Last Olive Bistro ✓

Chapter 31: Figuring It Out

Rory already left for work by the time I rolled out of bed. It was a restful sleep, after a mentally strenuous day before. I felt refreshed physically, but my mind was still weighed down. It swelled with all of the small issues that were building up, along with the ancillary solutions I tried to formulate on the fly. However, it was too early to drown myself with intrusive thoughts, so I shocked myself awake with a cold shower and took the time to fix pancakes from a boxed mix.

Morgan appeared from the bedroom just as I finished making the pancakes and I offered her a plate. She declined them, citing a stomach ache.

"You should eat something because it's probably why you feel sick. I can make you plain toast—that will help," I said.

She shrugged on the couch and murmured an 'alright' to the offer. When I plopped two slices of bread into the toaster and watched the coils burn orange, my problems reentered my thoughts and they felt more like a burden than before. There was a negative energy emanating from Morgan that affected my mood a great deal, but I soldiered through it to be her friend.

After I ensured she was okay to stay by herself that afternoon, I left for my early shift at the Bistro. When I stepped outside, I paused to notice the empty parking space across the street, the one where Jacob parked his Bentley just the night before, and all the other times before that. The thrilling feelings of getting into that car on our first date flooded back to me, but I couldn't bear to stand there and relive it. I darted for the subway station and focused better on my footing.

~ ~ ~

Angela was in another screaming match with the kitchen staff when I walked through the door. Her shrieks could be heard from the street and I worried that someone might call the police. There were several reasons I was worried about that happening.

"Should we do something about that?" I asked Payton and Tony. Payton crinkled her nose and grabbed a rag to begin wiping tables down. I took that as a 'no'.

Tony stepped out from behind the bar and approached me. "Can I talk to you about something?" he whispered.

I followed his lead through the backdoor and out into the alley. It must have been a day where the stars and the moon were out of alignment, or perhaps they were perfectly in some kind of special arrangement, as I felt another strange energy, this time from Tony. He lit a cigarette and leaned against the brick exterior.

"It's about Jacob," he said, sucking the smoke into the back of his throat, then blowing out the excess.

My heart sank and my chest tightened. I balled my fists together to prevent exhibiting my trembling anxiety. "What about him?" I hated having to ask, and expected the worst.

He looked around to make sure no one was nearby, but of course they weren't. "I Googled his name; I was too damn curious with how much time you've been spending with him. I'm looking out for you, you know?"

I shrugged, accepting his concern, and clenched my teeth for what I already knew, but now someone else would.

"He's in the mob."

I let out a deep sigh that didn't go unnoticed by Tony, and shoved my fists into my apron's front pockets. He took another puff and blew out smoke before he spoke up again. "You seem to have already known this?"

"He used to be in the mob," I corrected his outdated research. "It's not a big deal, Tony."

"Really?" he asked, his voice escalating. He took another puff of his cigarette then stomped it out. He yanked his phone from his back pocket, tapped through a series of screens, and handed the device to me.