The Flaked Life Of Lotanna

46

══✿══╡°˖✧LOTANNA✧˖°╞══✿══

Yesterday was a success, and I was officially starting a business today. I had woken Christa up to get to work early, and a few minutes later, we were buzzing down the highway in her car.

"I'm sorry I didn't wake up as early as you wanted to," Christa said, focused on the road as she guided the car through a curve. "I had to finish up on a call. It was vital."

I had a clue that the call was with Collin. Why couldn't he call me instead? After I ran away yesterday, I did my best to avoid him until I could no longer see him in the crowd — he must have gotten fed up and left. "It's fine. At least we would still get there on time. The staff is already there to open up." I tried to stretch my legs with limited success.

We drove without speaking for a few moments. The only sound was the hum of tires on asphalt. "You know this man is doing his best to have you back in his life, but your stubborn ass won't let him in," she said at last with a frown.

I shrugged and didn't say a word.

When we got to the office, she went straight to the counter, while I headed to the kitchen to prepare meals for the day. To ease my nervousness, I did some cleaning.

After pulling on thick, yellow rubber gloves, I tackled the grill. Working methodically, the cleansers smelled strong in my nostrils, and I scoured until the old stainless steel shone like new, then turned to give the prep counters the same treatment.

I had charged my goddamned cell phone and actually had it in my pocket, but nobody had called. I scrubbed harder when I realized I wanted Collin to have called me instead of Christa. Stupid me.

On cue, Christa strolled into the kitchen and goggled at the gleaming grill. "For heaven's sake, Lotanna. You weren't supposed to be working yet, not even cleaning. We have someone to do that."

I scowled at her, stripped off my gloves, and threw them towards the sink. "I was bored. What are you doing here?"

She blinked at me. "Um, we're opening soon, so I was going to get ready." She looked around. "Although it seems like you already did most of it."

"I'll take care of things until Freddie gets here," I told her. I needed to keep busy, or better still, get Collin off my mind.

"You will?" Christa asked suspiciously.

"Yeah. Get the hell out of my kitchen."

People started trickling in as soon as we opened. The early drinkers and the people coming in for food and beer after their shifts ended. Christa brought food orders, and soon I had soup, jollof rice, and bean cakes going. The familiar scent of ox-tail overrode the smell of bleach, calming me.

Freddie, the second chef who should have been here since noon, came sometime before five for his shift. He looked at the kitchen's state, though the effect diminished since I had been working for a while. "You cleaned," he said.

I stepped away from the farina I was preparing and fisted my hands on my hips to look at him. "You are late. Care to explain?"

He held up his hands and stepped back. "Something came up, sorry."

"Lotanna—" Christa pushed through the kitchen door. "Oh, hi, Freddie."

"Boss lady." He grinned at her as he headed to get an apron.

"I know it's early, but we're getting busy," she told me. "Since you are here, can you help with serving customers? The new girl that was supposed to start today isn't here yet. Oh..." she stopped, looking confused. "Forget I said anything. I'll handle it."