WHEN THINGS GO SOUTH

Chapter 11 - Witchy Woman

As I'm refueling Mr. Arnold and Mr. Earl Blanton with a high-octane cup of Joe, I notice a different face at the bar seat. An attractive blonde. She looks my age, maybe a couple of years older. Fair skin, green eyes, tiny waist.

She has on a Bacho Brakes shirt. I'm so oblivious; that fact went right over my head. I walk to the other side of the bar, welcome her to The Redwood House and ask to take her order.

She looks at me like she knows me, then she orders a BLT to go with a cup of coffee, one cream, one sugar. I put her order in.

As I come out of the kitchen, my handsome husband walks through the door; he plants a kiss on my cheek and asks if he can get the usual. He has a bouquet of picked Daffodils in his hand, "I know you said no overdoing it, and I swear that's not what I am doing.

I saw them and thought of you; actually, I'm always thinking of you."

With the gloomy rainy weather out, the Daffodils, along with Anthony's black velvet smile, lights up my day.

Anthony turns to take a seat at the bar and stops dead in his tracks. The blonde at the bar seats hazel green eyes hone in on him like a missile. Sonya walks up to hand her the to-go order; she grabs it and lays a check on the counter. She looks at me from head to toe and storms out the door.

Sonya looks at me, I look at Anthony, Anthony is looking at me.

I am shaking in my own skin. It's her!

Judging by the beads of sweat on Anthony's forehead!

You got to be kidding me!! Did she know I work here? Why was she so upset?

Did she not know I even existed until this moment?

Or is she that obsessed with Anthony?

So much for not another mention of this mess, and it has only been about twelve hours. Sonya walks by me and takes the pot of hot coffee from my hand, maybe for fear I would throw it on Anthony. Sonya: "I got this; go outside and talk to him."

Anthony is still standing there like a deer in the headlights. I walk past him, and he follows me out.

"That was her!?" I ask as Anthony is pacing with his head in his hands. "I can't do this, Anthony; I need you to go."

Anthony grabs my hands at my chest and cups them between his; he knows how they ache when I get upset.

"Rye no, listen. That's it; the worst is over. I'm sure she didn't know you worked here. She saw us and left; she won't be back now that she knows. The worst is over."

Maybe he is right, or maybe not; regardless, I have to get back to work. I tell him we will finish this later.

The rest of the day at The Redwood, my mind was going in a thousand different directions. I couldn't shake the feeling that there may still be something going on between them, and she had come to tell me, or maybe she didn't know about me at all.

And for the love of Pete, I mean really? Could I feel any worse? She looked like a Barbie, like Business Barbie, with her button-up shirt, pleated dress pants, and heels.

Here I stand looking pathetic, with a pot of coffee in hand, an apron covering a basketball belly, last night's hair thrown up in a ponytail, maternity jeans, a T-shirt, and tennis shoes. I felt like a pile of shit next to a pot of gold.

She must have an education too, being one of the high-ups in the office, and here I am, a pregnant waitress taking night classes.

My mind is all over the place, but most of all, I want to know, did she know about me? Maybe he had lied to her and forgot to mention he has a wife.