The Devil's Son *DISCONTINUED*

TREI

  "I'm sorry about the audition, Eff." Christophe looked at her briefly as he continued flipping pancakes. Effie sighed and picked up the loaded plates. Over a week and no phone call had come from Andy's record label; not that she really expected one. As much as he was an ass, she really wanted this.

"Yeah, well he needed to be brought down a peg or two," she said softly before taking the plates out. Smiling at the young couple, she cleared the next table and brought them to the back sink. Christophe smiled a bit at her, and she couldn't help but smile back. She was pretty proud of herself. In the past few years, Effie had dealt with so many jerks, it was nice to finally stand up for herself.

"I mean, I'm glad that I said all those things to him. He's a jerk, and people need to start telling him that. You know what, if I saw him again, I'd tell him the exact same thing."

"Well, you just got your chance. He just walked in."

"Excuse me, what?" Effie said quickly, peaking around the pass-thru window. Sure enough, there he was. However, instead of a suit, he dressed more casually – black, ripped jeans with a graphic shirt cut off at the sleeves and topped with an expensive looking leather jacket. He looked amazing.

"Wow..."

"Don't look now, but he just sat in your section."

"Ah, fuck."

Taking some food out, she smiled to the couple, being careful to ignore Andy. A shiver went down her spine, and she knew he was watching her. Waiting until the last possible moment before turning around and locking eyes with him, she took a deep breath, grabbed her order pad and walked to her table.

"It's nice to see you're good at one thing at least," his voice was as annoyed as ever. She ignored the comment and just glared at him.

"I don't usually come to places like this, but it would seem lately I've been making exceptions." He sat back as he spoke, entwining his fingers before resting them behind his head.

"Can you please just order?" As much as she tried, Effie had a hard time keeping her distaste to herself. He was just such a jackass; how was one supposed to ignore it. Effie entertained the possibility that he acted this way on purpose, but why, she just didn't know.

"I'm not here to order anything," he said, matter-of-fact, though he seemed to reconsider before he spoke again. "On second thought, I'll have some pancakes." Effie quickly wrote the order down and walked off without another sound. Of course she was curious as to why he was here, but she wasn't about to give in to his games.

Christophe gave her a sympathetic look as she gave him the order. He must have been watching their brief but tense interaction.

"Want me to spit in his food?"

Effie giggled a bit but shook her head. As much as she would love that, it wasn't worth Chris risking his job. Without him here, she really would go crazy. Feeling eyes on her, she turned around to see Andy watching her intently.

She tried to ignore him as she went around clearing tables, though she felt his eyes on her the entire time. He was such a creep; an attractive creep, but creepy none-the-less. Before long, she was back at his table, handing him the fluffy breakfast.

"You didn't let me finish what I was saying," he spoke, not touching the food.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"Sit down with me."

"My boss is here."

"I'll repay him for the lost money if he wishes, just sit down and stop being short with me for a bit." He motioned to the seat.

"Not my fault you're so tall."

"Ha. Ha. You're hilarious. Sit."

Effie sighed heavily but sat down across from him, resting her arms on the table. Andy smiled, grabbed his fork and knife and began eating from the cheap, ceramic plate in front of him.

"These are quite good."

"They're our specialty."

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"Excuse me?"

"The cook that makes you blush. Are you dating him?"

"That's none of your business."

"Is that a yes?"

"No."

"No?"

"Yes."

"So you are dating him?"

"No!" Effie raised her voice slightly. God, he was so frustrating.

"Then he has no business making you blush like that."

"Again, that's none of your business." She frowned and crossed her arms. "What do you want?"

"You've been quite rude to me; not polite at all if you ask me."

"What's your point?"

"You're not the best waitress. Horrible, actually."

"I thought you said I was only good at one thing?"

"Mhm," he nodded, pushing the empty plate away, "that's correct, but it's not this."

Effie's eyes caught something from the corner of her eye, and turned to see Rich glaring at her. She almost forgot she was working. Looking back to Andy, he was looking at her with interest.

"You better get to the point, before I get fired."

"I've been trying to get a hold of you."

"Really?" Effie was a bit caught off guard.

"Well, my assistant has."

"What for?"

"I want you to record an EP."

"Excuse me?"

"I want to sign you." Effie stared at him in shock. "But we need to get a mini album out there first and see how people respond to you." Effie felt numb. What was she supposed to say to that? It was everything she'd wanted, but did she really want to be dealing with him throughout her entire career?

"So I'm not signed unless the EP does well?"

"Is that a problem?"

"I think we can reach an agreement, but for now, I really need to get back to work."

"Hey, if this goes well, you can quit this ridiculous job."

"It pays the rent."

"Get back to work." The words were said with malice, but there was a playful smirk on his lips. Effie got up and quickly ran around to catch up on her work. She could make this work. Sure, Andy could be an ass, but as long as she stayed in control, she could make this work. It was her future and this was her best shot.

Looking back to Andy's table, she found it empty. Going over, she cleared the table and took the cash for the bill. Underneath, a small white card stood out against the black table. Picking it up, she saw a date and time written on the back with a small note written underneath – Don't be late.