Table 15

Chapter 12

A/N: I really do have a pair of shoes like Melly's. I painted them myself! There's more pictures on my Instagram if you want to see them, but I included a little picture if you wanted to see.

"Phew! Glad that's over!" Melly said, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead. I nodded with a small smile as I counted out change for the last morning rush customer.

"Thank you very much, and have a nice day!" I said calmly, handing him the money. The businessman nodded. "As to you," he replied. The bell above the door rang lazily as he left. I sat back on the stool behind the cash register. I ran my hands through my hair.

The diner was quiet. No one inside except those who worked here. I begrudgingly got up and walked over to where the businessman had sat. Table 15. Mark's table.

I hadn't forgotten about what had happened. I tried to keep my mind off it all morning. I worked especially hard. Mark's "I'm sorry" still nagged at the back of my mind like a fly trapped in the window. I sighed heavily.

The businessman had left me a tip. $5. I picked up the bill and slid it into one of the side pockets on my apron, with my other tips.

I have to make it up to him. I have to fix my mistake. I need to tell Mark how I feel. Even if....even if I don't know. He had the guts to tell me, and I wasn't brave enough to tell him. I'm a coward. I'm an asshole for crushing his confidence like that.

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a tub to put the dirty dishes in. As I walked out, I passed Melly. She followed me, at a respectful distance, to Table 15. For a while, she didn't say anything. She just watched me clean the table. After I had put all the dishes in the bucket, I wiped the table down. Twice, then three times. I wiped down the sides as well, in case the man had accidentally spilt syrup on it.

"Jack," Melly finally said, very softly and gently. "I think it's clean now,"

I looked up at her and smiled awkwardly. "Oh. Yeah I guess so," I ran my fingers through my hair again with a nervous laugh. I inspected the table one last time before picking up the tub of dishes and walking into the kitchen.

"Jack, are you alright? You've been working really hard today. Maybe you need a break," Melly's voice was laced with concern. I pushed through the kitchen doors.

"I'm fine, Mel," I lied. I dumped the dishes into the giant sink in the back, leaving Billy to clean them. "No, you're not," Melly replied, crossing her arms. "You always work a lot harder when something's bothering you," she tapped her foot slightly.

I dropped the tub off with the others and walked out of the kitchen again. "Really! I'm fine," I repeated. Melly furrowed her brows, but said nothing. She followed me out again.

I grabbed the gum scrapper and a small metal bucket from the backroom. I carried them over to Table 15. Melly followed in silence. Normally, she'll leave me alone and sit at the front desk, playing on her phone. She only followed if she wanted to talk.

I crawled underneath the table and began scrapping the multicolored wads of chewed-up gum off the bottom. "Jack," Melly repeated softly. "Did something happen....something bad?" She asked hesitantly. I didn't reply. A large wad of blue gum fell into the bucket.

Melly sat down at the table, carefully keeping her legs out of my way. "I'm sorry," she said gently, "for whatever happened. It's none of my business to ask," I stopped scrapping for a second. I stared at her feet absentmindedly.