3I'm a nineteen-year-old waitress at a diner, which holds the most interesting people from mass murderers to innocent grandmas.
Okay, I exaggerate on the mass murderers part but I'm just saying…this diner caters to a motley crew of patrons.
I'm a listening ear to all of them. In some ways, I'm like a priest in a confessional booth.
Some of the patrons talk to me about plans they have for their day. Some talk to me about politics. Some just talk to me for the sake of talking.
Now, I admit…I'm not exactly the prettiest of girls (I'm the Plain Jane) so the people who come talk to me won't expect much from me and they expect that girls with my looks don't have a life but to listen to their problems while they stuff themselves with the day's special.
So anyway…my point in this is that I love these people. Some aren't even interesting but looking at them, the fact that they're pouring their hearts out to me…it's endearing. I mean…even these really gorgeous guys come up to me after they hear that there's someone who would actually listen to them without any impaired judgment.
Basically, I love my job. Makes me smile by the end of the day.
It was a normal Sunday morning and everyone was working extra hard because Sunday was when families congregated for breakfast, lunch and dinner so the whole day was rush hour.
The people who work on Sundays were the friendliest of the bunch. Mimi Taylor and Donny Rodman (mommy and daddy) were on cooking duty, Leslie Beck and D.J. Harmon (Big Brother and Big Sister) were on floor duty meaning they were in charge of cleaning, me (Rae Sutton) and Dean Caleb (Little Sister and Little Brother) were at the counter, manning the cash register and anyone sitting at the counter and waitresses Julia Donovan, Kelly Taylor, Danny Haden and Oliver Cosgrove work the…well…they wait on the customers.
Everyone knew everyone and loved everyone and we pretty much get along very well. It helps since we've been around each other for almost ten years.
So anyway…the Sunday was normal and everyone was busy.
Dean was on the opposite side of the counter and I was pouring coffee for a newly wed couple. The jingle at the door stops for a few seconds before it jingles again. I didn't pay any mind to it as I served old Mister Chester.
"Coffee, straight up." A new voice comes into my ear.
"We don't have any straight up." I answer without looking at the person ordering. I was too busy smiling at Mister Chester as he blows a fart before accepting his daily dose of goat milk and chocolate chip bran cookies. "We got black or cream."
"Black…strong." The voice was kind of husky.
"Coming right up, stranger." I turn around to get the coffee grinder running and when the coffee was done, I served it to the only face I didn't recognise.
How do I explain that moment?
Time didn't stop, my heart didn't skip a beat and fireworks didn't explode but those things were in my head. Our hands brushed as he took the coffee from my hand and took a sip from it.
"Rae! Table sixteen wants ya!" Julia's clear voice rang through the busy diner.
"Rae…could I get another glass of milk?"
I shook my head before I rushed. My left hand reached for the pitcher of milk and my right grabbed a napkin and placed it on the counter in front of the stranger before pouring some milk into Mister Chester's glass.
"Coming! Hold them off for awhile longer." I informed Julia before focusing on the new guy. "Do you need anything else?"
"I need plenty of things you can't give me." His eyes bore into me and made a tingle run down my spine.
"Okay…" I dragged out the words before grabbing a pencil and the notepad behind me before proceeding to table sixteen. It held the Winchester family. Daddy and Mommy Winchester were great friends of my dad and their daughter and son were my friends but we had a falling out a few years back.
"Hey Rae." The eldest, Chase, smiled up at me. Alex, the baby of the family gave me an awkward nod before looking down at her shoes.
"Morning, Winchesters." I put my game face on and asked for all their orders. When they were done, Mrs Winchester pulled me closer to her and asked me if I was okay.
"I'm super, Mrs Winchester…what's up?" I smiled as big as I could.
"We heard about your mother's passing." Her voice was low, probably so no one but me could hear.
My mother's passing…well I'll be damned. Who hadn't heard about my mother's death? Jumping off a cliff deserved a front page in a small town like ours.
I forced a smile on my face again and looked at Mrs Winchester. "I'll cope. Thank you so much for asking. Enjoy your meal." I walked away but Chase stopped me with a hand clasped around my wrist. I fought back an exasperated sigh before turning around to face him.
"Hey…listen…I want you to know that I'm here, all right?"
"Sure…thank you Chase…I think everyone here knows you're here." I decided sarcasm wouldn't hurt a guy like him and sure enough, the smile he put on his face pretty much confirmed it.
"You know what I mean…"
"Thanks Chase. I appreciate it." I said before pulling my wrist out of his hand.
