My Way Swoon

✨Chapter One ✨

Working on St. Patrick's Day was not ideal, but I was a team player and Lydia had called out. I was a little worried about the crowds but at the same time I couldn't pass up an opportunity to work with Nell.

I had been there for a few hours and in all honesty, it wasn't nearly as busy as I had anticipated. Between Nell and me, everything was moving smoothly. The most action we were getting was our regular Bill, who was content with his beer.

"You can take a break. I think I can handle Bill," Nell joked.

"Thanks. I'll just be back here, so holler if you need me," I told her, dipping into the back room.

I took a few minutes to scroll through my phone. I replied to a text my best friend, Sammy had sent me, asking to hang out soon. He responded immediately.

Sammy🦶
Lunch or dinner?

Me
Dinner sounds good to me.

Sammy 🦶
Can we try this vegan Thai restaurant I read about?

Me
Yeah that's fine. I chose last time anyways

Sammy 🦶
👍

Me
👍

"Hey, Lena! Your friend is here!" Nell called.

I wasn't really sure which friend she was talking about but I didn't think much of it when I came from the back room. I thought maybe it would be Sammy or my roommate/ sister's fiancé, Danny. The last person I was expecting to see was Jake. I wouldn't have really called him a friend.

He looked exactly how I thought he would look. He was wearing a black, grey and navy flannel with the top three buttons undone, exposing enough of his chest to be sexy but not overwhelmingly so. His bare chest was obscured by two or three necklaces with differing pendants adorning the chains. His hair was a bit longer than the last time I had seen him, with his dark locks draped behind one ear and framing his face on the other side.

His deep brown eyes flicked up from the amber colored liquor in front of him to meet mine. At first he gave me a polite, if not forced, smile. I stared at him for a second, trying to predict where this interaction would end. His smile faltered and then disappeared completely, but he maintained eye contact.

"Hi, Jake," I said, the words coming out flatter than I had expected.

"Hey, Lena," he replied.

After a few seconds of silence I pointed to the drink in his hand.

"Whiskey?" I asked.

He nodded. I was standing there waiting for another patron to ask me for a drink. I was waiting for the fire alarm to go off or a glass to break, anything to get me out of this situation. I hoped Nell could tell this was awkward and would come over to interrupt. She did, bless her heart.

"So, you're Sammy's brother?" Nell directed the question to Jake.

"Yeah. Sorry, I'm Jake," he introduced himself, holding his empty hand out to Nell.

"Nell," she said as she took it.

The three of us stood there in awkward silence. Nell was watching Jake, who was still sweeping his eyes over my face. I was watching both of them.

"Jake, we're over here!" a woman's voice carried over.

Jake turned to follow her voice. He lifted his drink to her and turned back to me.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Nell," he said, his eyes traveling down to her.

"Likewise," Nell chirped.

Jake met my eyes and just gave a curt nod. I gave a small, uncomfortable smile. He turned around and started walking towards the brunette who had called out to him before.

"What the fuck was that about?" Nell asked as soon as Jake was out of ear shot.

"It's stupid. We don't get along that well. That's all," I half lied.

The sad truth of it was that Jake used to be one of my best friends before things got weird. Part of it was that I was embarrassed but also it was sad and I didn't want to relive it. I think over the years most of our close friends and family found out from one of the two of us. Except for Sammy. It was a secret from him and I prayed to God he would never find out.

Somehow over the years I had managed to avoid Jake at all costs. Including today's interaction, I think I had seen him maybe four times over the years, and one time was from far away.

"I think he might be in love with you," Nell said without a hint of sarcasm.

I rolled my eyes at her and turned back to help a girl with dark brown hair tied up in an emerald green scrunchie.

"Could we get four tequila shots for the table over there," she asked, pointing to the table Jake had just joined.

I went to grab the shot glasses when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Nell next to me.

"I got it. You go get Bill another Budweiser," she directed me, holding out a pint glass.

"Thanks," I said, taking the glass from her.

I was making an effort to not look directly at Jake's table but when he stood up to leave, I had forgotten about that. I watched him stand and move a step or two to let the other few people he was with out of the booth. The scrunchie laden brunette gave him a tight hug and spun on her heel leaving him a few feet behind her. I didn't mean to, but I looked at his face. That's when his gaze landed on me. He held up one hand and gave a weak wave. I could feel the pink rising in my cheeks, more out of embarrassment than anything else. I mirrored the action. I didn't expect him to start walking towards the bar, but that's exactly what he did.

"Can I get you something?" I asked, trying to put on a professional facade.

"Do you have a minute?" he asked.

I looked over at Nell, who nodded, having already been eavesdropping. I wiped my hands on the dish towel in my apron and walked around the bar to stand closer to Jake.

"What's up?" I asked, hesitating slightly.

"Not much."

"Did you want to talk about something?"

"Uh..." he said before deciding on "No."

"I should get back to work then," I told him, using my thumb to point over my shoulder towards the bar.

"I want to talk, I just don't know what to say."

I threaded my eyebrows together, not entirely sure how to react to that. I opened my mouth to reply but I got cut off.

"Sorry, just pretend I didn't come over here," he apologized, running his fingers through his hair.

"Okay..." I hesitated, half waiting for him to go on.

"It was good to see you," he said shortly and turned to leave.

I stood in place, watching him walk away. When he reached the door, he held it open with one hand and looked over his shoulder at me. With his free hand he waved goodbye. He didn't wait for me to return the gesture before stepping out of the doorframe and turning to the left down the street.

I don't know what reaction I was expecting, but it wasn't laughter. Yet, when I came back around the counter to stand next to Nell that's all I could do. She started laughing too which only fueled me to continue on.