Cherry

Chapter 3

Cherry 

"Can I get a refill?" a trucker yells at me as I take another customer's order. 

Today has been the busiest day of the summer, and I'm starting to get stressed out of my mind. Almost every seat in the diner is filled by truck drivers passing by or parents bringing their children out for breakfast. For such a small town, it feels like there are hundreds of people in the diner yelling at me for salt or refills or Hey, my toast was supposed to come with strawberry jelly, not grape!

I turn around and face the older-looking trucker. "You had plain black coffee, correct?"

"Yes ma'am," he tells me. 

After making sure my tray is empty, and I'm not forgetting to give anything to a table, I walk back to the kitchen. I find Sylas and give him a new order, making sure to grab the coffee pot with fresh, hot coffee for the customer.

Once I exit the kitchen, I walk over to the trucker and take his mug so I can give him a refill. Once it's filled to the top, I place it in front of him and say, "There you go."

I then feel an unwelcoming hand slide up my arm, accompanied by a, "Thank ya', baby." My body goes cold, but all I can do is smile. As disgusting as it is, older men being touchy and gross is normal at the diner. Whenever Sylas sees it, he kicks them out. But, when Sylas is busy, I smile and act like I appreciate their advances. I get a good tip by pretending, and if I react negatively, they get worse.

"Of course," I smile at the trucker when I feel like puking my guts out.

Trying to wash the unwanted feeling out of my body, I walk back to the kitchen to retrieve the customer's order I took a few minutes ago. Leaving the kitchen, with two plates of eggs and bacon on my tray, I'm greeted by a familiar face in the lobby. Sitting on a stool at the bar, Ethan smiles at me. "Hey," he says.

"One second," I hardly even look at him because I have to dash to table 6. I feel a little bad for dismissing Ethan so easily, but the customers have been waiting a while for their food, and if I talk to Ethan, their meals will get cold. 

Quickly walking to the table, I smile and place the plates down, when all I really want to do is pull my hair out and scream from how busy we are. I need a joint. "Is there anything else I can get you?" When the table responds with a no, I tell them to enjoy their meal. 

Sighing, I walk back to Ethan, and say, "Hi. I'm sorry. We're quite busy today if you weren't able to tell."

"I figured that, yeah," he laughs and scans the packed diner, his floppy hair moving with him.

I walk behind the bar and stand directly in front of him, with only a counter between us. I think back to last night, how we were way closer than this. When my back was against the wall, I could just picture his lips-

Stop thinking like that, Cherry. 

 "What can I get you?" I clear my throat. 

"Uh, well, I didn't come here for the food," he places his hand on the back of his neck. "I was wondering if you guys were hiring."

"Cherry, here's the scrambled eggs for table five," Sylas quickly hands over the plate and then heads back to the kitchen, interrupting Ethan and I.

"Hold that thought," I tell Ethan, on a mission to deliver the trucker from earlier's food. Once I make it to him, I slide the plate in front of him and smile brightly for that tip. "Anything else I can get you?"

He chuckles deeply at me. "I don't know if what I want is on the menu." The old trucker places his hand on my back and slides it down to my ass. "Do you know what I mean, darlin'?" I shiver from his vile touch and words but freeze when I hear a voice behind me.