DIE ➳ JACK JOHNSON

XXXI. I'VE BEEN WAITING SO LONG

chapter thirty one - july 12

She was back working at the diner quite regularly now. Strangely, Jack had loosened her chains a bit, and they weren't with each other all day and night anymore. He wasn't distancing himself anymore. Their relationship was still going great, but they're more independent and less dependent on each other.

"Chad, I need number nine's order!" she hollered to him as she walked through the doors with plates aligning her hands and arms. "What's taking you so long? They've been waiting for 30 minutes," she complained, while she dumped the dishes in the sink. It wasn't necessarily her job to clean the tables, but they were short a person today, since his wife was going into labor.

"I accidentally dropped the eggs," he informed her, whipping up another one.

She chuckled. "You're lucky boss isn't here to fire you," she said lightheartedly.

"Well, you're lucky you have your boyfriend paying for this joint or else you'd already be fired for your lack of attendance," he shot back, throwing a wicked smile at her over his shoulder.

"Touche," she said, going back out the front just as he put the plate on the counter. She picked up the order, and walked towards table nine. "Sorry for the long wait, m'am," she apologized to the middle-aged woman, also shooting her a sweet smile. "We had some minor difficulties back there, but I'm hoping the food will make up for the wait."

The woman glared at her. "I hope so too," she grumbled.

"Okay," Alaska muttered under breath, grabbing her notepad from her pocket and walked towards a new customer who just came in. "Are you ready to order, sir?"

"Sir?" the guy questioned, looking up from his menu. "When did we get so formal?"

She looked up from her notepad and gasped in surprise. "Sammy?" she questioned, because it's been so long since she's seen him.

"Thought you'd forgotten about me by now," he teased, throwing her a playful smirk.

"Of course not," I replied back, giving him a smile. "It's been so long. Where have you been?"

He shrugged. "Here and there," he answered vaguely. I shot up an eyebrow, knowing that there's more to it than that. It probably has something with that new girl I heard about weeks ago.

I didn't want to keep pushing a subject he clearly didn't want to talk about, so I moved on. "What brings you here?"

"You're right. It has been a while since we've spoken, so I just wanted to check in. I always hoped you're doing good. You're a good person. You deserve that," he answered with a smile.

She smiled back at him. It felt nice to have him here. He was there for her when her relationship with Jack was a bit confusing and painful. He lent her some advice that she could never payback. He was almost like a best friend to her.

"What are you doing there, standing like that? Come sit," he scolded her, looking at the open chair in front of him.

"I have work," she denied his offer.

He rolled his eyes and gave her a look. "I'm sure we both know it's okay. Your boyfriend made sure of that."

She gave in with a huff, and sat down across from him. "How are things with you?"

He waved his hand in the air. "Doesn't matter," he brushed off. "I came here to talk about you. Are you happy? Is he treating you good?"

Her eyes glazed over with love, and Sammy didn't miss that at all. "Nobody's perfect, but he has his moments. He just makes me happy at the end of the day."