Chapter 4

My night in the spare room of the bar was interesting. The room was a bit dusty having not been used in a long while. The bed was rough but decent enough to fall asleep breakfast, Kathy gave me a briefing of what to expect for my first time as a waitress.

She had me practice making drinks with different types of juice and explained to me that Chase would handle the meal orders. I just needed to memorize the menu on my part. We were about to open and Kathy greets me in the kitchen. "Are you excited?"

"I'm a bit nervous but how hard could it be?"

"It might be hard at first but you'll get the hang of it quickly. I'm sure by Summer you'll be a drink serving pro."

She tests my knowledge of the menu once more when someone else joins us in the kitchen. I freeze mid-sentence when I recognize the boy from the plaza. He walks past both of us without so much as a word but Kathy, unaffected, speaks up.

"Chase, darlin', this is the new hire, Akari. She'll be starting tonight so be nice."

Chase gives a swift glance in my direction and my cheeks start to burn. His violet eyes pierce through me and I hope he's forgotten that night. He turns away and starts grabbing kitchen utensils as though we never spoke to him.

Kathy leads me out of the kitchen and whispers, "He's always like that. But he's one of the best cooks so Daddy kept him. You get used to him. He's not all that bad."

I nod and hope I never have to interact with him other than professionally. TA light tapping grabs our attention and Kathy rushes to the door. She opens it with a huge smile as a large, muscular man walks inside along with Luke. My heart suddenly stops. He smiles when he sees me.

"Why do I keep running into you?"

"I could say the same," I say and cross my arms. He's been here a few seconds already running his mouth.

"You two have met already?" Kathy says with curiosity in her voice.

"Yeah, you could say I rescued her after she got lost in the forest," Luke snickers and takes a seat at the bar.

"Don't tell everyone," I hiss. He just smiles wider.

"What are you doing here, anyways?" He leans an elbow on the counter and rests his chin against his fist. All I can do is stare into those golden eyes.

"It's Akari's first night," Kathy says taking her place behind the counter. The other man takes a seat beside Luke, his large frame taking up most of the room between them.

"Oh really? I'll be extra gentle then," Luke says with that too familiar smirk.

I roll my eyes and Kathy asks the males what they want to drink. I observe as she pours their drinks with ease. Both boys have their drinks in less than 5 minutes.

"Since it's just you two, drinks on the house for now," she says with a wink.

"Thanks, babe," the large man says gulping down his beer.

Kathy smiles widely and she notices me staring. "Oh, Akari, I forgot to introduce you to Owen. He's my boyfriend." Her eyes light up at the mention of his name and I can't help but envy her.

"Please don't talk about this while I'm here. I'm always third wheel," Luke says taking a sip of his ale.

"Now that Akari's here, you don't have to be," Kathy says leaning against the counter. Luke coughs on his ale and my face beams red.

"I'll pass," he says after composing himself. Although I should be insulted he answered so quickly, I couldn't help but agree with him. No way was I spending more time with him than I needed.

"It'll be fun with the four of us now!" Kathy chirps. Before she can get another word out, the door opens and more customers step in. She quickly greets them and seats them at a table. I follow her example and try to take on the next group on my own. Thankfully, the flow comes to me and Kathy and I take turns seating and taking orders.

Midnight came before I knew it and I was already feeling exhausted. Thankfully the town was small and just about anyone who'd show tonight had come and gone leaving only Kathy, Owen, Luke and I left.

I had taken the last of the dishes into the kitchen while Kathy served the boys once final drink. It was cute seeing her light up around Owen.

I place the dishes into the sink and begin scrubbing away. Chase has already cleaned up his portion of the kitchen and is neatly putting away leftovers in the fridge. I decide to make some small talk in hopes of making up for that one night.

"So, how long have you been working for Kathy's dad?"

Chase places a small bag of tomatoes into a drawer and shuts the fridge. I almost think he won't answer me when he says, "Awhile."

I take that as the most he'll say to me and decide to drop it. He leaves me alone in the kitchen without another word and I feel as though I was lucky enough to get one word out of him. He sure was a mysterious fellow.

I finish the dishes and leave them in the rack to dry overnight. My body aches from being on my feet for so long, but it sure beat sitting at a desk dealing with rude folks over the phone. I head back into the main dining hall where I find Owen holding Kathy's hands over the bar top. Luke notices me and it almost looks like he's relieved to see me.

"Everything is cleaned up," I say to Kathy. She glances at me and says, "I left the garbage bag outback. Could you please toss it into the dumpster for me?"

Before I can say anything, Kathy looks back at Owen and kisses him. Luke immediately stands up and walks over to me. "Let me help you with that." He quickly pushes me into the hallway and towards the back door. "I hate it when they get all lovey-dovey in front of me. It's gross."

I can't help but laugh as we exit the bar. The night is dark and it's the first time I noticed the beauty of the starts. In the city you can hardly see them but here it's like an blanket of twinkling lights dancing across a dark space.

I find the garbage bag under the dim light of the porchlight and drag it over to the dumpster. I search for Luke who leans against the open door waiting for me. "I thought you said you were going to help me?"

"You didn't think I meant it, did you? I just wanted to get away from the lovebirds."

I should have known he wasn't serious. I shake my head as I try to hoist the bag up but it's much heavier than I anticipated. My arms ache as I lift the bag up and the momentum throws me off balance. I feel my feet wobble as I swing the bag towards the large bin. Just as I feel myself about to fall back, steady arms wrap around me. My back presses against someone's body and I glance at my hands that are held firmly in his. The garbage bag is much lighter and topples into the dumpster with ease.

His body holds mine for a second longer before quickly stepping away and releasing my hands, leaving a small tingling sensation where they touched. I turn to find him a foot away, his bangs hiding his eyes. Was he blushing?

He scratches the back of his head and stares at the ground."Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks," I reply quietly. The sound of waves crashing against the nearby shore is the only sound as the two of us try to contemplate what happened.

"I guess that's the second time you saved me now," I say breaking the awkward the silence.

"Well if you weren't so clumsy I wouldn't have to save you all the time."

"If you had helped me as you said you would, I wouldn't have almost fallen to begin with."

"Tch, don't blame me for this, woman," Luke says walking back to the door. "I'm going back. If you don't hurry up I'm closing the door on you."

I can't help but let out a small chuckle at his returned attitude. I couldn't help but feel grateful for the bickering over that awkward silence. I couldn't help but wonder about that feeling for the rest of the night.