"Sarah honey, can you take these dishes to the back to be washed?" Roxy, the owner of the diner I work at said.
"Ugh," I grunted as she dumped the tub of dishes into my hands, " Yeah, sure."
"And are you sure you're okay with me leaving early tonight? I mean I can cancel my plans with the family if you want," she yelled from the register.
"No, you go have fun! I've got nothing else to do anyways," I replied, my hands down in the soapy water.
"Alright, but it won't be that fun," she replied.
Ding, Ding! The bell hanging at the front door rang. I'm not usually the best at taking orders, so I usually just let Roxy complete that job.
"Hi sweetheart! What can I get for you today?" Roxy has a very sweet, southern accent that can draw people into buying and eating more food than they should.
"Ummm... I think I'll just have a chocolate milkshake," the stranger said.
"Alrighty!" Roxy left on that note and came into the kitchen to pull me away from my dishes. For an older gal, she's got a strong grip.
"Check out Mr. Perfect over there," Roxy pointed out a young man about my age in a black leather jacket, which showed off every muscle in his arms perfectly.
"He's cute, I'll admit that." I sighed with a shrug.
"Well you better perk up dishwasher girl because I have to leave, and you're going to deliver that delicious boy a delicious chocolate milkshake."
"Roxy, I can't. You know how I..." I hissed back.
But it was too late. Roxy had already hung her apron up and was grabbing the keys to her car.
"Oh! And don't forget to take the trash out and lock up when you're done. See ya!" and with that it was just me and the milkshake man. It's just one delivery, how hard could it be?
As I walked over toward him I tried my hardest not to slip on the greasy floors, and spill his milkshake all over me.
"Here's your milkshake sir. That'll be $3.99," I said in my most confident voice as he handed me the money. "Thanks. Now I'm gonna go take out the trash," I said as I turned around right into a chair that I didn't even know existed. He laughed to himself the whole time.
I moved the chair back to its designated place and picked up the coins that had been dumped out of my money bag.
"I'm just gonna...um yeah," Way to be smooth Sarah. And I walked toward the back door to complete my job.
Roxy's Diner is located between two brick buildings. One's a bar called Jimmy's and the other is a bunch of apartments. It just so happens that our dumpster is located in the alley on the side where the bar is. So you can imagine how nervous I was about taking the trash out at almost midnight. That's when "he" showed up. As I tossed the trash bag over the rim of the dumpster, a voice called my name. "Sarah, my girl! How ya doin?"
I froze in my tracks and turned around slowly, "Ted? What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to collect my money," he said walking closer toward me.
"I'm...I'm sorry but I don't have it," I said shaking.
"You see, you tell me that every month. And I don't know if I can trust you anymore."
I was pinned up against a wall, literally.
"I promise I'll get it to you next month. Now if you don't mind I have a customer." But he wouldn't get out of my way. That's when I heard the back door shut and out came milkshake man.
"Sarah, are you okay?" he asked.
"She's fine," Ted replies for me.
"I didn't ask you."
"Woah there little fella! You sure you wanna do this?" and with that Ted shoved the milkshake man away from him.
As Ted was walking back over toward me, 'M.M.' stood up and threw a punch directly at Ted's head, and Ted took the blow pretty hard. So hard, that it knocked him out. I let out a scream.
"Let's get out of here," Milkshake man said. And I followed right behind him.
As I was locking up the door, I started asking "him" a few questions.
"Okay, so how did you know my name?"
"Uh, you're a waitress. All I had to do was look at your name tag." he answered.
"Alright Mr. Cocky. What's your name?"
"Trevor Allinder."
"And where are you from?"
"Here, actually. I'd lived here my whole life until about three years ago."
We stopped walking down the sidewalk and turned to face each other.
"Then why move? I mean I know that Buffalo isn't exactly the Beverly Hills of New York, but still."
"There just wasn't enough for me to thrive on here. My parents had died, my other family lived over seas, so that's where I decided to go."
"Oh, I'm sorry. About your parents I mean."
"Eh, you get used to being alone after a while. Speaking of alone, do you plan on walking home by yourself?"
"Yeah, I mean unless you're going the same direction."
"Yeah, actually I am."
"Cool."
When we arrived at my house we stopped outside my front door while I rang the doorbell.
"My parents usually wait up for me." I said.
There was an awkward silence between our conversations.
"So where do you plan on living if you have no parents?"
"Probably in a nearby hotel. Why?"
"I was just wondering. I mean you could stay here. My parents would be fine with it. You know, to save money and everything."
"I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to invade your personal space."
"It's okay, we have a guest bedroom you can stay in."
"Alright, alright. I give in." he raised his hands up in a surrendering pose.
"Yay! I can't wait to give you the full tour!"
When we stopped at our final destination outside his bedroom, I said goodnight. Then we turned our separate ways and went off to bed. But secretly, I couldn't wait to see him again in the morning.
