So, I'm going to start two more stories along with this one that interact with this one. The first is I Hate Love and there's a full summary that will be on my profile and along with the story. When I get the idea for the second story, which is still developing in my ever overworking brain, I'll post about it.
Val shut the wedding book with a final snap looking very please. We'd gotten quite a bit accomplished in the two hours we'd worked. My goal, to minimize the bridal party to ten was a success. Val had settled on Kim, Emily, and Janelle, her best friend from back in North Carolina that she still kept in constant touch with, as her other three bridesmaids. Embry's groomsmen were settled on Quil, Jared, and Seth. There had been some dispute on whether or not to include Jared as groomsmen, something about split sides, the first I'd heard of any kind of split in their family like group. It was mostly Val's qualms for Embry.
She glanced at her watch and looked alarmed. "Oh shoot, we only have half an hour to get you ready," she said, pushing away from the table. "My plan had been to take you shopping, but it looks like you'll just have to borrow some of my clothes."
I knit my eyebrows together in confusion. "Val, what are you talking about?"
My scatterbrained sister smacked her forehead in frustration. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! I forgot to tell you that I called John this morning to ask him about hiring you. And he agreed and said you should come in today for training. You have to have a La Push's Diner t-shirt and black pants or shorts and white or black, no slip shoes. And I forgot to take you shopping." She sighed and grabbed my hand, dragging me halfway upstairs before turning and dashing back to the dining room. She gave Embry a quick kiss, muttered I love you and then ran back upstairs to where I was waiting patiently by her door.
She reached into her closet, throwing clothing items at me while I stood in the middle of the room. "These don't really fit me anymore, they're too small. I think they're your size." I caught the black pair of shorts and white t-shirt she tossed my way.
"Isn't it a little cold for shorts?" I asked skeptically. They looked like they would be an alright length on Val, but I was a little taller than her.
"Nah, it'll be like 70, maybe even 80 today." She said.
I shrugged. Why not?
"This, my darling sister, is the La Push Diner. It says Welcome." Val said, gesturing grandly to the small room. There was a long counter with worn stools set in front of it, their vinyl slightly cracked. Newer looking booths lined the walls up to the front doors, eight total, and about ten worn tables sat on each side of the restaurant.
"Hey Val!" I heard a familiar voice call. I glanced around, looking for the source, when a young girl Val's age appeared from a swinging door in the right corner, carrying armfuls of rolled silverware, napkins, and napkin holders.
"Hey Kim," Val replied, tossing her purse on the counter and walking over to help her. I stood awkwardly while they stocked up underneath the counter and Val put on the coffee. She introduced me to the kitchen staff, Mark and James.
"Kim," Val said, once she'd pressed the button on top of the third coffee maker, "this is my sister Kat. I'm pretty sure you met at Emily's, but I honestly can't remember. So I'm reintroducing you."
"Right, I remember you, nice to meet you again. Are you my replacement?" She asked, holding out her hand.
I nod and accept her handshake. "Yep, and I think I remember you. Jared's girl, right?"
Kim smiled brightly at the mention of the guy's name. "Yes ma'am, that's my man." Val laughed from across the room, shaking her head.
Kim comes from behind the counter and I can see just how hugely pregnant she is now. Her belly pokes out over her apron and her La Push Diner t-shirt is stretched as far as it can go over her stomach. She has one hand resting contentedly on her round belly and the other carrying a mug of coffee.
"Kim," Val scolds, glaring at the cup in her hand.
"It's decaf," Kim shoots back, sticking her tongue out at my sister, who has now moved on to switching one machine after the other on. She's telling me about them as she goes, coffee, which she's already done, shake machine, drink machine. This one has that button, that one does this, this one needs this before that one needs that.
Val checks her watch before walking over to the door and flipping the closed sign in the doorway to open. Our first customers come in about ten minutes later. They slide into a booth and Val immediately heads over, pulling out two menus from under the counter and motioning for me to follow.
