The Restaurant

Chapter 19

The first week was the hardest.

I couldn't bear not seeing Tina. Everyone tried to cheer me up, but it felt like I was just going through the motions. Tina called and told me she made it safely and the new city was huge. I could tell she was excited to be there by her voice, and I faked excitement in mine so she wouldn't worry. One day, I was working and one of the servers asked me to come out of the kitchen, a customer was asking about me. As I walked up to the table, a familiar scent hit my nose, something I hadn't smelled in years. The blond-haired girl was sitting facing away from me, but I could tell I knew her.

"Hello, you were asking about me."

"Hi...Jimmy." She turned around to respond to me.

There she sat, peering into my heart. The amused smile on her face, big brown eyes, low cut shirt, daisy dukes. "Hi...Brittney," I was caught off guard.

"I heard you worked here and had to try the food. It's not bad. But nothing compared to how you used to cook."

"Actually, Jimmy is..." I nudged the server and nodded toward the back. He smiled at her and walked away. She watched him leave and looked back at me, curious.

"He had some stuff to do in the back so he couldn't stay up here." I place my hands on my hips trying to show my professionalism and not that she means anything to me. "How have you been?"

"Not bad, my mom and I just got back from a little vacation, and we are planning on going on a cruise in the next month. My boyfriend is working with my dad and makes good money. We've got our own little place and are planning on getting a house by the end of the year."

She always did like to talk about herself. "That's good. Glad to hear it," I feigned a smile. "Well, I'd better get back to work now. It was nice seeing you." I tried to walk away when she grabbed my arm.

"Jimmy, can we talk?"

She stared at me with those puppy dog eyes, I always had a hard time refusing what she said when she did that. This time, I just wanted her to stop touching me. "Yeah," I shrugged her off, "I'll be off in a few hours. Want to meet somewhere?"

"Stop by my parent's house. I'm sure they would love to see you!"

"Yeah. See you later," I walked back into the kitchen. As I did, I noticed the server was watching me, a little perturbed. "What?"

"Tina is gone a week and already going for another girl?"

"She's my ex, and you were the one who told me to come out, remember? What was I supposed to do? I am in management now and have to show good hospitality." I stepped past him and went back in the kitchen. It was awkwardly quiet, I looked around at everyone. "What are you guys staring at? We have guests to feed." They went about their duties, but I could tell they weren't happy with me. I missed Tina, but I couldn't stress about her out anymore.

When I got off work, I tried calling Tina, but with the time difference, she was already asleep. I left her a message and then called Kat.

"Hey," she answered.

"Hey, I've got a problem."

"Me too. My parents are going to be in town this weekend and wanted to meet."

"I don't think I understand."

"They don't know I'm lesbian."

"But...how is-" I wasn't sure how to ask the question.

"When I left them, they only visited me every once in a long while. I was able to keep it a secret because I didn't have a girlfriend for the longest time. Now that I have Christy, I don't know what to do."

"Alright, it's going to be ok. We will figure this out."

"I don't want to figure it out. I want to tell them the truth."

"How do you think they will take it?"

"I don't know. My brother almost stopped talking to me when he found out."

I had arrived at Brittney's parent's house and parked on the street, but what was going on with Kat was more important so I didn't get out, "What did Christy say?"

"I haven't told her yet. Jimmy, I don't know what to do."

"Sit tight, I'm on my way." I turned the car back on and as I turned around to head back to the apartment, I could've sworn I saw someone waving in my rear-view mirror.

I got to our place and went inside; Christy was sitting on the couch next to the sofa that Kat was sitting on. In the entire time I had seen their relationship, they were always close together or touching. This was uncomfortable. Both of their eyes were bloodshot, and Christy wasn't even looking in Kat's direction.

"What's going on?" I asked. Christy got up and began to storm out of the apartment before I stopped her.

"Let me go, Jimmy."

"Not until we figure this out."

"There is nothing to figure out, Kat is ashamed of me."

Kat jumped up, "Christy, I could never be ashamed of you."

"Oh really? Then why didn't you tell your parents about me? Face it, you don't think they would accept me."

"That's not it, Christy," I said. "Kat you have to tell her."

Christy looked at Kat, anger in her eyes. "Christy, I never came out to my parents. I've always been too scared to. Whenever they come out here, I keep them away because I'm afraid of what they'll say when I tell them. My parents aren't like your parents."

"You think it was easy for me to tell my parents I was a lesbian?" Christy was shaking. "I was in hysterics when I told them. I didn't want to disappoint them and was afraid they were going to kick me out. My sister was the only one for the longest time that knew. It was her that stood by me when I told them, because I was afraid of what they were going to do."

"Christy-," Kat began.

"No, you know what? You wanted me to move in with you guys. I was fine before. All alone in my own place, and now I'm going back there to figure some things out. You aren't afraid of your parents, you're afraid of what everyone thinks." Christy stormed past me and slammed the door.

I wasn't sure what to say, so I didn't say anything, I just walked up to Kat and held her while she cried. We stayed like that for an hour, until I finally picked her up and took her to her room. I lay with her until she fell asleep crying. After that, I got up and went next door and knocked. Christy answered and just fell into my arms. I did the same thing for her, holding her for an hour while she cried and finally took her to her bed and let her cry on me. When she fell asleep, I left, locking her door, and headed back to my apartment. Going into my room I fell onto my bed and checked my phone. One message from an unknown number that read: "Where are you?" Huh, I had no idea whose number that was.

***

I woke up to silence. In the entire time I had lived here, I could count on one hand how many times that happened. I went and poured myself a cup of coffee. Kat was on the couch, staring out the window; yesterday's makeup ran down her face. I brought her a cup of coffee and put it on the table next to her. She leaned back against me, and I held her as she traced my arm.

"Any word?"

"No..."

"You okay?"

"No..."

"When are they going to be here?"

"Tomorrow."

"Do I need to make myself scarce?"

"No..."

I don't know how long we stayed in that position. I'd never seen Kat like this. It felt like I had been dumped all over again. I knew there was nothing I could say to cheer her up, so I just sat with her. When my alarm went off, I asked Kat if she wanted me to stay home.

"No..."

I sat a few minutes longer, then moved a pillow to where I was and kissed her head. I wanted to talk about what happened at the restaurant, but Kat had too much on her mind. She didn't need any more on her plate. I hopped in the shower and headed to work.