Loving You

Chapter 4 - Akshara - Running Late

~Akshara~

"Hey Akshara, I know your shift doesn't start till 20 minutes, but today is a full house. Can you just help deliver this to table 10?"

"Sure, no problem."

Lillian was right. Today was a full house. Every single table was occupied and the Phoenix was running at 40-minute wait lines. Even the bar was jam packed.

"Did we call for extra shifts?"

"Jay made some calls but everyone was busy. But we got some afternoon folks willing to do a double shift. They're just on break right now. But you will have to man the bar all by yourself tonight. We're short on hands. And would you mind giving this to table 14 after you are done with table 10?"

"No problem." I balanced both the serving trays, one on my forearm and one in my hand before carrying them out to the main floor.

"I am sorry but we are a bit understaffed tonight, so I apologize for not being your regular server. I have one chicken parmigiana, one quinoa salad with avocado and shrimp, and one house special burger. I hope you guys enjoy your meal."

I shifted over to table 14 and handed sat the bowl of breadsticks and tomato soup on the table. "Sorry for the delay."

~*~

Slowly, but surely the 20 mins flew by and then I was back at my regular spot of being the bartender for the night.

"Hey Aksh," Mark said as he took some empty wine glasses out of the bottom cabinets.

"Yes?"

"Some guy came looking for you today."

"Which guy?" I asked, trying to recollect from memory who it might be.

"Tall, dark, handsome? Shame that he looked straight or else I would have snatched him up in a second. Came here looking for his car I guess. Someone you helped maybe?"

Abhimanyu.

Just the thought of his name was enough to make my heart skip a beat. The hairs on the back of my neck tingled and I had no idea why. I didn't know the man that well but somewhere deep down I felt like I knew him...even better than he knew himself. Maybe I knew the scars he faced, the heartbreak he suffered. Maybe I knew the loneliness he was surrounded by because somewhere, I was also surrounded by the same loneliness in a room full of people.

"You know him?"

"Huh..." I had been so lost in my own thoughts...in a stranger's thoughts...in Abhimanyu's thoughts, that I didn't notice that Mark had been trying to talk to me for the past few minutes.

"I asked do you know him? He said he was going to stop by tonight to meet you. If you don't know him then I can have Chris and Knox turn him away from the outside."

"Ha, thanks for your protection Mark, but yes I know him. He was here yesterday and I just helped him find his way back home."

I paused at my words. Home. No. Abhimanyu –Abhi's home wasn't a home. It was a house. A barren apartment, with no sense of warmth, compassion, or intimate security.

I snapped out of my thoughts about a total stranger that I had met, served drinks to, and dropped to his home all in the matter of a few hours and focused back on a job that I had been doing on the regular for the past few years.

"Order up, Lil."

~*~

It was an early and warm Monday morning. I reviewed my notes for the nth time in the last 20 minutes as I made my way down 5th Avenue and towards the place –the Birla Hospital where I was hoping to get my internship –in a hurry, feeling like I was running 500-meter race and literally tripping over my own two feet. And the destination just seemed to keep getting further and further away.