I gave the order to Mimi at the back kitchen before proceeding to my post.
"Boyfriend?" The new guy asked when I came back with a fresh pot of coffee.
"Wouldn't you like to know."
He ran his fingers through his dark brown hair and smiled and I thought he looked handsome. Very handsome.
I contemplated on giving him my number when the door jingled again. The man turned and immediately slid off the high chair to go to the person at the door, directing him to an empty booth. He forgot his coffee and I decided to give it to him when I saw that it was empty. I poured some more and someone called my name, saying a table needed me. I brought the coffee with me and found that the table held the guy and a very handsome blond haired green eyed guy. I placed the refilled mug in front of the guy I knew and turned to the one I didn't and asked for his order.
"I'd like you with a side of bacon and eggs. Oh...and strong black coffee please."
"Coming right up." I smiled at him before going to the kitchen to repeat the order.
"Rae! Table sixteen's waiting for their order!"
"Coming!" I yelled back and asked Mimi for the food and she pushed the orders out of a small window and I thanked her.
I placed the food on a big tray before going back to the Winchesters.
"Enjoy your meal." I repeated my niceties as I placed the food in front of the person who ordered it.
"We're having a barbeque later today, we'd love for you to come." Mr Winchester offered and I smiled politely at him. "I would love to, Mr Winchester but Sundays are the worst days for me to have a plan. Every hour is rush hour, you know?"
Mr Winchester nodded in understanding.
"Well...again, enjoy your meal. If you need anything, just call me."
"We should be saying that to you and not the other way around," Mrs Winchester said. The rest nodded in agreement. I know they mean well, but I'm not into closure. Besides...it has been two months since her death and I've gotten over it already. It was her fault that I now have to be the breadwinner for my ten year old little sister and disabled forty-nine year old dad.
I forced a smile and thanked them before repeating the enjoy your meal line. After that, I went back to sitting behind the counter.
"Rae, table twenty-two is asking for you." The same table with the two very handsome guys. Sigh...
I made a beeline to the table and plastered a smile on my face. "Yes, sirs?"
"I only got bacon and eggs...where are you?" The guy I didn't know asked with a snicker. The darker haired man looked down at the table. Mister Chester called for me and I blew a sigh.
"I'll be back in a minute...I need to tend to a regular customer...do you mind waiting?"
"For you? Nope." Either this guy was a slimeball who picked anything up in a skirt or he's just blind and retarded. Or maybe all of it...
"I'll be back." I said before going back to the counter.
"Thank you, the milk today was very sweet."
"Only the best for you, Mister Chester." I leaned over the counter to receive the usual peck on the cheeks from him. He was a very sweet man who regarded me as his grandchild and he has been here for almost as long as I've been here so even dad thought of him as family.
"Thank you, dear. I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"I'll always be here waiting, Mister Chester."
"Bye-bye now." I watched as he limped his way out of the diner before going back to the table with the two guys.
"Is there anything else you'd like?" I asked.
"No...I don't think so." The slimeball shrugged. I nodded, trying hard not to scream and wrangle the guy, no matter how gorgeous he was. Just as I was about to leave, the voice of the guy I knew stopped me.
"Actually, there's something I need to know."
I walked back to them and turned my attention towards the dark haired guy.
"What do you think of shaving a hamster?"
What?! "Uh..."
"Because it says somewhere that it would be easier to digest a hairless hamster rather than have it all furry and shit."
Whoa...uh okay. I decided to play along and I laughed, rolling my eyes. "I bet it would be easier to digest a naked anything."
"No, no...specifically a hamster because I once accidentally put my gerbil into a snake's pen and it looked like the boa was having a hard time pushing it in. So I was wondering if you knew an easier way to have anyone or anything digest a furry ball like that."
Okay...I know he was weird and his question was a bit...well sick, but I had to admit, I was kind of interested. "I wouldn't know since I don't eat hamsters for breakfast lunch or dinner." However interested I was, my patience was getting thinner by the second.
"I told you she would be compatible with you." Blondie remarked, slapping the darker haired male on the arm. His statement caused me to raise an eyebrow.
The dark haired man looked up at me and smiled. "Sorry...my friend here thought you were interested in me so he decided to hook us up."
"Quite an unconventional way to hook people up..." I looked at Blondie and grinned. "Thanks for the effort but uh...I'm not interested."
"Huh...too bad." Blondie grinned. I started to walk off. "Because I am."
I turned in surprise and saw Blondie grinning into his cup of coffee as the dark haired one looked out the window. Who said that?!
I shook my head and walked off.