The rest of the afternoon passes in a blur as I slowly get the hang of what I'm doing with customers. Val let's me lose on my own at about six. She says I've learned my way and should be ok on my own. Kim leaves.
We're on the dinner rush and Val's called in backup, a girl from Forks who comes in when she's needed, but she's almost as bad as I am when it comes to waitressing. She's dropped three orders since seven, when she got in, and it's now eight.
I notice another set of customers waiting to be seated and let Jane, the other waitress, seat them. I grab four menus and dish them out.
"Hi y'all, my name's Kat and I'll be helping you out," I say, reaching into my apron for my order book and pen. I pause when I see that it's Collin, Brady, Seth and Jacob. "Oh, hey guys." I say, avoiding Seth's gaze. I feel a little awkward about my word vomit yesterday. "What can I get you to drink?"
I quickly scribble down the orders and put them together on a tray, checking on a few tables as I go. I come back around to get their food orders, rushing through it. For some reason, I have a really weird feeling about Seth and I can't figure out what it is and why it's scaring me.
I fly through the rest of their meal, doing my waitress duties, but keeping my distance. They leave just as quickly as they come, all four looking just slightly confused and Seth looking extremely disappointed. He lags behind, letting them walk out. He looks like he's trying to make up his mind. I watch him from the counter as I refill a couple's drink orders. He glanced around the diner, his gaze landing on me and staying there. I quirked an eyebrow at him. He smiled at me and I couldn't help it, I smiled back.
Seth made his way over to the counter, sitting in an empty stool. I walked over, neither of us ever looking away.
"Hey," I said, leaning forward.
"Hey," he said back. And we just sat there, looking at each other. I didn't even feel awkward. No, that was gone, done for. How could I feel awkward around Seth? There was no way. Perfectly comfortable.
"Kat!" I heard Val snap somewhere behind me and I popped up, feeling a blush color my cheeks. "Get back to work."
"Sorry!" I called and smiled apologetically at Seth. "I'll be right back."
I did a round on my tables, checking two tables out and refilling three tables' drinks. I glanced over at Seth, who was watching me from across the room and I couldn't help but smile at him. One corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile back and I could feel my heart drop to my toes at the sight.
I made my way over and leaned against my hip against the counter across from him. "So, can I get you anything? Want a drink?" I asked.
"Actually, I want something." He paused, looking slightly flirtatious. "You. And a date, Saturday night."
I rolled my eyes at him and shook my head. "You sir, are ridiculous."
He smiled at me and, like always when it comes to Seth, I couldn't help it, I smiled like an idiot and my face got beet red and all I could was smile back. I sighed, and nodded my head yes. He beamed back at me and started to stand up. "Perfect. I'll pick you up at five. Wear something nice."
I quirked an eyebrow. "Where are we going?"
He smiled secretively. "It's a surprise," he said before winking and walking away.
Oh lord. I thought as I watched him walk out the door. How am I going to tell Val?
Three days later, I'm standing in front of my closet, freaking out. It's almost four-thirty and I haven't picked out anything to wear. What remains is three camis and a pair of jeans. The rest is strewed about my room, clothes covering every inch of my floor, bedroom, and dresser. I let out a shriek of frustration and fall backwards into one of the massive piles. A second later there's a light knock on my door.
"What?" I growl.
"Kit Kat?" Val asks, shoving the door against another pile of clothes. Her eyes widen at the mess engulfing my room. "Good-ness. It looks like a tornado came through here. What happened?"
I grumbled under my breath and sat up, scooting clothes out of my way. "I can't find anything to wear."
I watched confusion cross over Val's face and I could just feel what was coming on. "Wear where?"
I sighed and looked down guiltily. "I have a date tonight." I said nervously, biting my lip.
"With who?" She asked suspiciously, giving me a death glare.
"Seth," I whispered and winced, waiting for the oncoming wrath that was my sister. When nothing happened, I glanced up to see she was still standing in my doorway, arms crossed over her chest, glaring at me.
"Sorry," I mumbled.
