sat there for a while longer talking about wrestling and the everyone's childhood.

"Okay Ally, we've all told you a little about our childhood. Now, it is definitely your turn." Amy said.

"Well, I grew up in North Carolina and my parents had money, but I just didn't get along with them. We argued all the time and there was never any peace between us. My childhood would have sucked if I didn't have some of my friends. I miss my friends a lot, but I just can't let them know where I am. I don't think they would be very happy with the decisions I have made and the fact that I have a kid. They would probably be very mad at me for leaving."

"I don't think they would be mad at you for having a kid. They would probably find it amazing that you have taken care of yourself and a child for almost 3 years by yourself." Jeff said staring intently at Ally. She could feel his eyes penetrating her very soul, but she couldn't help but stare back.

Jeff sat there in wonderment. How could this girl do this to him? The last time he felt this was over 4 years ago when there was something between him and Alex. He felt he knew this girl so well for having just met her.

"Yea, maybe that is true, but…"

"Wow, look at what time it is!" Shannon said interrupting the conversation. "I can't believe it is already 11:00. We've been sittin' here for 3 hours talking and eating."

"George is great with just bringing food out to people, even if they don't ask for it." Alexis yelled into the back.

"Well, I guess we should be getting back to the arena." Matt said looking at the rest. He grabbed Amy's hand and they walked over to the register. George walked over.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just take it out of Ally's next paycheck." Matt and Amy heard a gasp behind them. "I'm just kidding Ally. This was all on the house. Any friends of Ally's are welcome here. We don't see a lot…"

"If you guys need to get back, I should go get Nicole. If you really need to go, I can just…"

"I'll ride with you if that's okay."

"I would love that Jeff. Thank you." They walked over to Alexis' car and drove over to her apartment.