Dalliance - Z.M. (An Exquisites Original Story)

10; Honey Whiskey

Chapter 10

"I think I better go before I try something I might regret."

(Raine's POV)

"Hey, you! Take that to table seven!"

I figure the obnoxious woman shouting from behind the counter is yelling at me, so I grab the order and bring it to what I assume is table seven. The elderly couple grins when they see their burgers and fries have arrived, and after they thank me, I walk back behind the counter.

"Hey, new girl!" The obnoxious woman yells again. I turn around and face her, her eyes are wide, her orange curls wild framing her round face. She glares at me with forest green eyes, at which I pass her a smile.

"My name's Raine," I tell her even though she hasn't asked. She shakes her head, wiping her hands on a plaid towel and walking towards me.

"Listen, to work here you've got to be fast, especially at this hour. I don't work with slackers, alright?"

With a nod, I say, "ma'am, yes ma'am."

She doesn't appreciate my enthusiasm, instead, she stares at me as if I've come from a different planet. With a scoff, she says, "take that tray to table one."

Saluting to her, I grab the tray and walk over to table one to see a girl sitting by herself, banging her phone on her desk lightly, cursing to herself when she tries to turn it on but it won't. She's cute, long dark hair, and if it weren't for the tattoos trailing up her arms, I would've thought she was only sixteen or seventeen because of how petite she is. When I set the tray in front of her, her attention is on me.

"Thanks," she says, looking back down at her phone.

"What happened to your phone?" I ask her.

She looks back up at me, probably wondering why I'm speaking with her. Still, she says, "the screen just turned black out of nowhere."

"Is it dead?" I ask, extending my hand to see if I can do anything to it. She chuckles, setting it in my hand.

"No, it was fully charged like ten minutes ago."

Since this happens to me a lot, I know exactly what to do, so when I do it and the phone blinks back open, she furrows her eyebrows in surprise. Handing it back to her, I smile and say, "well, that settles that."

"How'd you - "

"Oh, home button and power button restart it," I shrug. "Happens to me all the time."

She still looks surprised, as if I did the most incredible thing. "You new here?"

"Is it that obvious?" I laugh, stuffing my hands in my apron pockets.

"No, I just come here a lot so I memorize everyone's names and faces," she shrugs. "Old habit."

"Well in that case, I'm Raine," I say, sharing my name with the second person today who didn't really ask, but I thought I'd let them know.

"Yeah, I can see that," she points to her chest, reminding me that I have a name tag on. Sheepish, I shrug, trying to play off the completely stupid move I just made.

"I'm Leah," she smiles, thankfully ignoring it too. "You live around here?"

"Yeah, not too far. I live in the dorms at Delphian."

"Ah, a college girl working at a downtown diner," she pops a fry into her mouth.

"I wouldn't work at a diner if any place else would take me, but I have absolutely zero experience in anything so," I shrug. "It seems a run-down diner it is."