Val huffed and rolled her eyes. "Do not apologize," she snapped. "Ugh. I'm sorry." She paused and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I've been terrible about this whole Seth thing. I of all people should understand." She shook her head and walked over to my bed and began to dig through the mountain of clothes.
"What are you doing?" I asked, standing up.
"I'm helping you get an outfit together. Where are you going for dinner?" She said, pulling out a t-shirt and shaking her head before tossing it to the side.
I shrugged. "He didn't say. He just told me to dress nicely. Why are being so nice all of a sudden? You hate Seth."
"It's your first date. At least around me. And just because it's with a guy I don't particularly care for doesn't mean I'm not going to be here for you. He's probably going to take you to this really nice Italian place all the guys go to because the foods good and it's the closest thing to an upscale restaurant we have within a two hour driving distance. It's in Port Angeles so there's a little bit of a drive involved."
I nodded dumbly as she dove into my piles upon piles of clothes and resurfaced ten minutes later with an off the shoulders quarter sleeve black dress. "Why not this?" She asks slightly breathless.
"Where did you find that?" I exclaim, reaching for the dress.
"Never underestimate the power of Val," she said, winking. "I have some red pumps and jewelry that will match this perfectly. Follow me."
Within twenty minutes I'm dressed, wearing shoes taller than the pair I wore last year for prom. That was the year I sprained my ankle dancing and swore never to wear a pair of heels again. Yet here I was. My hair was curled softly, falling gently down my back and Val had done my makeup far better than I ever could. I was shocked at the girl staring back at me in the mirror. She was stunning, the dress showing my every curve, without actually showing my every curve. My legs looked long and tan, exposed in the kind of short, but not exactly hoochi mama, dress. The red heels only added to the effect.
"Whoa," I whispered, touching my cheek.
"Don't you dare smudge your make up. So help me God Katlyn Marie Tucker…" Val trailed off, glaring at me from the kitchen.
"Sorry," I yelped, yanking my hand away.
Knock-Knock-Knock
I froze where I stood, staring at the door in fear.
"Go upstairs," Val mouthed at me, pointing up as she walked towards the front door. I nodded dumbly, my mouth hanging open and dashed to the top of the staircase.
I stood there, watching as Val opened the door and let Seth in. Was it really only yesterday that I'd last seen him? We'd stood behind the diner on my lunch break, talking while I chowed down on a burger and French fries. Seth had made me laugh so hard that day, I nearly spit my coke out all over his shirt. Instead, I'd turned my head quickly, aiming for the ground. He'd come by every day since that first day to sit and talk with me on the back curb while I ate. It was our own private time. And Val never went behind the diner; she didn't like the back alley.
"Kat!" Val called. "Seth's here." I could just barely hear her talking to Seth, more like scolding really, and for a second I could've sworn she mentioned printers again. I rolled my eyes and yelled down "Coming!"
The room disappeared the second I saw him. He was in a pair of dress slacks, the crease perfect. He was wearing a light, pastel blue button up shirt, ironed to perfection. Everything was perfect about him really. He looked so good, his muscles straining slightly against the sleeves and across the chest. He'd combed his hair, although it was still a big shaggy mess. I blushed at the urge to run my fingers through it.
His mouth popped open when he saw me and he quickly snapped it shut. One corner of his mouth lifted into that half grin I was beginning to love.
"You look gorgeous," he half whispered as I came to stand in front of him.
"Thanks," I said, pulling at the hem of my dress. It came down about mid-thigh and I wanted to keep it there.
I only came to about his shoulders in my heels and he was leaning down slightly, our faces only inches apart. "Absolutely gorgeous," he whispered and I could feel myself melting into a big puddle of goo right there at his feet until…
"Ahem" Val cleared her throat loudly and he took a step backwards, his eyes never leaving my face.
"So, I'll expect you home by 11?"
I groaned. "Va-al."
"Should I make it 10?"
I rolled my eyes and pulled Seth out the door before Val canceled the date all together.