Steel Rose

Chapter 81

Isabelle Pov

Ugh. Usually I don't lack in patience. Its strange, especially since I am a swift. We tend to live our lives in the fast lane. But with the cute elderly couple taking precious time to order, the couple of kids who have knocked over their juice for the third time, and the table to men who enjoy leering and hitting on me, my patience is running thin. Not to mention the way that Ken keeps trying to pull me aside to talk. I have to make up some new excuse or dodge him every time. The guilt is crippling. He doesn't deserve what I'm giving out to him. He has been so kind.

"Do you need more time?" I ask the elderly couple, my fingers twitching.

They glance at each other. "Uh, no, no." The woman says with a shake of her head. "I know. I'm ready."

I press my pen to my pad ready to scribble it down when the husbands says, "Hun, look at this." He shows her his menu, pointing to a dish. "This looks nice."

"Yes," she agreed. "Let me see."

I don't know if I want to scream of cry.

"Isabelle." A deep voice says behind me. I flinch. Ok, maybe both.

I turn to see Kenneth come to a stop beside me. His hands are clasped gently in front of him. I expect him to be looking at me but instead he looks to the elderly couple. "Hello, I'm Kenneth the owner this fine establishment. I can see that you all are at a crossroads." He smiles. "How about I bring out two creamy shrimp risottos for you made with Arborio rice and seasoned with garlic and Worcestershire sauce. You can pair that with a nice Pinot."

The older woman smiled. "That sounds lovely." She turned to her husband. "Doesn't it dear?"

He nodded. "Yes, two of those."

Ken nodded. "Excellent. Isabelle will get those in for you."

Together we turned away from the couple, hurriedly walking out of their line of sight. Ken keeps his hand of my elbow pushing me forward, although I'm faster than him. But also to keep me from walking away. He takes me to the back, where I can put in the order but also where we won't be disturbed.

I don't look his way as I punch in the order. He leans against the counter and crosses his arms over my chest. He chuckles, "They usually take a while to figure out what they want."

I nod. "I noticed."

Ken smiles. "But they usually end up ordering the same of three options they pick."

That deserves a glance up. I raise an eyebrow. "Seriously."

He nods and chuckles. "Oh yeah. Great tippers though."

I scoff, "I hope so."

Ken looks at his shoes and chews on his lip for a moment before he uncrosses his arms and turns to me. I inwardly groan. "You've been distant."

I sigh, "Yes, I have."

Ken goes quiet for a few seconds and I stare at him waiting. "Are you ignoring me because Dasarious' father is back?"

My pulse stutters. "Why...why would you ask-"

"You've been acting this way ever since you mentioned it to me that night after dinner. Remember? When we were washing the dishes?"

"Ken-"

"I don't claim to know a lot about what went down between you guys but I know that you are hurting because of it. You sort of clam up whenever someone mentions it and you look sad."

"Sad?"

He nods. "Sad."

I blink back some tears. "Well, its complicated. Me and him. And you are right, sometimes thinking about him makes me sad."