JUST LIKE HER (ANDY BARBER)

16. WANNA MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND

Withdrawing from the law school broke your heart. It wasn't an easy decision, but, as you tried to find a job, you became increasingly aware that you couldn't do this. Not if you were going to have a child. Sure, there were plenty of women who were going to school and being a mother. But that couldn't be you. You knew your limits, and you knew you could crash and burn if you tried to go to school while pregnant.

And, assuming you even could go to school while pregnant, you knew you would be forced to see Andy every day if you went back. He would see you with his child, and he would know it was his child, and you didn't want to stick around to find out how he may react.

After all, if he was already so intense when it was just you, what would happen if he found out there was a baby in the equation? Especially when he and Laurie were also trying for a child? Would that mean he would finally leave Laurie for you?

Your stomach turned into knots at the thought of it. Mere months ago, you would have loved the idea that he might finally choose you. That you could call him your own, that maybe one day you could be Mrs. Andy Barber. But now? Now you had gotten a peak behind the curtain, and you were terrified by what you saw.

Now you didn't have just yourself to think about. You had to think about your unborn child. And you knew that you couldn't trust Andy Barber. He was a questionable man with questionable morals. That was not the kind of man that could amount to anything close to a good father.

Not that you really knew much about good fathers, you mused.

So you withdrew from the law school and set your sights on finding a job. Having a child was expensive, and you knew that you would have to start setting aside for that, too, alongside all the other money you would need to live.

Perhaps it was fate, then, that a diner close to your apartment posted that it was looking for waitresses.

"Hello," you said to the hostess at the front of the diner when you walked in. "I saw your sign in the window and was looking to apply?"

She snapped her gum, looking you up and down. "You wouldn't last a week here."

You clenched your jaw. "Can I apply or not?"

She rolled her eyes, calling out over her shoulder, "TERRY! THERE'S SOMEONE HERE LOOKING FOR A JOB!"

A man appeared from the kitchen, wearing a greasy apron and a hairnet over his beard. He looked you up and down, crooking his finger at you, signaling for you to come closer. You did. "You lookin' for a job, missy?"

"...obviously," you muttered. "I don't know your hostess, but I don't figure she's the type of person to just shout that someone's looking for a job and not mean it."

Terry let out a dry chuckle. "A snarky one, I see. You got any experience waitressin'?"

"No sir," you said. "But I learn fast."

He looked at you, then out at the waitresses who were struggling with the lunch crowd, then said, "Can you start now?"

"Yes sir,"

He nodded. "Then you're hired. There should be a uniform that'll fit ya in the back. Follow me."

You followed him to the back, taking the mint and white colored dress and going to the bathroom to change. When you returned, Terry gave you a locker to put your regular clothes in then called in another waitress, Sandy, to give you a quick training.

Sandy smiled at you as she came in. You got the feeling the kindness might not last. But you didn't need kindness to get through this. You needed to just earn your money, make it through your pregnancy, and one day get back to law school. Everything else? It didn't matter. Not when you had bigger things on the line.