Out of the Ordinary

Chapter 37

"Shit," Shantal muttered, ducking her head just slightly, her eyes on something over my shoulder, her hands never slowing in their movements. We were sitting at a table in the back of the restaurant, wrapping utensils with napkins for tonight's dinner service.

"What?" I asked, turning to see what she was staring at.

"Don't!" she whisper-shouted, her hand shooting forward to grab mine so that I whipped right back around in surprise.

"Connor," she whispered, looking up and over my shoulder again.

They'd broken up while I was in London. A short-lived romance that Shantal swore up and down she was totally over. He was an immature asshole, she'd claimed. He only cared about making money and playing video games, and didn't pay her nearly enough attention, she'd said. He had no ambitions beyond bartending, and she was simply better than that, she'd asserted time and time again.

And yet.

I only stared at her for a moment. "You do realize that he's more than likely going to keep showing up here, right? Just because you broke up, doesn't mean he stopped working here."

Shantal rolled her eyes before fixing them on that same point over my shoulder. "Of course I do. I just... don't understand why... never mind."

"What?"

"Nothing," she said, her eyes returning to the work at hand. She grabbed another fork and another knife, and I waited. "It's just..."

I smiled, setting a freshly rolled set of utensils aside.

"I can't believe he looks so... good."

"As opposed to...?"

"I don't know. Upset, hurt, sad, heartbroken—any or all of the above. Something that isn't still gorgeous." Her eyes were on him again, moving as he moved. "He's smiling."

I tried to be gentle. "I mean... you guys did break up over a month ago."

"But I broke up with him. He should still be getting over me, and he just seems so happy."

"And that's a bad thing?"

She looked at me, her brown eyes wide. "It's not a good thing." She was practically pouting. "How am I so easy to get over?"

It was even funnier because she was being absolutely serious, but I tried really hard to hide my amusement. "Maybe he's just putting on a brave face. It can't be easy for him to have to see you all the time."

What I didn't say was that it clearly wasn't easy for her.

Her eyes were still looking past me, but they didn't seem to be staring at anything or anyone in particular anymore. "Maybe," she said. After another moment, during which time she seemed to pick herself back up and dust herself off, she looked right at me. "Or maybe he's just an asshole."

I didn't hide my amusement this time. "Definitely," I said through giggles.

She laughed a little bit, too. "So, what were you saying?"

"I think I was at the part where my life is turning to shit and my boyfriend is choosing to leave me."

"He's not leaving you, Maddie. He's just going to be in a different state for a little while."

"Whatever."

"And think of the songs he's probably going to write about you!"

"I wish that made me feel better."

"It makes me feel better." Shantal practically slammed a pair of rolled utensils to the side. "Gives me hope that romance and true love aren't actually dead and buried."