I'll Follow Your Lead

Chapter 5 - Christmas Party

Christmas Eve had fallen upon New York City bringing singing, cheer, and...crowds. Dorothea huffed a strand of hair away from her face as she sloppily wrote down a man's order. Her hand was cramping from writing so much and her hair was a few good shakes away from coming undone. The café had never been busier. Dorothea was at her wit's end running back and forth from the kitchen to the counter, to the tables, and back again. She was supposed to have help, but the other waitress never showed up.

"Excuse me! I haven't had my order taken yet!" A woman called from the other side of the dining room. Dorothea barely hid her grimace as she excused herself from the man she was helping. The woman rattled off a complicated order as soon as Dorothea was in good earshot. "And don't forget to add the cinnamon on top," the woman wagged her finger in Dorothea's face and she fought every urge to bite it. Turning to prepare the multitude of orders she had sloppily written on her notepad, she paused. Jack was there. She had no idea how long he had been there, but there he was. However, what stopped her was not his presence but the fact that he had grabbed a notepad and a pencil and was taking people's orders. As if feeling her stare at him, Jack looked up and smiled at her. Dorothea flashed a relieved smile before hurrying to the counter to start making orders. As she was making the orders she had taken, Jack came up to the counter and ripped the top piece of paper off of his notepad.

"All right, I've got a few of the orders but some more people just came in so I'll go grab their orders. You stay here and just make the food," Jack said. He winked at Dorothea before turning around and heading for the new customers.

They worked in tandem – Dorothea making the orders and Jack serving the guests – until the café closed. Dorothea had closed earlier than normal for the holiday but to her, it wasn't nearly early enough. Dorothea talked to the last customer as she showed them out the door. It was a young woman a little older than her who was new to the city. Dorothea was sharing some directions to the nearest, and most affordable hotel. Jack stood behind the counter, wiping down the equipment and putting dishes away. He watched as Dorothea kindly ushered the woman out and as the door finally closed her shoulders slumped down and she sighed loudly.

"Thank the stars that that's over!" The girl said as she made her way back to the counter. She sat down on one of the stools and Jack walked around to join her.

"That was one hell of a crowd. You'd think people would be at home on Christmas Eve," Jack said.

"Well, you would be wrong. If the place is open, people will come no matter what." Dorothea reached up and tugged on the dark red ribbon keeping her dark curls out of her face, letting them fall down her back. Jack watched her closely and studied how she ran her hands clumsily through her tangled hair to try to tame it. He never knew her hair was that long – the full length of her back. He had always seen it messily pulled up with her ribbon.

"Your hair-"

"Is a mess"

"Is beautiful, is what I was gonna say."

Dorothea turned to face Jack with a surprised look on her face. Her hair had been up all day and was no doubt dented in the middle section from being held up by the ribbon and was definitely frizzy. She couldn't help but laugh.

"Sure. Anyway, I'm certain you didn't come here just to help me with the holiday crowd. At least not for free!" The girl got up from her spot and walked into the kitchen. After a moment she returned with a cinnamon bun and slid it in front of Jack. "Here ya go! And it's on the house tonight." She had said tonight but she had every intention of never letting him pay her for food ever again.

"Really?"

"Really. You earned it. I saw you dodge those particularly handsy old women earlier," Dorothea feigned a serious face but only for a moment before bursting into laughter at Jack's reddening face. He shook his head and sighed.